MANITOWANING—Things became all shook up as Ojibwe Elvis, aka comedian and entertainer Gerry The Big Bear Barrett, stepped into the light with his glittering Vegas-style suit and strapped on a guitar.
Mr. Barrett, who is a member of the Saugeen First Nation but lives in Winnipeg, was on hand to provide entertainment to the Waasa Naabin Youth Centre Youth/Elders Christmas Gala held December 8 at the Rainbow Ridge Golf Course—taking to centre stage following a full course turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
Waasa Naabin Youth Centre Director Lawrence Enosse got the festivities started by welcoming the elders and youth to the gala before introducing the entertainer to the audience and providing a little background to his career.
The Expositor sat down to dinner with Mr. Barrett and had the opportunity to chat before the entertainer donned his onstage persona.
“I started out at open mics in the comedy clubs,” said Mr. Barrett. “Eventually, I worked on my routines and started to get more and more gigs.”
Mr. Barrett may be familiar to television viewers as The Big Bear on The Comedy Network, APTN or CBC television. In 2004 he made television history by performing North America’s first all aboriginal stand-up comedy special, CBC’s Welcome to Turtle Island. His comedy credits include performances at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood in 2004, where he showcased for the NBC network. He has his own television special on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network called The Big Bear Comedy Show, and makes appearances on First Nations communities across Canada and the US as well as an appearance at The Winnipeg Comedy Festival that was shown across Canada on CBC-TV.
One of the highlights of his recent career was a command performance at US President Barak Obama’s inaugural ball, where he shared the stage with the likes of Crystal Shawanda. “Don’t get excited, she isn’t here,” he quipped to her hometown fans during his performance.
“It’s great to see the elders and the youth getting together for an event like this,” said Wikwemikong band member and elder Rosemary Wakegijig.
During dinner, Mr. Barrett said that he has been very fortunate in his career, having enjoyed the mentorship of comedians such as Ron James and Brent Butt. “Ron James was really very supportive,” he said. “He is quite the history buff.” Mr. Barrett recalled watching Mr. Butt spending every spare moment between performances writing feverishly. “I thought wow, he is really dedicated,” he said. “Later, I learned that what he was working on was the pilot for Corner Gas.”
Mr. Barrett noted the challenge presented in crafting a performance with such a wide range of listeners, but once he took to the stage it was clear he was up to that challenge, having several decades of experience writing comedy for diverse audiences.
The appearance of Ojibwe Elvis at the mid-point of Mr. Barrett’s act was a definite hit, particularly with the elders. The Elvis bit actually came about by accident, recalled the comedian. “I had this Elvis wig in my props and I just popped it on during the performance and the crowd went wild,” he said. That presented a bit of a problem. “I didn’t do any Elvis back then,” he laughed. He quickly realized he was on to something great and added songs by the King of Rock and Roll to his repertoire and picked up an “expensive flashy Elvis suit in Vegas.”
Mr. Barrett went on to perform at Elvis conventions across the continent and Ojibwe Elvis became a central part of his onstage persona.
Following the dinner and performance, Santa made an appearance and the jolly old elf’s fans were able to have a picture taken with him at a photo booth downstairs.
