Canadian comedian Mike Ward might send an invoice to Bob Odenkirk and David Cross for his $40,000 fine from the northern wasteland’s niceness ministry, the Human Rights Tribunal.
Ward joked that Canada’s favorite sick kid, Jérémy Gabriel, who was granted his utmost wish to sing for the Pope in 2006, scammed the nation by not dying. The child, who suffers from Treacher Collins syndrome, “stole a wish,” said Ward in an untelevised comedic rant. He now owes the child’s family a small fortune.
But Ward may have ripped the concept from Odenkirk and Cross’s seminal first season of Mr. Show. In which case, at least some of the blame transfers to these tasteless Americans.
In the sketch “Nil’s Guitar Shop/Imminent Death Syndrome,” Odenkirk, as the leader of a hair metal band, lets untalented Larry (Cross) believe he’s a guitar god and invites him to play in the band—because Larry’s terminally ill, and no one thinks he’ll live long enough. But instead: “That night Larry played before three thousand screaming fans who’d been individually called by his mother and agreed to not hurt his feelings.” In fact, Larry has Imminent Death Syndrome, so he’s pretty much set for life. And he’s not the only one.
Watch the sketch. You’ll get the idea.
Ward intends to appeal the fine from the Human Rights Tribunal on Canadian constitutional grounds. The “hate speech” provision of the Canadian Human Rights Act has long been understood by free speech advocates as an infringement on constitutionally protected freedoms of thought, opinion and expression.
Cross, who just came out with a Netflix special, and Odenkirk, star of AMC’s Better Call Saul, have done quite well for themselves. The least they could do is, first, let Ward off the hook for possibly plagiarizing and, then, start a Kickstarter for him—which would, I guess, actually be for the kid.
