Bigsby (Film)

Kenzie Cameron

Mitch Murrant

James Rudderham

Michael G. MacDonald

Tristan Baxter

Bryan Nash

Mazen Wassel

The Centre for Sound Communities

*Bigsby* is a 2017 Canadian black comedy film shot in Sydney, Nova Scotia, produced by Tar City Productions as part of a collaboration with iCreate Cape Breton and The Centre for Sound Communities.

The film details the unfortunate life of a homeless, alcoholic clown who struggles to support himself as a street performer in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

The film premiered at the Sydney Cineplex on April 27th, 2017. A second screening took place at the Highland Arts Theatre on June 8th, 2017.

## Plot

"Bigsby" is a homeless alcoholic that lives in a dumpster with Shaky, Colton, and Moses while supporting himself as a clown by performing party tricks and playing ukulele in the streets of Sydney, Nova Scotia.

After selling an inflated condom balloon animal to a father and his son for $10 in the park and stealing a cart full of recyclable bottles from Shaky, Bigsby asks Frankie, a punk musician with clear contempt for Bigsby, to pick up some unspecified drugs for him. Frankie ignores Bigsby's request, but takes his money anyways.

After finding Frankie dead of an apparent heroin overdose, Bigsby robs the corpse of $500 in cash which was hidden in his boot. Bigsby awakes the next morning in a the middle of a cemetery surrounded by empty bottles to discover that he has spent most of the money he stole.

Bigsby decides to visit his ex-girlfriend, Clem, after an eight month absence to discover that she is pregnant, though she denounces any association with him. Bigsby returns to performing at the local park, but finds himself at a loss when his ukulele is smashed by a young couple.

Frankie, having survived the overdose, finds Bigsby in the park and demands to have his money returned to him. When he finds out that Bigsby has already spent all of the money, Frankie attempts to orally rape him and threatens to continue attacking Bigsby until he gets the money back. As Clem struggles to come to terms with her unwanted pregnancy, Bigsby similarly reflects on the implications of both the pregnancy and his debt to Frankie.

Colton and Moses later find Bigsby asleep on a set of train tracks, assuming him to be dead, they steal his pants then flee. While roaming the streets of Sydney, Bigsby finds a poster for "Klumsy's Krazy Katering", a clown themed party and catering service which enrages him. Bigsby goes to a party hosted by Klumsy and after interrogating a clown named Drowsy, threatens Klumsy with a broken beer bottle, demanding that he leave town. Klumsy fearfully offers Bigsby a job as an entertainer, which he accepts but only after mugging his new employer.

Bigsby returns to Clem's apartment in a drunken stupor with the cash he stole from Klumsy and a wine bottle filled with a mystery liquid which he claims to have found. Clem initially refuses to allow Bigsby in the apartment, but sympathetically relents when he suddenly vomits on the front door. In her apartment, Clem and Bigsby argue on the living room couch before Clem suddenly drinks the mystery fluid and climbs on top of Bigsby. As they are about to kiss, Bigsby admits that he might have Hepatitis and Clem tells him to leave.

At a nearby bar, Bigsby drunkenly harasses a female bartender to the point that a gang of young men attack him outside, stealing his cigarettes and leaving him unconscious. Bigsby arrives at a playground for his first day of work for Klumsy, but upon seeing him bruised and still not wearing pants, Klumsy fires Bigsby. Drowsy is then offered Bigsby's job of entertaining which he unenthusiastically accepts. As Bigsby sits on a swing set and reflects on his situation, Klumsy climbs into his car, drinks from a flask, and cries to himself.

During a fantasy sequence, Bigsby imagines himself entertaining a crowd with a full head of hair, the exact same party guests seen at Klumsy's party with Bigsby replacing Klumsy. Clem, vibrant and smiling, hands out pizza, replacing Drowsy in the original scene. As Bigsby imagines himself laughing with Clem, the scenes fades back to reality, inside a dingy basement where he sits bloodied and beaten.

Bigsby struggles to his feet and steps into a circle of men drinking mouthwash for an underground bare knuckle boxing match. Bigsby is quickly defeated, but accepts another match for double or nothing. It is revealed that his next opponent is Shaky, who promptly knocks Bigsby out with a single punch and urinates on him as he lays unconscious on the floor. After the fight, Shopsy takes pity on Bigsby for losing every fight that he was in and gives him $20, offering a handjob as he kisses him on the head and leaves.

Bigsby takes the money back to Clem's apartment, sleeping under her porch as he waits to confront her while she leaves. Bigsby and Clem argue in the street and it is revealed that they shared the apartment until Bigsby disappeared in the middle of the night without returning for 8 months, presumably leading to his homeless lifestyle. During the argument, it is also revealed that Bigsby's real name is "Cyril" as Clem dismisses his defense of being an artist to excuse his selfish and destructive lifestyle before she swears at him for abandoning her then storms away.

Bigsby returns to the dumpster he sleeps in when he is surrounded by Moses, Colton, and Frankie, who immediately attacks him. Frankie demands his momey, but Bigsby simply tells Frankie that he will never have enough to repay what he stole and invites Frankie to instead kill him. Much to Bigsby's dismay, Frankie laughs, resolving to continue robbing and attacking Bigsby until the debt is repaid. Frankie kicks Bigsby once more in the stomach, leaving him unconscious as Colton and Moses strips his body of clothes and flee.

in another fantasy sequence, Bigsby imagines his argument with Clem as a reluctant farewell in favor of his flourishing artistic career until he awakes to reality and finds himself both bloodied and stripped of clothing. Bigsby struggles to his feet, retrieves a long piece of rope from the dumpster, and stumbles away.

Bigsby stumbles through the streets of Sydney as pedestrians try to ignore him, he washes in a puddle on the side of the road before walking back towards a large church and collapsing in an alleyway behind it. Bigsby ties a noose with the rope and after failing to choke himself by pulling on the other end, he pulls the rope tight and appears to succeed in hanging himself by strangulation. However, it is revealed that he failed and instead lands hard on his back, gasping for breath as he exclaims "god fucking damn it!" before he falls limp and loses consciousness.

## Cast

H. Fritz Bishop as Bigsby

Rachael Murphy as Clem

James Rudderham as Frankie

Michael G. MacDonald as Klumsy the Klown

Tristan Baxter as Shaky

Bryan Nash as Colton

Mazen Wassel as Moses

Dami as Drowsy

James Munroe as Gerald

Aidan Munroe as Jayden

Eric Letcher as Peter

Johnny Caines as Martin

Shane Wilkie as Beaver

Jules Cameron as Jessie

Tyrel Doran as Davey

Sam Bryden as Saul

Nathan MacNeil as Leon

Tanner Leudy, Mitch Hines, and Keith Doom as Hoodlums

Mitch Murrant as Shopsy / Guy on Skateboard

John-Paul Bergeron as Tony

Olivia Stevens as Rebecca

Maddy Terry as Vanessa

Daniel Farrow as Disgusted Man

Savannah Anderson as Frightened Woman

Catalina Belalcazar as Bartender

Patricia Gardiner-Pineau as Bar Patron

Kenzie Cameron as Angry Homeowner

Adam LeMoine as Ian Obscene

Stefane Samson as Grundy Gunthrie

Breanna Penson, Daniel Colbourne, and Jenny Cameron appeared as Hipsters in "Bigsby the Father"

Dianna MacKinnon-Furlong, Dave Petrie, Shirley Rhymes, Joel Inglis, Donna Petrie, Kelly Lindenschmidt, and Ben Kelly appeared as Patry Guests in "Bigsby the Entertainer" / "Bigsby the Fighter"

James Buick, Patrick Cookson, and Justin Kinsman appeared as Bum Fight Audience in "Bigsby the Fighter"

## Crew

Camera Operator: Kenzie Cameron

Audio Technician: Mitch Murrant

Boom Mic Operator: John Bury

Production Managers: Catalina Belalcazar and Mitch Murrant

Production Assistants: Olivia Stevens, Patrica Gardiner-Pineau, and Tyrel Doran

Costume Designer: Dianna MacKinnon-Furlong

Make-up Artist: Ally Parsons

Special Effects: Ally Parsons and James Rudderham

Equipment Manager: Chris Jones

Executive Producers: Scott Sharplin, Sheila Christie, Michael G. MacDonald, and Marcia Otashewski

## Production

The initial idea for the film about a pessimistic, self loathing clown was inspired by an interaction between Fritz Bishop and Eric Letcher, who appeared in the film as "Peter", during their run as costars in a production of "Bluenose" directed by Scott Sharplin and also starring Rachael Murphy, who appeared in the film as "Clem". Fritz has also noted a particular instance in which he returned home from a rehearsal and responded to what he believed to be a domestic assault at a neighbor's house in his underwear while still holding a beer bottle and wearing clown paint as inspiring the conception of the character. This incident would also be his introduction to Mazen Wassel, who played "Moses" in the film.

Fritz has asserted that the clowns which appear in the film are meant to parody actors and artists in general, with Bigsby's aspirations to be a clown representing his own former aspirations to be an actor. Fritz has also cited Bobcat Goldthwait's 1991 comedy, *Shakes the Clown*, in which clowns are meant to represent comedians, as partially inspiring the concept for the film.

The concept was developed by Fritz Bishop and Scott Sharplin, with a screenplay later written by Fritz and John Bury. The film consists of four episodes with separate plots and recurring characters to present an overarching story about the life of the titular character. Each episode is directed by members of Tar City, including Fritz, John Bury, Kenzie Cameron, and Mitch Murrant. The episodic format was originally conceived in order to compartmentalize plots and characters during pre-production, but quickly adopted as part of the final film.

As part of Tar City's collaboration with iCreate Cape Breton, the production was granted both a production manager (Catalina Belalcazar) and a documentarian (Patricia Gardnier-Pineau), as well as all the necessary production equipment.

Filming took place across Sydney over nine days, with local businesses like Governor's Pub and Little Vegas Showroom providing locations for setting.

The 13 minute long take near the end of the film in which Bigsby stumbles through the streets of Sydney was unscripted and all the reactions by pedestrians are genuine, including the classic car horn sound and the woman who comments "State of ya, pal".

The film was edited by Fritz Bishop with the assistance of Michael G. MacDonald, who also provided all the necessary editing software.

On December 24th, 2017, Tar City uploaded a public copy of *Bigsby* which can be found on YouTube as a Christmas gift to their viewers. The digital release of the film was originally planned to coincide with the launch of the official Tar City website, however, technical issues lead to a delay in development.

## Sequel

The possibility of a sequel to *Bigsby* has been discussed by crew members both during and since wrapping production on the film. On multiple occasions, Fritz has commented that while the general plot of a sequel had been written and discussed with cast members, there are no definite plans to film the sequel, tentatively titled *Cyril,* any time in the near future*.* However, Fritz has stated that the sequel would maintain an episodic format and explore the birth of Bigsby's child with Clem, the origin of his aspirations to be a clown, as well as introduce Shopsy as a primary antagonist.

On May 23, 2018, Fritz posted a screenshot on Instagram of a title page for a script which read "*Cyril the Clown*". It was later announced that Cyril the Clown would be read live by the cast as part of Tar City's Burnt Out event on September 15, 2018. The cast included Ian Green as "Roy" (Bigsby's father) and Michael MacNeil as "Andrew Martel", with Rachael Murphy, Mitch Murrant, and Fritz Bishop reprising their roles as Clem, Shopsy, and Bigsby respectively.

## Soundtrack

1. "You're Gonna Get There" by Ulalume
2. "Murderous Misfits" by The Slow and the Courteous
3. "Heartbroke and Broke" by The Camper Vans
4. "Stainage" by Turpentine
5. "Passed Tents" by The Wazzo
6. "Look So Down" by Ulalume
7. "I Wanna Drink at the Legion because the KOC is Closed" by The Camper Vans
8. "Into the Dark" by Ulalume

## External Links

Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eaDnKXMIC8&t=1s

Bigsby (2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl9exMf91M0

iCreate blog posts: http://icreatecapebreton.ca/tag/bigsby/