Mike, from Canmore

Mike, known as Mike from Canmore, was a fictional character from the 1993-2008 sketch comedy series Royal Canadian Air Farce. He was portrayed by Welsh actor John Morgan from 1994 until Morgan's retirement from the program in 2001.^[1] Morgan, who had never performed the character publicly since his retirement, died in late 2004.^[2]

Mike was known for his clothing, which included a red Calgary Flames hat, a checkered shirt, and brown vest. He also owned a dog, named Norm, that was actually only a stuffed animal which he would attempt to have perform tricks. Mike would often show up at the most unexpected of times in various random skits in Air Farce.

In the first few years of his existence, Mike's only line was "I'm Mike... from Canmore," which he would deliver very slowly and in a bewildered tone. Eventually, the character was expanded to say more, often about his dog. Other characters in the sketch would eventually get frustrated with Mike's apparent slowness and inability to grasp whatever situation had arisen. Sketches with Mike invariably ended with somebody asking Mike, in exasperation "What have you got to say?" or "What do you think about that?" to which Mike would respond with his catchphrase.

In early episodes of Air Farce, both Radio and TV, Mike was from Coquitlam and not Canmore. On the radio show, many sets would be done from various areas of Canada. If Mike made an appearance on these shows, he would be Mike from any place starting with a "C".

Mike was occasionally seen with his friend "Chuck, from Rimbey". Chuck had similar speech, intelligence and clothing to Mike, although he wore an Edmonton Oilers hat.

One of the more remembered appearances of Mike from Canmore occurred in a sketch in which Mike mistakes the MENSA office for a washroom as the "a" fell off moments before without his knowledge (forming the word "MENS") only to be greeted by a MENSA official who puts Mike through a verbal IQ test. The skit is filled with almost constant uses of double entendres. It was featured in a special episode paying tribute to John Morgan following his death. It was also one of the Air Farce's all-time best skits, chosen by the public during the Air Farce's Final Flight season.

According to Air Farce's website Mike's IQ is 1 or 9-1-1 in an emergency.

See also

• Royal Canadian Air Farce

References

1. ^ Royal Canadian Air Farce. "JOHN MORGAN". http://www.airfarce.com/info/biojohn.html. Retrieved 2008-04-10. 
2. ^ CBC (17 November 2004). "John Morgan of 'Air Farce' dies". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2004/11/16/JohnMorgan041116.html. Retrieved 2008-04-10. 

‹The stub template below has been proposed for renaming to Television-character-stub. See stub types for deletion to help reach a consensus on what to do.
Feel free to edit the template, but the template must not be blanked, and this notice must not be removed, until the discussion is closed. For more information, read the guide to deletion.›