Still talking to Americans: 22 Minutes’s Dan Dillabough on CBC comedy’s hour-long pre-election special airing Monday | Canada Voices

This Hour Has 22 Minutes Has 44 Minutes: A U.S. Election Special will be a first for the long-running Canadian political comedy show now in its 32nd season.

A night before the fake-news crew’s usual CBC time-slot (which will be filled by real news coverage of the presidential election results instead), this double-episode will air with a mix of in-studio sketches and satire focusing on the battle between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump augmented by foreign dispatches from comedy correspondents Dan Dillabough, Clare Belford and Abdullah Usman.

Dillabough, 32 and in his third season at 22 Minutes, has already filed segments from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and a JD Vance rally in Michigan. I spoke to him about what he’s learned from talking to Americans ahead of the special, which premieres Nov. 4 on CBC and CBC Gem.

I understand you were at the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden earlier this week.

We couldn’t get in, unfortunately – the venue was at capacity. We did get an opportunity to hang out around the venue and interview some people. We ran into George Santos on the street.

Did you film with the expelled congressman?

We very briefly spoke to him and he was very kind to us. It was very strange and surreal.

I’m curious about this process of approaching people as a comedy correspondent.

Our producer approached him. We’re always upfront about who we are: we’re from Canada, we’re a political comedy show. Usually the fact that we say we’re from Canada kind of eases the tension a little bit, especially with people who might be reticent about the media.

Trump doesn’t always say nice things about Canada. His supporters are willing to talk to you?

People definitely have very strong opinions about Canada – and about Trudeau, certainly. All the Democrats we talked to think he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread and the Republicans think he’s an evil maniac. But nobody has a beef with Canadians in general.

You’re part of a long history of 22 Minutes correspondents going down to the United States. I always think of Talking to Americans, the specials Rick Mercer did back in the day. What’s your approach to talking to Americans?

Rick was so good at that stuff – coaxing out that weird ignorance that Americans have about Canada. We didn’t want to touch that. I try to do my own thing, be earnest and neutral with people and see what comes up. People who agree to talk to us have a lot on their mind. My approach, a lot of the time, is just to step back and let people cook.

How long have you been shooting down there for this special?

A couple of months now. I was in Chicago over the summer for the Democratic National Convention. I went to San Francisco, to D.C., and we spent a couple of days in Traverse City, Michigan. Some of the other correspondents have been to Nebraska, Nevada and Philadelphia. We’re fanning out and trying to hit as many hot spots as we can.

What have you learned?

I definitely learned how much it hinges on these battleground states. In huge major population centres like New York and D.C., you don’t see any campaign signs or anything because everybody feels very confident, whereas these small towns in Michigan are really where the battle is happening. You drive down the street and every lawn has a sign on it.

What did you find funny on your trips? Is this election actually funny at all – or is it just terrifying?

For me, this is what I love most about comedy is when the stakes are incredibly high – and the subject matter is very silly. Like you’re dealing with very literally the fate of the world and yet you have one of the goofiest people to ever have existed at the forefront of it.

So when you say one of the goofiest people that ever existed – that’s how you would define Trump?

Yeah. In a terrifying way. It’s a perfect storm of existentially horrifying, but also, truly, your kookiest uncle – and getting more so with every passing year.

There’s so many American political comedy shows out there. What does 22 Minutes bring that’s distinct to this subject?

When you watch Stephen Colbert or John Oliver, you can feel that the stakes are very high for them because they have to live with the results. Whereas for us, there’s a little bit more detachment which I think affords us the opportunity to be sillier and goofier about it.

So what would you say to someone who might say the United States is teetering on fascism. Is that not diminishing it, by being silly and goofy about it?

I think the best way to kind of combat that stuff is with silliness. The fascist counts on you being afraid of them. The fascist wants to be treated with utmost respect and dignity. So I think it’s kind of essential to cut them down to size.

Are there moments in what you’re doing where you have been afraid at all while shooting these segments?

Oh, no, not at all. I find it very interesting that both sides really feel strongly that they’re the side of love and light – and the other side is the side of hate and fear and division. That was definitely what jumped out at me, leaving my liberal bubble and hanging out with the Trump people. A lot of them are just like really happy and really enthusiastic and chipper.

Can you tell me the funniest thing you heard down there on your journey?

We heard a Republican tell us that the Democrats were trying to do 1984 – which was very funny to me because that’s the liberal Twitter talking point for the past eight years. Everybody thinks the other side is trying to 1984 them.

Everyone thinks George Orwell is on their side.

Yeah and nobody has read him.

This interview has been condensed and edited.