Andrea Martin and Colin Mochrie honored with inaugural Candy Awards at Crackup Comedy Festival

The legend of John Candy lives on in the spirits, hearts and minds of funny Canadians and comedy lovers everywhere.

And now, the comedy festival in Canada’s capital city has begun handing out annual awards in his name, with the first recipients of the Candy Comedy Award being Andrea Martin and Colin Mochrie. They received their Candy Awards last weekend during the Alterna Savings Crackup Comedy Festival in Ottawa.

Martin, of course, starred alongside Candy on the seminal sketch series, SCTV, and currently co-stars on the NBC sitcom, Great News. Mochrie, meanwhile, is an improv legend by now after decades of performing on Whose Line Is It Anyway.

The Crackup Comedy Gala and ‘Candy Awards’ also awarded Patrick McKenna from The Red Green Show with the Mental Health Champion Candy Award.

John Candy’s children, Jennifer and Chris Candy, presided over the awards ceremony.

Another Canadian comedy legend, Mike MacDonald, was supposed to perform but had died unexpectedly a week before the festival. The festival instead donated a portion of ticket sales to its finale event to support local mental health initiatives, as well as help establish a “Comedian Development Fund” in MacDonald’s name.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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