The Trailer Park Boys bring their circus to the royal theatre
One could be forgiven for thinking the Trailer Park Boys were done with the spotlight, content to live out the rest of their days in Sunnyvale Trailer Park, or spending the occasional stint in jail. After all, it's been three years since their seven-season show on Showcase wrapped up, and 18 months since their second movie, Countdown to Liquor Day, was released. But rest assured: Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are as busy as ever, dreaming up half-baked, semi-legal business ideas and taking their show on the road. In fact, the trio recently wrapped up their first European tour, where they performed (or whatever it is they do) in front of crowds in London, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. They even sold out a few gigs.
“Bubbles was explaining it to me, I guess, you probably don't know this either, but they have these big, crazy machines and it's like a world pipeline and you can send stuff all over the world to, so people have heard about us through this world pipeline kinda thing,” says Ricky.
“The internet, Ricky,” Bubbles interjects. “Call it the internet.”
Not surprisingly, the boys are up to their usual shenanigans back home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The cat-obsessed Bubbles’ Kitty Land Love Centre is “just operating like a top,” he says; Julian is fresh out of jail and getting into the fast-food business (“It's called ‘Guys with no Shirts On’ or something,” Ricky says. “I don't think it's going to fly.”) and Ricky isn’t up to much, but “heard about somebody” who is planning to plant 17 acres of weed outside of Sunnyvale Trailer Park.
And, while they’ve been enjoying their recent Drunk, High and Unemployed tour — which stops in Victoria on May 24 — they claim they’re not exactly getting rich off it.
“Julian signed some horrible contract where we just get free liquor and cigarettes, and we don’t even smoke,” laments Bubbles, who also claims the show has degraded into a bit of a cruel twist on a travelling circus act, complete with high-wire and trapeze acts, getting fired out of a cannon and wrestling grizzly bears and a monkey.
“He’s ferocious,” says Bubbles. “He beats me unmercifully.”
“I don’t remember any of that, but I get pretty baked and stuff for the show, so I guess that might have happened,” Ricky says.
On top of the circus acts — which may or may not happen — Ricky says fans can expect “A lot of drinking and a little bit of smoking and sometimes a bit of fighting” at the Royal Theatre performance, and one lucky lady might wind up with a date.
“Lucy’s been banging somebody these days, so I'm hoping I'll get a chance to meet somebody on the tour as well,” he confesses.
Hear that, ladies? M
The Trailer Park Boys
8pm Tuesday, May 24
The Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton
Tickets $53.25-$58.25
rmts.bc.ca