Theatre revue and radio years The group started in
Montreal,
Quebec, in 1970 as an improvisational theatre revue called
The Jest Society, a pun on then-
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's famous goal of making Canada a
"just society". The original cast was
John Morgan,
Martin Bronstein,
Patrick Conlon,
Gay Claitman, and
Roger Abbott. The troupe moved to
Toronto, where it had a long-term residency at the
Poor Alex Theatre. Steve Whistance-Smith was briefly a member, replacing Patrick Conlon, who declined to continue commuting to Toronto from Montreal.
Don Ferguson joined after Whistance-Smith left. The show was favourably reviewed by local theatre critics, attracting the attention of
CBC Radio. It commissioned the troupe to perform sketches on its weekly variety show,
The Entertainers; the sketches were taped at a CBC studio without a live audience. After a number of personnel changes, the group became known as the "Royal Canadian Air Farce" in 1973; they were given their own show, taped in front of a live audience at the Curtain Club in
Richmond Hill, Ontario. The CBC gives the date of the first broadcast as December 9, 1973. By this time, the lineup consisted of Roger Abbott,
Luba Goy, John Morgan,
Dave Broadfoot, and Martin Bronstein. At this point Don Ferguson was a writer on the show. They quickly became one of the network's most popular programs. Most of their later shows were based in Toronto and recorded in CBC's
Cabbagetown Studios. As the troupe became more popular, they frequently travelled throughout the country to record their weekly radio broadcasts, which featured a mixture of political and cultural satire strongly influenced by the style of
Wayne and Shuster. The touring show also often included one or more sketches satirizing local culture or politics, which were not aired on the national radio broadcast. Bronstein ceased performing with the troupe in 1974 to pursue a full-time journalism career; he continued to write for the Air Farce until the late 1970s. Ferguson, who had been a writer on the show's first season, swapped places with Bronstein, becoming a writer-performer. In 1977, non-performing writers
Gord Holtam and
Rick Olsen joined the crew. In the late 1970s during a trip to
Los Angeles, Abbott and Ferguson were offered jobs writing for the new television sitcom
Taxi, but opted to remain with
Air Farce instead.
Recurring characters included addle-brained hockey player Big Bobby Clobber (Broadfoot),
Sgt. Renfrew of the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Broadfoot), and socialite Amy De La Pompa (Morgan), along with political figures such as
Brian Mulroney,
Joe Clark, and
Pierre Trudeau. Additional characters included Prof. Hieronymus Wombat of the
National Research Council and funeral director Hector Baggley. Another recurring character, making vacant-minded political comments, was the Honourable David J. Broadfoot, Member of Parliament for
Kicking Horse Pass and leader of the
New Apathetic Party. Broadfoot had been performing as this character for years, and had appeared on Canadian and American television as "The Honourable Member" as early as the 1950s, long before his tenure with Air Farce. Air Farce Productions Inc., which was incorporated in 1978, is the legal owner of the Royal Canadian Air Farce and owns the troupe's works. John Morgan, Roger Abbott, and Don Ferguson were the long-time business partners. Morgan sold his share of the company to Abbot and Ferguson when he retired in 2001. Since the death of Abbot in 2011, Don Ferguson has been the company's sole owner. Ferguson was the producer of the Air Farce television series since 2004 ; he was the executive producer of the annual Air Farce New Year's Eve specials from 2010 to 2019.
Trying out TV In 1977, Air Farce writers Abbott, Broadfoot, Ferguson, and Morgan adapted several of their radio sketches for television, in addition to writing new material. The sketches were aired as the first two episodes of the six-part CBC series
Krazy House, a compendium of sketch comedy pieces from various Canadian writers and performers that aired in January and February 1977. Broadfoot was the only Air Farce cast member to appear on-camera in these two episodes, which also starred
Billy Van, amongst others. The fifth episode of
Krazy House was written entirely by Morgan, and featured Air Farce cast member Luba Goy along with Billy Van,
Harvey Atkin, and others. The Farce troupe recorded a one-hour television special in 1980. It was developed as a ten-week series and two sequel specials, in addition to their regular radio series. The shows were performed in front of a live studio audience, mixing fully produced sketches with some sketches that were essentially staged versions of the radio show, featuring the cast members standing around a microphone reading from scripts rather than acting out the roles. Despite the decent ratings for the initial special, staging the radio sketches in such a way did not translate well on television, and the Air Farce faded from CBC TV by 1983. In 1984, the troupe's live Toronto stage show was videotaped as a pay-TV special, and subsequently broadcast on Ontario's
Global Television Network. The troupe continued on radio, though, where they flourished for the next decade. While the first decade of the show was largely recorded before a live audience at CBC Radio's Cabbagetown studio in Toronto, from 1984 to 1992 the show was recorded for broadcast on the road in communities across Canada. In this period, troupe also performed in non-broadcast concert and theatrical performances across North America. With the new live format,
Penelope Corrin, who filled in for Holmes during her pregnancy in early 2007, officially joined the troupe, increasing its number to seven. Abbott, Morgan, Goy, Ferguson, and Broadfoot had cameo appearances in
The Red Green Show's movie spinoff
Duct Tape Forever. On April 1, 2008, the CBC and Air Farce jointly announced that the Royal Canadian Air Farce would wrap up its weekly television show in the 2008/2009 season. The plan as announced was for nine new Air Farce shows to be produced for the fall of 2008, and then the series would end with a New Year's Eve special at the end of 2008.
New Year's Eve reunion specials Air Farce returned on December 31, 2009, for a New Year's special, featuring the return of most of the original cast (excluding Jessica Holmes, who had a theatrical commitment). As well, long-time writers, Holtham and Olson retired, and did not write for this or any subsequent reunion show. The first reunion special featured guest appearances by Peter Mansbridge,
Battle of the Blades winners
Jamie Salé and
Craig Simpson, and the Dragons of ''
Dragons' Den''. The special also featured the successor to the Chicken Cannon, the "F-Bombs," which were dropped onto photographs from the top of the atrium of the
Canadian Broadcasting Centre. A further special aired on December 31, 2010, with Jessica Holmes reuniting with the rest of the cast. She would leave again, and not return to Air Farce until 2016. Roger Abbott died of leukemia on March 26, 2011. While the troupe had originally not planned to do a special that year due to his death, they were coaxed by producers and the CBC to continue. The 2011 special—the ''Air Farce Not The New Year's Eve Special—''aired on January 1, 2012 (moving to New Year's Day due to
Hockey Night in Canada) and featured a new cast member,
Arnold Pinnock, who became a regular member of the troupe, and returned during the subsequent 2012–13 edition. Pinnock elected not to return for the 2014 special. After a talent search, stand-up comic
Aisha Alfa and
Second City alumnus
Darryl Hinds were added. The following year (2015), Park and Corrin left, and Emma Hunter was added to the cast. The year after that Holmes returned, bringing the cast back up to seven. In 2017 the Air Farce taped two specials; one for Canada Day in celebration of the
150th anniversary of Canada, the other was the troupe's traditional New Year's Eve show. While ratings for the specials remained strong, drawing over a million viewers in 2017 and 2018, the CBC informed the troupe in May 2019 that due to budgetary constraints, the 2019 year-end special would be the final edition in the series. Broadcast on December 30, 2019, the special included new topical material as well as highlights of the troupe's history, including tributes to deceased members
John Morgan,
Roger Abbott, and
Dave Broadfoot. == Cast history ==