Grant Mazzy, Dave Mickie, and the Power of Talk

Grant Mazzy’s opening monolog is like that of an oral storyteller, the sort of speech that Harold Innis considered as time biased. According to Innis, oral tradition was tied to community memory, and those stories spun between people who inhabit the same space. Mazzy’s story is all about local knowledge. The posters for Honey the cat are all over, and everyone knows the bridge. He is addressing a town, not a market. Dave Mickie's patter is another thing. "Scuba-doo," "sssshhhwwoooo," and the repeated phone number are more sounds than sense. His goal is rhythm and energy that keeps listeners tuned in and calling the Hitline. Mickie uses orality to sell, while Mazzy uses it to tell the town about itself.

Still, both men play at words until meaning starts to go astray. Mazzy turns Colette Piscine into "Panty Pool," ending with a chant of "Pontypool. Pontypool." The repetition is a precursor of the infected residents who repeat words until they mean nothing. Therefore, Mazzy offers both sides of orality. His speech has the community roots Innis valued, but it moves through radio, a space-biased medium that reaches everyone at once. That’s why words are dangerous in Pontypool.