Our Raving Fans

Fan review of our Oct. 20, 2006 show at the CentrePoint Theatre in Ottawa. 800 rockin’ great people. What a blast. Thank you Ottawa.

On 21-Oct-06, at 5:10 PM, JOHN BOWEN wrote:

Dear The Frantics,

I’m sure you get a lot of emails so I will summarize:

1) FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY
2) 5 years ago I emailed Paul Chato, he said I was “obviously special”
3) I dragged my wife to Bala Ontario on my honeymoon because of your skit.
4) Got divorced.
5) “Bala brings back a lot of painful memories”
6) Thank you for doing the Bala skit!!!
7) Funny, funny, FUNNY!

John Bowen
Ottawa.

We asked John if there was a gap between items 3 and 4.
Fan reviews of our latest ‘Still a Disappointment to Their Parents’ show in Toronto.

“…. Growing up, I had two great radio loves; OTR re-runs on CHUM-FM and The Frantics legendary comedy show on CBC. It meant that, although they were created 50 years apart, I met Mr. Canoehead and Todd Booster at the same time as The Shadow and The Green Hornet… Which made it even more of a trip to see the reunited Frantics in their excellent new live show this past week in Toronto. A screamingly funny evening for fans old or new… if you get a chance to see these guys live, Do Not Miss It. Visit their site and buy their great new live CD.”

Gregg Taylor
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“I laughed, I cried, I peed while laughing. Dont miss the next show.”

Ed Chien
Investment Advisor
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“I was lucky enough to take in the Frantics new live show at the St. Lawrence Centre on Friday night (Still a Disappointment to Their Parents). I have looked forward to seeing the Frantics live for 20 year and was I was not disappointed in the least. I thought they did an excellent job selecting the material there was a great mix of material from their career:

– Recent live CD Enemies of Reason – notable skits include Earth Raper and Pauls Ode to a Sex life however I would have loved to see Dans Ode to his body,
– Boot to the head” updated Bill from Bala and Piece of Pie It was fun to see how they changed and updated those skits. Bill skit was extended in the early stages to include a great bit where the audience squirmed waiting to see if the Vancouver Traveler asks Bill what BASM means. The kind of comedy that can only can be appreciated live the audience shares his quandary.
– “4 on the floor” with Mr. Interesting and Mr. CanoeHead. They brought many pieces together for an award ceremony with Mr. CanoeHead.
– and some new stuff (to me) that I found to be extremely relevant – new skits that couldnt have been done 20 years ago

As always the Frantics were part high culture, part pop culture, part political, part gross-out and part raunchy they showed that they still have what it takes to write new material that makes us laugh after all those years and still have the respect of revisiting some loved classics.

Thanks for the new memories and jogging the old ones.

Congrats hopefully the Frantics are back for the long haul!”

Peter Gilbert
Director, IT Planning
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“During my teen years, I’d been a CBC comedy trekkie, so I’d attended every Frantics taping from 1984 until “Growing Up and Having Babies” and “The Frantics Look at History”. I’d taped the show off the radio and TV, and memorized way too much material. As I sat watching the show at the St. Lawrence Centre, I had the truly unsettling experience of having songs and sketches I’d not even thought about for 15 years, come back to me, word-for-word. And the Frantics themselves were funnier than ever. They still had that wonderful silliness they’d had in the ’80s, along with the polish and wisdom they’d acquired since then.

After opening with “The Roots Song”, they went into a new “Boot to the Head” sketch, with lots of great physical comedy. (You just can’t go wrong knocking people over with a well-aimed Kodiak boot.) And the evening just flew by after that. Besides the old classics like “Bill from Bala”, “Heaven Is For Presbyterians”, Paul’s “Mime Magician” routine, “Mimico” and “A Piece of Pie”, there were lots of new sketches and songs that had been developed and polished during the “new material” shows of the past couple of years. There were even some “stupid human tricks” and some very barbed satire.

For me, the funniest sketches were the “GO Train” sketch and “A Piece of Pie”. I won’t reveal their content, because they depend on the element of surprise. The former made me laugh so hard, my contact lenses flipped inside out. The latter did the same…so my vision was back to normal by the end of the show. There was also a wonderfully incongruous sketch about a dishwasher repairman making a service call to the home of a Viking family that declaims everything as though in some grand theatrical epic. This sketch was educational for me, because it showed me what to use for the bra of that Wagnerian Diva costume I’m planning to make.

The grand finale of the evening was a new sketch, bringing back Mr. Canoehead and his nemesis, the Evil Ultramind (who had an old Apple Macintosh housing for a head). They faced off at a Canadian awards show—complete with unknown celebrities, and song-&-dance routines. Pure silliness, with a nice nostalgia-blast. Could a 1980s CBC comedy trekkie ask for more?”

Patte Rosebank (the former “MuMu Bunnylips”)
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“A Frantics show never disappoints, and the recent St. Lawrence Centre show was no exception.

Though I didnt grow up watching them through the Seventies and Eighties like most of the audience here tonight, I have come to love each and every member over the last three years. Each performer brings their own strengths to the stage and what a rare treat to find four people who so finely compliment one anothers talents. Even more ridiculous is that they have been together for about twenty years and still make one another laugh. Its like the best marriage in the world.

There is no sketch that I loved more than the other, but I did like the fast pace they employed by having one sketch finish and another start right away on another part of the stage. This kaleidoscope effect is something I would like to see implemented in some of their other stage work.

You may not know this, but Peter, Rick, Paul and Dan are just as funny off stage as on. They are not those kinds of comedians who are funny offstage and then when you see them at the bar later, all they want to talk about is the philosophy of war. Oh no, these boys can rock the house! They are engaging and vivacious and so smart like math professors, only fun! Just kidding.

A show with The Frantics is a guaranteed good time and when in life do you have a guarantee for anything?

Thanks for a wonderful show, fellas. I cant wait for the next one!”

Stephanie Dickison
Journalist/Non-Fiction Writer
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The show was entertaining, highly energetic, intelligent, sometimes raunchy, political, Canadian, funny, and definitely not a disappointment! >From the first number, about purchases from Roots, to the last involving “Canada’s Greatest Aluminum Crime fighter”, the Frantics had impeccable timing, perfect facial expressions and well polished delivery.

The show included some old material, but the majority was new. Even though I had seen/or heard a few of the skits before, I laughed as hard as those that were seeing it for the first time. One of my favourite skits involved Peter, talking to his daughter on the phone, as he was traveling on public transit. As the conversation progresses it becomes apparent that she is experiencing her first period. Rick, Dan and Paul are sitting there, much to their chagrin, overhearing this conversation. The pained expressions on their faces were priceless!

As we were walking to our car, Ken (who is now a fan) and I were discussing the show, when out of the back door of the theatre came Dan, followed by Peter and Paul. They were very kind and listened to me as I went on about how great the show was, how I was a huge fan, etc. Dan left to meet his children, but Peter and Paul walked with us, and agreed to pose for a couple of pictures! They are very generous gentlemen. They thanked us for coming!

If you get a chance, go see The Frantics live! You will have a thoroughly entertaining time. You will laugh out loud, until your cheeks hurt!

Thank you Rick, Peter, Dan and Paul for the years of entertainment you have brought, and for the many more to come!

Sincerely,

Julia Ablarde, RN, BA, BNSc., MSc.
Professor, School of Health Sciences and Human Studies
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Here’s a review of our ‘Frantics Reunion Special’ from ‘Josh’ from one of them fan blogs out there on the Internet thingy. Thanks Josh.