M’CHIGEENG—The M’Chigeeng arena was a hive of activity on Saturday, August 26 as the CBC crew behind CBC’s ‘Still Standing,’ hosted by comedian and actor Jonny Harris scrambled to put the last touches in place before filming started in front of a 400-strong live studio audience. The front rows of the audience were filled with M’Chigeeng community members who were ushered into the arena by community liaison Debbie Debassige—but there was room for everyone who wanted to see the show.
Attendance was so high that extra chairs were being brought in to accommodate the crowd—and all who attended were happy they came, as evidenced by the complete standing ovation that accompanied the end of filming.
“This is awesome,” said a beaming M’Chigeeng Ogimaa-kwe Linda Debassige as she watched her community members stream into the arena to take their seats.
Preparation for the 45-minutes live show started nearly two months ago, according to show producer Julia Hutchings who is in charge of the initial research for the program.
Asked how the team chose M’Chigeeng, co-producer David Kerr noted that many things come together in choosing a site—and no, darts are not on the radar.
“It’s a funny thing,” he said. “There are a couple of ways it comes together.” He noted that this is the series’ ninth show. “We need to represent the whole span of the country. You only get to go to places in Ontario a couple of times. We have had M’Chigeeng on our radar for a long time but until now it really hadn’t come together.”
“Sometimes it’s an event, like a sinkhole or something that puts a place in the headlines, but here it is a beautiful place, everybody knows it, it has a great story and a great community behind it.”
Once a location is selected, “then Julia goes out and does the research on it,” said Mr. Kerr.
That research begins with a slew of phone calls, making community connections, lining up people to interview and locations to investigate on the ground.
“With M’Chigeeng, I was really lucky to be able to come up for a couple of weeks and get to know people in the community,” said Ms. Hutchings. Those interviews help set up the interactions with show host Jonny Harris and form the foundation of his hilarious monologue that is the highlight of the show.
Both producers come across as engaging personalities, which is undoubtedly a huge asset when putting together a program as up close and personal as ‘Still Standing.’
As taping for the show begins and the audience settles in, one of the show’s writers comes on stage to supply instructions on live audience etiquette. The usual admonitions on cell phones and a request to use the facilities before the main portion of the show begins, of course, but there are some particular to the genre. “Don’t stare into the camera, don’t chew gum (“believe me, it does not look cool on camera”), take your coat off, it’s going to get hot in here,” were a few mentioned. Then came some notes on laughter—it’s okay to be heard, clapping is very much encouraged, but try not to be late to the party.
It was shared that this edition would be the 103rd episode of ‘Still Standing’ and Mr. Harris has received a standing ovation at 102 of the previous shows. More on that later.
A note on when the show will air, “We honestly don’t know, we just produce the show, we are not in charge of airing it.” In truth, the instructor was as entertaining as the featured comedians, although he doesn’t seem to be in the aired versions. Not terribly surprising, as the 45-odd minutes of the show get whittled down to around 22 minutes of airtime in the editing room.
Mr. Kerr shared that this is the closest the taping has come to the airing of the programs. “COVID really mixed things up a bit,” he said. The show will be in this coming season’s offerings, so stay tuned. In fact, viewers are advised to simply set their dials to CBC and “leave it there until you see someone you recognize.” The date of the show’s airing will be well publicized in this newspaper and its website.
The first of the three comedians on deck was Fraser Young. Mr. Young won the prestigious Tim Sims Encouragement Fund that is awarded to the best up and coming comic in Toronto that shows a creative and fresh approach to comedy. The laughter began to build.
Next on deck was Aisha Brown, a Canadian stand-up comedian most noted for her 2020 comedy special ‘Aisha Brown: The First Black Woman Ever,’ that scored her the first Crave Original comedy special ever taped by a Black Canadian comedian. That special received three Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, including Best Variety or Entertainment Special and Best Writing in a Variety or Sketch Comedy Program or Series. Ms. Brown also received a second nomination in the latter category as a member of the writing team for This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
Third up was Graham Chittenden who hails from Brantford and is lauded as “a brilliant standup comedian and television writer best known for his writing on the series ‘Still Standing’.” Coincidence? We think not. He, along with three writers, captured the Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing in a Factual Program or Series for their work on the show.
All three comedians seem to have come from the Jack Benny school of comedy. Younger readers should probably consult the Google, but to save time, Mr. Benny was known for his self-deprecating humour. There was nary a nasty jib, jab or joke, in any of their performances.
Then there was the headliner, a certain Jonny Harris. Now Mr. Harris is well known as an actor as well as a comedian—his awards are many and varied. Born in Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, Mr. Harris retains just a wee lilt of the East Coast in his speech.
His awards are many and varied, ranging from the Writers Guild of Canada, Canadian Screen Writing Awards, Canadian Comedy Awards and Gemini nominations—but while you probably know him best as Constable George Crabtree on CBC’s crime-drama Murdoch Mysteries, you have undoubtedly laughed at his antics on CBC’s ‘Madly Off in All Directions’ or ‘The Debaters,’ or Mary Walsh’s ‘Hatching, Matching and Dispatching.’ He’s a seriously funny guy.
But Mr. Harris’s dedication to his craft was evident in his grasp of Anishinabemowin names and places. He obviously put considerable effort into getting the pronunciation right, and that says a lot about his respect for his audience.
Mr. Harris’s performance soon had the audience well ensconced within the palm of his hand. His animated performance ranged from the slightly irreverent to the mildly risqué (“we know our audience”), but he is also clearly of the aforementioned Jack Benny school of comedy.
It is no surprise that the audience rose in thunderous applause at the end of the taping of ‘Still Standing’—that was, after all, somewhat foreshadowed at the start, but for all of that, there was no mistaking the sincerity of the accolades and they were well-deserved.
The Expositor recommends tuning into CBC’s ‘Still Standing.’ As a program that explores the wonders of small-town Canada, it embodies almost everything that is good about this country and offers an opportunity to learn about the nation from coast to coast to coast—but with no apology—just plenty of clean, honest laughs.
