Corky and the Juice Pigs
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Corky and the Juice Pigs was a Canadian comedy musical group made up of Phil Nichol, Greg Neale, and Sean Cullen. Their output consisted mainly of original comedic songs, largely satirical and often parodying various musical styles.
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[edit] Early History
Corky and the Juice Pigs got their start doing a comedy radio show on the University of Windsor's CJAM campus station. Under the leadership of Joe Costa, the group (Joe, Sean, and Phil) hosted a show called "Last Laughs on Us" (which aired on CJAM between 1984 and 1985). They referred to themselves as "The Little Bits of Gravel". Phil performed under the name Jimmy McWhistle. Sean honed his improv story telling (featured on such songs as "Truckers") skills doing a regular feature called "Epic of the Wedgies". The Wedgies were amorphous little creatures created by a group of capricious gods to be alternatively rewarded and tormented by their creators.
After their stint on college radio, Joe, Sean, and Phil entered a comedy competition hosted by Eugene Levy that was touring Canadian university campuses in the late '80s. They joined the contest under the monikor Corky and the Juice Pigs. Sean claims he wanted to use the Corky and the Juicy Pigs name for a jug band project he was kicking around. Corky and the Juice Pigs did not win but were runners up. Joe Costa left the group early into their career and was replaced by Sean and Phil's University of Windsor drama school mate Greg Neale.
[edit] Biography
Skilled improvisers, they are best known in the United States for their performances on MADtv, including their most famous song "Eskimo", more commonly known as "Gay Eskimo", where the lyrics discussed the problems facing the sole homosexual in an isolated environment. The group also parodied specific performers, often by performing their own songs in the style of others (famously their MADtv performance of "Eskimo" ended with versions of the chorus in the styles of The Proclaimers, Bob Dylan, Ric Ocasek from the Cars, Oasis, and Van Morrison).
Other songs dealt variously with the troubles to be faced with a possessed pair of pants ("Curly's Pants"), dating the Devil's daughter ("666-6666") and using your grandma as a skateboard ("Skateboard"). Even being the child of a moderately successful Bearded Lady and impressively unsuccessful Bearded Man were addressed, in the song "Circus Freaks". There was little considered too odd to become subject matter.
The group also toured internationally, netting a Perrier Award nomination at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1993. They also attracted a small fan base in Australia thanks to performances at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival towards the end of their career.
The group disbanded in the late 1990s after a career spanning over 11 years.
[edit] Members
- Phil Nichol
- Greg Neale
- Sean Cullen
[edit] Albums
- 1993 Corky and the Juice Pigs
- Pandas
- Basketball
- Gameshow
- 666-6666
- PSA
- Doubt
- Skateboard
- Eskimo
- Todd
- Concierge
- Psycho
- Buddhists
- Truckers
- Rok Stedy
- Candy
- Love Affair
- Miners
- When the Moon
- Captain Greg
- Suzanne
- Americans
- 1994 Pants
- Pants
- Circus Freaks
- Rabies
- Janitor
- Enviro Girl
- Dolphin Boy
- Diet Riot
- Curly's Pants
- The Church
- Christmas Dreams
- Picnic Party
- French Cowboys
- BVG
- Hot Squat Hombre
- REMember
[edit] Filmography
1996 - A Little Off the Top
[edit] Trivia
While the concept of a gay Eskimo seems absurd and comical to the average non-native Westerner, there is in fact a tradition of Two-Spirit people in North American native culture.
The Juice Pigs filmed a music video for "REMember", parodying REM's "Losing My Religion" video in 1994. The video is very rare and is not shown very often, but every once in a while gets airplay on MuchMusic and The Comedy Network in Canada (usually during comedic video programming or "Canadian Comedy Shorts").
