A Tracey and Martina Christmas
It’s not like the ones you used to know
GLACE BAY — It's the 12 days of Christmas as only Cape Breton's favourite dynamic duo Tracy and Martina can do it: 12 single cigs, 11 double doubles, 10 trays of squares, 9 combo pizzas …
If you want to know the rest of the tune, you'll have to check out their Facebook page, https://www.facebook. com/TracyAndMartina in the countdown to their comedy special, “Tracy & Martina's Cape Breton Christmas.” It's coming up on Saturday at 8 p.m. on www.Swearnet. com, the online network run by the Trailer Park Boys and which runs such classic shows as “Guitar Lessons With Bubbles” and “Trailer Park Cats.” “Tracy & Martina's Cape Breton Christmas” will be available through pay-perview or if you can afford it, through a $4.20 monthly subscription to the network.
“Come see what a Cape Breton Christmas is all about,” said Justine Williamson, also known as Tracy, who, along with Greg Vardy, makes up the glamourous twosome.
“It's going to be a riproaring time,” adds Vardy or Martina.
Williamson is from Glace Bay and along with friends, including her comedic partner Vardy, formed a YouTube sketch comedy group, The Magic Ranch back in 2014 when she was attending Cape Breton University. It wasn't long before they became a hit with their parodies of local culture. Since then, they've also written for CBC Television for such shows as "22 Minutes" and have done some memorable work like the three-episode “Tracey and Martina's Staycation” series on Facebook that was produced for Destination Cape Breton.
In addition to Tracy and Martina, Saturday's one-hour special will also feature appearances from Bette MacDonald, Maynard Morrison and Ed MacDonald as well as music from Heather Rankin, Jordan Musycsyn, Colin Grant, Ed MacDonald, Emma Stevens and others. The show is about Tracy and Martina holding a Christmas party but you might want to think twice before showing it to younger or sensitive viewers, said Williamson.
“Would you show Tracy and Martina videos to your children?” Williamson asks. “Probably not. I remember when I was younger watching Rita MacNeil's Christmas specials. It's like an hour special, it's essentially the same kind of format but ours is a lot rougher around the edges."
“It's not for the whole family — it's PG13,” adds Vardy. “We're not at Rita's Tearoom here.”
The end-goal for both Williamson and Vardy is an eventual television show, which Vardy says has been written but needs to be picked up. They're currently working on a book which should be published next fall by Nimbus. In the meantime, they remain involved in producing YouTube videos, the shows, videos and appearances which have been cut short by COVID.
“It's a happy accident that the Christmas show came out in 2020 because at the time when we were writing it we had no idea that there was a pandemic on the way,” said Williamson. “It kind of worked in our favour so normally we have Christmas shows every year and this year that can't happen obviously so people will be able to watch it from the comfort of their living room.”
In addition to the show on the 12th, the duo will host a Facebook Live pre-party at 7:30 p.m. and an after-show party around 9 p.m. where they will answer questions and host some special guests.
“There's magic, there's musical guests, there's drama, everything,” said Vardy.
“Everything that you can expect and a little bit more.”