The Trailer Park Boys has been a international phenomenon, and the series continues with different live shows and tours. Randy and Mr. Lahey will be at Rayzr's Pub on April 14. Actor John Dunsworth, who plays Mr. Lahey on stage and screen, recently spoke with The News Review.
The tours have taken Dunsworth and the rest of the cast around the world, and the shows shift depending on who is available. He says that the show is bawdy, and the show is quite scatological and very irreverent.
"The show involves usually two 45-minute acts where we do stand-up, have contests, sing songs and involve the audience in all manner of foolishness,"
The live Trailer Park Boys performances started a few years ago, after an Edmonton comedy club asked cast members if they could try a live show.
"We got a standing ovation and thought wow, this looks like a nice way to have some fun. So in between our other things we tour three or four times a year," Dunsworth explains.
The success of the show and the characters is something he says he didn't expect from the outset, but that it's expanded from a small show in Canada to a world-wide hit.
"There are more Trailer Park fans than there were last week. It's spreading all over the world, believe it or not, we get requests from everywhere to go. I think there's probably a couple thousand new fans every week. It's like a virus," Dunsworth says.
While the fanbase is always expanding, he explains that the series itself started from very modest beginning.
"The first time I did the show we did the show I didn't get paid... It was called One Last Shot, it wasn't called Trailer Park. Then they did the first Trailer Park, it was black and white, and there was no budget, and we did it because it was fun to do. Then Barrie Dunn who plays Ray on the show said we should go pitch that to a network. So they went to Toronto and pitched to three networks who said it wasn't funny. Then on a whim they called Showcase, had a meeting with them that night and by 12:00 the next day had a six picture deal."
While he's been part of the series for over a decade, he admits he still can't completely figure out what has made it such a phenomenon.
"Every time we go on the road we're amazed that the young kids that watched it when they were 12 years old are now 20 and still fans and still watching it. It's amazing, I can't explain what the phenomenon is, I don't understand why it's so popular. It has something to do with Canadiana, it has something to with it being original, it doesn't copy anything. Mike Clattenburg is a brilliant director, and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is," Dunsworth says.
He says that it was a fun show to make, but emphasizes that it was because the shoot was professional, and it was only after the scripted material was finished that the cast got a chance to improvise.
"A lot of stuff is made up on the spot, and a lot of it doesn't make the final cut, but it was funny at the time and we laugh our nickels off."
Touring with the character is part of what Dunsworth likes about being an actor, he says, as every role, and every experience is different. He notes that he's currently working on a science fiction series called Haven, as well as working on different films and live theater, and he enjoys all of the different roles he can, as well as teaching and working on personal projects.
"I like to keep busy, that's how I keep my ADD satisfied," Dunsworth says.
More than anything, being a working actor is something which Dunsworth feels eternally grateful for, since it's a difficult job to get.
"I feel so fortunate to work in this industry. I've worked with so many people with so much talent who don't find gainful employment here, some of them change over and become writers, some of them do other things. I'm so incredibly lucky... Bringing joy and laughter to people is probably the best vocation in the world," Dunsworth says.
Randy and Mr. Lahey of the Trailer Park Boys will be at Rayzr's Pub on April 14. Tickets for the 19 plus event are $20 in advance or $25 on the day of the show, but there are under 80 left. Tickets are available at Booster Juice, Rolling Zone or Rayzrs. It is the rescheduled St. Paddy's Day show, and previously purchased tickets are valid.
