A-list comedian to entertain at Morinville

If you’ve ever met comedian Lorne Elliott in person, or seen his photo, the first thing that hits you is his frizzy, flyaway hair. The way it shoots off his head looking like he stuck a finger in an electric socket and electrocuted himself.

No, he’s not a demented science professor working on a secret experiment. Elliott is one of Canada’s A-list comedians, a polished storyteller that has parlayed his gift of the gab onto television, radio and the stage as well as intimate clubs and major comedy festivals.

The former host of CBC radio’s Madly Off in All Directions, Elliott has carefully honed his craft for more than three odd decades.

With a career that began in Newfoundland bars and spanned across a network of comedy clubs in both Canada and the United States, the Montreal-based humourist will entertain fans at the Morinville Community Cultural Centre on Friday.

Part of the show includes The Upside of the Downturn, a flip routine on the economic crisis.

“I work from there and I try to find the upside,” he quips.

Elliott was raised in Hudson, Que., an Anglophone enclave about 35 miles west of Montreal. He attended Hudson High and was just one grade below Jack Layton.

While Layton was running for school president, “I was just being an idiot,” recalls Elliott.

His father was a neurosurgeon and his brother a geologist. Submerged in science, he opted to study marine biology at Memorial University in Newfoundland.

But as luck would have it, Elliott discovered the art of humour working as a folk singer in nearby pubs playing guitar, banjo and fiddle.

“When a string would break, I would tell a joke. I saw that the audience listened and I started writing jokes. It was a natural progression from there.”

He took a year off studies and never went back. Instead he spent time learning the art of storytelling from a myriad of “kitchen comedians” – local wits who captivated audiences with homegrown anecdotes.

“They know a lot about comedy. They use language extremely well. They will never get on the stage, but at home, nobody can beat them.”

Having experienced the lyrical humour first-hand, Elliott believes the witticisms are a survival mechanism.

“Everybody knows somebody who has lost someone. It’s a way to survive. You have to learn to laugh and there’s a real genius in individual wit.”

Using the Newfoundland model of humour, Elliott doesn’t try to do much analysis. He just attempts to get an idea across.

In fact, he still remembers a stand-up show he did in Golden, B.C., more than 20 years ago. The reviewer commented that he looked like he was reading his jokes. The comments struck him so fiercely, he set about reworking the material.

“Today I use the jazz aesthetic. It doesn’t have to be perfect. But it has to be alive. It sounds self-indulgent, but it’s not.”

Discovering humour is not something that tires him, especially since situations spring up daily and at unexpected moments.

“There’s a lot to make fun of. If everything in life were perfect, I’d be out of work.”