LABRADOR CITY, N.L. — It wasn’t the reaction Rob Parrill of Labrador City expected from his son last Christmas Day. However, the child’s response to a special gift landed the family on ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos. The short clip was featured on the show on Dec. 8.
In explaining how the video unfolded, Parrill said he was surprising five-year-old Jake and his ten-year-old brother Luke with tickets to a hockey game in Montreal. All three are die-hard Leafs fans.
Parrill had bought tickets for a game between the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs to take place on Feb. 9.
“I got my friend to make up a fake word document of a hockey ticket and a plane ticket. I put them inside of a little toque for them for Christmas,” Parrill said when contacted by phone.
Luke opened his gift and was delighted to see a Leafs player on the ticket.
The boy’s father didn’t realize the ticket Jake would get featured an image of a Habs player rather than the boy’s beloved Leafs player.
“When he opened it he said ‘Montreal Canadiens!’ He tore it up and ran away ... It was only by chance that his portion of the ticket had the watermark with the Habs,” Parrill said.
Almost as funny as the child’s reaction is that of his grandmother, Lelvie Parrill, as she watched Jake tear up his ticket.
“I knew they were going to get their tickets for Christmas but little did I know that there was going to be a fake one given to them so I was very surprised and shocked that (Jake) tore up his ticket. You can hear me in the video saying ‘It’s not a ticket, is it?’” she said when contacted about her reaction.
The children’s mother, Pamela Dean, is also in the video.
While the tickets the boys received weren’t authentic, the trip was real and was everything the father and his sons had hoped.
“It was just me and the boys. We had a ball. We went over by the Leafs section where they warm up and both of them got handed a puck from a Leaf’s player. And Toronto won in overtime,” Parrill said of the 4-3 victory.
Since posting the video to Facebook, Parrill has received a lot of feedback and many people are sharing the clip. Comments on his Facebook page ranged from ‘priceless’ to ‘hilarious,’ with one poster commenting ‘He was poisoned,’ in reference to Jake’s reaction to his ticket.
Airing since 1989, America’s Funniest Home Videos is touted as the longest-running primetime entertainment show in ABC history.
While the family didn’t win a trip to California to be on the show or a chance at winning a weekly prize of $10,000, Parrill is happy that the clip is being viewed by so many people and giving them a chuckle.
“Everybody is enjoying the video. It’s hard not to smile when you see it,” he said.
