The Toronto Fringe Festival is back this month, and among the familiar faces returning to the 11-day theatre extravaganza is Canadian performer Patrick McKenna.
McKenna is a well-known actor thanks to his starring roles on the TV series The Red Green Show and Traders. Though he’s known for stealing the show (he made television history by being awarded Geminis in the Lead Actor category for both comedic and dramatic performances on the same night for the two shows), McKenna is staying safely behind the scenes at this year’s Fringe, directing musical comedian George Westerholm’s new production, It’s My Show: I Don’t Care.
“George and I have known each other for 20-odd years,” McKenna says, referring to how he got the gig. “He contacted me to direct it, and I had experience with directing the Second City mainstage show, and I’d performed some of George’s material, so it was a great fit.”
The one-man show, described as “one man’s enduring triumph of shallowness and vanity through music,” evolved from Westerholm’s own music.
“We looked through his catalogue of his songs, and he started to see a theme in his writing, and we just put together the best ones that illuminate his life articulated by his music,” says McKenna.
From there, a premise was born: “It’s George’s birthday, and he’s doing a show, and he’s haunted … by the choices he made in his life, from his clothing to his music to his hair.”
McKenna knows a thing or two about making big choices. It was just after completing his business studies at Sheridan College that he spontaneously chose to attend an open call for the Second City. It was a life-changing decision, which paved the way for his future success in comedy and performing.
From Second City, he toured North America as a stand-up comedian for five years, opening for acts such as Dionne Warwick and Smokey Robinson.
“I loved doing stand-up,” says McKenna, chuckling. “[I was] young enough to do the work. There’s a lot of road travelling. You’ve got to work hard.”
But soon the Second City came calling again, plucking him from his stand-up circuit and hoisting him to its latest mainstage show. Not long afterward, he was cast on CBC’s The Red Green Show as Harold Green, the title character’s nephew and trusty sidekick. The show ran for 15 seasons, from 1991 to 2006.
“The Harold character [is my favourite role]. He was everything personified. I was improvising, he was ADHD. I was memorizing 56 pages of script. It was demanding to be that silly.”
But McKenna seems to thrive on challenges. During his stint on Red Green, McKenna was also cast on Global TV’s hit drama series Traders, in 1996, as ambitious head trader, Marty Stephens. The show ended in 2000 with McKenna juggling the two distinct acting roles, working seven days a week for five years.
Not surprisingly, “it was exhausting,” admits McKenna. “I have ADHD, so it fit because it kept my synapses firing. I was always looking for some drama. That [experience] seemed to work very well.”
If McKenna seems to mention ADHD a lot, it’s not by accident. The actor was diagnosed with it in 2009, a detail that was revealed during the documentary ADD and Loving It, and he has since become a vocal advocate for the often misunderstood disorder.
“I’ve been touring universities and training centres, talking about how I grew up with it,” says McKenna. “I talk to teachers and psychologists. It’s probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done. People know who they are now .…but it’s creating that communication. It’s a very difficult hurdle.”
But it’s one that McKenna now has the time to tackle since he decided to take a semi-retirement from acting after the swan song of The Red Green Show.
“I was pretty much kaput after the five years [of doing both Red Green and Traders]. I was busy for 15 years. It was a great opportunity to act different, read differently, the interaction, studio versus audience. It was a great school of opportunity.”
When he is not touring to speak about ADHD, McKenna is now mostly lending his voice to animated series or doing the odd TV guest appearance.
“I am happy to do different things,” McKenna says. “Most Canadians don’t have this opportunity, so I’m taking full advantage of it. It gave me the chance to do [It’s My Show: I Don’t Care].”
Being a part of a Fringe show seemed like the most fitting next step for McKenna.
“A lot of my community works with the Fringe, and it forced me to jump back into the community…There’s a lot of real art being created, and that’s what I love about the Fringe.”
As for his advice to the emerging artists who are coming up through this year’s festival: “Keep it simple. One thought. One message. Complete the message. Usually I see the first and second acts, but they don’t wrap up.”
It’s My Show: I Don’t Care plays July 4 – July 15. Check www.fringetoronto.com
