“Americans know as much about Canada as straight people do about gays!” beloved Kids in the Hall character Buddy Cole once quipped. So who better than the actor who played him, Scott Thompson, to headline a gay comedy show at Ottawa’s Capital Pride?
Thompson will appear in Yuk Yuk’s Pride standup comedy show, Laugh Out Proud, hosting three nights (four shows) of standup comedy that include comedians JJ Liberman, Ashley Moffatt and Kyle Brownrigg.
In the years since he played the lisping proprietor of the fictional gay bar Buddy’s, Thompson has voiced Grady in a few episodes of The Simpsons, and played an FBI agent on Hannibal. In 2014, he brought Buddy back to report on the Winter Olympics for The Colbert Report.
“I have a series called What Would Sal Do? that was made for Super Channel last year, and then Super Channel went bankrupt,” Thompson says. “Which is sad because it’s probably the best part I ever had. So we’re hoping that it will get bought by some other network.” [Editor’s note, Aug 27, 2016: As of the current date, Super Channel is still in business. Its owner Allarco Entertainment 2008 Inc filed for and was granted bankruptcy protection in spring 2016.]
“I’m doing a lot of standup. That’s what I’ve been doing the last few years — I’m concentrating on standup comedy,” he says. “I want my own special and a comedy album.”
Partial proceeds from the first night of Laugh Out Proud will go to the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD), which will present Thompson with an award before he begins his first set.
“We’re very excited to present the Youth Role Model of the Year Award to Scott Thompson before he begins three days of shows at Yuk Yuk’s,” says Emily Fergusson, a coordinator at the CCGSD. “We are presenting it to him for being one of the first men to come out openly on television.”
“I never get awards, so I might as well take one,” Thompson responds, with a laugh. “It’s great. I’ve been out for a long, long time and it was a rough journey so I’m very happy when any acknowledgement happens. It’s rare.”
This will be Thompson’s first time attending Ottawa’s Capital Pride, and while he’s not sure what he’ll get up to, he says he’s open to a little spelunking trip to Quebec’s Gatineau Park for the chance of glimpsing our prime minister lurking in a cave.
Laugh Out Proud
Thursday, Aug 18–Saturday, Aug 20, 2016
Yuk Yuk’s, 292 Elgin St, Ottawa
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