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Canadian comedian Steve Smith, better known as Red Green, will perform at the Esplanade on Sept. 22. Nevermind the toe tag, Smith says this is it.
cbrown@medicinehatnews.com@MHNBrown
When he was planning his current Red Green tour, Steve Smith wanted to leave himself a little bit of wiggle room.
He thought he might have two tours in him, so he called this one This Could Be It, with plans to call any follow-up tour This Is Definitely It.
But something happened while he was touring the U.S. in the spring.
“It was so well-received that I can’t top it. So this is it,” Smith declared last week.
Smith makes clear the response of the audience pushed him to make this the last one.
“Not only during the show but we usually do a meet and greet after and the comments people would give me would be so nice and appreciative and it just felt like this was a great goodbye,” said Smith. “Let’s not overextend our welcome, I thought.”
He adds the content of the show, at the Esplanade on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m., has a distinct feel of wrapping up loose ends and saying goodbye and thank you. He said even the audiences seem to have a sense that this is it, which is helping him appreciate it a little more.
Smith said it’s important to have a feel of when it’s time to move on, something he believes he’s done successfully throughout his career. First it was with a band, he explained, then the TV show “Smith & Smith,” then ending “The Red Green Show” and now touring as Red Green.
That impressive and lengthy career, by the way? Smith calls it a mistake, or at least a fluke.
“When you look at it I’m completely out of step with what’s popular in comedy today, I’m irrelevant to probably 70% of the audience but still there’s a core of people that respond to comedy that’s not obscene, not angry,” he said.
“This show probably should have existed in the 1950s. Maybe even the 1850s,” he said with a laugh. “So I’ve been really lucky I’ve been able to find enough people that appreciate my sense of humour that I’ve been able to make a career out of it.”
Surprising to Smith is that as he gets older his fans seem to get younger. The last episode of “The Red Green Show” aired 13 years ago in 2006 and kids that weren’t even born by then are beginning to fill seats at his live shows. He said the internet is keeping it alive with the kids, adding some of them don’t know the show was ever on television.
And what is it that keeps attracting generations to Red Green? Smith said everyone has a Red Green in their family.
“Not only that but its somebody they like,” he said. “Someone in their family is a Red Green and they’ve always kind of liked them. They’re kind of quirky, independent, easy-going kind of people. And I’ve become the beneficiary of the goodwill they have for some relative I’ve never met.”
Smith, who isn’t retiring but simply stopping touring, said this neck of the woods has always been particularly supportive of him and wants fans to know he’s coming for a celebration.
“Sometimes when people do a farewell tour there’s a kind of sadness to it. Like some sort of contractual obligation or they need the money. This is not the case,” he assured. “There’s no sadness, this is a celebration. I’m really looking forward to it and the audience will see that I’m having a good time.”
Tickets are available online at tixx.ca, by calling 403-502-8777, and in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall guest services desk.
