Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're looking
at someone I think a lot of people feel they
know really well, Brett Leroy Butt. Yeah, definitely.
For so many, he is that friendly face from Corner
Gas, you know, that gentle small town Canadian
humor personified. Right. The guy behind the
counter at the gas station in Dog River. Yeah.
But when you dig into the sources, the picture
gets, well, a lot more complex. Exactly. That's
what we're doing today. You've got this great
biographical profile and it shows this journey
from like small town Saskatchewan kid to this.
major award -winning creator. And it's not just
the corner gas guy. Yeah. He's an actor, comedian,
screenwriter, and now a novelist writing psychological
thrillers. Yeah. That's the really fascinating
turn, isn't it? How do you go from nothing rhymes
with Saskatchewan to, well, dark thrillers about
comedians? That's the evolution we want to unpack.
Okay, so our mission is to track that arc. From
stand -up to creating maybe the most beloved
Canadian sitcom ever, Corner Gas ran 2004 to
2009, let's remember, to now writing fiction
in a totally different genre. How did his early
life set him up for that first huge success?
And what do these later moves tell us? It's about
creative drive, I think, and maybe pushing against
the very image that made him famous. All right,
let's start at the beginning because you really
can't separate Brent Butt from Saskatchewan.
Born August 3rd, 1966 in Tisdale. Yeah, Tisdale,
northeast of Saskatoon. And that Prairie upbringing,
it's not just background, it's like the DNA of
his most famous work. His parents were Irene
and Herbert. He went to Tisdale Unit Composite
School there. That grounding seems so key. The
humor often comes from just observing that specific
sort of quiet prairie life. Totally. But it wasn't
a straight line to comedy. He actually tried
to leave first. Oh, yeah. Uh -huh. Sources say
he went off to Sheridan College in Ontario for
a bit. Trying the big city thing. Seems like
it. But it didn't stick. He came back home to
Saskatchewan pretty quickly. Maybe it just wasn't
the right time or the right fit for him then.
So, back home. What then? Straight into comedy.
Not quite. This is where it gets interesting.
Before the jokes, he was working a trade. He
was a drywaller. A drywaller? Seriously? That's
unexpected physical work. Right. Very different
from writing jokes. But here's the kicker. While
he was doing drywall, he had this side hustle.
He actually co -founded a publishing company.
Wait, what? A publishing company? Right. While
drywalling? Yeah, called Windwolf Graphics. Him
and a friend. It really shows that creative spark
was already there, you know? That need to make
stuff. What did they publish? They put out a
comic book called Existing Earth. A comic book.
Okay. And get this, it wasn't just some small
local thing that disappeared. It actually got
nominated for an Eagle Award. Whoa, hold on.
An Eagle Award? Those are pretty respected international
comic awards, right? Exactly. So right out of
the gate, his first big creative venture, while
he's still working this trade job, gets recognized
internationally. That's pretty telling. That's
amazing. Did it take off? Ah, well, that's the
other side of the coin. The sources are clear.
They only managed to publish two issues. Then
they ran out of money. Ouch. So. Quick success,
even quicker failure. Pretty much. A harsh lesson,
I imagine, in the realities of independent creating
and, you know, the business side of things. But
what a lesson to learn early on. Absolutely.
I think you can draw a direct line from that
experience, the creative talent getting noticed,
but hitting that financial wall to how he later
set up Corner Gas. How so? Well, he learned he
needed control, not just creative control, but
business control, too. That failure probably
fueled the drive to eventually create his own
production company, Prairie Pants, to make Corner
Gas. He knew he had to build the whole thing
himself, finance it, own it. Right. He wasn't
just the talent. He had to be the entrepreneur,
the drywalling, maybe the discipline. Yeah. And
the failed comic, the hard business lesson. It
all kind of feeds into it. Exactly. That resilience,
that self -starter attitude, it's all there right
from the beginning. Okay, so the publishing dream
fizzles out. Where does that drive go next? Straight
to the stage. Stand -up comedy. And we actually
know exactly when and where it started. Oh, yeah.
Details. February 1988. An amateur night at a
comedy club in Saskatoon. That was the first
time he ever performed stand -up. And presumably,
it clicked. Must have. Because the very next
year, 1989, he makes the big move. Therano. Yep.
The classic path for an ambitious Canadian comedian
back then started performing at Yook Yook's.
Ah, Yook Yook's, the institution. Right. And
the sources even give us that classic struggling
artist detail, living in a Cabbage Town apartment
with two other comics. Oh, wow. You can just
picture it, can't you? Three guys trying to make
it, crammed into some apartment. that's the grind
totally late nights honing the act probably not
much money but That's where you build the chops,
right? And find your voice. And his voice was
very specific, wasn't it? Tied right back to
where he came from. Absolutely. He wasn't doing
edgy urban stuff. The sources call his style
prairie -oriented funny or folksy songs. He leaned
right into that Saskatchewan identity he'd initially
tried to leave behind. So embracing the roots.
Yeah. Smart. Very smart. It made him stand out.
And we even know some of the specific songs from
that era. Yeah. Nothing rhymes with Saskatchewan.
Huh. Perfect. That's basically his brand right
there, isn't it? Pretty much. And another one
called Hairy Legs. Just observational, relatable,
slightly quirky stuff. Taking the supposed boringness
of Saskatchewan and making it funny for everyone.
That ability to make the local feel universal,
that's gold in comedy. And it worked. He got
tons of exposure for a Canadian comic back then.
Where was he showing up? All over Canadian CTV,
CBC television, the comedy network, plus CBC
radio, like on... Definitely not the opera. OK,
solid Canadian presence. But it went further.
He got play on A &E in the U .S. and even down
in Australia on the Special Broadcasting Service.
Wow. So he was building an international profile
even then just with his stand up. Yeah, he was
definitely getting noticed, which naturally starts
opening doors to other things like acting. Ah,
the move to the screen. Was that part of the
plan, you think? Hard to say if it was the plan,
but it was definitely the next step. And those
early roles, they were like his on the job training
for what came later. So what kind of roles are
we talking? Small stuff. Oh yeah, tiny stuff
at first, like looking at his credits from the
early 90s. Applicant, hashtag one in Maniac Mansion
in 92. Applicant, hashtag one. Glamorous. Ha,
right. Barfly and the kids in the hall, same
year. Baker in Kung Fu. The legend continues
in 93, just getting experience on set, seeing
how TV worked. Learning the mechanics. Exactly.
But then you see a slightly more notable one
in 98. He played a coroner in an episode of The
X -Files. Okay, The X -Files. That's a step up.
That show was huge. Shot in Vancouver, right?
Yeah. So getting booked on a big American show
like that, even for a small part, shows he was...
becoming a reliable professional actor. But he
wasn't just acting, was he? Wasn't he writing
too? Crucial point, yes. He was already working
behind the scenes as a writer. He wrote for a
series called Get Serious, Seven Deadly Sins
back in 95, 96. Got five writing credits there.
So he was building both skill sets, performing
on camera and writing for the screen. Precisely.
Stand -up first, gets the exposure, takes the
small acting gigs to learn production, gets into
a writer's room to learn structure. It's like
he was assembling all the pieces he'd need. To
eventually launch his own thing. Exactly. By
2003, he wasn't just a funny stand -up. He was
ready. And that own thing was, of course, Corner
Gas. The big one. The big one. This is where
everything converges, right? The prairie roots,
the folksy humor, the writing chops. That entrepreneurial
drive we saw with the comic book, it all comes
together. He co -created it in 2003 through his
own company, Prairie Pants. That ownership piece
again? Super important. Gave him massive control.
And, of course, set in fictional Dog River, Saskatchewan,
right back home. It launched on CTV in 2004 and
just... took off. It became this instant phenomenon.
Unprecedented, really, for a Canadian sitcom.
It wasn't trying to be American. It was quiet,
witty, character -driven, so specifically Canadian
in its vibe. And it ran for six seasons, right?
Until 2009. Yes. But here's maybe the most interesting
part of the Corner Gas story, according to the
sources. What's that? They chose to end it. But
in his company, Prairie Pants made the call to
wrap it up after season six. While it was still
huge. Exactly. It wasn't canceled. Ratings were
still great. It was still culturally relevant.
They decided to end it on their own terms at
the peak of its popularity. Wow. That takes some
serious guts. Most shows hang on way too long.
Right. But doing that cemented its legacy. It
ensured it went out strong, never got stale.
It was a power move, really. shows a commitment
to the quality of the story over just milking
the success. And that success really catapulted
him into a different stratosphere, didn't it?
He became more than just the guy from the show.
Oh, absolutely. Especially around the mid -2000s.
Like, let's look at 2005 specifically. That year
really shows his status. What happened in 2005?
Well, first, he hosted the Juno Awards. Okay,
big deal in Canada. The Music Awards. Huge deal.
Needs real comedic skill to handle that live
broadcast. But even bigger. He hosted a Royal
Command Performance Gala. For the Queen. For
the Queen. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
It was held in Saskatoon to celebrate Saskatchewan's
centennial. No way. Full circle, eh? The kid
from Tisdale, back home, performing for royalty,
celebrating the province that made him famous.
Isn't it wild? And the sources have this great
little anecdote about it. He didn't, like, tone
down his act for the queen. What'd he do? He
performed Nothing Rhymes with Saskatchewan. He
sang that for the queen. Yeah. Amazing. Yep.
And apparently he was trading jokes with Leslie
Nielsen at the same event. Leslie Nielsen. Wow.
From Naked Gun. Yeah. Hanging out with Brent
Butt. Yeah. It just shows how his specific folksy
style had gained this massive respect, even among
comedy legends. It wasn't just new shit anymore.
That validation must have felt incredible. And
it wasn't just anecdotal, right? He started getting
major awards, too. Serious industry recognition.
The big one came in 2008 at the Banff World Television
Festival. He won the Comedy Network Sir Peter
Ustinov Award. Okay, what's the significance
of that one? It's a huge honor. It's for an outstanding
body of work in TV comedy. And look who won it
before him. Who? John Cleese. Bob Newhart. John
Candy. Eugene Levy. Wow. That's a legendary company.
Seriously heavy hitters. Right. So being put
in that group, while Corner Gas was still wrapping
up its run, it showed the show was seen as more
than just popular. It was seen as important as
quality television comedy on an international
level. It cemented Corner Gas as a classic. Did
he win other stuff too? Oh, yeah. Multiple Canadian
comedy awards. He won Best Male Stand -Up back
in 2001, showing he still had those live chops.
Then for Corner Gas, he won Best Male TV Performance
twice, in 2004 and 2005, and crucially, Best
Writing for the TV series in 2004. So winning
for performing, winning for writing, winning
for his overall contribution with the Ustinov
Award, he was firing on all cylinders. Totally.
Actor, writer, creator, producer. Doing it all
at an award -winning level. That multi -hyphenate
thing was really paying off. Okay, so Corner
Gas Wraps in 2009 ends on a high note. The big
question always is, what do you do next? How
do you follow up something that massive? Well,
he didn't weigh around. He leveraged that success
and his relationship with CTV pretty much immediately.
What was the next project? A new sitcom called
Hiccups. It ran for two seasons, 2010 to 2011.
Hiccups. Okay. Was he starring in it? He was.
But more than that, this project really shows
him doubling down on being the creator. He created
Hiccups. He wrote it. He executive produced it.
And he directed four episodes himself. Adding
director to the list now, too. Yeah. Really taking
full control. Seems like it. And the casting
is interesting, too. It starred Nancy Robertson.
Wanda from Corner Gas. Yeah. Who's also his wife,
right? They got married in 2005. That's right.
So continuing that professional partnership.
In Hiccups, she played a children's author with
pretty severe anger management issues. Okay,
that sounds different from Wanda. Very different,
but played her life coach, Stan Durko. So a totally
different dynamic and tone compared to Corner
Gas. More edge, maybe? Interesting. Exploring
different territory, even if it didn't become
another Corner Gas -level hit, it shows they
weren't afraid to try something new together.
Definitely. And around the same time, he wasn't
letting his stand -up slide either. He put out
a one -hour comedy special in July 2010. The
Brent Butt Comedy Special. That's the one. On
the Comedy Network. And look at the guests he
pulled for that. Who'd he get? Seth Rogen. Dave
Foley. Jelly Black. Wow. Seth Rogen and Dave
Foley, that's some serious comedy cred. Yeah.
And Jelly Black, major music star. Yeah, it really
speaks to the respect he commanded in the industry
by then. He could attract top -tier talent for
his own special. But even with these new projects...
People still wanted Corner Gas, didn't they?
That world was just too beloved to leave behind
completely. Impossible to ignore that demand.
So he did return to Dog River, twice actually,
which was pretty smart thinking about managing
that valuable IP. First was the movie, right?
Yep, Corner Gas. The movie came out in 2014.
He co -wrote it, co -executive produced it, and
starred as Brent Leroy again. It was like this
big reunion event. I remember that. It got a
lot of buzz. It did. And they packed it with
cameos. Canadian TV folks, but also serious actors
like Graham Greene. Academy Award nominee Graham
Greene. The same. And Will Sasso, too. It showed
the brand could work as a movie, bring people
out. And then came the cartoon. Right. Corner
Gas Animated. That launched in April 2018 and
ran until 2021. Okay. Why animation? Well, think
about it. It keeps the characters and the world
alive, but it's less demanding on the original
actors. Plus, you can do more absurd cartoony
gags that wouldn't work in live action. It was
a clever way to extend the brand's life. And
he was still heavily involved. Oh, yeah. Creator,
co -writer, co -executive producer. Still steering
the ship, just in a different format. Okay, so
managing the legacy, keeping the stand -up going,
trying new sitcoms. But that brings us to the
latest thing, the real curveball. The novel.
Huge. Published in 2023. And it's not a collection
of funny stories about Saskatchewan life. Not
even close. It's a psychological thriller. I
mean, wow. From the guy who gave us the gentle
humor of Dog River, a psychological thriller,
that's a pivot. A massive pivot. You immediately
ask, why? Why go there? Does it connect at all
to his past work? It does, actually, in a really
interesting way. The setting connects. Huge a
set among touring stand -up comedians. Ah, okay.
So he's writing what he knows, but through a
completely different lens. Exactly. He's taking
all that experience, the decades on the road,
the clubs, the competition, maybe the loneliness,
the stuff we glimpsed from that Cabbage Town
apartment era, and exploring the darker side
of it, the pressure, the backstabbing, the psychology
of being a performer. So using the raw material
of his own life, but instead of turning it into
folksy jokes, turning it into suspense and, well,
thrills. Yeah. It's like looking at the underbelly
of the world that made him famous. The contrast
between Corner Gas and a thriller about the potential
darkness of comedy, it's stark. It really is.
It feels like a deliberate choice to say, I'm
more than just the nice guy from the prairies.
I think so. It's him exercising creative freedom.
He built this huge success on comfort and warmth,
and now he's earned the right, perhaps, to explore
something unsettling, something complex, using
the world he knows best. He shows incredible
range. Hashtag tag outro. So when we step back
and look at this whole journey based on our sources.
You really see these clear phases, don't you?
Yeah, three distinct stages, but all connected.
First, there's the foundation phase, the prairie
kid, the drywaller, the comic book publisher
who fails but learns. Right, building the stand
-up persona, getting those early TV credits,
finding that folksy voice, the hustle years.
Exactly. Then phase two is the peak, corner gas.
Creating, writing, starring in this massive cultural
hit. Winning the big awards like the Ustinov,
becoming a national figure, mastering television.
And now we're in phase three, the diversification
phase. Smartly managing the corner gas legacy
with the movie and animation. But also branching
out. Hiccups, the specials, and then the big
leap. The big leap into novelist, writing thrillers
with Huge, and the thread connecting it all is
that constant drive to be the creator, the writer,
the producer. He's always been in control of
the material. It really makes you think about
what success means for a creative person, doesn't
it? He reached the absolute summit with Corner
Gas. He created something universally loved,
comfortable, safe. He could have just ridden
that way forever, right? Toured Corner Gas, nostalgia
shows, done appearances, stayed firmly in that
brand. But he didn't. He chose to write a psychological
thriller about the potentially dark side of the
very industry that launched him. He challenged
himself and challenged his audience's expectations.
It poses that question, you know. When you achieve
that peak success, your own personal corner gas,
what do you do? Do you stick with the formula
because it works, because it's comfortable? Or
do you... Use the freedom that success gives
you to take risks, to explore something completely
different, maybe something darker or more complex,
just to show yourself and everyone else what
else you can do. It's a fascinating question
about creative ambition versus comfort. Something
for you, the listener, to maybe chew on. What
does that kind of artistic freedom really look
like?