Trailer Park fun comes back to Lethbridge with Randy and Mr.Lahey

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     John Dunsworth, who is often known for playing perpetually drunk trailer park  manger Mr. Lahey on the Trailer Park boys is excited to bring his sidekick Randy (Pat Roach)  back to Lethbridge to perform at Soundgarden, May 6.

Randy and Mr. lahey return to Lethbridge this weekend. photo submitted
“We just finished season 11 of the Trailer Park Boys on Netflix and starting Season 12. But I never know what I’m doing on the show until about a week before we film it. The boys are always writing and reading and rewriting and writing and sometimes they just throw it out,” Dunsworth said.


“I’m always impressed by how far they have managed to stretch the concept. I’ve always considered it was due to them being geniuses,” he said.
He noted he has been performing a lot of shows with Randy in the United States where The Trailer Park Boys is very popular.


“We played 100 shows last year, most of them in the U.S. I’ve been going through  paperwork from the tour, like hotel and meal receipts, but among that is a lot of paper from fans saying how much the Trailer Park Boys mean to them,“ he said.
 While he is known for playing  a drunk on stage, Dunsworth said he doesn’t drink.


“I’ll get people coming up to me saying ‘I can drink you under the table  Mr. Lahey.’ and when I tell them I don’t drink they’re disappointed.  Like ‘oh no, image shattered.’ But I always tell people it‘s more fun pretending to be drunk than it is to be drunk,” he said, adding he worked with Trailer Park Boys  creator Mike Clattenburg to create the character.

“I played a drunk pet store owner in a short film he did and he liked it so much he asked me to play Mr. Lahey in the Trailer Park Boys. He’d say something like  play a 6 out of 10 drunk and I’d play that,” he said.
“Everybody knows a drunk,” he said.

 


“ Actually people have come up to me and said watching Mr. Lahey has helped them quit drinking, which is weird,“ he said, adding his portrayal of a drunk shows people how pathetic it can look.


He is looking forward to this tour with Pat Roach.


“ We‘re going to be re-enacting  Abraham’s sacrifice from the Bible,” Dunsworth chuckled.


“Actually I’m just kidding about that,” he laughed, adding the show is different every time.

“We remove parts and add them later and write new parts of it,” he said.


“ But actually I do enjoy coming to Lethbridge because my old professor from Guelph is there now, ” he said crediting his time in Guelph for his love for acting.


“ I played Shylock in merchant of Venice and I played Oscar Wilde in a play and it changed my life,” he said.
“ So I dropped out and I started a theatre company in Halifax,” he continued.


In addition to  acting, Dunsworth is an author. He published a book inspired by Lahey’s creative use of the word shit called the Dicshitionary.
He noted people who can’t wait for the next season of the Trailer Park boys can find more Trailer Park Boys on www.swearnet.com

Randy and Mr. Lahey perform at Soundgarden, May 6 at 8 p.m. Ticket are $25 in advance.
— by Richard Amery, L.a. beat Editor

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