Madly Off in All Directions

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Madly Off in All Directions was a Canadian radio comedy show that aired for several years on CBC Radio One, featuring comedian Lorne Elliott. It formerly aired Sunday afternoons at 1PM (1:30PM in Newfoundland and Labrador), as well as on Saturday evenings on 6:30PM with repeats on Friday mornings at 11 AM. It was replaced in September 2006 by a comedy show The Debaters.

The show traveled around Canada, recording in front of a live audience at various local venues. The show provided a mix of stand-up, improvisational, sketch and musical comedy. Elliott usually began the show with a monologue, and introduced the following acts, often comedians who are local to the area who are given the chance of national exposure through the program.

Elliott's work first caught the attention of CBC with the airing of one of his concert performances on Definitely Not the Opera. He also did additional comedy segments for other CBC radio shows, including Basic Black, Sunday Showcase and Morningside. He was given the retiring Royal Canadian Air Farce's traditional radio show timeslot in 1996, and the show became a regular weekly showcase of Canadian comedy.

The name of the show was derived from a line used by famous Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock in his story "Gertrude the Governess". ("Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.") It was literally applicable in this case as the show traveled across Canada, and the host and his guests covered the full range of the comedy spectrum.

There were two years that the format was changed, and Elliott traveled exclusively to smaller venues, accompanied only by Derek Edwards. These tours were intended to be a more intimate affair, and also served as a bit of a break for Elliott, as the pared-down format required much less planning and arranging.

After a summer series consisting of repeats in 2006, the show was quietly replaced by The Debaters in its former timeslots. Beginning in April 2007, further repeats of the show were broadcast Monday afternoons on CBC Radio One^[1].