Air Farce Radio Memories
Apr. 18th, 2012 08:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dogriverA recent mini-discussion on Twitter awakened a whole host of memories for me, and I have felt the need to share them. They concern the Royal Canadian Air Farce, a Canadian comedy team that has, in many ways, shaped my own sense of humor.
It was a Wednesday in 1979. My dad and I were watching TV, and we came across this program by some group calling themselves the Air Force. I thought. Then I realized it was Air Farce, and I was confused, not being familiar with the word farce.
But even to this nine-year-old kid, these people were funny. Very funny. And so when I heard, at the end of the TV broadcast, "Catch more Air Farce on the radio, ..." I knew I had to check them out.
I found out that they were on Saturdays at 10:35 on CBC Stereo, now CBC Radio 2. I tried to listen. But living some 70 miles outside of the city, no radio to which I had access could pick up the FM signal.
I then found out that they were on Sundays on CBC Radio, now CBC Radio 1. Bingo. That station I could get. Thinking the show must be on at the same time, I put an extra-long tape into the deck and started recording just before I left for church. News, news, and more news is what I got. Not fair.
I then found out that Air Farce was actually on Sunday afternoons at 1:05. Perfect. I could listen. And listen I did. And so began a love for Air Farce that has never died.
Over the next eighteen years, I listened to practically all of the radio shows, at least 99% of them. I would tape the shows if necessary, shoot, I'd tape the shows if not necessary. If only I knew where those tapes were, if only I still had something to play them on. I did whatever it took. More than one time, when I wasn't at home, I connected my little transistor radio's headphone jack (yes, there was a time before Walkmans) to the tape recorder I'd brought along, and recorded that way. I was hooked. I loved the Air Farce!
Once we got a decent antenna attached to the stereo, I was finally able to enjoy the shows Saturday morning with the increased fidelity of that band. I also realized very quickly the wizardry that had gone into the sound effects. Though taped in front of a live audience, the effects were of the highest quality, and in stereo! I continued to listen, I continued to record. I drove my family nuts by insisting that they listen to the latest episode of the Farce on a tape with me as we drove into town. Surely they'd find it as funny as I did.
I enjoyed moments of hilarity that you could never do on television. In 1980, I listened as Joe Clarke, who had just been dethroned as prime minister by Pierre Trudeau in real life, was celebrating "Be Kind to Joe Clarke Day", but got himself stuck in a time machine and sent back through time. Before the episode was over, he almost got eaten by primitive cave men ("He who talk like dumb-dumb, always tastey yum-yum"), met Julius Caesar on the day of his assassination ("Oh yes, your salad is terrific. Julius Sallad!"), and gave an inspiring pep talk to Sir John A. MacDonald on the day of Confederation, to which Sir John replied, "All right, forget the bloody thing!" By the end of the episode, pretty much all of Parliament got ensnared in the time machine, the Canadian economy improved, and the annual postal workers strike had been cancelled. Oh yes, another great line: "In the news, a shipment of ill-fitting drain plugs ended the Nanaimo Bathtub Race in disaster today."
In another episode, Shakespeare's Hamlet was performed, including commercials. Horatio advised Hamlet, upon meeting with his father's ghost, to not forget to take the American Express card ("Don't leave the castle without it!"); Ophelia was feeling just great in her "Wonderful, wonderful Wonder-Bra-ah-ah"; the battle between Hamlet and his stepfather was over whether or not Certs was a candy mint or a breath mint.
Yet another time, a plane got stranded in mid air when the pilot and co-pilot raced each other for the plane's washroom and got themselves stuck. A drunken pilot, played by Dave Broadfoot, had to be dropped into the plane "Geromanoooooooo!") to bring it down safely.
Still another time, a group of terrorists hijacked the Air Farce program. "Ladies and gentlemen, Air Farce has been irreversibly altered. Like a dog at the vet." Air Farce was saved by the Irish Rovers, who terrorized even the terrorists.
Then in 1987, a dream come true. Air Farce was to tape two episodes in Winnipeg, and my dad bought me tickets! The highlight was a hilarious History of Manitoba. Air Farce would tape several more shows in Winnipeg over the next few years, and I was in the audience each time. When they taped a TV show in Brandon, I was there for that, too.
Air Farce lasted on the radio through over 600 episodes, up until 1997. They were funny on television, but to me, it will always be their radio work which I will remember. Someday, somehow, I hope I can relive these memories again. The tapes I recorded so meticulously and with so much attention to audio quality are gone. They're not on in reruns. It's been years since I've heard them on the radio. Sadly, two cast members are no longer with us.
I doubt that any of the remaining cast members will ever see this, but if they do, I just want to say thank you. Thanks so much for the memories I've just shared here, plus so very many more.Big Bobby Clobber, Sergeant Renfrew, Hector Baggley (was that Baggley or the Benificent Army for the Greater Good and Liberation of East Yemen?), Professor Wombat, a host of remarkably-impersonated politicians, these characters and so many others will be in my memory forever. Thank you.
It was a Wednesday in 1979. My dad and I were watching TV, and we came across this program by some group calling themselves the Air Force. I thought. Then I realized it was Air Farce, and I was confused, not being familiar with the word farce.
But even to this nine-year-old kid, these people were funny. Very funny. And so when I heard, at the end of the TV broadcast, "Catch more Air Farce on the radio, ..." I knew I had to check them out.
I found out that they were on Saturdays at 10:35 on CBC Stereo, now CBC Radio 2. I tried to listen. But living some 70 miles outside of the city, no radio to which I had access could pick up the FM signal.
I then found out that they were on Sundays on CBC Radio, now CBC Radio 1. Bingo. That station I could get. Thinking the show must be on at the same time, I put an extra-long tape into the deck and started recording just before I left for church. News, news, and more news is what I got. Not fair.
I then found out that Air Farce was actually on Sunday afternoons at 1:05. Perfect. I could listen. And listen I did. And so began a love for Air Farce that has never died.
Over the next eighteen years, I listened to practically all of the radio shows, at least 99% of them. I would tape the shows if necessary, shoot, I'd tape the shows if not necessary. If only I knew where those tapes were, if only I still had something to play them on. I did whatever it took. More than one time, when I wasn't at home, I connected my little transistor radio's headphone jack (yes, there was a time before Walkmans) to the tape recorder I'd brought along, and recorded that way. I was hooked. I loved the Air Farce!
Once we got a decent antenna attached to the stereo, I was finally able to enjoy the shows Saturday morning with the increased fidelity of that band. I also realized very quickly the wizardry that had gone into the sound effects. Though taped in front of a live audience, the effects were of the highest quality, and in stereo! I continued to listen, I continued to record. I drove my family nuts by insisting that they listen to the latest episode of the Farce on a tape with me as we drove into town. Surely they'd find it as funny as I did.
I enjoyed moments of hilarity that you could never do on television. In 1980, I listened as Joe Clarke, who had just been dethroned as prime minister by Pierre Trudeau in real life, was celebrating "Be Kind to Joe Clarke Day", but got himself stuck in a time machine and sent back through time. Before the episode was over, he almost got eaten by primitive cave men ("He who talk like dumb-dumb, always tastey yum-yum"), met Julius Caesar on the day of his assassination ("Oh yes, your salad is terrific. Julius Sallad!"), and gave an inspiring pep talk to Sir John A. MacDonald on the day of Confederation, to which Sir John replied, "All right, forget the bloody thing!" By the end of the episode, pretty much all of Parliament got ensnared in the time machine, the Canadian economy improved, and the annual postal workers strike had been cancelled. Oh yes, another great line: "In the news, a shipment of ill-fitting drain plugs ended the Nanaimo Bathtub Race in disaster today."
In another episode, Shakespeare's Hamlet was performed, including commercials. Horatio advised Hamlet, upon meeting with his father's ghost, to not forget to take the American Express card ("Don't leave the castle without it!"); Ophelia was feeling just great in her "Wonderful, wonderful Wonder-Bra-ah-ah"; the battle between Hamlet and his stepfather was over whether or not Certs was a candy mint or a breath mint.
Yet another time, a plane got stranded in mid air when the pilot and co-pilot raced each other for the plane's washroom and got themselves stuck. A drunken pilot, played by Dave Broadfoot, had to be dropped into the plane "Geromanoooooooo!") to bring it down safely.
Still another time, a group of terrorists hijacked the Air Farce program. "Ladies and gentlemen, Air Farce has been irreversibly altered. Like a dog at the vet." Air Farce was saved by the Irish Rovers, who terrorized even the terrorists.
Then in 1987, a dream come true. Air Farce was to tape two episodes in Winnipeg, and my dad bought me tickets! The highlight was a hilarious History of Manitoba. Air Farce would tape several more shows in Winnipeg over the next few years, and I was in the audience each time. When they taped a TV show in Brandon, I was there for that, too.
Air Farce lasted on the radio through over 600 episodes, up until 1997. They were funny on television, but to me, it will always be their radio work which I will remember. Someday, somehow, I hope I can relive these memories again. The tapes I recorded so meticulously and with so much attention to audio quality are gone. They're not on in reruns. It's been years since I've heard them on the radio. Sadly, two cast members are no longer with us.
I doubt that any of the remaining cast members will ever see this, but if they do, I just want to say thank you. Thanks so much for the memories I've just shared here, plus so very many more.Big Bobby Clobber, Sergeant Renfrew, Hector Baggley (was that Baggley or the Benificent Army for the Greater Good and Liberation of East Yemen?), Professor Wombat, a host of remarkably-impersonated politicians, these characters and so many others will be in my memory forever. Thank you.
