Lawrence brings his Terry Cahill character and friend to Union Hall on Sunday.
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Think of the upcoming comedy show at Union Hall as the next chapter in the MC-Fu — the ever-expanding FUBAR cinematic universe — in live improv form.
Featuring eternal headbanger Terry Cahill, freewheeling former Fort Mac waitress Trish and Terry’s cousin Shank (Dave Lawrence, Terra Hazelton and North Darling respectively), FUBAR Live is an innovative mix of pre-planned plot hooks with suggestions and on-stage participation from the audience, plus plenty of music and gift giveaways.
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“If you want to have fun, just lower your expectations,” Lawrence, 47, jokes on the phone on the way to the ski hill.
“We improvise a lot of games, and we get the audience involved where they might be the neighbours to Terry and Trish, have a few shotguns with them,” Lawrence explains, summoning the primary method Terry and Deaner got wasted in the original 2001 indie cult classic filmed in Calgary — a movie with surprising heart as it follows the latter’s denial of, then head-on confrontation with, testicular cancer.
Just to get the elephant out of the room, Paul Spence’s Dean Murdoch is not part of this performance, as, after two movies and the eight-episode Viceland TV series FUBAR Age of Computer, he and Lawrence parted ways.
“Basically,” Lawrence explains, “he sold his interest in the FUBAR IP in 2019.
“I’m trying to do it delicately, but basically there was a threshold where I’m in a comedic duo with someone who doesn’t have the same priorities.
“But he retained his character,” says Lawrence, “and he’s actually exploring his indigeneity and made a film called Deaner ’89 with the Indigenous Screen Office, kind of taking the character in a different direction.”
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This time-travel feature will also co-star Kids in the Hall’s Kevin McDonald and Mad TV’s Will Sasso.
That MCU joke at the beginning of this story was aimed directly at the fact Terry Cahill has meanwhile appeared in every episode of the new Trailer Park Boys: Jail series, where he and Ricky are cellmates.
You almost expect Bob and Doug McKenzie to wander into the yard in the cavalcade of legendary Canadian dingdongs.
“I don’t know if the stupid bar got raised or lowered,” Lawrence laughs.
“It was unique because they write most of their dialogue, and I improvise a lot. So it was a challenge because they have such a strong, triangle-like dynamic, and it was my worst fear that I would screw that up.
“And also, just trying to blend into their world because, you know, the fans really are there for them.
“But they rolled me into some really wild stuff and I just dived in.”
On top of this, TNT FUBAR currently runs on Trailer Park Boys’ online SwearNet.com, with a new season coming out soon.
“The premise of that show is Terry and Trish are trying to get custody of their kid Deano back, just so they can get the child tax credit,” Lawrence laughs.
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“With Shanks,” who first appeared Age of Computer, “we’re going banger family.”
OK, if you’re still following all these paths, it’s time to talk about the wider MC-Fu multiverse — namely a little Toronto-filmed Netflix series called, ahem, Fubar — starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Lawrence says he didn’t want to share his franchise’s name and have the Internet searches messed. “But then my lawyer’s like, ‘Dave, Skydance and Netflix are worth $8-billion — do you have lots of extra houses and boats?’ And he suggested that instead of trying to fight them, that I negotiate with them. And so we have a co-existence agreement.
“But I had no choice,” Lawrence stresses. “I tried to say no, but my lawyer said they would have just buried me in legal, so now he’s going to be buying me ten speeds for the rest of my life, basically.”
Back to the OG FUBAR, one of its best characters was reluctant party machine Tron, played by Calgary actor and musician Andrew Sparacino — who died in Nanaimo last April.
“It was quite upsetting,” says Lawrence. “He struggled with addiction for so long.
“Even now I’m listening to some of his recordings. When he went into rehab he said he’d only go if I got him an eight-track recorder and some instruments.
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“Probably as talented guy as I’ve ever met.
“He was known for Tron, but he really was a wordsmith, his vocabulary and lexicon were incredible, a real gift for poetry and rapping.”
All these random highs and lows wheel us back to Sunday’s chaotic FUBAR Live, currently touring western Canada, which gets back to the roots of where FUBAR originated.
“My training sort of started in the Theatresports realm where we would do competitive improv,” Lawrence says of Calgary’s Loose Moose Theatre in the ’90s. “After a few years of it some friends of mine were like, ‘What if our Theatresports team were just headbangers?’ and we tried to stay in character the whole time.
“Headbangers doing drama is pretty funny, because they’re not good at it,” Lawrence laughs.
“They’re kind of jam-packed with pride,” he says of the cultural species he’s been riffing off for almost a quarter century. “Even if they’re totally wrong, they’re quite clever and will scurry out of situations.
“Let’s say they don’t have a driver’s licence,” he suggests, “they’ll talk about how fast they are on the ten-speed, and how they don’t even want a car.
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“If a banger can’t drive,” Lawrence laughs, “he’ll really convince himself he doesn’t want to.”
The two of us share our metal heroes — he’s an AC/DC and Maiden lifer — and if that particular subset of humans is disappearing, replaced by millions of new ways to self-identify.
“I think they’ve thinned out,” says Lawrence. “But even with Stranger Things and Metallica making a big comeback, you see kids rocking the T-shirts.
“And if you follow the bands, they’re still around.
“And you know,” he says, there’s still 18-year-old roofers and painters, discovering drugs and trying to avoid jobs.
“Some of them are a little less classic look with the jean jacket and leather, but the attitude is still there.”
fgriwkowsky@postmedia.com
@fisheyefoto
PREVIEW
FUBAR Live Just Give’r Western Canada Tour
Where Union Hall
When 7 p.m. Sunday
Tickets $33.35 or $18.20 two for one at unionhall.ca
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