ENTERT 7, 1984 - North Shore News Wednesday, November AINMENT. NORTH VAN’S DAVE BROADFOOT Air Farce’s comedy colonel DAVE BROADFOOT used to bone up on his comedy routine between customers while working as a salesmen at Woodwards. Now, as the senior and best-known member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce, Broadfoot tries out his routines on sold out audiences from Van- couver to Halifax. By JOANNE MACDONALD On Friday, the award- winning Broadfoot and his amateur theatre group. *‘] was introverted. It took fellow Air Farce cohorts will me a year to work up the be at the Orpheum for a benefit performance with courage to go and see if | could join. | came out of a proceeds going to the Big Brothers of Vancouver. very religious home and they didn’t look too kindly on And, according to Broad- foot, the show will be heavy anything theatrical,’’ Broad- foot said in a telephone in- on local humor. For the likeable comedian, it’s a home-coming of sorts: Broadfoot was born and terview fram his Toronto raised in North Vancouver home. ‘‘J joined it and I was and, except for a slight totally shocked to discover detour into the merchant that [| had the ability to marine at age !6, stayed in make people laugh.”’ the Vancouver area until age He dove headlong into 26. comedy (‘‘Drama gave me It was when he returned no satisfaction at all’’) and from sea at age 20 that he joined two Vancouver com- took his first venture into edy groups as well as the the performing arts and North Vancouver group. joined North Vancouver’s ‘‘L was selling clothing at Community Players, an Woodwards department Hole in one? John Moffat and Wendy Gorling Cath about golf in this scene trom Lamahnous Jheatre production of The Real Lathing People Show playing at the Rast Cultural Centre Monday to briday at Saturdays 6 Op m (two for the price of 9 Wp m_ Tickets and information 254 9578 Vancouver 8 Op m one) and FIRESTARTER WR ams Reve te No Membership, 2 movies $4°° Monday to Thurs pe ae, 2 movies $4°° Friday to Sunday por dey Choose from Never Cry Wolf, cannonball Run tl, Bounty, Firestarter, Friday Final Chapter, and many more my he He Over 1200 titles to choose from ae 984 Vebo N.S. Video Hut 1061 Marine Dr N Vas. store and learning my lines between customers,’’ he said. ‘‘lt occurred to me then that if | wanted to make my living exclusively in comedy, the way to do that would be to have an act."’ One of his first solo per- formances was in North Vancouver where local dent resl- Mark Howard staged DAVE BROADFOOT the musical revue ‘‘Rowboat Folhies."’ Broadfoot followed that with professional ap.- pearances and took Howard's advice and moved to Toronto. He became a professional com- edian in 1952. Broadfoot helped found the Air Farce in 1973 — his Original suggestion for the group’s name was the Beaver Follies — and, in addition to performing with the group, spends about 80 per cent of his year as a solo act. His schedule also includes jaunts to the United States as a ‘‘stand-up comedian, guest speaker, humorist, whatever you want to classify 1t."’ He writes most of his own material (he also receives in- put from writers Rick Otson and Gord Holtam, who also write for the Air Farce) and says several of his most famous characters have resulted from chance en- counters. Take Big Bobby Clobber, hockey plaver extraor- dinaire. Broadfoot says he created the naive athlete after listening to a radio in- terview with a young Gordie Howe. ‘*‘He’s much more ar- eventually NEWS photo Terry Peters Presentation House North Vancouver does Ay VIN ‘Ah vy A Feat mh Pla ym VO deb oan *. rte ” i, 4 tn lp . ThirsSat Nov. 8-10 at 8pm. ' 1 thay (i ( res HESERVE NOW 986 too lculate now,’ Broadtoot “tt allows me to be very says of Howe. ‘“‘Someone declamatory. That 1s the told me the other day, | type of thing that is very et- should listen to Bob — fective because you project O’Billovich, who is the your whole being out to the coach of the Toronto — audience. It’s very explosive Argonauts. He 1s Bobby IUs got a lot of dynamics,’ Clobber. It’s amazing.”’ he says Clobber, he says, is not As tor the content of the meant to be the epitome of rest of his routines, Broad- the dumb jock. foot says he merely keeps ““IUs meant fo be a very abreast of current events hkable, non-malicious pres- “l think what the. dif- entation of a hockey player ference is, when I listen to I know some of them are tn- the news on the radio (and tellectual. But if it wasn’t television), [ listen to what's fairly accurate, tt wouldn't being said very carefully, get the response it does,’ whereas the average person said Broadfoot. ‘‘Renfrew = doesn't (Sgt. Renfrew of the Royal “But you cannot research Canadian Mounted Police) is beyond the awareness ot another character — the your audience,”’ says Broad- RCMP are the biggest fans foot. ‘‘It you start to get in- because Rentrew ts just a cop trying to do a job and 15 not always up tout.” Broadfoot says his per- sonal tavorite is the MP from Kicking Horse Pass, since he can be topical and funny at the same time. cond *" Color T.V. & Stereo Repair Specialists Servicing the North Shore for 30 years House Calls to issues that the audience ts not really familiar with, you won't get much laughter. If you want to inform as you go along, you have to be heavy on the laughs and the information has to be = se- 922-4422 All Makes 980-74 17 Alexander & McLean 1387 Marine Dr. W.V. TRAVELTALE FILM NARRATED IN PERSON BY KATHLEEN DUSEK Presents and the S@tne NORTH VAN CENTENNIAL Wed. 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