Perusing the Internet without John B. Duff

A few days ago, I found out through facebook that John B. Duff, a stand up comedian in Winnipeg I knew, had died from cancer. I didn’t know John as well as I would have liked, however he was still a huge influence in my life. I want to share my memories of him.

The story begins many years ago, when I first decided to do puppetry. After having the realization that I wanted to work with puppets, I agreed to help organize the very first Winnipeg Puppet Slam, despite never having performed with puppets in front of an audience before. I figured that I should try to get some stage experience before performing in the slam so that I wouldn’t embarrass myself in front of the more experienced puppeteers. 

I considered trying out at an open-mic stand-up comedy show. However I imagined that people who came to watch stand-up would hate seeing my weird puppetry and I pictured myself being booed off the stage. It was then that I discovered a local event called “Comedy Loser.” It was an alt-comedy night that happened once a month featuring the weirdest solo comedy imaginable. I loved alt-comedy and figured that I might have a chance at fitting in. 

I first went to go watch the show as an audience member and was amazed by how hilarious and talented all the performers were. It was the funniest live comedy show I had ever seen. Every comedian in the show had to create new and untested material every month. My favourite segment in the show was the very last part which was called “Purusing the Internet with John B Duff.” John would begin this segment by explaining that he was a cancer survivor, and that when he was recovering, he would get high and surf the internet. He would then present a slide-show of the weirdest and most crazy images he had found and make fun of them. Sometimes, if the pictures were too disturbing he would lighten them up by drawing a fez on them.

At that time, the show was organized and hosted by comedian Ryan McMahon. I went up to Ryan after the show and told him, in my shy and awkward way, that I wanted to do puppetry in the show. Ryan seemed a little apprehensive but agreed to let me perform as a guest in the next show. That show was my first time performing in front of an audience and it went…okay.  A few months passed and I asked Ryan if I could try again. He reluctantly agreed. It went a bit better the second time but still not amazing. A few more months passed and then I got a message from John B. Duff.

Ryan had left Comedy Loser and John had agreed to take over hosting and organizing the show. John asked me if I would like to perform every month and become a regular cast member. I was absolutely thrilled!

So for the next few years, I came up with a weird new five minute puppetry scene every month. I would haul a steamer trunk full of puppets to the Kings Head Pub, laugh at the other comedians who were much better than me, drink some beer and then go up to perform when John would call my name. I think John liked my work for the most part. After my bit, he would often say something to encourage the audience to clap more. “Can you make a puppet out of VHS tapes? No? Then show some appreciation.”

For one performance I acted out the entire plot of the movie “Jingle All the Way” with puppets. For another, I cut some of the hair off my head and made it into a fake moustache which I glued onto the face of future Canada’s Top Comic winner Chanty Marostica.

There was also a show run by John that I loved called “Show and Tell.” Comedians would bring something from home and make jokes about them. I did it three times, bringing my collection of Mr. T memorabilia,  a weird clock and a two headed baby puppet in a jar. This show was a blast. It was made even more special by the fact that my friend Daniel Shandroski performed in the show before passing away several years later.

I did a lot of weird stuff in those days that more or less evolved into what I do now. The experience I received during Comedy Loser and the support I got from John was invaluable.

One day after performing there for several months, he took me aside. He told me that he liked my work and if I wanted, he’d be willing to give me some advice on how to make my comedy better. I really wanted to take him up his offer and often thought of asking him for help but always procrastinated. Even recently, when I found out that he had been diagnosed with cancer for a third time, I still considered asking him for advice. But I never did and I truly regret it.

At some point during the Comedy Loser days, I began to feel that my puppetry needed to improve. This is when I decided to go to the London School of Puppetry. I told John about it and he seemed very excited for me. It ended up being a decision that changed my life. When I returned, I continued to perform in Comedy Loser. I had created a marionette piece called “Gutentag” at the school, and performed it at the alt-comedy night. I’m not sure if it was funny but the audience still seemed impressed. The piece used a music track of yodelling songs. I think John liked it because he kept the music on his computer and would play it often during other shows.

Over time, the audiences at Comedy Loser got smaller and smaller. The King’s Head Pub grew increasingly displeased with the tiny turn-outs we were getting and expressed a desire to replace us with traditional stand-up show or improv. I was invited to an emergency meeting at John’s house with all the other comedians to discuss how we could improve the show. I remember that John cooked some amazing appetizers for us. They were incredibly delicious. He also showed us a box of magic tricks. That was the day that I learned how prevalent the usage of fake fingers is in magic. John was an excellent host and would keep giving me beers to drink. Being the weird puppet guy, I was normally never invited to socialize with the other comedians outside of the show so this was a very meaningful and memorable evening for me.

Many great ideas came out of that meeting but it was too late. The writing was on the wall. We were told a few days later that Comedy Loser had been cancelled. We would have one last show and that would be it. John asked people to perform their favorite bit from the show’s history. I decided to perform “Gutentag.” After the show John told me that it was his favourite piece of mine and was happy that I had done it.

The last time I spoke to John was about a month ago. He made a voice call to me over facebook messenger. He phoned to ask if I was interested in performing in a comedy show in Winnipeg that was looking for something weird. I was flattered but told him in the politest way possible that I was in Japan and couldn’t make it. It was also 4am for me because of the time difference. He jokingly told me “Well F*** you then! You think you’re too good to fly back out here?” We talked a bit and then he asked me if I remembered Comedy Loser. 

I said “Yeah, of course! Those were some of the best days of my life.” 

It was nice to talk to him one last time, but I was awkward and shy as usual. I wish I had done a better job thanking him for everything he had done for me and telling him how much it all meant to me. I also wish I could have said it in a way that was funny and would have made him laugh.

I still laugh every time I think about “Perusing the Internet with John B. Duff” and I think I always will. Perusing the internet will never be as funny without him.