Frantics (comedy)
Encyclopedia
The Frantics is a Canadian
comedy
troupe consisting of Paul Chato
, Rick Green
, Dan Redican
and Peter Wildman
.
The group formed in 1979. In 1981, they were given a weekly radio slot on the CBC Radio
show Variety Tonight
, then hosted by Vicki Gabereau
. In the summer of 1982 they were the summer replacement for the Royal Canadian Air Farce
. They got their own permanent time slot in the fall of 1983. Between 1981 and 1984, their show, Frantic Times, ran for 113 episodes. Each episode regularly featured a female "special guest": in the earlier episodes this was Carolyn Scott, while later it was Mag Ruffman
. Sound effects formed an important part of the show and were generally provided by Cathy Perry, longtime CBC
sound technician and later a producer at CBC.
The album Frantic Times was released in 1984 and collected the best sketches and songs from the radio show. In 2003, Deep Shag Records
reissued the album with a new cover and three previously unreleased selections.
In 1984, the troupe was a feature act with a number of sketches in the television pilot
, The No Name Show for TVOntario
, which was not picked up for a series. In 1986, the troupe moved to television, producing a CBC series called Four on the Floor
, which lasted only one season of thirteen episodes.
A couple of short radio series followed, including Fran of the Fundy (a three-part spoof of Anne of Green Gables
) in 1987, and the eight-part The Frantics Look at History in 1988.
The Frantics were noted for off-the-wall humour, with some skits and novelty songs reminiscent of The Goon Show
and Monty Python’s Flying Circus
. They satirized everything from suicide hotlines to current ads to Tom Swift
science fiction. They were particularly known for the recurring character Mr. Canoehead, a crime fighter with a full-sized aluminum canoe welded to his head by lightning (battle cry: "Taste gunwale!"), and for the catch phrase “Boot to the head!” which is also the title of their most famous song.
Some of The Frantics’ radio sketches were also aired in the United States
on the Dr. Demento
show, as were later Canadian comedy acts such as The Arrogant Worms
and The Vestibules
.
In 2004 the troupe re-formed, returning to stage with a mix of new and old material, which was released on CD in the form of the Official Bootleg CD: Live at the Tim Sims Playhouse. Following the success of their Older But Wider stage tour in Ontario
, The Frantics filmed a comedy special for the Canadian The Comedy Network
/CTV
in 2005 entitled The Frantics Reunion Special, which aired on January 28, 2006. They also appeared at the 2005 Winnipeg Comedy Festival
, which was broadcast on the CBC Festival of Funny radio show. That marked their first ever on-air reunion since 1988. They also appeared in the gala of the festival, which aired on CBC television in March 2006.
Recent engagements include live performances at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto (St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
) featuring a mix of new and revived material. On December 7, 2009, the troupe staged a "one-night only" 30th anniversary performance at which they released their new CD Frantic Noises.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
troupe consisting of Paul Chato
Paul Chato
Paul Chato is a comedian and World Wide Web media executive. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1954 to Hungarian parents. Paul grew up in the first planned community in North America, Don Mills...
, Rick Green
Rick Green
Rick Green is a Canadian comedian, satirist, and writer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo. From 1975 until 1979, he worked as a presenter at the Ontario Science Centre. In 1979, he helped found the Toronto-based comedy troupe The Frantics...
, Dan Redican
Dan Redican
Dan Redican is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, The Frantics. As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the Frantic Times radio show, Four on the Floor TV show...
and Peter Wildman
Peter Wildman
Peter Wildman is a Canadian actor, voice actor, musician, writer and member of the Frantics comedy troupe. He voiced Buzz Sherwood on The Red Green Show, Mojo on the X-Men Animated Series and Sergeant Murphy in the series The Busy World of Richard Scarry....
.
The group formed in 1979. In 1981, they were given a weekly radio slot on the CBC Radio
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
show Variety Tonight
Variety Tonight
Variety Tonight was a CBC Radio show which aired from 1980 until 1984 at 8-10 PM. Variety Tonight was a nightly series featuring jazz and pop music as well as trivia games, book and movie reviews and interviews. The show was hosted by David Coles followed by Vicki Gabereau.-External links:*...
, then hosted by Vicki Gabereau
Vicki Gabereau
Vicki Frances Gabereau is a Canadian radio and television personality. Most recently she hosted an eponymously titled afternoon talk show on CTV Television Network, which wrapped up production on April 8, 2005 after 8 seasons...
. In the summer of 1982 they were the summer replacement for the Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
. They got their own permanent time slot in the fall of 1983. Between 1981 and 1984, their show, Frantic Times, ran for 113 episodes. Each episode regularly featured a female "special guest": in the earlier episodes this was Carolyn Scott, while later it was Mag Ruffman
Mag Ruffman
Mag Ruffman is a Canadian comedian, actress and television host.She has played roles in films such as Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea and TV series Road to Avonlea....
. Sound effects formed an important part of the show and were generally provided by Cathy Perry, longtime CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
sound technician and later a producer at CBC.
The album Frantic Times was released in 1984 and collected the best sketches and songs from the radio show. In 2003, Deep Shag Records
Deep Shag Records
Deep Shag Records is an American record company started in 2000 by Michael Reed. They are best known for the On The Road With Ellison series of releases by Harlan Ellison and for re-issuing rare 1980's modern rock, New Wave, comedy, and spoken word albums which were previously unavailable on...
reissued the album with a new cover and three previously unreleased selections.
In 1984, the troupe was a feature act with a number of sketches in the television pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, The No Name Show for TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
, which was not picked up for a series. In 1986, the troupe moved to television, producing a CBC series called Four on the Floor
Four on the Floor
Four on the Floor was a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television in 1986. Consisting of only 13 episodes, the series was a showcase for The Frantics, a comedy troupe consisting of Paul Chato, Rick Green, Dan Redican and Peter Wildman...
, which lasted only one season of thirteen episodes.
A couple of short radio series followed, including Fran of the Fundy (a three-part spoof of Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables is a bestselling novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery published in 1908. Set in 1878, it was written as fiction for readers of all ages, but in recent decades has been considered a children's book...
) in 1987, and the eight-part The Frantics Look at History in 1988.
The Frantics were noted for off-the-wall humour, with some skits and novelty songs reminiscent of The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
and Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
. They satirized everything from suicide hotlines to current ads to Tom Swift
Tom Swift
Tom Swift is the name of the central character in five series of books, first appearing in 1910, totaling over 100 volumes, of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention and technology. The character was created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of...
science fiction. They were particularly known for the recurring character Mr. Canoehead, a crime fighter with a full-sized aluminum canoe welded to his head by lightning (battle cry: "Taste gunwale!"), and for the catch phrase “Boot to the head!” which is also the title of their most famous song.
Some of The Frantics’ radio sketches were also aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on the Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
show, as were later Canadian comedy acts such as The Arrogant Worms
The Arrogant Worms
The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music.-History:...
and The Vestibules
The Vestibules
The Vestibules is a Canadian surrealist comedy troupe composed of Terence Bowman, Paul Pare, and Bernard Deniger....
.
In 2004 the troupe re-formed, returning to stage with a mix of new and old material, which was released on CD in the form of the Official Bootleg CD: Live at the Tim Sims Playhouse. Following the success of their Older But Wider stage tour in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, The Frantics filmed a comedy special for the Canadian The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network
The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....
/CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
in 2005 entitled The Frantics Reunion Special, which aired on January 28, 2006. They also appeared at the 2005 Winnipeg Comedy Festival
Winnipeg Comedy Festival
The Winnipeg Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival, held in Winnipeg, Manitoba.Created by the Osborne Village Cultural Centre in collaboration with CBC Radio, performances from the festival are also broadcast as a radio series on CBC Radio One and as a television series on The Comedy...
, which was broadcast on the CBC Festival of Funny radio show. That marked their first ever on-air reunion since 1988. They also appeared in the gala of the festival, which aired on CBC television in March 2006.
Recent engagements include live performances at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto (St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
St. Lawrence Market
St. Lawrence Market is one of two major markets in Toronto, the other being Kensington Market.It features two buildings, both on the west side of Front St. East and Jarvis St. Each building holds different purposes:...
) featuring a mix of new and revived material. On December 7, 2009, the troupe staged a "one-night only" 30th anniversary performance at which they released their new CD Frantic Noises.
Discography
- Frantic TimesFrantic Times (album)Frantic Times is a Canadian comedy album, performed by The Frantics comedy troupe. The original LP was released in 1984, and was reissued as a CD with additional tracks by Deep Shag Records in 2003. The album is wholly made up of sketches and songs that appeared on their CBC radio show Frantic Times...
(1984, re-issued 2003) - Boot to the HeadBoot to the HeadBoot to the Head is a Canadian comedy album, performed by The Frantics comedy troupe. Originally released as an LP in 1987, it was re-issued with the same track listing as a CD in 1996. The album features a number of skits from their radio show Frantic Times, as well as a few sketches that could...
(1987) - Official Bootleg CD—Live at the Tim Sims PlayhouseOfficial Bootleg CDOfficial Bootleg CD - Live at the Tim Sims Theatre is a Canadian comedy album, performed by The Frantics comedy troupe. It contains largely new material , used in their "Older But Wider" tour in 2004...
(2004) - Enemies of ReasonEnemies of ReasonEnemies of Reason is a Canadian comedy album, performed by The Frantics comedy troupe. The sketches were recorded live in front of an audience at Toronto's Yuk Yuks venue on November 20, 2005...
(2006) - Frantic Noises (available 2009 with a printed copyright date 2010)