The Great Canadian Character Anthology: A Compendium of the Country's Zaniest Personalities

Beverly Rasporich is a professor in the Faculty of Communication and
Culture at the University of Calgary. She is the author of Dance of the
Sexes: Art and Gender in the Fiction of Alice Munro and Magic Off Main:
The Art of Esther Warkov.

The invention of comic character is a high art. The likes of Shakespeare’s Falstaff, Charlie Chaplin’s “little man,” John Belushi’s and Dan Akroyd’s twinned personae register sublime humour. The key to the success of such comic characterization is that each comic figure is a fantasy, a playful creation outside the boundaries of reality and therefore apart from the often pathetic and sorry exigencies of everyday life. Unfortunately, this book as a compendium of the country’s zaniest personalities never really flies as humor because its characters are not happy inventions, but a dozen real Canadian personalities grounded in daily living. How can one really be amused, for example, by Frank Cebuliak (introduced under the cute title “He Works Bankers’ Hours and That’s Gospel”) who faithfully stands on an Edmonton corner from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. never varying his ten-word cry: “May I offer you a testimony of what Jesus did?” (p.58)? There is no imaginative comic leap to be taken with this character — no joy in his eccentricity; instead, this reader worries about the man’s mental health and physical survival in the cold Edmonton winter.

On the level of gossipy journalistic biography The Great Canadian Character Anthology may appeal to some readers. Those who enjoy chronicles of unforgettable characters in The Reader’s Digest will most likely appreciate the anecdotal style detailing the lives of the sometimes rich and relatively famous in Canada. Steve Mandel, brother of Hollywood comic Howie Mandel, is here, as are “The Bad Boy and The Crazy Lady,” Mel and Marilyn Lastman, rich owners of the Bad Boy appliance chain. Other people in this text include somewhat predictable choices: eccentric artists, a fringe politician, a fighting hockey player, a feisty daughter of the Empire, an odd-ball entrepreneur — and, of course, several mad ethnics, including The Great Antonio, a strong man with an apparently Tarzan-like vocabulary (“Me angry. Me destroy the whole world.” p.90), and a penchant for Sophia Loren. Apparently, in Hollywood fashion, there is also more to come. A sequel, a second volume, is in the planning stages and the editors are “openly soliciting” suggestions for real people to be included in The Great Canadian Character Anthology II.