Very Big in Sheboygan

Forgive me, Canadian comedy fans, for I have sinned. It has been a dog’s age since my last confession, and I’m also not Catholic. Still, here are a couple of things to get the ball rolling: I am a cynic. Bone-deep Gen‑X cynicism. As such, the moment I laid eyes on the cover of Paul Myers’s John Candy: A Life in Comedy — with its cotton candy pink text and black and white headshot of the baby-faced actor — I was ready. For what? Not sure. A saccharine portrayal of a Marty Stu performer, with a hearty helping of rah-rah-sis-boom-bah Canadiana on the side? Or maybe yet another celebrity getting knocked down a peg or two by his own shadows and scandals? Then I noted the nearly 400 pages. Prepare for some glazed-eyed skimming, eh? I quickly flipped through: great, an entire chapter about a football team. The only sport more yawn-inducing to me than the CFL is professional baseball, so at least Candy was part owner of the Toronto Argonauts and not the Blue...