Performance Review: “Canuck as F*ck”
The Second City Hollywood’s sketch comedy revue “Canuck as F*ck” had such a successful initial run that it was extended until mid-August. The extension comes as no surprise, considering the timeliness of the content and the stellar cast, whose members count 21 Canadian Comedy Awards between them. The show satirizes contemporary American culture from a Canadian point-of-view and a liberal perspective.
During Casting Networks’ screening of the revue, some sketches hit harder than others, but the show is smartly funny, often hilarious, with two performers standing out in particular.
DeRosse is dialed in and fully invested in every sketch. At one point, his character gets so upset that DeRosse’s entire face becomes flushed and starts to drool. That level of commitment is admirable, especially considering how DeRosse manages to keep all of his larger-than-life characters grounded. Whether playing a sleazy recording artist, a white man appropriating Jamaican culture or just a sassy Canadian, DeRosse sells the character and gets big laughs every time. Above all, it’s his role as a National Rifle Association (NRA) member that really gives DeRosse his moment to shine.
The sketch centers on a shooting at an NRA meeting. A newscaster announces that an armed intruder infiltrated into the meeting, but before he or she could get off a single shot, the group members exchanged fire, resulting in critical injuries across the board. The sketch unfolds as the injured NRA members try to continue their meeting on the unfairness of blaming guns for gun-related violence. One member states that if he dies from his wounds, “Those pansy snowflakes would blame my death on guns and not blood loss.” DeRosse brings the house down with his one-liners and reactions to his fellow NRA members succumbing to their wounds. Even when he calls another character the wrong name while mourning her death, he capitalizes on the mistake by owning it with, “It was Trish, not Nancy.” The simple ad-lib scores a big laugh from the house, consistent with the audience’s generally strong reaction to DeRosse’s spirited comic performance.
Seiler oozes confidence and effortlessness, elevating every sketch in which she plays a part. Her timing, inflections, even her volume resulted in her landing jokes with impressive accuracy. Seiler is a delight to watch as she transitions with ease across a range of characters, from an anti-feminist to a cable news host to a white woman appropriating Japanese culture, and so on. But the role in which she really stands out is a Canadian woman who’s aggressively passionate about her country.
The character is frustrated with the amount of knowledge the U.S. requires Canadians to know about American history and civics in order to pass a U.S. citizenship test when Americans themselves know so little about their neighbor to the north. When the character becomes too agitated, she engages in calming exercises, such as imitating a loon. When she quizzes audience members about Canadian history and continually receives wrong answers, each wrong response fuels her character’s rage a notch further. Seiler’s ability to improvise with the audience while remaining in character and in a constant state of heightened emotion is masterful.
The show ends with a musical medley in which the Canadians call out all the problems they have with American life, but that doesn’t keep them from wanting to stay in the U.S. anyway. They sing, “We’ll trade our ice storms for your heat waves, universal health care for Kaiser Permanente … Even though your county’s falling apart at the seams, we want to live the American dream.” Thanks to a well-rounded cast led by DeRosse and Seiler, “Canuck as F*ck” is a must-see for anyone who enjoys a good liberal satire on the current state of America.
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