I’m always astounded at Ron James verbal dexterity. He can turn a phrase the way Paul Coffey can turn up ice. It looks effortless yet the speed and precision leaves you breathless.
James wears his Maple Leaf proudly on his sleeve, earned after years of traveling across Canada performing at clubs and in concert. He’s literate and likable, a stand up Thesaurus, like Dennis Miller meets Mark Twain by way of Cape Breton.
James gets to showcase his comedic talents tonight with the launch of his new series The Ron James Show (CBC, 8 p.m.). It’s a hybrid, he says, combining an opening and closing monologue in front of a studio audience with sketches, animation and almost any excuse for a gag.
“A comedian’s job is to tip the apple cart, not ride in it,” he told me last week at the CBC fall launch in Toronto. He says a bunch of other stuff that sounds wise in this CP article I wrote which appears in Friday’s Toronto Star.
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