The Frantics is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

troupe consisting of

Paul Chato Paul Chato is a Canadian comedian and writer, the president of a web design company, and a former television executive. He was born in 1954 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Hungarian parents. Chato grew up in the first planned community in North A ...

, Rick Green,

Dan Redican Dan Redican (born 1956 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, '' The Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage ...

and

Peter Wildman Peter Wildman (born December 29, 1954) is a Canadian actor, voice actor, musician, writer and member of the Frantics comedy troupe. He appeared as Buzz Sherwood on ''The Red Green Show'', and voiced Mojo in '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' and M ...

. The group formed in 1979. In 1981, they were given a weekly radio slot on the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

show ''

Variety Tonight ''Variety Tonight'' was a CBC Radio show which aired from 1980 until 1984 at 8-10 PM. Variety Tonight was a nightly series featuring jazz and pop music as well as trivia games, book and movie reviews and interviews. The show was hosted by David ...

'', then hosted by

Vicki Gabereau Vicki Gabereau (born May 31, 1946) is a Canadian radio and television personality, best known for her longtime association with CBC Radio and her television talk show which aired on CTV from 1997 to 2005. Biography Vicki Frances Filion was born ...

. In the summer of 1982 they were the summer replacement for the

Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...

. They got their own permanent time slot in the fall of 1983. Between 1981 and 1984, their show, ''Frantic Times'', ran for 113 episodes. Each episode regularly featured a female "special guest": in the earlier episodes this was Carolyn Scott, while later it was

Mag Ruffman Margaret "Mag" Ruffman (born 28 February 1957) is a Canadian comedian, actress and television host. She has played roles in films such as '' Anne of Green Gables'' and ''Anne of Avonlea'' and TV series '' Road to Avonlea''. She was reunited wit ...

. Sound effects formed an important part of the show and were generally provided by Cathy Perry, longtime CBC sound technician and later a producer at CBC. The album '' Frantic Times'' was released in 1984 and collected the best sketches and songs from the radio show. In 2003,

Deep Shag Records Deep Shag Records is an American record label started in 2000 by Michael Reed. The label is known for the ''On the Road With Ellison'' series of releases by Harlan Ellison and for re-issuing rare 1980's modern rock, new wave, comedy, and spoken ...

reissued the album with a new cover and three previously unreleased selections. In 1984, the troupe was a feature act with a number of sketches in the

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...

, ''The No Name Show'' for

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, which was not picked up for a series. In 1986, the troupe moved to television, producing a CBC series called ''

Four on the Floor ''Four on the Floor'' is a 1999 compilation album consisting of songs by bands on Panic Button Records. It features four tracks by four of the labels bands, Screeching Weasel, Moral Crux A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is c ...

'', which lasted only one season of thirteen episodes. A couple of short radio series followed, including ''Fran of the Fundy'' (a three-part spoof of '' Anne of Green Gables'') in 1987, and the eight-part ''The Frantics Look at History'' in 1988. The Frantics were noted for off-the-wall humour, with some skits and novelty songs reminiscent of ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 19 ...

'' and '' Monty Python’s Flying Circus''. They satirized everything from suicide hotlines to current ads to

Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. First published in 1910, the series totals more than 100 volumes. The character was ...

science fiction. They were particularly known for the recurring character Mr. Canoehead, a crime fighter with a full-sized aluminum canoe welded to his head by lightning (battle cry: "Taste gunwale!"), and for the catch phrase “Boot to the head!” which is also the title of their most famous sketch. Some of The Frantics’ radio sketches were also aired in the

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on the ''

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

'' show, as were later Canadian comedy acts such as

The Arrogant Worms The Arrogant Worms are a Canadian musical comedy trio founded in 1991 that parodies many musical genres. They are well known for their humorous on-stage banter in addition to their music. The members since 1995 are Trevor Strong (vocals), Mike McC ...

and

The Vestibules The Vestibules, formerly known as Radio Free Vestibule, is a Canadian comedy troupe composed of Terence Bowman, Paul Paré, and Bernard Deniger."Fringe trio moves mainstream - with elbows". ''Montreal Gazette'', April 19, 1990. Career Based in Mon ...

. In 2004 the troupe re-formed, returning to stage with a mix of new and old material, which was released on CD in the form of the ''Official Bootleg CD: Live at the Tim Sims Playhouse''. Following the success of their ''Older But Wider'' stage tour in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, The Frantics filmed a comedy special for the Canadian

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octob ...

/ CTV in 2005 entitled ''The Frantics Reunion Special'', which aired on January 28, 2006. They also appeared at the 2005

Winnipeg Comedy Festival The Winnipeg Comedy Festival is an annual comedy festival, held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Created by the Osborne Village Cultural Centre in collaboration with CBC Radio, performances from the festival are also broadcast as a radio series on CBC Radio ...

, which was broadcast on the '' CBC Festival of Funny'' radio show. That marked their first ever on-air reunion since 1988. They also appeared in the gala of the festival, which aired on CBC television in March 2006. Recent engagements include live performances at the Jane Mallett Theatre in Toronto ( St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts) featuring a mix of new and revived material. On December 7, 2009, the troupe staged a "one-night only" 30th anniversary performance at which they released their new CD '' Frantic Noises''.''The Toronto Sun'', December 7, 2009, by Jim Slotek,
The Frantics celebrate 30 years - with a 15 year intermission
After a fundraiser on Indiegogo ending November 2016, a "Best of Frantic Times" has been set up, mostly excerpting pieces from the CBC radio show, but with occasional pieces of more recent material, publishing what is to be 30 episodes.

Discography

* '' Frantic Times'' (1984, re-issued 2003) * '' Boot to the Head'' (1987) * '' Official Bootleg CD—Live at the Tim Sims Playhouse'' (2004) * '' Enemies of Reason'' (2006) * '' Frantic Noises'' (available 2009 with a printed copyright date 2010)

References

External links

The Frantics
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Frantics, The 1979 establishments in Ontario 1981 radio programme debuts 1984 radio programme endings 1984 in Canadian television Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian comedy musical groups Sketch comedy troupes Attic Records (Canada) artists CBC Radio One programs Canadian comedy troupes Canadian radio sketch shows Surreal comedy radio series Satirical radio programmes Canadian satirists Canadian surrealist artists Surrealist groups