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GLEN FOSTER - September 5, 2001
GUY MACPHERSON: So how's the lobbying going?
GLEN FOSTER: (laughs) Well, it continues to build,
although I have not heard word one from 22 Minutes.
GM: How did this get started?
GF: The background to it is I did this special called
"That Canadian Guy." And in the special, I do a joke
about my website, which is thatcanadianguy.com, the
joke being that you're not going to remember me
anyway. Tomorrow you'll go, "Oh, that Canadian guy, he
was funny," you won't remember any names. So it's sort
of a joke but sort of serious. And you wouldn't
believe the number of e-mails after that show aired.
It was incredible. I mean, on the first airing, there
were close to a thousand e-mails.
GM: To who?
GF: To me! At thatcanadianguy.com. So I got so much
e-mail from people saying, "I couldn't remember your
name, but I remembered thatcanadianguy." So it seems
to be working. Anyway, so a few weeks ago, I guess,
someone sent me an e-mail that said, "You know, Rick
Mercer's leaving. Why don't you try and get his job?"
I hadn't really lobbied for it or anything to that
point. But what I did was, I have this bulletin board
set up and I sent out a quick little e-mail to people
saying a few people had asked me if a wanted Rick
Mercer's job and it's not my decision but... What I
was looking for really was a way to have something
that would get the attention of the producers without
actually giving people their e-mail addresses and
being a nuisance, really, you know? So what I came up
with was this idea that people could post -- if they
wanted to, of course -- and I was really surprised at
the response. It must be well over a hundred posts by
now.
GM: I read them all.
GF: There you go. And what surprised me, too, is that
some of them are from kids, and adults, and older
people. Quite a range, really.
GM: Do you forward them on to the producers?
GF: I have let them know about the web page and they
have the tapes and I haven't heard a word.
GM: Is that typical CBC?
GF: I don't really know. I don't know what's typical,
you know?
GM: You are serious about this?
GF: Oh, yes! I think I'd be great for the job. In many
respects, I've done the job before. I do a lot of
political material. When I was working on the Ralph
Benmurgi show a few years back, I actually did a
couple of the opening newscasts. And also I had sort
of an Andy Rooney-like thing at W-5 a few seasons ago.
GM: How long did that go?
GF: That was about a half a season, I think. What had
happened there was they decided that they were gonna
revamp W-5 and make it more of an American-style Hard
Copy-type thing and put some more lighter elements
into it than they had in the past. And when the new
producers took over at the end of the season, they
said, "Nope, we're going back to the old format." So
out I went. I didn't do all of them. There were, I
think, about 18 episodes that year and there were four
or five people that did these humorous commentaries,
and I was one of them. But I got the most. I got about
eight or 12 out of the 20, so I had the lion's share
of it, as it were.
GM: Is 22 Minutes holding auditions that you know of?
GF: Yeah, they are. That's what I found through the
grapevines after having sent my tape a long time ago
-- for various reasons. I wasn't specifically
auditioning for them. They've had my tape for some
time, long before even Rick Mercer decided to leave.
Because I was interested also in possibly writing for
them or whatever, you know? But yes, they have
definitely had auditions. In fact, I spoke very
briefly to the casting person. I think it's Tina
Gerussi -- I don't know if that name's connected --
and basically they said, yeah, we're already in
call-back stage. I had heard that a few people had had
auditions, and not me. I can't say for sure, but the
National Post says it could be that I'm perceived as a
bit of a right-winger and they are, I think, pretty
left wing.
GM: How right wing are you? What are your politics?
GF: Well, I like to think I'm a little more central
than right. But I'm not a bleeding heart liberal,
that's for sure. I'd be the antithesis of bleeding
heart liberal. A little left of right, I like to
think. Or a little right of centre.
GM: If elected, what do you promise?
GF: It's certainly not a job I want, I can tell you
that. No, seriously. Because American president,
that's a cool job: You command the largest army in the
world, you have spy satellites, you can look in on
anyone from a thousand miles out, you can pardon all
your asshole friends and get blown while you're doing
it. That's a good job. Rock stars look at that job and
go, "Aw, shit, I wish I was president." But Canadian
prime minister? That's a horrible job. That's just an
opportunity for Canadians to bitch at you all the
time, you know? "I need a job, lower the taxes, save
the medicare, stop spraying pepper in my eyes."
GM: What do you offer to 22 Minutes?
GF: I think a different, more balanced perspective. A)
being from Toronto and not the east coast, and B)
leaning a little more right than the rest of the crew,
and, of course, my dark, twisted sense of humour.
Certainly I have, and continue to do, a lot of
political material. And certainly my average Canadian
perspective... I do drift into that Canadian guy
character: "What the hell is going on, who's paying
for this, and where's my tax dollars going?" and that
sort of thing. The taxpayer's rant, as it were.
GM: Your accent--
GF: That's a funny thing, too. The number of people
that think I'm from the east coast.
GM: You'd fit right in.
GF: But again, it's not my decision. What more can I
do? I don't know what more I can do. I've sent my
tape, they know who I am. I'll start sending them some
of these articles that are coming out, that's for damn
sure. I'll let them know there's sort of a grassroots
thing going here.
GM: If you don't get it, how disappointed will you be?
GF: Well, I won't be terribly disappointed because the
publicity's been quite good nonetheless, right? But I
mean, I'd love to get it. It's the best show on
Canadian television. Here's a show that reflects
Canadian sensibilities and Canadian politics and so on
and so forth. And the exposure would be great for me.
But the other thing is, if I don't get it, I'm getting
enough publicity that another network -- and there are
a couple national networks now -- might actually say,
"Well, shit, give this guy a job and put him up
against 22 Minutes." It's a great show, but I could
put together a team that could do just as good if not
a better show. You know, I know all the people.
GM: I would think you could do better. I'm not a big
fan of 22 Minutes. But you did get it, I would watch.
Every season I tune in wanting to like it--
GF: In general, it's a good show. It has great
moments. But like any other show, like Saturday Night
Live, like all these other shows, they do have their
moments of drifting off into self-indulgence. And you
know, I have my moments of drifting off into
self-indulgence. But I think overall, it's the best
thing of what it is for Canadian television. The best
of the genre, as it were.
GM: If you get the job, don't YELL YOUR JOKES like
they do. That's my big peeve.
GF: DON'T SAY A PUNCHLINE. HERE'S THE FUNNY PART!
GM: Exactly.
GF: That's the other thing. They come from an acting
background, I come from a standup comedy background,
from a punch-punch-punch-punch-punchline background.
GM: That's certainly the wave in the States, with
shows like The Daily Show.
GF: The Daily Show is brilliant. We need a Daily Show
in Canada. Or a Monthly Show.
GM: If you get the job, will you retire from standup,
or will you fees just go up?
GF: No, it'll be even better for standup. It'll raise
my fee and when I tour, more people will know who I
am. It can't hurt from a standup point of view.
There's no way. Now, I might have to back off a little
on the number of gigs I take, because I'd have to be
out in Halifax for a while. But there's no way it can
possibly hurt. In fact, even not having the job right
now, the publicity has been great.
GM: How would you describe your standup?
GF: Someone once described it as whitebread gone bad.
Another way that I've heard people describe it is, if
you love to hate this country. Some people have said
that I'm allowed to say the things that they could
never say at work or in public or wherever, you know
what I mean? Because I'm making a joke -- I'm making a
point, but I'm making a joke. I'm first trying to make
the joke. I'm not one of these people that is trying
to ram something home. I've seen people do that in
comedy, and it's more preaching than comedy. But it's
comedy first. If it happens to make a point, so much
the better, but you gotta get a laugh, right?
GM: You love to hate the country, but it comes from
love, right?
GF: Exactly. Canada's a great country, but I look
around and I look at what's happening to Canada on so
many levels and it's being trashed. And we could be so
much more.
GM: If you're topical, you've got to be constantly
writing. How often do you change your act?
GF: It is a tough thing to write new material
constantly, but my goal is to hit the stage with at
least a couple new jokes every show. And then
eventually over time, roll them over. But the funny
thing is, it's a weird thing, people come out to see a
show and some of them come out see the show they saw
on television and they want to see some of the jokes
they saw on TV, and some of them want to see new
stuff. So you have to do some of your old stuff and
some of your new stuff to keep everybody happy.
GM: You've got to do what works.
GF: Yeah, you gotta do what works. They want to see
just enough of what they saw to know that it's what
they paid for, and then they want to see some new
stuff, too.
GM: It's like a pop band. They want to hear the hits.
GF: Exactly! They want to hear the hits but then a
little bit extra. There's gotta be a balance, like
everything else.