by Stephen Patrick Clare (used with permission of the author; this article first appeared in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
Sometimes it isn't easy being funny.
"Yeah - especially when there is already snow on the ground. That definitely puts a damper on things."
Lorne Elliot is on the phone from Dawson Creek, where he is performing at the Kiwanis Performing Arts Centre that evening. "I make it a point to get out for a walk around whatever town I'm in," explains the renowned, well-travelled comedian. "Usually I can find tidbits of everyday local oddities that I can bring to the stage that night."
"Not today though," he chuckles. "I haven't been able to see past the inside of my parka's hood."
Elliot's home-spun humor will take centre stage this coming Friday night when he headlines a fundraiser for the Atlantic Book Awards at the Alderney Gate Theatre in downtown Dartmouth. Local authors Donna Morrissey and Sheree Fitch are also on the bill, and the event is being emceed by Costas Halavrezos, host of CBC Radio's Maritime Noon.
The evening is being organized by The Atlantic Book Awards Society, a registered non-profit organization whose mandate is to promote and acknowledge excellence in Atlantic Canadian writing and book publishing through an annual awards ceremony and related events.
A long-time resident of Hudson, Quebec, Elliot has developed an affinity for Maritime wit in recent years; he and his wife Francoise enjoy long, lazy summers at their small cottage on Prince Edward Island. "That's me on the folding plastic deck chair every July," laughs the lanky, 6'4" jokester, "long and lazy."
Canada's smallest province is the backdrop for his first novella, a side-splitting look a rural life in Atlantic Canada called The Fixer Upper. "I'm not so sure that the rest of the country will get this particular story," he says. "There is a reason they call us Uppity Canadians you know. Maritimers have their own unique way of seeing the world and I must admit to being rather taken with their simple charm and wit.
"Mind you, given the winters in that part of the world, you really have to develop a good sense of humour just to keep from going nuts."
