FARGO – The Trailer Park Boys will never be ambassadors for their native Canada. But what makes them bad emissaries for our neighbors to the north makes them as amusing to watch as the never-do-wells down the street.
Since 2001, the dim-witted trio has entertained audiences with the faux-documentary-style episodes depicting their low life and plans for high crime in the fictitious Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
The boys, Julian, Ricky and Bubbles, return to Fargo tonight to spread a little holiday cheer – Trailer Park style.
They called from a recent tour stop in Denver and passed the phone like a bottle of booze.
“I’m trying to spread the true meaning of Christmas around the world, so the more places I can do that, the better,” says Bubbles (Mike Smith), the emotional heart of the group who looks like an unhinged Milton from “Office Space” and sounds like Yoda in puberty.
“It’s not about presents and how much money you can spend and all that,” he continues. “It’s about getting drunk and stoned with your friends and family and eating turkey and just having fun.”
No real surprise to fans of the show, the spirit of peace on Earth and goodwill toward men gets a little lost on the boys. The show is called, well, something, we can’t print in the paper. Let’s just say they tell jolly old St. Nick what he can do.
It seems that while Ricky (Robb Wells) still believes in the big man, he was startled to find him leaving presents in his car, while Ricky was sleeping in it, and, well ...
“Well, me and Santa got into a bit of a fight last year, so I hope we can make peace and he can bring me some good gifts this year,” Ricky says.
Ricky himself usually spouts gifts in the form of hilarious malapropisms like “worst-case Ontario,” “it doesn’t take rocket appliances” and “honesty is a test policy.”
For someone who still believes in the magic of Christmas, his favorite Christmas memory is pretty un-magical.
“Just getting drunk around my friends and family,” Ricky says. “That’s why I like jail, jail’s a good time, too.”
While Ricky may not know exactly where Fargo is (“I thought Fargo was Canadian”), he and the boys are looking forward to getting back. After their 2011 show at the Fargo Theatre, they went out to the bars and hung out with fans.
That show sold out well in advance, prompting tonight’s gig to be booked at the Fargo Civic Center, where many of the 2,500 seats tonight are already taken.
“We had a good time. I can’t wait to get back there,” Ricky says. “People treat me real good and hook me up with lots of drinks.”
“Ricky doesn’t even remember being in Fargo. He has no idea where it’s at,” says Julian (John Paul Tremblay). “He has a good time in any bar as long as there’s free liquor.”
The trio met their imbibing match when they recently sat down with Snoop Dogg.
“Snoop Dogg, he can give her, that’s for sure. I think he can hold it more than us, but we drink a lot more than he does, I think,” Julian says. “So it kind of balances out.”
Calling from Denver, they were enjoying Colorado’s liberal marijuana laws. Julian, who is always looking to pull some big score, said he hopes Canada follows Colorado’s lead, but don’t expect the Boys to campaign for it.
“I don’t know man. We’re not into the politics,” he says.
They may not be into politics, but Bubbles does have a new song – the same name as the show – to sing tonight.
“It’s quite a number,” he says. “It doesn’t really get a lot of radio play. I play it for audiences. They love it and sing along and hooting and hollering.”
Telling Santa off in a song and a tour name, as well as their partying ways and profanity-laced dialogue, may be seen as poor taste, even for someone called the Trailer Park Boys, but the group hasn’t seen any protests.
“Sometimes the church types might get offended,” Bubbles says, adding that there are not a lot of church types in their crowd. “What they don’t realize is that Christmas is stolen from the pagans anyway.”
“I just hope everyone comes out and has a good time with us,” Ricky says. “I mean, it’s Christmas time and we want to party with everyone. That’s what Christmas is all about, hanging out with your friends.”
If you go
What: Trailer Park Boys
When: 8 tonight; doors open at 7 p.m.
Where: Fargo Civic Center, 207 4th St. N.
Info: Tickets are $37.50, $42.50 and $52.50; additional fees may apply.
http://jadepresents.com
. (800) 745-3000.
