AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
For generations, many Canadians have looked south and seen a friend - their closest ally and neighbor. But not so much these days. President Trump is escalating his trade war and rhetoric, including reviving one-liners about Canada becoming, quote, "the 51st state." But as Sheena Rossiter reports, Canada's comedians are determined to get the last laugh.
SHEENA ROSSITER, BYLINE: A modest crowd gathers in a central Edmonton comedy club for some laughs.
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LOGAN: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Thursday Night Improv. My name is Logan. I am your host. Please give it up.
ROSSITER: And it doesn't take long for the cross-border tariffs to become material in tonight's set.
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LOGAN: We're going to play a game called Sex With Me. We're going to start off with the idea of, sex with me is like tariffs.
UNIDENTIFIED PERFORMER #1: Sex with me is like tariffs. It'll cost you more than you wanted.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED PERFORMER #2: Sex with me is like tariffs. Nobody wants it.
(LAUGHTER)
ROSSITER: For improv performer Kamal Alaeddine, laughing during hard times acts as a sort of release valve.
KAMAL ALAEDDINE: I mean, the state of things generally - there's a lot of powerlessness. What do you do? And so all you can do is, like, laugh about it or, in my case, scream about it. The problems are still there, but at least you let off a little steam.
ROSSITER: For performers like Jared Leeder, there's no shortage of material.
JARED LEEDER: There's just so much material out there. They're doing good work for us. You know what I mean? The world's hyperbolic at this point that it's so - it's almost a farce in itself. And that's the beauty of it, is, like, we can speak to the absurdity of just the way the world is.
ROSSITER: The jokes may be getting easier to find, but the rhetoric between the two countries is getting harder to ignore. President Trump has repeatedly gone after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Truth Social. Carney, meanwhile, has described the escalating dispute as a, quote, "trade war." On the other side of Canada, in Newfoundland, the tension was being felt this week.
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JEAN CHRETIEN: I have a message for our American friends.
ROSSITER: Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien was speaking in Gander, where 25 years ago, the town took in some 6,700 stranded passengers after the U.S. closed its airspace following 9/11.
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CHRETIEN: Yes, Canada is generous - open country. And Canadians are tolerant and kind.
ROSSITER: The 92-year-old's warning was clear.
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CHRETIEN: But never mistake our generosity for weakness.
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ROSSITER: Despite the solemn occasion, the audience rose to its feet and cheered. The message - Canada and the U.S. remain allies, but Canada will not be taken for granted.
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CHRETIEN: We embrace our friends, and we help them in their moment of need. But we bow to no one.
(CHEERING)
CHRETIEN: And...
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UNIDENTIFIED PERFORMER #3: Positive anxiety.
UNIDENTIFIED PERFORMER #4: Yes. OK. OK. So let's get a round of applause for...
ROSSITER: Back at the Grindstone Theatre in Edmonton, performers like Brooke Rose are still unsure what the tariffs will mean for daily life and for Canada-U.S. relations.
BROOKE ROSE: Never in my life did I think we would be in the political situation that we're in now.
ROSSITER: For Rose, comedy is a way to process just how strange this political moment has become.
ROSE: Truly, in so many aspects, like, all you can do is laugh. But let's talk about it because there's so many other people out there who feel despair, 'cause it is the minority that is loud and is the most boisterous. And if we can let people know they're not alone in staying on the same side of things, there's a freedom in that, and there's just a bit of relief in that.
ROSSITER: For NPR News, I'm Sheena Rossiter in Edmonton. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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