F-bombs hit targets at annual Air Farce taping

There were no shortage of F-Bomb targets as the Royal Canadian Air Farce held its first of two nights of taped performances Thursday in Toronto.

Who gets splattered this year? The Farce has been taking suggestions for weeks from fans who vote on the comedy troupe’s web site. A certain U.S. president seems an obvious target, but the Farce always hits a bulls-eye by singling out an ad nuisance and this year is no exception (and, no, it’s not the Canadian Tire guy or the dude from A&W).

This December marks 25 years since the Air Farce made its TV debut in 1992. The radio roots go back 44 years to 1973. Founding member and executive producer Don Ferguson — who seems ageless to me — told the audience he was exactly three times the age of youngest member Isabel Kanaan. (“Four times,” she joked.)

The annual New Year’s Eve special drew the usual amount of guest stars, with Lloyd Robertson, David Suzuki and Kurt Browning all getting into the “Farce Films” act.

One of the biggest laughs of the night came before the show even started. As me and my neighbours Doug and Roberta shuffled our way out of the elevators towards the 10th floor CBC studio, we noticed a bit of a commotion behind us. There was famous hockey dad Walter Gretzky, posing for selfies and signing autographs while standing in line.

One mother asked Gretz Senior to autograph a note to her son. “What’s his name?” he asked. “Raheeb,” she replied.

Walter did a double take; clearly this was a spelling challenge he had not anticipated.

There are some very funny sketches in this year’s show, including a well-placed jab at Quebec’s anti burka hijab law as well as several slaps at the Trudeau governments embrace of everything uber woke. A certain department store that gave bosses’ bonuses while booting workers to the street is also savaged, and The Handmaid’s Tale gets a musical makeover.

Missing from the fun was new mom Emma Hunter, an impact player the past few years. She’s on The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton now, and apparently they invoked a no share-zies policy. F-Bomb The Beaverton!

A second taping takes place Friday in Toronto. The Air Farce New Year’s Eve special airs right when you’d expect it — Saturday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. on CBC.