By Stephen Vance, Staff
You think there’s not a lot goin’ on
but look closer baby you’re so wrong
~Corner Gas Theme Song
Corner Gas star Brent Butt will visit Meaford on January 12 to share some of his stand-up comedy. His visit comes on the heels of the recent release of a movie version of his popular television show, and he shared with The Independent his thoughts about small towns, comedy, and turning a popular television show into a major motion picture.
Born and raised in a rural Saskatchewan town of 3,000 residents, Butt is familiar with the idiosyncrasies of small town living, though he says that in spite of that, and the success of his small-town-charm-filled show Corner Gas, small towns aren’t necessarily a source of inspiration for him.
“I don’t know that small towns particularly do inspire me. I really write from a place of character, and as much as small-town Canada wants to lay claim to these (Corner Gas) characters, we’ve had people from Sweden say, ‘this is exactly like my village’, we’ve had people from New York City say, ‘you know, all these characters are in my neighbourhood’, so they’re very universal, very archetypal. Small town is just kind of the background, the environment,” explained Butt. “I always say that when I started I wanted to do a show that just happened to take place in small-town Saskatchewan, but it wasn’t about small-town Saskatchewan.”
His hit television show built a legion of fans across Canada and around the world, and though the series ended in 2009, the excitement generated by the recent release of Corner Gas The Movie resulted in an extended run in Canadian theatres in advance of a DVD release in mid-December.
“It’s been intense,” said Butt of the movie-making and -release experience. “It’s been great, but it’s been intense. When we first started talking to broadcast partners and exhibition partners, and funding agencies, everybody was on board with the idea of doing this providing we could deliver it before Christmas, and we said ‘yes we can’. And then we had a separate meeting and we said ‘Can we do this?’” said Butt with a chuckle. “It was a pretty short turnaround, but we were able to do it, and it came together better than we could have ever hoped, and the response has been better than we could have ever hoped.”
Butt said that one of the primary concerns in making the movie was to not in any way damage the love fans have for the television series.
“In terms of character and tone, and all the things people liked about Corner Gas, that’s all there. That’s one of the things that we are proudest of. We wanted to make sure that we delivered, but for fans of the show, we didn’t want to ruin it for them. And so, our greatest feedback is people coming up and saying that they were scared about Corner Gas becoming a movie and wrecking everything they like about it, but it’s just like the show, only more so,” explained Butt.
As for his performance at Meaford Hall on January 12, Butt says that people can expect “a guy on stage talking and trying to be funny”.
“Prior to Corner Gas, I basically made a living exclusively doing stand-up for 15 years. I’ve been a stand-up comic since the late ‘80s,” said Butt. “That’s still my favourite thing to do. So whenever I’m not in production on something, I try and get out and string some shows together. You’re going to see a guy doing what he loves to do.”
Butt’s comedy tends to be conversational in its delivery and slice of life in its content, a combination that appeals to many.
He was named Best Male Stand-Up in Canada at the 2001 Canadian Comedy Awards and was subsequently selected to represent his country on the World Comedy Tour in Australia. He followed that by hosting the Just For Laughs Asian Tour in Singapore. In 2007, he, along with his Corner Gas co-stars, took home the Gemini for best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series. In 2008, Butt was honoured to join the ranks of Bob Newhart, John Cleese, John Candy and others when he received the Comedy Network’s Sir Peter Ustinov Award at the World Television Festival in Banff.
Tickets to the Brent Butt Meaford Hall performance on January 12 at 8 pm are $45 each. Purchase tickets through the Meaford Hall box office in person at 12 Nelson Street, by phone at 1.877.538.0463, or online at meafordhall.ca.
