Members of Harbour Theatre brought their own hilarious take on the holidays to the stage of the Tom Rooney Playhouse on Dec. 15 with The 96th Annual Christmastime Night of Entertainment.
The format of the show was reminiscent of The Tonight Show, just replacing Johnny Carson with a green-faced ogre named Grog (portrayed by Andy Enns) and Ed McMahon with LyLy (played by Lyle McNish). Amid the back and forth bantering between the two, including the reading of a few letters to Santa, The Grog Show featured a series of guests.
First up was Patrick Witwicki, playing the part of Patrick Witwicki. Throughout the segment talk turned to reffing Rampage games to music, and finished with a drum solo played on an empty pot and lid.
Next up was the musical guests for the show, Tristen Wybou and Scruffy the Elf (Chrystopher Thompson). After the two participated in a game show questioning the use of turkey leftovers, Christmas trees and secret Santa spending, the duo performed a pair of songs. Scruffy the Elf with Facial Hair started innocently enough before turning to Scruffy’s darker, testosterone driven side, while the second song looked at how the two met “at Timmy Ho Hos” while “hiding from the Po Po”.
The final guest of the night was Chef Edible (Treena Decker). Sporting a “Gourmet Godess” apron, Edible walked Grog through making her great, great, great, great, great grandfather’s festive Ramen noodle with cherries in the microwave, which was much quicker than stoking the fire as people did when the recipe was first made.
And much like any TV show, there were commercials. The commercials in The Grog Show consisted of Rudy Kelly reading some creative and humourous stories. The first was about a father who lost an eye in a car accident but could still see through the detached eyeball - so he gave it to his daughter on a necklace “so he could always keep a close eye on her”. The second involved Lyle McNish being tied to a chair for Christmas dinner by a lonely old woman who thought he was her long-lost husband.