Randy’s Cheeseburger Picnic hits the stage at the Vic Juba Community Theatre on Nov. 22 for an 8:30 p.m. how. Supplied Photo
Randy Bobandy is bringing his Cheeseburger Picnic to the Border City and it’s shaping up to be a greasy good time.
Made famous by the hit Canadian TV show Trailer Park Boys, Randy, who’s played by Nova Scotia’s Pat Roach, is the shirtless dope-smoking assistant trailer park supervisor at Sunnyvale Trailer Park who knows how to have a good time.
“We’re going to have a great big party; it’s never too late to have a cheeseburger picnic,” said Roach via phone interview last Thursday.
“We gotta spread the joy and happiness around the world.”
Randy’s Cheeseburger Picnic will be at the Vic Juba Community Theatre on Nov. 22. VIP meet and greet passes are already sold out, but there are still quite a few general admission tickets remaining.
Roach explained the night will be chock-full of Trailer Park Boys stories, jokes, songs, cheeseburger picnic games, prizes, and more.
“Life’s too serious, you gotta let loose, go to a cheeseburger picnic.”
Trailer Park Boys first aired Showcase on April 20, 2001, and originally ran for seven seasons before concluding with a one-hour special on Dec. 7, 2008. The show was revived by Netflix in 2014, which resulted in five more seasons and a couple of movies.
“I’ve been Randy my whole life; eating cheeseburgers and loving every minute of it,” said Roach, who will be the first to admit the line between Randy and Pat became blurred long ago.
“Those stupid cameras started following us around in 1999, so it’s been a long time, over 20 years.”
Roach explained he believes the show has held up for so long due to its relatability and lightheartedness.
“There’s characters like us that live everywhere in the world,” said Roach.
“When Netflix picked up Trailer Park Boys it went to something like 182 countries around the world.”
Playing the same character for over 2o years would become tiring for some, but the allure hasn’t worn off for Roach.
“I have fun every day, but I forget who Pat is most of the time,” he said. “The pants come off, the shirt comes off, then you’re a totally different person, you’re Randingo.”
Roach also touched on the diehard fan base the show has built and how the show’s fans know more about Sunnyvale Trailer Park than its own assistant supervisor.
“Our fans are the best fans you could have … they know more about Sunnyvale Trailer Park than I do,” he said.
“They use all the quotes and do all these sayings. It’s an honour to meet all the fans and it’s a lot of fun.”
For Roach, it was also an honour to work with trained actor John Dunsworth, who portrayed Mr. Lahey throughout the series.
Dunsworth passed away on Oct. 16, 2017, but his legacy and comedic style lives on through his former cast mates.
“John Dunsworth, best guy ever,” said Roach. “He’s our mentor, and back in the day, he was the only trained actor at the time. He was amazing and would always share his wealth of knowledge, and was honoured to share it.
“He was just such a funny man and a nice man … always telling a joke, always cracking everyone up and making their lives happier.”
Roach recalled his favourite Mr. Lahey memory during his interview with the Source, adding “there’s more where that came from.”
“One of the fondest stories I have of Mr. Lahey was when we were driving and he was speeding down the road,” explained Roach.
“He gets pulled over by a police officer, which was when I told him he was going too fast. The policeman comes to the side of the car and John starts explaining how he never speeds and how he’s very sorry for doing so. The policeman said, ‘Mr. Lahey, please sign my ticket book, and I’m going to let you have a good day, just keep the speed down.’ And that was it … he was like a God.”
It would appear the old ‘Jim Trick’ worked like a charm.
Randy Bobandy takes the stage at the Vic Juba Community Theatre at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22. General admission tickets are $30 and available at the Vic’s box office or at vicjubatheatre.ca
