Second Chances and Second Editions...

I've done it again, not blogged for a while. I always kick myself when I realise this and yet, it takes self-shaming to get me back into gear. It's not that I don't want to, it's that the world seems rather noisy right now and trying to shut my brain off to sit down and write is something I struggle with, especially if it's about myself. 

Since I last blogged a fair amount has changed in my world. Last September I sadly lost my cat, Archie, heartbroken is not a big enough word. I have never felt such a pure love before nor after and I don't suppose I ever will, I get on with it by telling myself I will never get over him, and that's okay.

In happier news, I then achieved an MA in Comedy Writing, before having more major surgery last October (of which I've recovered beautifully).  So you could say it's been a bit of a mixed bag. 

John Candy has brought a lot to my life - comfort, laughter and some courage. Whilst writing and learning about John I read a lot about improv comedy and I've always been envious of people who can get up there and just do it! The fear has always got in the way. A few weeks ago I attended my first-ever improv workshop courtesy of the wonderful Giant Leap Improv, I was terrified and exhilarated and will definitely be doing it again. 

On top of that I've been working on something... 

A Second Edition of Searching For Candy, and I'm so proud of it. Big thanks to the team, editor Joe Shooman and designer, Gary McGarvey for all the hard work they put in for me. I was blessed with new interviews from friends and colleagues of John's, new stories, new pictures, and in total around an extra 20,000 words, it's also available in hardback and looks stunning (thanks Gary AKA Horse). 

You can buy it now here

In other news, I was one of the main admins on a very successful Facebook group called Long Live John Candy, unfortunately in March we were hacked and it has since been taken over by bots and spammers. We (myself and Johnny Zito) put years into that group and it was all very upsetting, however, we have started a new one (and because we didn't inherit this one we can't be kicked out), so if you are on FB please come join our new group and join in the conversation about John Candy at John Candy Lives On.   

One final thing to mention (this is what happens when I don't blog often, there is a lot to fit in!) I was interviewed by the wonderful Jim Hawkins for his Hello, You podcast, you can hear me talking about John and the book here, Jim is brilliant and creating a wonderful community so you should definitely check it out. 

I hope you are all keeping well and are finding joy in the world, even at this turbulent time. Gawd knows we need John Candy more than ever. 

Big love to you all, 

Tracey x

Those Aren't Pillows!

Hey all, 

Well, how is everyone doing? 

I have been slacking on the ol' blog posts, haven't I? I promise to write more than once a year in the future, sometimes life gets a little overwhelming and things go on the back burner. 

I am doing okay, my health has been holding me back a little, I had major surgery in June and am awaiting another large operation. Still, it may slow me down, but it doesn't stop me. 

I'm presently busy with a few different projects, most notably an MA in Comedy Writing - which, as you can imagine is great fun. I'm also writing the second edition of Searching For Candy which will be finished imminently. Thanks to Gary at Horse, here is the new front cover, it will also be available in hardback which is very exciting. 

Have you heard the exciting news about the release of the 4k Blu-Ray Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (out on 22nd November)? Of course you have, everyone is talking about it, it's already at the top of most Amazon charts just from the pre-orders! The big gift is the bonus disc, 75 minutes of unseen footage including deleted scenes. I have to be honest, I never thought we would see this footage. I read a John Hughes interview from many years ago stating the film had likely perished so I never held out much hope. Big kudos to Joe Ramoni at Hats Off Entertainment for finding some deleted scenes and starting a campaign to release the Hughes cut and to all those that put pressure on Paramount Studios for the release. Sadly, we won't get the full director 4-hour cut but there is surely some wonderful comedy gold that has been dug up. I can't wait! If nothing else it's just lovely to see footage of John Candy that I've never seen before. 

Also, if you are into film trivia, have you checked out my book, Those Aren't Pillows! A  Fan's Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles? It also includes information about deleted scenes, interviews from some of the actors and crew, and takes you through the film step by step. It's well worth a look (even if I do say so myself).  

I hope you're enjoying the changing of the seasons. It's been a strange few years, hasn't it? I hope everyone is doing okay and hanging in there. Thank goodness for comedy, as John himself said, "As long as you can savor the humorous aspect of misery and misfortune, you can overcome anything". 

More news coming soon (well, sooner than 12 months I hope). 

With lots of love, 

Tracey xxxx 

No Guts No Glory

Hey everyone, 

Is this really my first blog post of the year? I'm ever so sorry, I'm writing on my personal report "must try harder". It's not that I haven't been meaning to, it's just sometimes I fear I risk repeating myself. 

However, there is a new topic in town that I've been thinking about, not my town, but in a town not too far from here. John Candy fan, Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) is now the co-owner of Wrexham Town Football Club, alongside his partner Rob McElhenney (It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia). It's a huge coup for British football and certainly for Wrexham itself who are very much the underdog.  The excitement is palpable - even I, not a football fan, am very excited to see where this goes, it's more than football, they are creating a dream to chase, and what is more wonderful than that? 

So what does this have to do with John? Well to me it has so many similarities to the time when John Candy co-owned the Toronto Argonauts. In 1991 John Candy, Wayne Gretzky, and Bruce McNall bought the Toronto Argonauts, and John completely emersed himself into the role.  Not only would they sign the highest paid footballer that the US and North America had ever seen at that time, Rocket Ismail, they would go on to win the CFL Grey Cup that year, lift every blackout and rejuvinate the whole of the CFL. John was a huge part of this, he put so much of his own time and money promoting, he blew the budget on the opening game that year getting his pals on stage including Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi as The Blues Brothers, he made it exciting again. John would stand at the side of the pitch, all he had to do was lift an eyebrow and the whole stadium would errupt. He put the passion back, he put the hope back and he put the entertainment into the league. 

I think Reynolds and McElhenney are going to do the same and it is exciting. 

It has taken every bone in my body not to drive to Wrexham and hunt down Ryan Reynolds to give him a copy of my book, so I sent him one instead C/O Wrexham TFC. Rhys Perry my partner in crime ran to the post office yesterday with me shouting "RUN Charlie, run as fast as you can!" after I had kissed the parcel for luck, (luckily Rhys came back, I wouldn't have blamed him for leaving). Just that in itself made me feel like a teenager again. I may never hear back, but for a moment there was hope and for a moment it was a possibility. 

Hope. We all need more of that don't we? 

I hope you're all keeping well. 

Sending you much love, 

Tracey xxx 

PS Just in case you haven't seen Ryan's tribute to John you can watch it here

Be More John

Well, what was that?! 2020 was a rollercoaster, a couple of highs and a few more lows, but do you know what? We made it, and for that I am thankful. If you lost a loved one this year please accept my sincere condolences, I know how that feels and my heart is with you.  

I'm not making resolutions going into 2021, I'm just glad I'm still here, I'm glad you're still here, the world is still turning and at some stage, all this crazy pandemic will pass (it may pass like a kidney stone, but with vaccination in sight, it will pass). Well, I'm not doing resolutions, apart from one... Be More John. 

Be more John. 

I encourage us all to have a go at this one. Not just 'be more John' but be more like his characters too.

Be as sweet and respectful as John was to everyone, he would treat the CEO the same way as the janitor and rightly so. Towards the end of this year I needed some extra cash so I started cleaning schools - holy moly, I've seen some things, and some stuff... I wouldn't recommend it. It's hard work,  really hard, ball-breaking work and the money is low. Cleaners are presently trying to keep people safe, so never dismiss the work that they are doing and never think of them as 'just a cleaner', for they most certainly are not. They are students, parents, ex-managers, people who got out of the rat race, or people who need the money (like struggling authors). Treat them with respect. Be more John. 

Go with the flow. Just like Del Griffith (Gawd bless him), advising Neal Page that he simply 'goes with the flow', because life is easier like that. That odd couple met many of the same situations with different attitudes, Del went with the flow and his life was more full of love and laughs, he was like Dickens' three ghosts of past, present and future, he haunted Neal until Neal saw the light. On top of that, like yourself. Be more Del. 

Dance and sing, it's free and you can do it at home. Uncle Buck sure knew how to cook (or not) and had a lot of fun doing it, singing and dancing around the kitchen whilst he was cooking up garbage, it's a hell of a way to wake up in the morning and it's guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Be more Buck. 

Just like Barf in Spaceballs, half man half dog, he was his own best friend, in these unprecedented times we all need to look after ourselves like we are our own best friend. Be more Barf. 

I could carry on, we could be here all night, but I think you get the picture. 

However shitty 2020 was I bet there are some diamonds in the dust, even if it was that you just got through. For me, one of my highlights was releasing Those Aren't Pillows in November, a Fan's Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles that I'm really proud of. If you fancy cheering yourself up, you may like to check it out, you'll find plenty of cast stories, cut scenes and trivia. 

So bring on 2021, let's rejoice in what we can. I really appreciate your support this year and I'm sending you a lot of love as always, 

Happy New Year!

Be More John, 

Tracey xx

PS Maybe another resolution of mine should be to blog more? 

 

 

Happy 70th Birthday Mr Candy - You Should Have Seen the Toast...

Happy 70th Birthday dear John, and Happy Halloween to all! (Let's face it, it just isn't Halloween without Candy). 

This year the Mayor of Toronto, John Tory, has also declared it's John Candy Day, which is the most fantastic news and so well deserved. #JohnCandyDay   

I mentioned last year, but I think it's worth repeating, that John loved Halloween more than he did his birthday, he could focus on others instead of himself and do what he loved, make people happy.  

I'm not sure what John would make of 2020, there is so much crazy stuff going on in the world at the moment, I think he would have worried about it but would have focused on those he could help. John once said, "As long as you can savour the humorous aspect of misery and misfortune, you can overcome anything" and in the main, I think that's true. For anyone struggling at the moment, please focus on yourselves and your loved ones. Focus on what you can control - not what you can't, remember that this too shall pass and look for the light because there will always be some, even if it's just a pinprick. 

John's films make for a great distraction, so it's worth locking the world out for a while and putting on one of your favourites. My goto movies are Only The Lonely, Uncle Buck, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors and Cool Runnings, all these movies have a beautiful theme, it's okay to be flawed as long as you are kind, act with love,  life will find a way. I think that's a great ideology, especially when we increasingly seem to live our lives on social media, just remember you don't need to compare your life to other people's, what they show you are probably the edited highlights anyway, we can all win, we don't need to be in competition with each other, look at how much we love John for being himself on and off the screen. That's enough, and you are too. 

Please go and remember John today, make sure you go and watch that Candy movie, share that meme, reminisce about your favourite movie of his, send some love in his direction and I guarantee you, you will make others smile in the process.

John, I feel like this world needs you now more than ever. Luckily for us, we have a plethora of your work to keep you present. 

I'll be raising a rum and coke to you later, 

With love and thanks as always, 

Tracey x

Hercules may have been in New York, but John was in Toronto

There is an aged old debate that will crop up every now and then...

Someone on social media will state what they think is a 'rare John Candy fact' that goes something like this... "John Candy's first film role was in Hercules in New York".

WRONG

I hate to give it to you straight, but usually, if I reply with "I'm so sorry you are wrong, it looks possibly like an older John, but it isn't" I get a barrage of abuse.

It's not John.

John was only twenty years of age when Hercules in New York came out in 1970. He was fresh-faced and apart from travelling to Buffalo in 1969 with his friend Jonathan O'Mara to apply for the Marines, John never left Canada until 1973 when he was accepted into Second City and went to train in Chicago. And I presume, if the title 'Hercules in New York' is anything to go by, the film was shot in New York? Just a guess.

John's first film appearance was actually The Class of '44 released in 1973, he played Pauly, only had a few seconds of screen time, but was thrilled to be involved.

So John may not have been in New York to film Hercules, however, he certainly was many times later on in his career, including filming the taxi scene in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Which links me nicely into my next story...

I was in New York at the end of last year. It was a complete whirlwind of a trip, I flew on a Sunday and was back in Blighty by the Tuesday! I've never been to the States before, the people were lovely, the sandwichs expensive, the pizza cheap. It was nearly Christmas, there were outdoor ice skating rings and Central Park is as lovely as you think it is.

In November I'd received an email from producer, Gideon Evans. Gideon was making a new documentary about John and wanted to pick my brains. He even asked at one stage if I would be up for an interview. I have been asked to take part in documentaries before, I turned those down, for me, I have to feel like the intention is right and I liked Gideon and where he was coming from an awful lot. So, of course, I'd be delighted to be interviewed, but seeing as he worked for NBC and was based in New York I really didn't think it would happen, just kind of a nice gesture from his side.

Days, weeks went by, I'd tried to not get my hopes up but I was still disappointed that it might not happen. Then I got the email, it arrived on a Wednesday I think, asking me to fly over that Sunday! Holy shit balls! Well, I'm not a good traveller, but I'm not passing up on that, I took Rhys as my Dumbo's Magic Feather.

Honestly, Gideon, his colleagues and NBC could not have treated us better - we had cars from the airport to a very fancy hotel, the day to look around, saw the streets where Steve Martin raced Kevin Bacon for a cab in Planes, Trains and Automobiles (before tripping over Del's trunk and losing another cab).

The following day we were chauffered to The Delamar Hotel, West Hartford, where filming would take place.  I even got to meet Valri Bromfield who I'd interviewed for Searching For Candy but never actually met previously, as she was just leaving the makeshift studio as I arrived.

Many other people I interviewed for the book are included in this new doc, including Juul Haalmeyer, Rob Salem, Dave Thomas, Rawle D Lewis and Jonathan O'Mara. It finally airs Sunday 26th July 2020 at 9pm ET on Reelz, John Candy: Behind Closed Doors. Apparently, I made the cut, so fingers crossed I've not made a fool of myself!


 As I'm in the UK I'm not sure when I'll actually get to watch it, so if you see it before me, please do drop me a line and let me know what you think. One thing is for sure, it will be filled with love and you'll probably need to get a tissue ready.

Much love to you all!

Stay safe and well,

Tracey xxxx

RIP Mr Reiner

Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner

A week today we lost a comedy legend, Mr Carl Reiner.

I was sad, I still am. I'm not sure I have the right to be, but I am, so there you go. I only interviewed Mr Reiner once, it was over the phone, he was lovely and his memory perfect. His hearing was the only thing that gave any clue that he was in his elder years, either that or it was my mousey voice, a bad line, or all three, but we muddled through.

Of course, I interviewed Mr Reiner about John Candy, they had worked together on Summer Rental in 1985. Candy, in his first real lead role, directed by Reiner, was a perfect combination. Believe it or not, the film was done and dusted in just three months with budget to spare - totally unheard of in Hollywood.

Reiner inspired Candy so much, not only was he working with a genius - the man behind The Dick Van Dyke Show, director of classics such as The Jerk and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, he was also working with a true mensch and World War ll veteran. Reiner showed Candy the ropes of directing, so much so it was the first time Candy thought about directing for the screen himself (and he would, much later on with his directing debut, Hostage for a Day).

John Candy and Carl Reiner on the set of Summer Rental

When I spoke to Reiner, he said the first thing that struck him about Candy was how in love he was with his family. Then he commented, "When I heard he had died I couldn't believe it, he was so full of life, how could he be dead?" Well, I know Reiner was 98 years old, but I could hear myself saying that exact same phrase, I actually thought he was going to last forever. I guess the secret to a fulfilling life is happiness, love and laughter, Reiner had that in spades.

When I first tried to contact Mr Reiner for an interview I got nowhere, I tried every contact I could find, the only thing I didn't do was tweet him (he wasn't actually on twitter when I started my search - yes I looked on and off for two years). Then, just as I was about to give up I noticed he had joined Twitter and I sent him a tweet, "I'm writing a book about John Candy, please can I interview you?", no chance I thought, but at least I had exhausted all routes. Within five minutes I had a DM from Reiner himself, telling me to contact his assistant to arrange an interview. Holy shit!

Carl Reiner 

A tweet, a simple cheeky one-off tweet and I was going to be chatting to comedy royalty! Not only that, but Reiner's office also helped me get an interview with Reiner's best friend, Mr Mel Brooks! I hit the jackpot. By these two guys giving me a chance I was suddenly being taken more seriously, they didn't know me, and yet they helped me, I will be eternally grateful.



Just like John Candy, Carl Reiner will live forever.

My heart is with his family and his dear friend Mr Brooks.

RIP Carl and thanks, John will be thrilled to see you.


To you all,

I hope you are safe and well. These are some crazy times we are living through at the moment, be good to yourselves and each other.

With much love as always,
Tracey xx

26 Years and Counting

I'm always sad when the 4th March comes round again, it means another year without John on this planet, that clocks up to 26 so far. However, last weekend, Home Alone, Uncle Buck and Planes Trains and Automobiles were on TV and he seemed as present as ever.

John is still bringing love and laughter.

Sadly, over the last 12 months, we have also lost two wonderful people that I interviewed for the book. Caroll Spinney (aka Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch) spread his yellow wings and flew off in December 2019, and my dear friend Patty Ferraro, who I interviewed about working on Only the Lonely passed away literally a month ago. Both, like John, leave a lasting legacy.





My hour with Caroll was pretty magical, aside from his John stories, he was so wise and sweet, he spoke to me in Big Bird's voice at one stage and I felt like I was five years old again. I told him of my disappointment that I had heard Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog were getting a divorce, without missing a beat he told me not to worry - "It was just a storyline"!



I found Patty and her sister, Marie, completely by chance, on an old Facebook thread where they were talking about working on Only the Lonely - I thought I would chance my luck and send them a message. It paid off. They gave me some great stories as well as their friendship. Patty was hilarious and would message me late at night (my time), give me commentary on the world, old stories from her time as a Chicago cop (those sisters really kicked some ass, true heroes) and counselled me many times. My heart is with her beloved sister Marie and daughter Ally. I will really miss Patty, she was a one-off, RIP my friend and thanks.


With regards to John, I hope he's caught up with both of them, I hope he doesn't mind me being so curious about him,  I'm pretty sure Patty will vouch for me.

So I guess on a sad day like today, we need to remember the love of those we have lost, be grateful that we had them and realise that living on and telling stories about them is part of their legacy, and ours.

Big love to you all
Orange Whip?

Tracey x

Happy Birthday Mr Candy

69! John would have been 69 years of age today, instead, he is 43 forever.

As well as it being John's birthday, it's also Halloween and let's face it, it ain't Halloween without Candy! I recently read that John enjoyed Halloween more than he did his birthday, he liked to make things about everyone else instead of about himself. He loved dressing up, he loved spending time with his kids, entertaining, I imagine he made Halloween just magical.

Make sure you go and watch that Candy movie today, share that meme, reminisce about your favourite movie of his, send some love in his direction.

I love some of the old traditions of Halloween. The Day of the Dead - when the astral and earth plane is meant to be at their closest, those who have passed are celebrated as it's believed they visit us. What a lovely tribute, celebrating all those we have lost with a party! Samhain is more Pagan- the thanking and welcoming of the harvest and the darker part of the year. Either way, the coming together warms my heart, and since it's John's birthday it always makes me feel a little bit closer to him too.

In tribute to John, I am just about to release a new mini-book, on 4th November via Amazon, called The A to Z of John Candy. It has been beautifully illustrated by my friend, Gary McGarvey, or Horse, (as his design company is known). My dear old friend, Joe Shooman, stepped up to edit for me again, and Rhys Perry wiped the tears and gave words of encouragement as usual, and well the result is beautiful and something that I'm very proud of. Chock full of facts and trivia, I'm hoping it is a lovely addition to any Candy fan's collection, it's worth it for the art alone.

Writing The A to Z of John Candy was great fun, you'll even find some facts that aren't included in Searching For Candy. Find out about John's connection with Donald Duck, Divine stories and the secret to those Uncle Buck pancakes!

Finally, I would like to thank you for all your support this year. Usually, in John's birthday post I would mention the biography and how I hoped it would be out next year, this time I don't have to do that because it's now in existence. Thank you to all who have bought, read or reviewed it, it really means a lot.

So big love and a happy birthday to John and a Happy Halloween to everyone else.

Much love as always,
Tracey xx

Who Wants to be Mary Poppins Anyway? Uncle Buck Rules

I love seeing the John Candy memes fly around social media, I always get a kick out of them. One of the new kids on the block is, "I always thought when I had kids I'd have it together like Mary Poppins, but turns out I'm more like Uncle Buck". Is that insinuating it's a bad thing?

As a kid I always wanted an Uncle Buck. Okay Mary Poppins was alright, but she was quite straight laced. I would have loved to have rode a carousel horse, but I don't want a spoonful of sugar to make my medicine go down, I'd much rather go bowling, eat ice cream and have someone cook me giant pancakes and garbage.

Okay Poppins would ensure your house was clean, she had no problems trying to get the goddamn washing machine to work, your socks would never be microwaved, but where is the fun in that? If your ex does the dirty on you, you don't want someone breaking out into a rendition of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!, you want someone to take out their ass with a golf ball.

If anyone sees this meme and thinks, 'that's me', congratulations, you are a shit load of fun to be around, you will gain respect for all the right reasons.

Anyway, who was really the one unable to commit? Poppins never hung around - she would soon move on, Uncle Buck is for life.

In other news I did a book signing at Hoo Fest - Comic Con On the Farm this weekend and had an
awesome time, thanks to all involved! The book is going well, if you've read it and not reviewed it yet I would love to hear what you think. It's not everyone's cup of tea and that's okay, but hopefully, if nothing else, you'll love the John Candy stories you'll find within.

I've been working on another book related to John that will be out before Christmas. I have also started working on my next Searching For... I'll share more info about that a little further down the road.

I hope you are all well, big love and thanks for your support as always,

Tracey xxx

PS If you haven't bought Searching For Candy yet and you fancy a copy, it's available worldwide on Amazon

Floating through space

Hi everyone,

As you probably already know I have finally released the book! Phew! Well I had a sigh of relief and two minutes of pride, then I turned into the biggest ball of anxiety. Would anyone buy the book? Would anyone like it? Would John like it if he could read it? Argh! So I stopped writing blog posts and just worried instead.

I figured I needed to break that habit, so here I am.

So far the book has done OK, I've sold some, I've had some lovely reviews, I've had the odd one that wasn't so great and that's OK too.

I think my biggest thrill has been John's friends and colleagues Rob Salem, Juul Haalymeyer and Jonathan O'Mara telling me that I portrayed John well -  the love shined through and that means everything.

I've been lucky enough to talk to some great people about the book, including Jim Hawkins (listen here), Mark Woodyatt (listen to the Mark and Me podcast here), been interviewed by Liam Pritchard (read here) and featured on the Franky Slawson show (you can check him out here).

I did a lovely book launch at Shrewsbury Library (thanks to all who came, and to the library for accommodating me).

Press wise I then got stuck. It's like I'm waving at people and no one can see! I'm a nobody, I get that, the competition out there is fierce, but John, John is very much a somebody and he deserves more - so on that front I feel like I'm failing.

So here is my plea. If you can share or RT or spread the word in some way please do. If you work in journalism, you blog, have a podcast, a radio show and would like to chat about the book or review it please get in touch.

Meantime I'm working on a second edition that should hopefully be released next year with even more stories and interviews, if you read this and you have a John Candy story you would love to share please get in touch with me! I also have another book I'm planning - if you love John I'm pretty sure you will also love my next subject, but it's going to take some money, so I'm saving for that one at the moment.

I guess all that is left for now is to say how much I appreciate everyone who has supported me so far, it means the world and I am so very grateful.

If you would like to grab the book you can find it here Amazon Canada, Amazon USA, Amazon UK and anywhere else you can get Amazon, just check your national site!

Big thanks and love to you all, I promise to write soon (maybe with an unpublished story from my interviews about John!)

Tracey xx

25 Years On

Picture by Odandiee

Dear John

Well you should see the world today, full of love for you, it's like you are still here. And you are. I believe that.

Time means nothing when you leave such a legacy.

The impact you have made will never be lost. Millions of people still admire and respect you, you still crease us with laughter and make us cry with an expression. You should see all the famous twitterati talking about you - I wonder if you ever knew just how much of an influence you would have in the entertainment world and beyond?

For me, you are an inspiration. Your kindness makes me want to be a better human being. Thanks for getting me through the last seven years, I'm not sure I would still be here without you.

Sending big love to you, your family, friends and fans.

Thank you John, I hope I've done you proud,

Tracey xx

It's Chrrrriiiiissssssttttmmmmaaaasssssss!

It’s Chhhhhhhrrrrrrriiiiiiiisssssssssssssttttttttmmmmaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssss (well nearly). 

I love the food, the get togethers, the good spirit, the overeating of chocolate and some of my favourite movies being played on the TV (I’m so old fashioned, I still love watching them the old school way, it reminds me of being a kid). ‘I bet six bucks and my right nut’ that there are going to be some Candy classics on over the holidays... Uncle Buck, Cool Runnings and of course, Home Alone. With that in mind I thought you might like to read an edited excerpt of my forthcoming book ‘Searching For Candy’ to get you in the mood. 

*********

Polka, polka, polka 

Home Alone - as we know - is about a child, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), from a large family, accidently being left behind at Christmas time whilst the family go on vacation (due to a head count error). The whole film is then about Kevin coping on his own and also defeating some pesky house burglars determined to break into his home, whilst his family, mother in particular (played by Catherine O’Hara) desperately tries to get home to her son even though there are no flights. 

Hughes asked John to do him a favour and have a cameo part in the film as Gus Polinski – the Polka King of the Northwest who was travelling with his band the “Kenohsa Kickers” and is the sweet man that offers Kate McCallister a lift back to her son after hearing her plea in the airport. Hughes in fact offered John 1% of the royalties from Home Alone, however John advised he was doing it for Hughes, not for the money and kindly declined his offer. In hindsight he turned down a huge payday as Home Alone is the biggest grossing comedy of all time, cue the John Candy shrug of the shoulders and laugh.

John literally filmed his scenes in Home Alone in less than 24 hours whilst a driver was waiting in the car park ready to take him to his next job. The Kenosha Kickers (John’s band) were actually Eddie Korosa Jr and the “Boys From Illinois”. They got the job as Home Alone was being filmed near to Chicago where Korosa’s parents owned a very famous polka bar called “Baby Doll Polka Club” since 1954. 

Korosa Jr. remembers spending a wonderful 18 hours filming with John, he told me; 

“During scene set up I would take requests from John to play and sing polkas. While setting up we had most of the crew singing ‘Beer Barrel’ polka, ‘In Heaven There is No Beer’ polka, we even did the ‘Chicken Dance’. 

“We got yelled at by Director, Chris Columbus, for having too much fun! He wanted us to stop playing. John Hughes was there and requested us to play one more polka. Fun!” 

Korosa remembers that John was just so kind and talked to everyone, every single band member and told the funniest jokes. 

There was a recent internet theory originating from Reddit that John’s character, Gus, may actually have been the devil. For starters Kevin’s mum is pleading for someone to help her get home and declares “If I have to sell my soul to the devil himself I will get home to my son” when John’s character Gus pips in. Gus also plays the clarinet - the Devils choice of instrument is always woodwind according to the bible. The fact that they meet in the crossroads of Scranton Airport (to me this is tenuous, but lets keep going) means that Gus could be a Crossroads Demon. Apparently if you call the Devil at a crossroad he will come, I’m going to take people’s word for that, I don’t feel like I have to test the theory out! 

I think both Johns (Candy and Hughes) would marvel at this thought and laugh it off without commenting either way. Maybe I shouldn’t bring up that Hughes turns Del Griffiths into the Devil in Planes, Trains and Automobiles? As both Del and Neil are in a near death truck sandwich after Del is driving up the motorway on the wrong side, Neil looks at Del and Del is cackling, cloaked in red, adorned with horns. Maybe there is something in this after all? 

Ya know who also wears red? 

SANTA! 

Whether you believe in him or not I hope you have a very Happy Holidays! I would like to thank you for your ongoing support this year. I’m also over the moon to announce ‘Searching for Candy’ will be out in Spring 2019, with huge thanks to ‘Team Candy’ - Joe Shooman, David Morgan, Rhys Perry and Horse. 

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals, see you on the other side, 

Big love to you all, 

Tracey xxx

Happy Thanksgiving! I like me...

Hi all, 

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends that are celebrating! 

Below is a selection of edited excerpts from the book - just as a wee teaser.   A big thank you to Joe Shooman, Rhys Perry and David Morgan for all their help!

Sending you all lots of love as always, 
Tracey xx

PS I know what I'll be watching this evening 


I like me…

“A stranger is just a friend I haven’t met yet” - Will Rogers

Planes, Trains and Automobiles writer John Hughes had such a knack for creating scripts that would reach into your soul, it’s like he had a pair of x ray specs that could see what made people tick, every nuance, he could just get into people’s heads and hearts. He then took those scripts and matched them with the perfect cast, who, he would then encourage to make the script their own. Candy always found that fascinating, the scripts were tight enough in his eyes, but the true glimmers of humanity - the bits that made the whole film truly believable, were the improv moments that caught everyone off guard, including the improviser.

I learnt something recently, in fact my counsellor, Michael pointed it out to me. The friendliest, smiliest, most tolerant people - the ones that laugh and joke and are constantly looking on the brightside, are masking deep pain, they have been to hell and back. One of the most complex and sweet characters John ever played was Del Griffith, to anyone who met Del briefly he was a happy go lucky salesman, overly chatty, generous and a little annoying.

“The last thing I want to be remembered as is an annoying blabbermouth... You know, nothing grinds my gears worse than some chowderhead that doesn't know when to keep his big trap shut…” - Del Griffiths

****
If you can find the original Planes, Trains and Automobiles script (and it is out there in the ether), you can see how the characters are portrayed exactly as Hughes wanted, but both actors (Martin and Candy) added a little something of themselves too. Hughes always encouraged his actors to improvise, in fact they would finish the scene and not hear the words ‘cut’ so they knew they had to keep going. [...] Hughes had so much footage that the initial cut was four and a half hours long, I would have so loved to have seen that, a lot of comedy gold must have ended up on the cutting room floor. You can actually find one deleted scene on YouTube where Del and Neal are eating their in-flight dinners, it’s hilarious, I have no idea why it was left out.

Candy really found his acting chops in this film, it’s up there with some of his finest work and he never fails to make me laugh and cry, no matter how many times I have watched his performance.

Del’s s speech after Neal has laid into him at the hotel room was just magnificent, the hurt in Candy’s eyes, the way he delivered his lines, “You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead if it makes you feel any better…” was worthy of an Oscar. If you aren’t already completely in love with Candy, it’s moments like this that make you fall for him.

****

The Great Lost Short

From all the extra footage Hughes filmed, a 10 minute short was also created, from the ‘Doobie’s Taxiola’ scene. Larry Hankin who played Doobie, told me;

“I revered John (Hughes), I was very happy to work with him, he made great movies and this guy knew ‘funny’. He was watching me and John (Candy) hang out and riff, so John Hughes set aside a whole afternoon of me, John and Steve Martin to work in the cab. The cab was set up on rockers in a garage, we weren’t really driving around. When we shot the scene in the cab, the actual scene you saw in the movie took an hour to shoot. But then he sent everybody home expect a very small crew, the cinematographer, the sound guy, him, Steve Martin, me and John.

“So for the rest of the afternoon we improvised in that cab for hours. It was really great because John and I were (from) Second City, so we were great at improvising, we were just playing together. We must have improvised for three hours just inside that cab. He (Hughes) was watching on the screen and he would come down and would just watch all three of us improvise and he would sit on this orange crate outside the cab, and he would say ‘remember Steve when you said that? and Larry, you said that, and John you answer…’, I was like this guy is incredible he has a photographic memory. So that was just really cool, I got to riff with two of the heaviest guys in comedy, for hours! None of that stuff ever appeared in the movie. “

****

Scenes from Marines

The wonderful “those aren’t pillows scene” in the motel room was not in the original script, Candy had a similar experience with Jonathan O'Mara when they went to Buffalo as teenagers for John to apply for the Marines, O’Mara said it was so close to their experience “John must have influenced the scene”. John remembered in interviews that this scene took forever to film, Hughes would say things like “just kiss his ear”, by the time the two leads had stopped corpsing the camera would then start to shake, it took an eternity for everyone to get through it.

Another great scene was between Martin, Candy and Martin Ferrero who played the motel clerk at the El Rancho Motel, ... Ferrero was only on set for a day to film that scene and told me about meeting Candy;

“When I went on set that day, John was chatting with all the crew and he was on set practically all the time, talking to people and being very outgoing. He welcomed me in, he said ‘I know we are working together’. Steve Martin wasn’t on set a lot, he would do his part and then go back to his trailer.

“When I saw Steve and John work that day I noticed there was no improv at all, they didn’t improvise, they stayed on the script and I asked him about it, John said “No we don’t do a lot of improv because John Hughes has written a script that is pretty tight and there is a rhythm to what he has written, if you were to begin to improvise you might waste a lot of time, it might be funny but you might be upsetting the rhythm, it’s a heartfelt important movie and you need to stay on course.”

(NB from author. It always makes me chuckle that the two leads were trying to speed the process up half way through, they were so behind schedule I suspect they were trying to keep their director on track).

This is a selection of edited excerpts from the forthcoming biography, Searching for Candy by Tracey J. Morgan.

Happy Birthday John - Big Bear Chase Me

Hey Everyone! 

So today would have been John's 68th birthday! To commemorate and celebrate I thought I would release an edited excerpt from the book. The book is coming along slowly but surely (as usual) and I am very lucky to be working with a great team around me. 

I appreciate all your patience so I thought you might like a wee snap shot of what's to come. 

Happy Halloween to you all, and of course, a very Happy Birthday John - I am thinking of you today Mr Candy and I'll be raising a glass! 

Lots of love to you all,
Tracey xx

PS How ace is this Uncle Buck print from Lamplight Design? It will be going on my wall as soon as I find the right frame. Go and check out their work here

Big Bear Chase Me

Imagine being chased. 

Now imagine you are being chased through a wood. 

It is raining heavily and you are trying to navigate your way through trees, over roots, through the terrain debris littered on the floor. 

Imagine that the thing that is chasing you weighs over 800 pounds, has four legs, claws like razors, and a guttural roar that makes the ground beneath your feet shudder. 

Your heart is pounding, it’s leaping out of your chest and you can hear it thumping in your head. 

You slip a little. 

Looking over your shoulder you can see the beast advancing. Your brow covered with sweat. You are literally running for your life. 

Anyone who put themselves in this situation on purpose would - have to be a little crazy, or very dedicated to their art. 

That’s exactly what John did, in one of the most memorable scenes in The Great Outdoors, and he was terrified. 

…

Go south west of Yosemite National Park, California and it won’t be long before you hit Bass Lake Lodge, a 1940s resort that was the location for another John Candy and John Hughes classic, The Great Outdoors filmed in 1987.

Director, Howard Deutch had not met John prior to The Great Outdoors, which was originally going to be called ‘Big Country’. Hughes had convinced Deutch that he should direct the film. John was excited to play the part of Chester ‘Chet’ Ripley, a sweet family man wanting to take his wife and kids on a holiday that would get them back to nature. After reading the script John was convinced his character should have a beard covering his face, after Deutch discussed this with Universal, the feedback was “he can’t have that beard, you can’t see his face!” Hughes advised Deutch he would have to be the one to tell John the bad news, Deutch remembers “Candy was really upset about it, ‘This is my character and now this movie will always be a black spot on my soul’. He was pissed. We got off to a very rocky start because he was unhappy. However he never ever leaked that into his work, he never had an attitude, he was a fantastic person and one of my favourite people I have ever worked with. He was just an amazingly sweet man, the funniest, you can just imagine, but generous, generous, generous and always very giving to the other actors and me and everyone, but he was upset about the beard!”

The holiday for the Ripley’s, although maybe a little more rustic than they remembered (Chet and Connie went there for their honeymoon), was going ok until out of the blue Connie’s sister turns up with her arrogant investor husband and twin girls. So John is reunited with his old pal and Second City Alumni, Dan Aykroyd who plays his brother in law, Roman Craig. Aykroyd really pushed to get the part and Hughes was thrilled he wanted to be involved. According to Deutch, Candy, Hughes and Aykroyd were all very similar “Candy was from Canada and John (Hughes) from Chicago but they were definitely kindred spirits and they both had this sense of blue collared glory to them, they adored Aykroyd – he wanted to be a cop. They were their sort of people, they enjoyed smoking cigarettes and hanging out, it was everything to them, that is what they loved.”

Dan and John (Candy) got on so well, they adored each other, you would think with their improv background they may have continually gone off script, however according to Deutch they were very professional and stuck to script as much as possible. In fact Aykroyd even helped with some of the rewrites for the third act which “needed some work”.

Back to the film: For Chet this is his worst nightmare, he wanted a quiet family holiday which has now been gatecrashed by his arrogant and materialistic in-laws. Many hijinks ensue along the way; Chet accidently being dragged around the lake on water skis (he didn’t even want to water ski, he wanted to rent a pontoon boat only to be berated by Roman), late night stories of a bald headed bear (bald headed as Chet had come face to face with it on a previous visit, taken a shot and blown the hair off its head), an extremely persistent bat, pesky raccoons that seemed to torment Chet and a host of crazy characters including ‘Lightning Rod Reg’ - a man that had been struck by lightning 66 times in the head! Not to mention conquering the old 96er, ‘a 96 prime aged beef steak’ that if ordered and consumed in its entirety (including the gristle and fat), the restaurant would grant your whole party a free bill.

As the story unfolds it turns out Roman made a bad investment, is totally broke and was hoping to hit Chet up for some money. The brother in laws never really got on; however on a stormy night when the twins go missing, the two are brought together through adversity.

The twins fall down a mineshaft and can’t get out, Chet and Roman discover them, Chet encourages Roman to go down the hole to comfort his girls, whilst he goes to get some rope. Meanwhile, Roman finds out there is dynamite in the hole and manages to get the two girls out. Unbeknownst to Chet, he goes back, throws down the rope and much to his surprise helps the bald headed bear out of the shaft, only to be chased through the woods by the angry beast. 

The bear was played by ‘Bart the Bear’ and John was petrified of him, however as Deutch explained to me they needed to work together, “There was one time when I had to do a shot where there was a bear in the shot (the “big bear chase me” scene lead up) and he (John), was afraid of the bears, but I had to get a shot of them both. I told him we need to do it but it will only take thirty seconds, he did it but he was mad at me. There was no CGI in those days, he had to do it for real.” I bet John had never run so fast in his life! Of course Bart the Bear was well trained. Doug and Lynne Seus, who have worked as animal trainers in Hollywood for years, rescued Bart and his sister after their mother was killed. They said, “John was so very kind to us, the lowly bear trainers in the ‘prop department’. We can't say enough good words about him. A beautiful human being.” That was typical of John, everyone on set loved him, he gave everyone the same amount of respect and love, he was always such a sweet Canadian boy at heart. 

According to Deutch, it was obvious at times that John had some demons, although it never, ever affected his work, even if he had been up all night he would turn up on set with no sleep and work as hard as ever. “He ate, he drank, he would come back having not slept sometimes and that was not a secret. When my kids came to visit me once he said to them ‘whatever you want, come look in my fridge’, he took them on to his trailer and he had like five lunches in there. But the thing is he never showed those demons, he was private about it, he never ever lost his temper, never ever was a diva – never! I don’t care if he had been up for a week he would always be professional.”

This is an edited excerpt from the forthcoming biography, Searching for Candy by Tracey J. Morgan.

Nearly there!

Hey everyone

Well, guess what? I am nearly there with the book, like seriously! I know, I wasn't sure I would get there in the end either. I have a great editor on board, Joe Shooman (go check out his work) and some great proof readers. I am on deadline at the moment and I'm going to Toronto in April to see first hand some of the places John would have hung out and get some pictures for the book! I am so excited about that I can't tell you! I'm planning to do some vlogs from Toronto too - so keep your peepers peeled for those.

Still work to do though, hence the short blog post, but thought I would let you know where I was up to.

I recently commissioned Craig McKay to do this amazing sketch of John for the book (top left), you can check out his work here.

I also commissioned my friend, who goes under the name of Odandiee, to do an illustration of myself and John, purely because I hate all pictures of myself and I needed one for the author section of the book. Along with Gary's (Horse) artwork for the cover I am thrilled with how it's going to look, I'm so lucky to know such talented people. I am also seriously lucky to have been given permission for several photos for the book from some of John's friends and colleagues, I just hope I don't let everyone down with the writing!

Thanks for all your support and patience, let's keep on keeping on,
love

Tracey xxxx

Happy Birthday Mr Candy

Dear John

Well another year has passed and you are still as missed and remembered as ever. I've lit a candle for you today and I will be raising a glass later.

There are so many awesome John Candy tributes on social media today, it always warms my cockles to see just how much you are celebrated and honored.

John, you should have been 67, instead you are 43 always.

Love to you and thanks for everything,

Tracey xx

PS I usually do an update around now for those waiting on the book, it usually says it's coming along great but slow etc, I have decided not to do that this year, instead I'm just getting on with it (stop talking about it and get the book finished I hear you shout!). So sorry for the delay guys, I had another major surgery in August and chronic illness is slowing me as always. But in the words of the late Tom Petty, I won't back down x

Cool Runnings Isn't a Racist Film - an open letter to Gary at the Wales Arts Review.

So before I get into this, it's probably best to let you have a look at an article, writer, Gary Raymond, posted last week for the Wales Arts Review, Some Notes On Blackface

Many of my friends from around the world will not of heard this story, however if you are in the UK you may have seen the local press coverage. It's kind of ironic that the classic 90's film was originally written under the working title of 'Blue Maaga' - meaning 'serious trouble' in Jamaican. As the UK Bank Holiday just passed, four Cool Runnings fans wanting to pay tribute to their favorite film, on a carnival float in Aberaeron, Wales, have found themselves in exactly that, blue maaga! Dressing up in the famous green, black and yellow colors of the Jamaican flag, they have managed to cause controversy by wearing make up to make themselves appear black. Some have instantly hailed the imitators as racist and as a result they are possibly facing criminal charges.

Gary is right, 'black face' is not acceptable. Since realising this the four fans have apologised to the original Jamaican bobsleigh team and also made a donation to their team funds.

It's good that issues like this are talked about, I think these guys hadn't realized the enormity of their actions and certainly hadn't meant to offend anyone. I was interested in what Rawle D Lewis who played Junior in Cool Runnings thought about this story;

Lewis said "This is unfortunate. I don't think these guys had any malicious intentions. This was probably a childhood movie they grew up watching. They simply wanted to portray characters they idolized growing up. Unfortunately black face conjures up a horrific and painful time in history for people of color. I truly don't believe that their display was one of mockery. The black face thing just triggers a lot of people in a negative way. It's a lot like hanging a Buddhist swastika from the rear view mirror of your car. People tend to think Nazi not Buddhism".

Lewis added "The only crime is that none of these fools look convincingly black or Jamaican!".

So hopefully some of us have learnt a lesson, 'black face' is not OK, people still make mistakes, it's good to educate not vilify.

But Gary doesn't leave his article there... he goes on to say that Cool Runnings is actually a racist film. I'm sorry what?

"But let’s just get something out in the open. Cool Runnings is a racist movie. The racist blackface carnival float was paying tribute to a racist movie. If ever you are having trouble figuring out where you stand on the Aberaeron controversy, run that sentence through your mind. If you still don’t think there was anything wrong with it, you’re a racist."

Erm no Gary, Cool Runnings isn't a racist movie and I'm not a racist for thinking that. 

"A group of friends, portrayed as black stereotypes throughout, each of them parochial, idiotic, lazy, sexually animalistic, products of an endemic island drug-culture, are catapulted to Olympic glorious failure by washed-up white guy John Candy. As a comedy the movie does not miss an opportunity to deal out gags based on the racial stereotypes that have been pushed around the world for centuries by… wait for it… Blackface."

Change 'parochial, idiotic, lazy, sexually animalistic, products of an endemic island drug culture' to four guys with a range of backgrounds, all tenacious enough to train and enter for a Winter Olympic sport when they come from a small Caribbean island that never sees snow (that's the joke and also the brilliance). Derice is hardworking and respectful, Sanka fun and dedicated, Junior is sweet from a privileged background, Yuul is hard and focused. No one takes drugs in the film, there are no drug references what-so-ever. Likewise they do not come over as sexually animalistic. It's Disney film!

"The real question here is: why is it a comedy? Think of all the great sporting biopics and then pick out the comedies. I can’t think of one." 

Well originally Gary, it was going to be a serious film, it was floating round for years before it was taken up by Disney. But whilst we are talking of great sporting biopics that is a comedy - here is one, 'Eddie the Eagle'. I think we both know that Cool Runnings was only very loosely based on the original Jamacian bobsleigh team and the rest was Disney-fied.

"It is a comedy because those who conceived the movie thought the idea was primarily funny, and not a true story about achievement in the face of overwhelming odds."

Erm, well it might only be loosely based on a true story and a comedy, but I do believe it is totally about achievement in the face of overwhelming odds.

"By the end the audience is asked to believe that not only was the real life team a group of imbeciles who needed an alcoholic white guy to whip them into shape – to discipline them in both body and mind – but that there was some kind of glory in earning the begrudging respect of the Arian teams who convincingly beat them in competition. Hollywood it seems can rewrite as much history as it likes, but they couldn’t bring themselves to have the black guys win a medal. By the end of the movie the victory is in winning the respect of white people, not in having won anything else."

Woah, woah, woah sweet child of mine. Hang on a minute. These guys aren't portrayed as imbeciles and John Candy's character is not an alcoholic.  Do you know why John wanted to do Cool Runnings? Because he watched the original bobsleigh team in the Winter Olympics at Calgary and he thought their story was so amazing and inspirational that he wanted to be part of it. He took a pay cut. What pisses me off is that the writers have tried to justify in the story why John is the coach and why he was bigger than he used to be. Does it really matter? And being loosely based on the original story, they don't win a medal but they do impress everyone. In fact some of the crash footage in the film, is actual crash footage of the original bobsleigh team.

"But this is largely beside the point, as the movie is not really about the bobsled team at all. It is about the white guy. John Candy’s alcoholic wash up is the character who finds redemption, and who has the real glory in achieving his dream of gaining notoriety off the back of him civilising the savages. He also gains the respect of the Arians he is competing with, which is all he was really after. At the beginning of the film, you see, Candy’s character is so low he is essentially no better than a Jamaican. The film is about how he picks himself up in order to reinstate himself into white society. In terms of success off the hard work of black people, it’s up there with Mick Jagger’s prancing."

Am I on glue? OK this is a film about underdogs overcoming the odds, but John Candy is a bona fide movie star, he could have had a bigger presence in this film if he had wanted it but they kept the focus on the team because that is what the film was about. John Candy was a supporting role and he played a blinder, he enhanced the film, added to the relationship of the main characters all without dominating the movie. In the film the bobsled team convinced Irv (John's character) to help them, he really didn't want to, with the Disney story line, the team saved him, he helped them, it was a team effort. Where has this idea that Irv Blitzer is an alcoholic come from? Because in John's opening scene he is listening to the horse racing in a bar? Was he permanently drunk throughout the movie? Was he hiding bottles of spirits in cupboards, his coat, the bobsleigh - have I missed something here?

"I have always had a soft spot for Cool Runnings. As a twelve year old, my sister took me to the cinema to see it. I associate that film with that fond memory. I laughed. I laughed at it again the numerous times I saw it on television in subsequent years. And then one day, with the benefits of an education and what I like to think of as a critical mind, I saw the film for what it was. Does that mean when I was a child I was a racist? Well, it does, I’m afraid, albeit I could probably plead that I was both too young to have yet been educated about these things, and that I was an innocent member of a society that did and still does nurture racist attitudes. I grew up, read books, listened to brilliant people. I now recognise racism because I am less ignorant than I was when I was twelve."

Oh Gary, maybe I am ignorant? But honestly I think you've got it all wrong in terms of the film, did you watch it again before writing this article? Because I have it on in the background right now as I was worried I had missed something (and I must have watched this movie before like 40-50 times). The lead characters had to overcome adversity and animosity from their competitors. To me this story breaks down boundaries and is always a true inspiration, when I feel like I can't achieve something I watch this film and it makes me believe again, and before you start, that isn't because I think I am better than the lead characters, it's because I feel empowered by them.

I'm really interested in hearing everyone's view on this,

Peace be the journey x

PS for anyone presently effected by the hurricanes, my heart and thoughts go out to you, be safe x