December 08, 2005 -

Ottawa, Canada -- A new book of cartoons is hitting the bookshelves just in time for Christmas. The Chuckle Bros, a team of National Arts Centre Orchestra violinist Brian Boychuk, his brother Ron Boychuk and artist Ronnie Martin, have published their first edition collection of quirky single-frame comics entitled On The Road. The book will be launched in the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage on Tuesday, December 13 at a reception from 16:30 to 18:00. The book will subsequently be available for sale at the NAC Box Office, in the NAC Foyer, and in select independent bookstores in Ottawa as well as other parts of Canada.

For years Brian Boychuk toyed with the idea of starting a comic strip with his brother Ron, who lives in the Boychuks’ hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan. In 2003 Brian started writing down his ideas and within a week had come up with over a hundred. Finding an artist who could bring the concepts to life was the hardest part, and the pair searched art schools and the Internet before stumbling by accident across Ronnie Martin, a small business owner in Ottawa. Brian noticed a crowd gathered around a table across a room at a choral concert. When he went to investigate what had attracted everyone’s attention, he discovered Ronnie Martin creating some clever on-the-spot drawings. Brian discovered that Ronnie had often dreamed of drawing cartoons but fell short at coming up with ideas! And so the Chuckles Bros came into being.

The series of Chuckles Bros strips runs regularly in The Low Down to Hull and Back News and in the National Arts Centre Orchestra newsletter Presto!.

Meet the Chuckles Bros at the launch and book-signing on Tuesday, December 13 from 16:30 to 18:00 in the NAC Fourth Stage, where On The Road – First Edition Collection will be on sale.

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For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Communications Officer,
National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca