Not everyone can combine an almost six-decade legal career with a comedy career that included writing for Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and co-hosting The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour, along other credits, but Hart Pomerantz can.
If there were ever a coronation for the king of comedy in Canada’s legal community, Hart Pomerantz would surely receive the crown.
Almost six decades after graduating law school, Pomerantz continues to entertain with his dry wit, understated humour and quick asides. He is known for setting precedents for funny business outside courtrooms and seeing his share of funny stuff inside them. In an interview with LawNow, he talks about the path from law to comedy and back to the law and admits that sometimes the line between the two can be blurry.
A 1965 graduate of the University of Toronto’s law school, his penchant for wry observational humour helped him through his legal studies. Following graduation, he wrote for the 1960s-era hit television show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, co-hosted CBC’s short-lived but very influential comedy show The Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour (with writing partner and current television producer Lorne Michaels) and made frequent appearances on CBC television’s popular This is the Law. Pomerantz also spent more than a decade in criminal law before moving to civil litigation, working primarily on employment-related cases until his retirement in 2022.
The early years
Early on, Pomerantz was handling minor legal cases. Driven by a sense of social justice, he always wanted to help the “little guy”. He was also getting a taste of the stand-up comedy scene in Toronto and New York. Then university friend Lorne Michaels called with a proposition – let’s be partners and write jokes together. Their collaboration also extended to the courtroom: Michaels was originally Lorne Lipowitz, and Pomerantz represented him in court to legally change his name.
Extensive writing for the CBC eventually led the pair to Los Angeles for a year as writers for Laugh-In and for high-profile comedians Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers and Woody Allen. While the money was good, it wasn’t the most satisfying experience as they wanted to perform, not just write. So, the duo headed back to Toronto.
The Terrific Hour led to more television work for Pomerantz, hosting other television programs and doing panelist appearances on the popular This is the Law. A perfect fit for his legal background, panelists on This is the Law would watch a funny sketch of an obscure law being broken in a particular Canadian location, then guess as to the nature of that law.
It was all good fun. Pomerantz’s heart was drawn to both comedy and litigation, and he loved to straddle both worlds, with his law career ensuring a measure of long-term stability. Over the years he continued to host talk shows and game shows and established a presence in Canadian programming.
Did he enjoy comedy writing? “I didn’t enjoy the writing,” he says. “All our good writing was adlibbed.” He allows that his adlib skills were his best comedic tool. “But I wrote some pieces [very funny satirical essays on Einstein, Darwin and Freud, between 2018 and 2021] for The New Yorker that I enjoyed doing.”
A varied legal career
Pomerantz claims to have stopped practicing criminal law after being in a cell with a client – a man on trial for murder – which necessitated some adlibbing until a guard came to let him out. “I had to adlib and tap dance around his craziness. I went into civil law after that. Let’s face it – if you lose, the guy goes to jail and then when he comes out, he’s looking for you.”
He talks about handling divorce cases and working in employment law. Because so much of criminal law today is “psychological, not legal,” he preferred dealing with civil cases where the outcome was straightforward – and safer (for him).
And courtrooms? They’re places where the “more serious they are, the greater the potential for laughs.” Pomerantz stresses that he took the law seriously (well … there was that time a judge fell asleep during Pomerantz’s case presentation) and always found the courtroom a place where he could exercise his legal skills – and his wit.
A comedic legacy
“Anyone can write a joke,” he says. “But it’s wisdom plus humour that makes you a wit rather than a comic.” The Hart & Lorne style was less slapstick, more “Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks” – comedy with an intellectual foundation. It was the kind of humour Pomerantz enjoyed.
Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour was known for its irreverent, rock ‘n’ roll approach and its comedy skits featuring rising Canadian comedy stars. In one Terrific Hour sketch – a fan favourite – a twitchy Pomerantz plays the role of the Canadian beaver nervously complaining about his intrusive “friend” the American eagle. Pomerantz readily acknowledges its influence on programs like the long-running Lorne Michaels’ creation Saturday Night Live, with its edgy political satire, musical guests and sketch comedy.
Hart & Lorne’s pointed humour, straight-faced tongue-in-cheek commentary and satirical observations lived on through shows like Kids in the Hall, Second City and SNL. Pomerantz, never at a loss for drawing out subtle humour, once described the Terrific Hour to somewhat-staid television interviewer Elwood Glover as a show with “good pacing, well written, with two young performers who have great potential … but on the other side of the ledger, it’s an excellent show.” His love of Hart & Lorne’s high-concept humour never abated, and Pomerantz is only too happy to talk about the contributions that Canadians have made to comedy.
A Canadian icon
Today, as an elder statesman of Canada’s legal profession (my words – he might say “I’m not that old”), Pomerantz keeps his hand in the comedy world through writing and guest appearances. In 2020, his career – in both law and comedy – was feted at University of Toronto Law’s virtual legal reunion in The Funny Side, a comedic discussion with long-time friend and law professor Arnie Weinrib.
And the final question: What advice do you give to young lawyers?
“I tell them to study dentistry,” he deadpans. “The law is stressful and you have to have a tough constitution.” But seriously, “it’s a good field I think because the law never changes that quickly. In law we go slow. We don’t move that fast. There’s room to grow.”
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DISCLAIMER The information in this article was correct at time of publishing. The law may have changed since then. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of LawNow or the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta.