On August 6, 2003, The Slime Society
had the privilege of interviewing cast member Brad Hampson about
his time on YCDTOTV. Brad was an original cast member of YCDTOTV,
taking part in the live CJOH broadcasts of 1979. Below is the transcript.
 How
did you get involved with YCDTOTV in 1979?
Wow,
we're going back 25 years ... hard to believe! I was in grade 10
in 1978 attending Lester B. Pearson Catholic Junior High in Ottawa.
I remember being classmates with Christine McGlade, Cyndi Kennedy
and then met up with Kevin Somers, Jono Gebert and Deidre McIsaac
after we all went to the auditions. We had heard through the school
that this English TV producer was coming to audition kids for a
new kids' TV comedy show and a big bunch of us showed up. We were
in a classroom at the school and had to do some improv, from what
I recall, in front of Roger Price. I don't think any of us had any
real drama training prior to this, but we all gave it our best shot.
At any rate, from what I recall, the six of us were initially selected
from the group to continue on and then started our acting lessons.
We went to Laurentian High School and CJOH studios weekly after
school to take drama from Carole Hay, and also met Geoff Darby as
well (the director).
I remember
Carole quite well and was so impressed that she had worked in the
past with Robin Williams or something like that. Back then Robin
was only famous for being "Mork." She put so much effort
into getting us ready. We did improv skits, relaxation techniques,
facial exercises, pantomime and learning how to cry on cue amongst
other things.
How old were you when the show began?
I was 16 years old when the show started running.
Who sticks out as memorable people
to work with on YCDTOTV?
Although
I certainly was not with the show very long, the castmates whom
I found most memorable were Cyndi Kennedy, Christine McGlade and
Deidre McIsaac, only because we spent a lot of time together to
and from rehearsals and drama class. I also saw Kevin Somers and
Jono Gebert a lot at school and they certainly became mini "Travoltas"
after 1979 with the girls. Rodney and Lisa Ruddy also made quite
an impression on me, both being so young and excitable. The whole
gang of originals were a fine bunch and were all the instruments
of the show's success.
I have to say
that there was no one more natural at the time as a kid actor than
Christine McGlade. Looking back, she was as sharp and quick-witted
as they came and unbelievably great in the live segments. I give
her a lot of credit for the success of the show.
You were on the local, live version
of the show. Do you recall any live mistakes, bloopers, etc. that
you were a part of?
I know
with the live segments initially, it was my impression that the
older kids were selected to work these, meaning the 14-16 year olds
( I could be totally wrong). I do remember the very first live segment
I did and it's still etched vividly in my memory. My mind was racing
prior to the event thinking "What the hell will I do if I screw
this up?" Secondly, "How long will I live if I screw this
up?" It was a phone-in contest and the question was "Which
person's face appeared on the Canadian $50 bill"? The answer
was Sir Robert Borden and the winner received complimentary tickets
to a concert (Trooper, I think). I remember talking live on the
phone to a couple of kids before the right answer came through and
sort of hamming it up a bit. I remember thinking how silly that
felt at the time, but it all went off without a hitch.
I seem to recall
some of our live segments dealt with promos for "Skadium"
and "Skateway." This was the day of disco rollerskating
and these two roller rinks in Ottawa catered to our needs to "get
down" on skates on the wood floor rinks to "Rah Rah Rasputin"
and "Popcorn."
Speaking of
discos, we had a little disco in the studio where at one point the
band Trooper played live. That was extremely cool. I think that
was for an episode on WTYO.
I don't think
there were any real problems ever with the live segments except
the story I heard of poor old Marc Baillon who missed his cue on
one not being where he was supposed to. Marc and I had a good chuckle
about it at the cast reunion in 2002 when he told me it was the
only time the original show ever went to a black screen "live."
Apparently, Geoff Darby was so mad he never talked about it with
Marc until Slimecon 2002.
How
many episodes did you take part in? Do you remember what they were
about?
Unfortunately, I don't have any tapes or footage
of any of the segments I was involved in. I think I was only on
one or two shows when we were doing the taping during the week and
live segments on Saturday mornings. It was an hour-long show back
then. I did have an original script from one show I was on up until
a few years ago, but you'd probably kill me to hear I threw it out
when cleaning out some old junk in my basement a few years back.
I kick myself for also throwing out my old ACTRA union card which
listed us as "freelance performers." I always thought
that was very cool.
I recall playing
the "class clown" in a classroom skit with the rest of
that week's cast and Les Lye as the teacher. He was berating me
as a class nuisance, finally asking if I thought I was the class
clown or something. The camera panned to me rolling around the class
giving some lip and acting crazy, laughing and wearing a clown costume.
This one stuck with me in my memory because I’ve always been
referred to as the class clown right up to this day.
The one thing
I really recall was the paycheque we got. For a 16-year-old kid,
I thought I was going to be a millionaire ... it was actually only
about $300 per show which was a lot of money in those days.
Why did you stop working on YCDTOTV
after 1979?
The show's success initially developed into what
was to become the nationally syndicated Whatever Turns
You On. Ruth Buzzi was brought in to work as a second
adult character actor alongside Les Lye. She was extremely down
to earth and personable. Roger Price and Geoff Darby had to whittle
the numbers of kid actors down to just a core group of 8 or so to
continue on. I was one of the unlucky ones who did not get to continue
with the show. I was almost 17 at the time and was getting pretty
old as well.
Age, as you
know, was a killer for many of the actors as they grew up on that
show. All, of course, except "Moose" who never seemed
to get old. I remember once in a while seeing her in the mid-80s
episodes and thinking to myself that she still looked the same as
when I originally went to school with her. She was fabulous in her
craft.
She’d
probably kill me if I told you how I recall her getting her nickname
of "Moose" but since she’s far away, I’ll
chance it. Christine had the cutest, naturally curly hair which
she of course hated and was always trying to flatten down with her
hands. Someone made a joke that she had "antlers" which
she perceived to stick out of her forehead. Thereby the nickname
"Moose" which followed. Now that's my recollection of
the nickname coming to be anyhow. Sorry "Moose"!
How did your parents feel about you
being on the show? I've heard from some cast members that theirs
were supportive, others, the exact opposite.
As far as parents went, mine were excellent. My father was the singer
with the RCMP Band at the time and spent many months of the year
traveling Canada and the world so I didn't see him a lot. Mom was
great about it but then again, for me, this job did not go on as
long as many others on the show.
I recall car-pooling
with Deidre McIsaac, Christine McGlade and Cyndi Kennedy when we
initially went to our acting lessons and then for the show tapings
when we were cast on the same show. It was usually one of our mom's
who would drive us from Ottawa's east end to the opposite end of
the city where CJOH was located. Our drives to and from were always
full of excitement about the new thrill in our lives, not to mention
I was getting to hang out with a few gorgeous babes back then.
I always remember
all the parents being very supportive in our endeavors but can also
see how years of this activity could lead to difficulties. I recall
my parents telling me several times they didn’t think the
show was funny at all and that the shock value of certain skits
appeared needless and silly (i.e. sliming, etc).
I recall Roger
and Geoff putting out a letter (which I still have) to all the cast's
parents just as WTYO was about to air.
They wanted our parents to call all their relatives across Canada
and have them call their local CTV affiliates to praise the new
national show once it aired. This was apparently potentially huge
in terms of getting the show to continue. I recall my parents, being
westerners, calling all our kin folk all across Canada to do this.
I guess it didn’t have such a great impact since the low ratings
killed the show.
Do
you still keep in touch with some of the cast\crew you worked with?
I
did a few live musical shows after YCDTOTV, including two runs of
Sounds and Saddles in 1983 and 1986. They
were fund raisers at the Civic Center in Ottawa for the Children's
Hospital of Eastern Ontario and involved local teen talent in singing
and dancing broadway and muppets shows along with the RCMP Musical
Ride and RCMP Band. I remember one of the dancers, Naida Gosselin,
a great ballerina at the time for her age, had told me she had been
a cast member on YCDTOTV. I think she eventually went to the National
Ballet School.
I also did
some singing with Bradfield Wiltse, around the early 80s, who was
also a cast member in 1979. I've recently been in touch with him
through his family who are still in Ottawa. He's putting out albums
in Montreal.
I had heard
about Kevin Somers and what he was doing in Toronto after speaking
with his brother who is with the RCMP. Kevin's brother and I ended
up working together as police officers at one point in Cornwall
when I was doing an investigation in the mid nineties.
Other than
that, I never really kept in touch with any of the old cast until
I saw many of them in 2002 at the cast reunion party. I was embarrassed
when I didn't recognize some of the faces after 25 years, but it
didn't take long for the fog banks to lift in the old brain. It
was great chatting with the likes of Mike Patton, Tim Douglas, Lisa
Ruddy, Marc Baillon, Rodney Helal, Carole Hay (whom I'll always
hold dear), Geoff Darby and the rest of the old gang. I missed seeing
Christine McGlade, but we have been in touch by e-mail since.
I really missed
seeing Cyndi Kennedy, Deidre McIsaac, Jono Gebert, Elizabeth Mitchell,
Jim Stechyson, Sarah West, Kevin Schenk, Ian Fingler, David Halpin
and the rest of the originals whom I missed at Slimecon 2002. Some
were at the reunion, but I was working and showed up late the last
day. They were all really great kids.
 What
have you been doing with your time since YCDTOTV?
After leaving YCDTOTV, I ended up graduating high
school from Ashbury College in 1982. Funny enough, I never even
realized at the time that Matthew Perry of Friends
fame was at the same school doing lots of theatre. Hard to believe
he never went out for YCDTOTV.
I then went
on to graduate from Carleton University in 1985 with a BA in law
and criminology. I joined the Ontario Provincial Police at that
time and spent 14 years in eastern Ontario detachments. In 1999,
I accepted an offer from the Ottawa Police to switch over and am
currently working as a Sergeant in downtown Ottawa, and still love
catching the "bad guys." Although I always knew I wanted
to become a police officer, my second love was the performing bug.
There's something about playing make believe and evoking emotion
from others.
I had been
doing a lot of classical singing over the last 30 years and have
had some great opportunities as a result, singing with the National
Ballet of Canada and with the National Arts Center Orchestra. Having
sung Canada's national anthem for many events such as CFL games,
including singing for Princess Diana in 1983 on her visit to Ottawa,
I was invited by the NYPD in 2002 to sing the Canadian anthem on
behalf of all Canadian police officers at the 1 year anniversary
memorial service for the 9/11 tragedy, right at ground zero. A month
later, I was again privileged to sing at the N.Y. Rangers home opener
at Madison Square Garden when they played the Montreal Canadiens.
Talk about being lucky!
In my spare
time, I've taken up playing the bagpipes and now play with the Ottawa
Police Pipes and Drums, who will travel to NYC once again this September
to play at Carnegie Hall for the Second Annual 9/11 Memorial.
I have a beautiful
wife who is a school teacher and the love of my life. She just recently
gave me a newborn son to go along with my gorgeous 3-year-old daughter.
Hats off to
the Slime Society for keeping this all alive. I don't know where
you get all your energy. I've truly been blessed since my time on
YCDTOTV and count it as one of the "short" highlights
of my life, mostly for having had the opportunity to know and work
with all those great people. I'm sure none of us originals ever
thought this show would have grown to what it eventually became.
The Slime Society wants to thank Brad
for shedding more light on what it was like to be a part of the
original 1979 cast of YCDTOTV. Good luck with everything that comes
your way, Brad.
|
