That awkward moment when you realize you’ve been making fun of yourself

When I told you that my brother is now writing for This Hour Has 22 Minutes, I said it was “the latest and biggest in a recent wave of major achievements.” Also on that list is SPANK!, a musical Fifty Shades of Grey parody that’s been enjoying sellout runs on stages across North America, including a five-night run in November at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre.

My brother was part of the parody’s talented team of writers, which also included our good friend Ian MacIntyre, among others. My wife and I loved the show, but not because of Jon and Ian’s involvement; it was a genuinely funny take on its ripe subject matter, and it drew a fun and excitable audience that was much more “in on the joke” than you might expect.

My sister, who’s an accomplished writer in her own right, caught the show a couple of nights later, and it sounds like her crowd was a lot like ours. From the lobby, she logged into Facebook and joked about going to see a show with everybody’s aunts.

My sister’s a brilliant woman, and I love her to death. But man alive, I wish I could have seen her face when my wife pointed out the irony.

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