‘Still Standing’ wrestles with Reston

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This article was published 29/10/2016 (3444 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RESTON — A funny man wasn’t about to riff on Reston and leave without a few bruises.

Comedian Jonny Harris had a wounded chest, left red, after being on the wrong end of a professional wrestler’s chest chop.

“It was like getting slapped in the chest so hard you came off your feet — by a large, muscular man,” Harris said Thursday.

It was all in fun, of course, even if the sting of hometown wrestler Tommy Lee Curtis’ strike took Harris aback.

The comedian, actor and host is in Reston to film his CBC show “Still Standing,” which revels in the quirks of small Canadian towns while commiserating over the challenges keeping these communities alive.

The joint comedy /documentary program seeks survivor stories from coast-to-coast.

“The big thing when I started this show was that by episode seven or eight, (I thought) we’re going to be rehashing the same joke, it’s going to be repetitive. We’re now, I don’t know, 35 episodes in and that’s not really the case,” explained Harris, who plays Constable Crabtree on another CBC hit, “Murdoch Mysteries.”

“This is my first time getting suplexed since this show started, so there’s always unique things in every town,” he said of the manoeuvre after being slammed onto his back.

Reston caught the attention of the show’s producers with its bargain-priced plot of land, which costs $10.

“There’s all kinds of jokes you can write,” Harris explained. “It’s great for the town, it’s great for the new family that moves in, the only guy it sucks for is the real estate agent who gets about $1.75 in commission.

“Or, the price is so low it makes people suspicious. People are out there looking at the lot, saying, ‘What did you do to it, hey?’”

But the show’s crew found there is more to Reston than quirky real estate. They learned how the elements recently tormented the community, such as freak floods — that required a dike to mitigate — and baseball-sized hail.

CBC found this community “on the ropes,” but the show comes at these struggles compassionately, which is one reason the show, now in its third season, has proven successful.

Director Sebastian Cluer was around for the pilot episode in 2012. He hopes each episode demonstrates why rural communities are great places to live.

“I say to the crew that a million people have photographed the Eiffel Tower but we’re the first people to professionally document a town with such thoroughness,” he said.

“Still Standing” has taken a liking to Westman, filming past shows in Manitou, Pilot Mound and this month in Gilbert Plains. Season 3 airs next summer.

The crew has been in Reston since Wednesday, interviewing people like a couple who moved their flood-prone home to a $10 plot and a group of ladies getting together to crack jokes and drink spirits.

Harris will produce a stand-up set based on what he learned over five days, which will be presented Sunday night at Reston Memorial Theatre. Segments of his set will be interspersed through the episode.

Among the 550 calling Reston home is wrestler Tommy Lee Curtis, who goes by Curt Campbell outside the ring. He fights on the Canadian Wrestling’s Elite circuit.

During the visit, Campbell got in character as Curtis and showed “Hot Shot Harris” a few moves on the mat after the comedian took a few shots at Reston.

Campbell is flattered to be on the show, performing in the same gym where his classmates didn’t imagine this tall, lanky fellow grappling for a living.

“When I graduated here, they announced when I was walking down that I would become a professional wrestler and everybody laughed at me,” Campbell said. “Now I’m filming a show for CBC.”

The 29-year-old moved back to Reston two years ago to help on the family farm, while wrestling on the weekends.

He lives in an apartment with his girlfriend and five-month-old daughter, and may eventually upgrade to a house on a $10 lot.

“It’s nice to start a family here in a small town rather than a big city.”

Doors open at Reston Memorial Theatre Sunday at 6 p.m. for the comedy show, which includes Harris’ stand-up set and jokes performed by show writers. Overflow seating is at the RES Centre.

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