Julie, Don't Go!

Shepherd — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:18:23 -0800

While England had the Two Ronnies (earlier today), Canada had, more or less simultaneously, its own hit comedy duo in Wayne and Shuster. Johnny Wayne was the manic engine and Frank Shuster the perpetual straight man, and even if they weren't to your taste, you have to admit they never underestimated their audience -- with sketches like Shakespearean Baseball, (full versions on YouTube, in 1950s and 1970s flavours!) Rinse The Blood off My Toga (excerpt), and Frontier Psychiatrist (the latter being the sample base for a surprising hit by Melbourne-based band The Avalanches) combining the sciences, classical literature, pop culture and ancient history simultaneously. They were not, of course, above the hoary old comedy clichés, either, including golf, airline travel, and well, feature-length Star Trek parodies. Most Canadians between the age of 30 and 40 will fondly recall a weekly sitcom (which largely converted their radio hits to video), especially the closing theme, but those in a slightly older bracket may recognize the duo as the all-time most-seen guests on the Ed Sullivan Show. Some of it is dated, to say the least, but the duo made an almost incalculable difference in the Canadian psyche -- they single-handedly turned Canadians from the blandly polite folks up north into the too-smart-for-school crack-ups, and spawned a lineage that led to SCTV and the Kids in the Hall and other, lesser-known Canadian comedy groups like The Frantics (whose 4 On The Floor show was a single-season diamond of comedy brilliance, including Mr. Friendly and Canuck icon Mr. Canoehead (incidentally, the bleeped word is "Mormons", which was bleeped out of every airing after the first one)) and current groups like The Irrelevant Show.

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Julie, Don't Go!