Touring Ron James eager to ‘lighten the load’

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This article was published 16/11/2022 (1146 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Veteran standup comedian Ron James is gearing up for a new series of shows across the Prairies, with Brandon’s Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium listed as the second stop on his “Back Where I Belong” tour.

While James hasn’t performed in the Wheat City since 2017, the 64-year-old entertainer told the Sun he’s looking forward to making his grand return this Friday.

“Brandon always comes out large for me, and it’s a beautiful theatre,” he said over the phone Tuesday.

“I just have to watch that I don’t drift into reverie and speed on my way up there. The Mountie gave me a break last time.”

In terms of Friday’s show, James said it will consist of around 80 per cent new material, with some classic bits mixed in for longtime fans.

Coming up with new material isn’t as difficult as it once was, he said, since his fast-talking, observational humour is tailor-made for the non-stop chaos that has emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were just on this roller-coaster ride through a dystopian netherworld in the grip of a pathogen for two years, where we would have sold our souls for a hug or a frickin’ haircut,” he said.

“By the time I went to the barber after five months of not getting a trim, he spent more time with the scissors on my ears than he did my head.”

While James can approach this heavy subject matter with a dose of levity, he admitted that the pandemic has had a serious impact on his career and the livelihood of his fellow comedians, since in-person shows were prohibited in the early months of the pandemic due public health restrictions.

But James still managed to stay productive during that time, streaming live comedy specials from his home and even penning his first book, titled “All Over the Map: Rambles and Ruminations from the Canadian Road.”

It wasn’t until the book was released last fall that James finally decided to get back on the road himself, organizing a string of scattershot shows across the country that reunited him with this lifelong passion.

“I feel fully formed up there and it takes a long time to be comfortable in your own skin on that stage,” he said. “But you remember those nights when you did kill, when you did thread the needle, when all the pieces you worked on landed the way they should, and that keeps you going.”

Of course, James’ four-decade-long career in the entertainment industry has taken various forms.

Not only has he worked as an actor in television and film, but he’s also well-versed in the art of sketch comedy, having cut his teeth with Toronto’s famous Second City troupe alongside luminaries like Catherine O’Hara and Mike Myers.

Although James hasn’t left that aspect of the industry behind, he said he feels the most at home telling jokes on stage in front of a hot crowd.

“Because the vagaries of show business are so mercurial,” he said. “When I was an actor, you would work for a week and then you wouldn’t work for another month and a half. I couldn’t do that. I felt like I was wasting my life.”

Since returning to the stage around a year ago, James is pleased to discover that Canadian audiences are still just as passionate for the art form as he is, especially when it’s used to help them process traumatic events like the pandemic through the “language of laughs.”

So for his upcoming tour, which includes 16 shows over three weeks, James doesn’t plan on shying away from that kind of subject matter, although he’s always aiming to supply people with a healthy dose of escapism as well.

“I want people leaving the theatre feeling lighter than when they walked in,” he said. “I don’t think it’s my job to add another brick to their back. It’s my job as a comedian to lighten the load on the life journey and carry the knapsack for two hours for them.”

Moving into the new year, James doesn’t plan on slowing down.

In addition to his standup shows, James is also busy putting the finishing touches on a new TV series that was filmed in his home province of Nova Scotia.

And while the world continues to be an unpredictable place, the one constant in James’ life is his creative drive and his love for standup comedy, which isn’t going away any time soon.

“I will continue to create until they put the pennies on my eyes, because that’s what stokes my mojo and drives the lifeforce.”

James is scheduled to perform a two-hour show at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

As of Tuesday evening, tickets were still available for purchase through wmca.ca.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

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