VHS Vault: Harland Williams

Let's keep on rolling. This next clip isn't all that vintage. Or at least, Harland Williams' act hasn't changed much in the ensuing years. Not surprising, that. I always thought he was a fairly lazy comic. That is, I think he relies a bit too much on his goofy appearance and whatever goofy thought entered his head at some point. He never goes beyond that. He's essentially a one-liner comic with really stupid one-liners. That being said, he's so damn likable he gets away with it. Who needs to write when the audience is laughing, I guess.

Nov. 8: Mark Breslin

On the day the Toronto Star runs a story on Yuk Yuk's founder and CEO Mark Breslin, we've got the guy for one full hour on What's So Funny? How's that for timing? The interview was recorded on October 3 in Saint John. It was 7:15 pm on the evening of the gala, which would start at 8 pm up the street. I was in the lobby of Breslin's hotel and decided to call him up to see if there'd be a time I could sit down and talk with him the next day. He says, "What about right now?"

So down he comes and we hunt around for a quiet space with no hissing fountains or loud hotel carts wheeling by. No one was in the "business center" (which consisted of one computer), so in we went. I told him to signal me whenever he had to get going, knowing the gala was within the hour. But he knew the show was an hour long and graciously went the limit. So we were late for the gala, but not very.

I love talking to Mark. He knows his stuff, is opinionated, fair and always compelling. In this interview he talked about his miserable childhood, where he, in his words, grew up as a "Jewish prince in a household of depressives". He talked of his early career managing folkies and how that transitioned into booking comedians. He defended himself against a few criticisms. And he spoke of his years as the comedy producer on the old Joan Rivers talk show. Good stuff.

What we didn't talk about was his new book on stand-up comedy in Canada. Why? Because I didn't know about it until this morning when I read the Star piece. The book is entitled The Yuk Yuk's Guide to Canadian Stand-Up. I'll put that on my Christmas list, and we'll have to have Mark back on to discuss it. You would think, judging from the title, that it would be a biased view, or at least one that discounts the contributions of any comedian not on the Yuks roster or located in Toronto. But a list of Breslin's 10 most influential stand-ups in this country includes one Mr. Brent Butt, who was never a Yuks man. Or if he was, broke with them early. Which leads me to believe that Breslin's book will at least attempt to be representative. Here's his list:

1. Dave Broadfoot
2. Brent Butt
3. Jim Carrey
4. Larry Horowitz
5. Elvira Kurt
6. Mike MacDonald
7. Howie Mandel
8. Paul Mandell
9. Russell Peters
10. Kenny Robinson

Read all about it in the Star. And tune in tonight.

ADDENDUM: Just read in the National Post that this "book" is in audio format only. Which makes more sense given that the cover says it features over 50 performances... Wait a second. The National Post? I thought it went under? Guess not... Here's an excerpt on Harland Williams:

Still more interviews

I'm slowly getting caught up on old podcasts and transcribed interviews. Today I offer you – free of charge, by the way – two new interviews. At least new to you. One is the second one I did with Colin Mochrie, of Whose Line Is It Anyway? fame. This one was conducted in November of 2007 (I told you I was getting caught up). Here's a random quote to whet your whistle:

The whole thing was just surreal for a little Canadian improviser to all of a sudden be doing a rap with Karl Rove. Then the next day he called us and invited us to the White House. He took us around. We went into the Oval Office and President Bush and Vice President Cheney were there, so we talked to them for a while. It was just surreal.

If you're so inclined, you can read the first one, from May of 2005, here. And a random quote from that golden oldie:

The best thing about improv is that once it's gone, it's gone. You can't think, 'What I should have done was...' To me, I just can't remember. Even great scenes I've been involved in, I can sort of remember parts of it but I could never remember what the suggestion was or how we got there. I'm sure there are sometimes where you go 'I got nothing.' And sometimes from that magic happens.

And then there's an interview with Harland Williams from November 2006. It was also the second time I'd interviewed the funnyman, but the first one, done years and years ago, is long gone so this will have to do. Finally, a random quote from Harland, on taking on the role in Half Baked despite not being a pot smoker:

At the end it was kinda my manager. He said, "You know what? It's just a movie role. It's going to really widen your fan base and a lot of people are going to see it." And taking that I kinda went, "You know, I've played a guy on Mars, I've played a cop drinking pee, I've played a serial killer in There's Something About Mary. You know what? They are just roles." And so I kind of justified it that way. It kinda helped. I look back on it and I've had a lot of kids come up to me in the streets and go, "Hey, man, thanks to you I got into the bud." I'm like, "I don't really like that." So it was a bit of a mixed thing for me.