Bob Odenkirk revisits comedy roots for Winnipeg fundraiser

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This article was published 29/11/2024 (655 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s nothing like a celebrity thumbs-up to make Winnipeg feel like a somebody.

And given how often he’s shot films here, Nobody leading man Bob Odenkirk’s Winnipeg review is feeling like three thumbs up.

Last week, beneath an Instagram post for a local fundraiser he’s co-hosting Sunday with Kevin McDonald (The Kids in the Hall) called “For the Winnipeg,” the star of Better Call Saul and Mr. Show wrote: “After three features shot here, I want to thank Winnipeg for the hospitality and good times.”

The sold-out event at Hargrave St. Market is a fundraiser for Dream Factory, Harvest Manitoba and Art City. It features standup from McDonald — who has long lived in Winnipeg — and Odenkirk, both of whom cut their teeth as actors in sketch comedy in the 1990s. (Mr. Show with Bob and David, Odenkirk’s four-season surreal sketch series with David Cross, can be streamed via Crave.)

The event also spotlights bluegrass band the Stanley County Cut-Ups, with whom Odenkirk seems to have struck up something of a musical friendship.

Fresh off the summer filming of Nobody 2 — the sequel to the 2021 Netflix action flick also shot here — Odenkirk began principal photography in Manitoba on Normal, which co-stars Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) and Henry Winkler (Barry), in October. The crime thriller sees his character thrown into the role of a temporary sheriff in Normal, where he discovers a sinister criminal web entangling the sleepy Minnesota town.

If all this makes it sound like it’s in the tradition of Nobody, that may be because they both have the same screenwriter: Derek Kolstad.

After four months in Winnipeg, Odenkirk has evidently seen a fair bit of Manitoba. Most of Normal was shot in Winnipeg Beach, while an October photo on X shows him smiling and hanging out with Jeremy Penner, a member of the Stanley County Cut-Ups, in Portage La Prairie.

Odenkirk jokes about his appearance at the fundraiser with Canadian comedy legend McDonald as “Mr. Show vs. Kids in the Hall” and calls the Cut-Ups “a great local band.”

With The Kids in the Hall, McDonald produced some of the most memorable and absurd sketch comedy of all time, while the Cut-Ups are amassing a following for their bluegrass tunes about rawhides, oil rigs and all things ruggedly western Canadian.

If Reddit is to be believed — in a region well beyond the stomping grounds of TMZ, we make do when it comes to sources for local celebrity encounters — Odenkirk also bought a six-string from guitar builder Jeremy Hamm, who also plays in the Cut-Ups.

conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca

 

Better curl Saul

Who knew that when I took up curling nearly 16 years ago, I’d end up throwing rocks with Bob Odenkirk at the Granite Curling Club?

A few weekends back, an old pal of mine with whom I used to curl and who works in the film industry, asked me if I’d help show some of the cast and crew of the film Normal the basic ins and outs of the sport. I said yes, and we rolled into the Granite on a Saturday afternoon.

Odenkirk was the first person we saw when we walked in the door, busy signing the necessary waivers to curl as a guest at the club. After some quick introductions it came up that I was the Free Press literary editor, and over a drink (me a beer, he a gin and tonic), he proceeded to talk my ear off about books for the next 15 minutes. (He’s a voracious reader and has written a memoir, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama, as well as a children’s book.)

He and the rest of the Normal crew then got a rundown of the basic rules of curling (and its many confusing terms — hog line, button, draw weight and the like) before we hit the ice. They were a bit shaky at first, but picked things up quickly.

After about an hour of the group tossing rocks, Odenkirk and I decided to play a one-on-one game, taking turns throwing stones without sweepers. With three of my red stones sitting in scoring position and he with one lone rock left to throw, I had him right where I wanted him.

Then the near-impossible happened. His last yellow rock meandered down the ice, nicked one of my guards and rolled between two of my counters to sit right at the edge of the button — out-counting all my rocks. I shook my head, looked at him in disbelief and told him he had just made a shot even the best curler might only make two times out of 100.

Other than the stinging loss on the ice, Odenkirk was an absolute delight; after our game he stopped for photos and chatted with a few curious curlers who recognized him before retreating to the Granite’s dining room with the rest of the Normal cast and crew for a post-game beverage.

If you’re reading this, Bob, I’m ready for our rematch.

— Ben Sigurdson