ON STAGE
What: The Alternative Comedy Tour with T.J. Miller, Rhys Darby and Nick Vatterott
Where: McPherson Playhouse
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Tickets: $55.75 through rmts.bc.ca, the Royal McPherson box officeor 250-386-6121
When comic T.J. Miller talks, you can’t be sure if he’s telling the truth. But when it comes to explaining what makes Canadians laugh, he appears to have a solid understanding.
“Canadians, unlike some Angelinos and some New Yorkers, don’t take themselves that seriously,” Miller said recently during a tour stop in Edmonton. “Montrealers do, but for the most part, Canadians are open to being made fun of and like self-effacing humour. There’s a national sensibility here I can get right in line with.”
Though he has yet to stage a cross-Canada tour, the raspy-voiced 36-year-old — who was born in Denver and lives in New York — has worked in several Canadian cities. He shot both Deadpool movies in Vancouver and was in Toronto for his role in the hockey comedy Goon: Last of the Enforcers.
He also has nearly a decade’s worth of experience with Edmonton comedy club The Comic Strip, a key stop for comics in West Edmonton Mall.
“I’ve been working in West Edmonton Mall for almost the entire time I’ve been doing standup, because the Bronsons, who own it, are practically family. They were some of the first people to really believe in me as a headliner.”
Miller — who is better known for his work in the Deadpool franchise and HBO comedy Silicon Valley than his standup comedy these days — is back in Canada as a headliner for The Alternative Comedy Tour. Miller is joined by Rhys Darby and Nick Vatterott for the Just For Laughs showcase, two comedians with similarly expressive and absurdist styles. None of the three is what you would call predictable, hence, the tour title. But it’s clear Miller is the true wild card.
Miller prefers to call himself a loose cannon. “Rather than an unhinged madman, I’m a slightly hinged lunatic,” he said.
To him, his role on the tour is “to distract, to entertain, to remind people that life can be silly and funny.” He’ll have his chances with two shows in Victoria on Saturday at the McPherson Playhouse, his first performances on Vancouver Island and the final shows of the tour.
Miller feels confident heading into the weekend, having spent plenty of time in Vancouver over the years, to film his scenes as the wisecracking Weasel in Deadpool. He’s also seen enough of the country in recent weeks to know that his Victoria performances will be equal parts love-in and laugh-fest.
He’s a massive fan of Canadian sketch troupe Kids in the Hall, and counts John Candy and SCTV among his biggest comedic influences. “My experience with Canada was limited to Edmonton and Vancouver, where we do Deadpool, and the big cities — Toronto, Montreal,” he said.
“But I’ve always known Canadians to be really funny. Some of the best comedians in America are Canadian. I strongly identify with the Canadian sense of humour. Right now, Schitt’s Creek [which airs on CBC] is my favourite television show.”
Miller — a polarizing figure — has his detractors, to be sure. After quitting the critically acclaimed Silicon Valley this year, he gave a widely discussed interview with The Hollywood Reporter wherein he criticized some of the producers and cast of the Emmy-winning show. He has also been involved in Twitter spats with fellow comics Marc Maron and Rob Schneider, among many others. Polarizing? You bet.
He finds himself in such situations on a regular basis, which suggests that Miller (who studied persuasion theory at George Washington University) relishes his role as a provocateur. He encountered a heckler during the Hamilton, Ont., stop on the current tour. Looking back on it days later, he laughed.
“No hard feelings,” he said. “It was really, really fun. I love any experience like that. It’s really fun for me.”
The other side of Miller’s career — his work as a voiceover actor in family-friendly movies — presents an interesting dichotomy. It’s ironic for him to be known with one audience as the sidekick in Deadpool, the highest-grossing R-rated film of all-time, while simultaneously earning cheers from another audience for his work in the popular animated films How To Train Your Dragon, Big Hero 6 and The Emoji Movie.
Miller, of course, believes he has it all figured out, especially where Walt Disney Pictures is concerned. Rumours have appeared suggesting the company (which Miller worked with on the Academy Award-winning Big Hero 6) was in talks to purchase 20th Century Fox, which owns the rights to the lucrative Deadpool franchise. When the news appeared, Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds expressed concern over the future of the franchise, whereas Miller, who says he is friends with several Disney executives, responded with: “Holy shit would this be amazing.”
In a rare moment of seriousness, Miller explains his stand where Disney and Deadpool are concerned.
“Disney is good. We believe in Disney. They are interested in positively affecting children’s moral compasses by injecting progressive values into their movies. It’s about caring, it’s about support, it’s about becoming a hero — all these are great things.”
