Hola, Sneakers! It’s Episode 617 of the least ambitious podcast on the internet!
This week Ian and David talk: arrival; customer depreciation; meet draw; happy place; vision-aerie; rive gaunch; piano musings; mismanager; business brains; family dealings; chucklehead; Team Oops; I.P.s; work warm up; reflushment; a blessing and a curse; too much work; creation vs. recreation; going batty; ushering in; making concessions; talking Poirot; Venice the menace; European unions; reality check; just for giraffes; it’s all happening near the zoo; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; Dahl boy; butter down under; auto-bio comics; Dave’s a fan; and, finally, a sneaky family business.
Question of the Week: Have you ever worked in a family business?
Sub-question of the Week: Have you ever been an outsider in a family business?
Thanks for listening.
Departnemt of Corrections:
While looking up Frederick Exley’s name as an aide-mémoire, we were surprised to learn that A Fan’s Notes is a fictional memoir.
Welp, scratch that from the list!
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I once worked for a family business called The Canadian Folk Puppets. It was run by Fran Dowie, an old vaudevillian, and his wife Louise. His son still runs the company in Saskatchewan. They provided entertainment for events and also built puppets and mascot costumes such as A&W’s Great Root Bear. I was a young actor looking for work when I answered their newspaper ad. Then I spent a season showing up at odd venues like parks or hotels or department stores or country clubs. I could end up dressed as, say, a flamenco dancer for one gig or as a furry animal for another. Fran and Louise were known for playing Santa and Mrs. Claus. She couldn’t make it to one “Breakfast with Santa” so at the last moment I was rushed into the Mrs. Claus costume. One of their employees was an actress named Claire who also did their scheduling. She auditioned for SAK Theater from Florida when they came to Expo ’86. Then she got involved with improv through a Vancouver improviser who also worked with SAK that year. When Claire moved back to Florida with the troupe, SAK invited that improviser to teach a workshop in Orlando. He couldn’t make it so my brother took his place, met his future wife, emigrated, then begat three actress-musician daughters. So in roundabout way, Canadian Folk Puppets contributed to my family’s continued involvement in show business.
A lovely story, Louise!
Fran Dowie sounds familiar, but I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve heard of them or if it’s such a Canadian name!
He has a star on BC Walk of Fame on Granville Street so maybe you passed his name on your way to a concert venue downtown.