Ojibway comedian to break world record

Elvis has left the building. Or in this case, Elvis has left Canada for a few days, in the form of Gerry Barrett ­ an Elvis impersonator, popular stand-up comedian, actor, and radio show host from Winnipeg ­ who heads to Las Vegas to help break a world record.
"I'm always telling the youth to follow (their) dreams," he said about his decision to be part of the Elvis tribute on May 25. "And so I thought I would take my own advice, I'm a big Elvis fan and I thought it would be fun to take part in this record-breaking event."
Gerry "The Big Bear" Barrett travels to the Guinness World Record Elvis tribute, where Elvis tribute artists from across North America gather to sing one Elvis Presley song in unison. It is an American attempt to break Australia's world record of having 147 Elvis's singing 'Love Me Tender'.
"I work in radio as you know, and it was announced in the country music news. There was a story that came across the wire that piqued my interest. I told my listeners and I thought I would take part in it myself," Barrett explained. He is a morning host on NCI-FM, Manitoba's Aboriginal Radio Network.
The Elvis event is part of the 17th Annual Reel Awards in conjunction with the 8th Annual Celebrity Impersonators Convention, a gathering of hundreds of top celebrity impersonators, look-a-likes, sound-a-likes, and tribute artists from around the world.
"There will be talent agents and booking agents there from Hollywood and all parts (of the country) and so I'm going to showcase my standup comedy at the same time, so I'm hoping to get some work out of this and have some fun," he said.
Barrett has taken his comedy show almost everywhere across Canada and has been featured on Just For Laughs, the comedy network, APTN, CBC and he is a regular contributor to CBC Radio. Most recently he did a show for the Assembly of First Nation's Christmas gala in Ottawa.
"I was on the Rez Bluez II, the tv show, hosting it and performing stand-up comedy as well," he said. "I've been to Los Angelas to showcase and I'm booked right across the country, I'm going to perform in Chicago, and this will be my first time to Las Vegas."
He is a huge Elvis fan and closes each of his comedy shows with a tribute to the King of Rock and Roll in a funny bit called, "If Elvis Were Chief." The whole piece describes his experience of being teased as a kid by non-Aboriginal people because he looked like a miniature Elvis.
"With black hair and my cheekbones, they would put on Elvis records and make me dance," he said. "When I was a kid I didn't like it very much. When I grew up I started to appreciate Elvis and I realize that our people respect his music and his background. So I became an Elvis fan very early. And then now I'm doing Elvis, an impression of him on my own terms and not being forced to imitate him like I was when I was a kid."
"My comedy act is what it would be like "If Elvis Were Chief", band meetings would be different, in my act I sing a tribute to Eliija Harper, if Elvis were singing that song. So I have a guitar, I have an Elvis suit that I wear and it goes over very well."
He sings most of his own material in the show, all of it is live singing, he adds. "I pick up my guitar and do a lot of music and tell jokes and stuff."
The reason why Barrett chose to do stand-up comedy was to share his story as an Aboriginal person and to reverse the negative stereotypes many people have about Native people.
"I share my journey right from my adoption and time in foster homes right up until present day and people see a well-spoken educated man on stage, on a journey," he explained.
Barrett is a status Ojibwe from the Saugeen First Nation in southern Ontario.
As a young child he was adopted by non-Aboriginal parents during the "sixties scoop" and when he was older he researched his heritage and found that sense of Aboriginal identity.
"I share my appreciation for Elders and communities I've been to and people can see that I'm trying to learn more about my culture and storytelling. Then I share my journey with youth through my workshops or through my comedy performance," he stated.
"I started probably over ten years now for sure, probably twelve years. And I've played every redneck honky-tonk (towns) in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and now I'm doing corporate events and television shows and working with the CBC as well. So it's grown considerably and now it's to the point where I'm confident enough that I could go to Las Vegas and get away with this," he said.
He is a presenter at many conferences and special events across North America on the topics of "Career Opportunities in Broadcasting" and "Aboriginal Humour".
His 45 to 60 minute comedy routine covers Aboriginal issues such as the 60's scoop, adoption, and the importance of education.
However, his main purpose is to just get the message out to Aboriginal youth to follow through with their dreams.
He advises them to see where their dreams take them, but if they don't follow through he would like to see youth hold on to that hope and try again at another time.
"I don't want to say there's no such thing as failure but if you don't follow through in your dreams, I don't want you sitting at home, looking out the window, saying 'gosh, I'm sad because I didn't try it.' So try things and you'll feel good about yourself," he advises.
His movie credentials include appearances in 'Cowboys and Indians', 'The Killing of J.J. Harper', and on the children's tv program 'Tipi Tales' where he plays the voice of Sabe(Bigfoot.) For more information about Barrett or to book him for an event go to his Web site at www.thebigbear.org.