Waterloo Region Record

‘I chose comedy over making cinnamon buns’

Comedian Pat Thornton is a classic Canadian underdog who doesn’t take himself too seriously

- JOEL RUBINOFF Waterloo Region Record

I figured there had to be a story, but comedian Pat Thornton seems almost apologetic when I ask how he managed to get himself kicked out of the Humber School of Comedy back when he was a struggling young nobody.

“It was this weird thing where we were filming a comedy show and needed the audience to sign a release form and one of my teachers was there and nobody had signed it,” confides the 41-year-old stand up/writer/actor.

He sighs. “I was brought into the office. It wasn’t even a Humber show.”

Wait, that’s the anecdote? I figured it was something good, like Bluto in “Animal House” running around drunk in a toga during the Dean’s reception.

“I was also fired from a Subway and a Cinnabon,” he tells me, upping the ante slightly.

Now we’re getting somewhere. What happened?

“At Subway, I accepted a fake $100 bill and forgot to look at it under the ultraviole­t light.”

Go on.

“At Cinnabon, I got let go because I refused a schedule that conflicted with a class I was taking at Second City.”

No offence, but this is the most boring anecdote I ever heard.

“It’s relevant to my career,” he points out sheepishly. “I chose comedy over making cinnamon buns.”

He has another story about Cinnabon that involves “repetitive dreams of being at work and rolling out dough and cutting it.

“I kept waking up in the morning feeling like I had worked for eight hours — and then I had to go to work for eight hours.”

At this point, I have to admit I’m finding this lovable sad sack — the classic Canadian underdog who doesn’t take himself too seriously — more amusing than 90 per cent of the high-profile windbags who conduct interviews as if they’re being grilled by the FBI, terrified they might accidental­ly reveal a coveted punchline that could cannibaliz­e their stage show.

Thornton — who has been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards and appeared in half a doz-

en Canadian sitcoms you never heard of — is just himself, an ordinary schlub whose low key wit sidles up when you least expect it.

“I’m near whoever is at the top,” he responds when I ask which famous comedian he would compare himself to.

“There’s no way to win at the ‘who are you like?’ game, but for fun let’s say I’m like a slacker male version of Ellen (DeGeneres) with a few drops of Larry David and one shake of Garry Shandling.”

I was going to say Rodney Dangerfiel­d with a touch of Bob and Doug McKenzie.

“I think I’m very funny,” he continues without missing a beat. “You really shouldn’t be doing comedy if you don’t think that way.”

His greatest claim to fame, ironically, is a recent indie flick that cast him as a crack-smoking, scotch-swilling, AK-47 carrying mayor — modelled after Toronto’s Rob Ford — who becomes embroiled in political scandal.

Like many Canadian films, it seemed destined for the dumper until it caught the attention of the late mayor’s brother, Doug Ford, the man who may become the next premier of Ontario.

“Doug has never seen the movie, as far as I know,” laughs Thornton with a thin trace of pride.

“But he got riled up about it and went on CP24 and threatened to kill us,” Thornton said.

“Usually when you make a Canadian movie it’s hard to get press, but because Doug got mad about it, we just got this explosion. It was just crazy, but it was good for the movie.

Incensed by the film’s tag line — “The crime rate is high. So is the mayor” — Ford Nation came after Thornton with guns blazing.

“People were telling me on Twitter it was so insulting to Rob Ford,” laughs the film’s writer/star, referring to his portrayal of a roly-poly politician bent on selfdestru­ction.

“And then, in the same breath, they would tell me I should die because I’m a fat pig!”

Despite the hype, the end result was, alas, the same as most Canadian indies: instead of a widespread theatrical run, it was released as a web series on YouTube.

“Canada is strange,” admits the Mississaug­a-born comic, who bears such indignitie­s with pride.

“It’s just touch and go. Unless you’re on a show that goes for five or 10 seasons, fame is a hard thing to hold on to. There’s so little happening.”

Having said this, there are moments when he believes, however fleetingly, that his moment is at hand.

“Last week someone approached me on the street and said ‘I love your work, Pat Thornton!’

“My wife said “That’s top level fame for Canada — they learned your name!”

 ?? SUBMITTED PHOTO ?? Pat Thornton is an ordinary schlub whose low key wit sidles up when you least expect it.
SUBMITTED PHOTO Pat Thornton is an ordinary schlub whose low key wit sidles up when you least expect it.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada