The Candy Man Can

Continuing an extended joyride on the classic comedy route, Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog pays tribute to one of the very best comedians and comic actors from the last half of the 20th century, the hilarious John Candy.







Here, co-star and frequent collaborator in TV and movies Eugene Levy remembers John.



John's daughter Jen, host of Couch Candy, elaborates.



Kicking this tribute off will be a lesser known part of John Candy's illustrious career: his work as an animated cartoon voice artist. While John starred in the animated television series, Camp Candy, the prime example of his cartoon voice work is as Wilbur the albatross in The Rescuers Down Under.





In addition to many movies, John appeared on a slew of TV shows, including the short-lived but funny The New Show - which, along with The Dana Carvey Show a decade later, was an attempt to bring unfettered sketch comedy to prime-time - and Billy Crystal's comedy specials.





First became familiar with John Candy back in the 1970's via Second City Television, so today's post will consist primarily of lots and lots and lots (and we mean it, LOTS) of all-time favorite SCTV sketches. In particular, Monster Chiller Horror Theatre's House Of Cats is a favorite!























Without a doubt, SCTV's Johnny LaRue was quite the legend in his own mind.







John Candy & Eugene Levy co-starred as polka kings Yosh and Stan Shmenge, intrepid leaders of The Happy Wanderers.



The polka-crazed Shmenges subsequently worked their "cabbage rolls and coffee" magic at one of the Comic Relief benefit shows.



The appearances of SCTV cast members on Late Night With David Letterman are frequently memorable - and John's are no exception to this.





Inevitably, John transitioned from sketch comedy mastery to a prolific career starring and co-starring in feature films.



Particularly memorable is his "big lug" role in Planes, Trains & Automobiles.





Today, we tip our worse-for-wear Max Linder top hat to Johnny LaRue, Harry (The Guy With The Snake On His Face), William B. Williams, Dr Tongue, Gil Fisher (The Fishin' Musician), Mr. Mambo and many more.



The Candy Man can!



For more, a slew of John Candy sketches from Second City Television can be found on The Official SCTV YouTube channel.