Royal Canadian Air Farce always has a live feel to it. But tonight actually marks the first live TV show the comedy troupe ever has done.
It also is the 300th TV show for Air Farce, so there's plenty to celebrate, and also possibly to get nervous about.
"It's funny how unpredictable it is," said veteran cast member Roger Abbott when asked if he is beyond getting scared. "Sometimes I'll just be cocky as all get-out. And then other times, without any warning, my entire body is trembling -- until the first laugh."
Ah yes, the first laugh. It's like a stiff drink for any comedian.
"We're like dogs with cookies," Abbott said. "We want to do that first trick to get the cookie. Then we're immediately gluttons, and we want to do another trick and get another cookie.
"It doesn't say much about the intelligence of comedy performers."
Be that as it may, Abbott and his Air Farce castmates -- fellow radio holdovers Luba Goy and Don Ferguson, and relative newcomers Jessica Holmes, Craig Lauzon, Alan Park and Penelope Corrin -- have been smart enough to keep their show as current as possible through the years.
"It's not like we're doing the same characters we were doing 14 years ago," Abbott said. "Can you imagine any show doing that? It just wouldn't last. There would be press releases every week about so-and-so leaving the cast to pursue other interests."
Abbott was asked if, overall, Air Farce's 300th episode feels more like the 30,000th or the 30th.
"It never feels like 30,000, I have to say. Often it really does feel like 30. Our topicality makes time go by really fast."
Abbott warned that with the live broadcast tonight, there are sure to be moments when the cast members crack each other up. And Abbott is okay with that, as long as it doesn't happen in every sketch.
"We have become fairly disciplined in our TV days after being amazingly undisciplined in our radio days," Abbott said. "Part of the sport was to make each other laugh.
"My hunch is it's inevitable (tonight), but we certainly aren't going to plant anything. Knowing how we work, we won't have to."
Guest stars for tonight's live Air Farce episode include Don Cherry, Ron MacLean, Carlo Rota, Frew Ewanuick and Mary Walsh.
Error flagged: In a column we wrote earlier this week about the innovative documentary Vimy Ridge: Heaven to Hell (which aired on History Television), we made a technical error that was spotted by e-mailer Greg Benton. When we said the maple leaf was not on the Canadian flag in 1917, we were referring to the main focal point of the flag, obviously. But as Mr. Benton correctly points out, there actually were several small maple leaves on the Canadian Red Ensign, which soldiers carried into battle at Vimy. We regret the error. No disrespect intended.
On the TV: NBC's Saturday Night Live got its highest ratings in almost a year with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning serving as host last weekend. Considering the appeal of ex-NFLers like Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice on Dancing with the Stars, it simply is more proof that Americans will tune into anything if it has even the slightest connection to football. So, how long will it be before some desperate network puts O.J. Simpson back on the tube?
Irritating ad of the week: Our prize goes to that beer commercial in which a twerpy guy asks if Canadians know anything about beer, which causes widespread public turmoil as he gets tied up and transported out of the country. The people who really should be deported are the ones who thought of this flat-lining concept.
