Both natives of
Vancouver,
British Columbia, where they were also childhood friends of cartoonist
Lynn Johnston, Willis and Boncoeur formed La Troupe Grotesque in 1968. They moved to
Toronto that year, but struggled to get established until
Riff Markowitz hired them as writers for
Party Game and
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. They performed as a sketch comedy duo on stage, both in Toronto and regular touring throughout both Canada and the United States. Willis was the primary writer of most of their material, while Boncoeur took on the staging and costuming. They were also invited to join the cast of
The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour, but declined to audition out of fear that the show would steal their material; In 1976, they created the
CBC Radio comedy series
Pulp and Paper with
Gay Claitman. The following year, they toured the stage revue
Plain Brown Wrapper. They ceased touring in 1980, but reunited in 1984 to create two CBC Radio comedy specials, a spoof of CBC programming called
This Hour Has 17 Programs in June and the year-end review
The Year of Living Obnoxiously in December. They received
ACTRA Award nominations for Best Writing, Radio Variety for
This Hour Has 17 Programs at the
14th ACTRA Awards in 1985, and for
The Year of Living Obnoxiously at the
15th ACTRA Awards in 1986. In 1985, Willis also created the radio comedy special
If You Love This Government, a political satire in which Boncoeur did not appear on air but served as a producer. The cast of
If You Love This Government were nominated for Best Radio Variety Performance at the 15th ACTRA Awards. and the serial
Windsor Hassle, a satire of the
British royal family. He was the creator and executive story editor of the short-lived CBC sitcom
Mosquito Lake in 1989, but would later describe the resulting product as one that he lost creative control of, and was never fully satisfied with. In 1997 he wrote a number of scripts for a potential television version of
Rumours and Borders, but the project was placed on hold after he was diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer. ==Personal life==