Brothers Jagger (left) and Dawson Glowatsky are bringing their hoser high jinks to Prime Video in a new reality show.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
Vegreville, Alta., is about to land a bigger claim to fame than being home to the world’s second-largest Ukrainian Easter egg.
Young Farts, Trailer Parts, a new Prime Video reality show, follows local brothers Jagger and Dawson Glowatsky as they get up to all sorts of hoser high jinks while running a multimillion-dollar business refurbishing and reselling RV components.
The pair already have a large following from their crassly charming comedic TikTok videos – which first got them on TV with a slot on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.
Now, they’re going global in this unscripted series executive produced by Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney.
Ahead of the show’s launch on July 17, Jagger, CEO, and Dawson, his right-hand man, spoke with The Globe and Mail.
In the first episode, your dad holds up a sign with your business motto: “Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, some people make it happen.” So, how was this show made to happen?
Dawson: When we first started our parts business, we just started making these dumb videos on social media to try and increase RV parts sales. Then they ended up starting to do really good. So it caught the eye outside of Alberta.
Jagger: A lot of people who watch our videos might not even have a camper, but I think people just enjoy watching our lives.
Who first approached you about a proper reality show?
Dawson: Lionsgate approached us – and then we made kind of like a sizzle.
Jagger: Yeah and from there, Jacob Tierney was part of it. They worked together on finding the best partner in Prime.
On the show's appeal, Dawson says: "I think the rural Albertan community are going to see a lot of themselves in this show ... We hold the door open, we might drink too many beers."Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
You shot this last summer before Heated Rivalry.
Jagger: Even before, Jacob was a huge name.
Dawson: I think that’s really good for the show.
Have you checked out Heated Rivalry?
Dawson: Honestly, I just had a kid. I started, like, the first five minutes, and then went and put him back to bed.
Jagger: I haven’t. I don’t watch TV. I work.
Prime Video’s selling Young Farts as a kind of real-life Letterkenny – another show Tierney was involved in. Do you guys ever watch that comedy?
Jagger: I’ve seen some, but again, I’ve got a flip phone. I don’t watch TV. But I kind of think that’s what made our videos so good. We had no reference as to like other things other people are doing. We were just kind of ourselves, drinking beer.
Dawson, the pilot starts with you saying you’ve been off six days, having a baby.
Dawson: I took three or four weeks off. They pushed filming a bit. Literally, as soon as like I was good to come back, we were filming. Which is crazy. That whole summer is kind of a blur.
Have you negotiated a longer parental leave if you have any more kids with your CEO brother?
Jagger: I don’t even know what the legal laws are about what you’re supposed to be able to take if you’re working for somebody.
Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail
In the show, there’s a jokey flouting of some workplace laws, like smoking. Is that embellished for the series?
Jagger: If anything, they had to calm it down, to be quite honest with you.
Dawson: We were just smoking – and Megan [the publicist] said you should butt out for the interview.
Are you worried the show will get the Alberta authorities on your case?
Jagger: We’re getting a lot up to snuff, because now, yeah, we were a little worried.
Dawson: We’re in a small rural community. If you go into the tire shop, the guy’s also smoking in the tire shop, so we’re not the only ones.
Alberta’s in the conversation right now, obviously, because of the separation referendum. What are you thinking about in terms of what you’re showing of your part of the world to the rest of the world?
Dawson: I’ve only lived in Alberta. I’ve lived in the city and outside of the city. I really think the rural Albertan community are going to see a lot of themselves in this show. We’re all the same: We hold the door open, we might drink too many beers.
Jagger: There’s, like, two sides of Alberta: you got your farming side, your oil field side – and then I don’t know what happens in the city. So I think we’re a really good representation of one of the three.
You don’t need to tell me how you’re gonna vote, but are you guys hoping to connect the country with this show?
Jagger: Politics are politics – and in three years nobody’s even gonna remember what we’re talking about now. So I really think that this is going to be just a good Canada show.
Dawson: I’m Canadian. I love Canada.
We get to see a little bit of Vegreville – like the world’s second biggest pysanka. Are you guys Ukrainian?
Jagger: We are.
Dawson: We have a baba, you’ll see her in the show too. This community is very Ukrainian, so you get to see a lot of Ukrainian people.
Jagger: My baba speaks fluent Ukrainian. I wish I could speak more of it.
Dawson: Our customers, if they’re not from Vegreville, a lot of the times, they’ll say, ‘Where do I get perogies in town?” But there’s no place to get perogies in town. Everyone here has a baba, so when you’re hungry and you want perogies, you just call your baba and she makes them.
Are you nervous about it at all, becoming reality stars
Jagger: We’ve made a really big following as it is, and we’re in a really small community, so everybody here already kind of knows our shenanigans. But I’m very curious how this is going to be for Mom and Dad.
If it takes off, you might be moving down to LA like the Property Brothers.
Dawson: No, I’m going to be in Vegreville.
Jagger: Yeah, I don’t think that’s the life or us.