Spring 2003

Royal Canadian Air Farce

Comedians make a living from turning headlines into punch lines.

By Lisa Bettencourt

Have you ever seen comedians turn headlines into punch lines? The Royal Canadian Air Farce is a television program on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Channel, www.cbc.ca)

This series led by - Roger Abbott, Don Ferguson and Luba Goy is an array of laughs waiting to be had. I was fortunate to attend a taping of this program. Don Ferguson a native from Montreal, Quebec is a vital element of this crew of comedians, because not only is he a comedian but also a director. The highlights of this series are the Chicken Cannon, the impressions of political figures, and the "Canadian" mockery. Every few weeks they fire the Air Farce Chicken Cannon at a choice target. Viewers get to choose the target and the ammunition. Then during the show they shoot random objects at a picture of them. For instance, on January 11, 2002 the target was Osama bin Laden and the ammunition was tomatoes, crushed videotapes, falafel helper, some nutbars, goat cheese, bathtub scum and Kraft dinner.

The Royal Canadian Air Farce provides a half-hour every week where the tax-paying citizen can feel some justice has been served to our civil servants. This program can be watched on Friday nights at 8 P.M

For more information visit the offical website: http://www.royalcanadianairfarce.com/