Brent Butt says he’s never had a bad audience. At 58, the award-winning comedian, writer, producer and author has been in comedy for over 30 years, and from coast to coast.
“Let’s keep things in perspective here. I’m just a guy telling jokes,” Butt says with a laugh. On Oct. 6, Butt performed a one-night comedy show in Daajing Giids hosted by the Haida Gwaii Arts Council that entertained nearly 100 giddy comedy lovers.
Speaking before the show, Butt was ready for anything.
“I can always go tomorrow to try and turn it around,” he said. “Although, if you’re bombing all around that in itself can be entertaining.”
“This is Brent Butt,” says a polite voice by way of introduction over the telephone in October.
I get starstruck as I fumble with my legal paper, pen, cellphone, and my laptop.
Brent Butt asks for me. My heart quickens. I’m like a mom caught smoking in the backyard.
I drop my laptop on the floor.
“Ohh, that doesn’t sound like that was supposed to happen,” he says with a grin in his voice.
I stammer an answer and hope it was something intelligent like, “That’s what a grand sounds like.”
Metal is blaring in the library office. It is not all quiet on set after all. I speak over the din.
“I’ve had a long first day at my new job,” I say with a sigh.
My long day catches up to me as I sit down to interview the biggest Canadian comedian I’ve spoken to yet. My computer blinks back as I pick it up off the floor.
I imagine I’m in an elevator with him and I only have so much time. I sigh and he kindly shares some valuable advice to bring us back on point.
“You’ve put yourself out there. You’re showing up and learning. Why read the script when you’re going to watch a movie?” he says.
The tiny hairs in my ears stop ringing and my heart drops instead. He understood me. This soft skill, gained by observing countless crowds, sitting through many interviews, and travelling for many hours.
Butt spoke about his humble Saskatchewan roots. He grew up with not a lot of cash but lots of kids and time together.
At age 12, he clicked with his life’s calling. His love of comedy started with many small-town stages and community events.
Asked how to pursue a comedy career on Haida Gwaii, Butt offered some tips.
“I’d volunteer for any public-speaking events,” he said. Anywhere Butt could hold a microphone and speak, he did.
“Try tiny bits here and there,” he said.
“You have obligations to the event but you can try small things, little bits of humour and jokes. Ease into them.”
For people starting out in remote and rural areas, Butt recognizes the value of going online. Today’s new comedians have a greater ability to get themselves out there, even to build an audience.
Butt said he’s entertained all sorts of crowds, including bikers who threw glass bottles at him and some even rowdier cowboy bars.
Crowds aside, there are many highlights in Butt’s career. Being paid cash for his first show was a great high.
Being an opening act, moving to Toronto to pursue a career, headlining a club, and being on Just For Laughs were amazing firsts, too.
“There are always new highlights,” he says.
One life-changing event was the creation and long life of Corner Gas and its spin-offs. Set in the fictional Saskatchewan town of Dog River, Butt’s Canadian sitcom ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. The TV show was followed by an animated series, then a feature film.
Last year, Butt did something totally new and published his first novel: Huge. It’s a darkly comic thriller about a group of stand-up comics on tour.
Butt said he took a whole new approach to writing for the book. He watched YouTube videos on writing and editing, and wrote the whole thing with a pen on legal pads.
“The big takeaway is that it’s different for everyone,” he said about writing fiction. Butt writes something every day, and said to look out for a new novel next year.
In my last few minutes with Brent Butt, he offers encouragement.
“Keep writing,” he says, before channeling Elmore Leonard.
“As long as you get to the end, you’ve done the right thing,” he says, hanging up.Butt’s live shows are even better than Corner Gas reruns, I conclude, but reading his novel is a big treat.