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Royal Canadian Air Farce: Glenn Gould unmoved by his audience

Broadcast Date: Oct. 8, 1999

What's a poor, short-sighted Royal Canadian Air Farce character to do? He pours his heart out, but Glenn Gould doesn't say a word. "I was playing chopsticks at age four," the man tells him. "Then I switched to piano." Gould, the beloved pianist who famously detested audiences and could be reclusive in the extreme, is unmoved. It must be pain from lumbago, the man concludes - why else would the nicely tanned man on the bench remain silent?

Royal Canadian Air Farce: Glenn Gould unmoved by his audience

• The statue of Glenn Gould seen here was unveiled just weeks before this Air Farce episode aired. It sits on Front Street in Toronto, outside the Glenn Gould Studio in the CBC's Canadian Broadcasting Centre. Sculpted by Canadian artist Ruth Abernathy, it is a life-sized reproduction of Gould from a famous photograph taken by Don Hunstein. As in life, so too in art: Gould in bronze wears an overcoat, hat and gloves.

Royal Canadian Air Farce: Glenn Gould unmoved by his audience

Medium: Television

Program: Royal Canadian Air Farce

Broadcast Date: Oct. 8, 1999

Performer: Don Ferguson, John Morgan

Duration: 2:18

Last updated:
July 24, 2009