Free Beer
FREE BEER is a comedy duo which toured through Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the Maritimes and Quebec, making occasional appearances in places as far flung as New York City, Toronto, Montreal and too many pubs, clubs, frat houses and school auditoriums to recount. For their brief three years together, 1979 to ’82, they kept audiences laughing and entertained with their unique original skits, songs and irreverent comic take on culture at the time. Always self deprecating and clever, theirs was an original style that opened the doors for other musical comedy acts to follow. Their experience laid the groundwork for each partner to move onto much greater careers.
Chris Elliott adopted his second name as his stage moniker and went on to be widely known across Canada and the USA as comedian Lorne Elliott. He earned a coveted position as host and creator of the CBC radio program “Madly Off in all Directions” which enjoyed a 14-year run. For more than 30 years his solo act entertained in theatres all across the country. Kevin Blackmore was a founding member of the musical comedy trio Buddy Wasisname and the Other fellers who for 37 years toured Canada doing sold out shows in over 360 towns and cities, earning the trio each honorary doctorates from Memorial University of NL and a standing membership in the Order of Canada.
Having but one LP recording to account for those early years there isn’t much more recorded of their presentations from the early 80’s aside from two 45 rpm demos and a one-hour Cable TV presentation. Their one record was titled “Clueless”.
Having for some time been retired, the b’ys decided to put the old duo back together for another few shows to see what might be left to resurrect. This is an older- seasoned and savvy approach. There’s a little more melancholy, not the flat-out zaniness of years ago, a reflection of all the life lived in the 42 years since they laid their tools on the bench.
Still fun, still clever, still entertaining, and more experienced than back then, it’s “Free Beer, Still Clueless”.
