The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Sandy Jobin-Bevans is such a cut up that when he tells people he's from Flin Flon, not everyone believes the oddly named city is a real place. "Yeah, some people think you're making it up, absolutely," says the fast-rising comic. "But then I have just way too many facts about it for them to say that I'm lying. You know, it's a funny name and it's the place so nice they almost named it twice, is the way I like to put it." Living in the metropolis of Toronto and landing roles in major films and TV series, Jobin-Bevans seems about as far away from Flin Flon as imaginable. As a performer with the renowned Second City improv comedy troupe, the 38-year-old has shared the stage with the likes of Martin Short, Tina Fey and Will Ferrell. As an actor, he has appeared on television shows like Queer as Folk and ReGenesis, and in movies like the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake and Harold & Kumar go to White Castle. Along the way, Jobin-Bevans has established himself as royalty among Canadian funnymen, winning eight times at the Canadian Comedy Awards Ð certainly nothing to laugh at. And to think it all started in a small remote mining town. Jobin-Bevans came into this world on April 21, 1972. Dad Bill Bevans was a geologist for HBMS, mom Onalee Jobin a nurse at the same hospital where her son was born. His parents gave him the middle name Norman in honour of his grandfather, Norm Bevans, a well-known early Flin Flonner who spent years toting residents around in his taxi cab. See 'Flin...' on pg. 6 Continued from pg. 1 Though the family moved to Georgetown, Ontario, when Jobin-Bevans was just three years old, they maintained a summer cottage at Bakers Narrows for the next 20 years. Like home Flin Flon still felt like home for the young future star, thanks in large part to his grandfather, F.L. (Bud) Jobin, the former MLA and mayor who became Manitoba's lieutenant-governor. Jobin-Bevans would travel back home in the summer to take in the annual Trout Festival with his grandfather, but it's his memories of the holidays that truly stand out. "When we were kids, we'd always go to the Government House in Winnipeg for Christmas," he recalls. "What an amazing place to go when you're a little kid Ð a huge mansion in Winnipeg." As Jobin-Bevans entered the final stretch of high school, his family made another move, this time to the Manitoba capital. By now it was time for him to give serious thought to a career. Comedy was not yet an obvious choice, though even as a child and teen his jocular sensibilities were hardly hidden. "I was always a smart ass and I always was the kid who got the 'didn't focus enough in class' [written on his report card]," he says. "It's one of those things that you're kind of cursed with, is that anything that's kind of funny [warrants a comment]. Something that happens that's awkward, like you're at a funeral or somewhere where you're not supposed to laugh or talk, you can't help it. You're just like, 'Oh, I've got to say this.' It's like a disease. You're just like, 'I've got to say something here, I've got to make a comment, I've got to do something.'" That urge to do something went beyond Jobin-Bevans' jokiness. After graduating from Fort Richmond Collegiate, he enrolled at the University of Manitoba with visions of becoming a high school history teacher. That plan went unchanged as the years passed, though he did find an outlet for his humour by joining a four-member sketch troupe. Then, just as Jobin-Bevans was about to finish his degree, the troupe had an epiphany Ð they should take their schtick to Canada's largest market for comedy (and everything else). So in 1996, they moved to Toronto. Since comedians just starting out are the quintessential starving artists, Jobin-Bevans took a job working in the box office at the Second City comedy club. Audition Surrounded by the very quick-wittedness he felt within himself, he wound up auditioning for Second City. In 1998 was accepted, joining the troupe's National Touring Company as a writer and performer. Sandy Jobin-Bevans the comedian had officially arrived. With its main branches in Toronto, Chicago and Hollywood, the world-famous Second City has launched the careers of dozens of top comedy stars. Alumni include Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, Amy Poehler and Bonnie Hunt. There is a certain camaraderie among Second City players past and present. As Jobin-Bevans puts it, it's "like a big clubhouse." "With Second City, we always had people drop by and do an improv set with us," he notes. Sometimes those surprise guests had no affiliation with Second City. Will Ferrell, for instance, was never part of the troupe. Nor were the rock icons of Aerosmith, who shared the stage with Jobin-Bevans and his fellow performers one memorable night. "That's the great thing about being there. Anytime, anybody can show up and just jump on stage," he says. "You don't have to have a script, you just jump up and improvise." See 'Recog...' on pg. 9 Continued from pg. 6 Jobin-Bevans' stock rose fast over the next few years. And he earned recognition not only for his comedic skills, but also his acting chops. He played an emergency technician in an episode of the sci-fi drama series PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal. Bit parts in TV movies followed. Soon came a small part in a theatrical film, Dawn of the Dead. But it was Jobin-Bevans' turn as Officer Palumbo in 2004's Harold & Kumar go to White Castle Ð a teenage stoner comedy with a cult following Ð that has merited him the most notoriety. "Anybody who's in the teen range to [their] early 20s is right away like, 'What? You're Officer Palumbo?'" he says. "That's my street cred, I guess." Jobin-Bevans continues to appear on television and in movies while maintaining a relationship with Second City. He is also a founding member of the Slap Happy Improvisational Theatre Company, which has performed across North America and beyond. Though he has been recognized by strangers on the streets of Toronto and other cities, he does not consider himself famous Ð though that could soon change. Dream come true Jobin-Bevans' dream of having his own TV series has come true. This month he begins shooting Life with Boys, a kid-friendly sitcom from the producer of Hannah Montana and That's So Raven. He plays a single dad. "The funny thing was, I always thought I could be in a cool TV show where I'm like the hot young cop or something like that," he says. "And you end up being the dad of four kids." Life with Boys will premiere in Canada on YTV in September. Pre-sales have also been secured across Canal J (France), Nickelodeon (United Kingdom) and ABC (Australia). It will carry a completely different style of comedy than the envelope-pushing material for which Jobin-Bevans is known. "I love getting the audience in an uncomfortable place and then giving them some sort of release," he says. "I don't think there will be any tense comedic moments on Life with Boys." As his career takes off, Jobin-Bevans still holds a special place in his heart for Flin Flon. When he has some time off, he would love to return to the community for the first time in 18 years. He credits his hometown with helping to shape not only his comedic proclivity, but also his work ethic. That was especially apparent when he spent three largely unsuccessful years in Los Angeles. "I wasn't booking anything and I was just getting frustrated because I know in Toronto I can work, and I like to work," he says. "And I always say I think that comes from living in a town like Flin Flon, growing up there and having that background Ð it's a working-class [community]. We want to work, we don't want to just sit around waiting for something to happen." Much like the tight-knit Second City players, Flin Flonners seem to share a special bond. If Jobin-Bevans had any doubts about that, they were put to rest when he landed a gig at last year's NHL Winter Classic, an outdoor game played in Boston. "Bobby Clarke was dropping the puck with Bobby Orr," he recalls. "And so afterwards we're at the hotel tand Bobby Clarke is there with his family, and one of the guys that he's with is wearing a Bombers jersey, which is classic. And I said to my fiance, 'I've got to go say hi to Bobby Clarke.' Like, we had the same doctor birth us, so I feel like I know this guy. "So I walked over and was like, 'Hey, Bobby, how are you doing? I'm Sandy and I'll be working with the Winter Classic.' And he was like, 'Uh huh' and he was friendly enough. Then I was like, 'And I'm also from Flin Flon' and it was a completely different conversation at that point. He was like, 'What?!'" If nothing else, Jobin-Bevans' chance meeting with the most famous of former residents solidified his status as a tried and true Flin Flonner. "I absolutely consider myself a Flin Flonner, and forever," he says. "That's always been in my bio, like any show I've done or any Second City show, it's always like 'born in Flin Flon.' That's the first line of everything I do. It makes you completely unique and I love how the people who know it or are from there can see it and then instantly have a conversation about it." With pride, Jobin-Bevans will continue to tell people he is from Flin Flon Ð even if some people think he's just being funny.
