‘Crip Trip’: New series showcasing people living with disabilities and the systemic issues they face

A new show based on a quad-amputee and his best friend explores the struggles of living with disabilities, while embarking on a road trip across North America. Directors, Daniel Ennett and Frederick Kroetsch joined CTV Morning Live Edmonton to talk about their experience in the upcoming series Crip Trip.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Kimberly Wynn: Frederick, we’ll start with you. Where was this concept of the show born out of? How did you come up with it and what’s it about?

Frederick Kroetsch: Danny first came up with the idea years ago, and he’s facing a looming existential threat of institutionalization. The government doesn’t give him enough care hours, and we’re trying to think of a way to keep him out of long-term care and profile struggles that other severely disabled people are facing. Then we started workshopping it. Then it turned into a feature length documentary, and then it turned into a TV show.

Kim: Daniel, it looks like you guys had a hoot in the trailer, but there was some serious stuff that we have to address in the show. What are some of those themes?

Daniel Ennett: The struggle of trying to find adequate care work for people with disabilities that keeps them functioning in the community. The Alberta government says I need six hours of care. I obviously need much more than that, and part of the design of the show is to show just how much care work it actually requires, and burning out Fred was a big part of that. So he found out in the first three days before he folded.

Kim: Frederick, at one point in the trailer, you say, “You know what man? I thought you had more autonomy.” What did you mean by that and what did you learn as his caregiver?

Frederick: Danny’s like one of my closest friends, and we’ll go to the bar together, and Danny just seems fairly autonomous. He’ll show up on public transit, we’ll go drink some beers, and he’ll go home. I didn’t realize how much preparation is required to put Danny in that situation. To be a 24-hour caregiver, I burnt out within two days. I was completely burnt out. I was expecting to last weeks.

Daniel: Then we had the RV breaking down every other day, and the set of normal travel shenanigans going on. So adding full time care work on top of all of that is no small feat.

Kim: But in a way, were you glad that Fred was burnt out and he got to see the side of things?

Daniel: Absolutely, because I think it did humble him and give him a little bit more empathy for what it takes to get me into a place. We hopefully also show audiences what it takes to get us out there and operating at full capacity.

Frederick: We did that in the first three days, and I think he (Danny) got pretty annoyed later on when I was completely burnt out. Danny’s like, “No. It’s like 8 p.m. in Chicago. I want to do something fun.” But I’m like, “Wow, I can’t do anything right now. I’m going to bed.” And that happened every day.

Kim: You’ve been friends for over a decade. Did this really test your friendship?

Daniel: Absolutely. I think travel situations, for most people, are ultra anxiety inducing, but when you add the dimension of intimacy that care work does, you definitely strain it. He starts missing his family, I’m missing my alone time, and it does lead to conflict, but we become stronger friends I think by the end of it.

Frederick: I turned into a jerk at times.

Daniel: That’s to be expected, because that’s what caregiver burnout does, right?

Kim: What else can viewers expect?

Daniel: We meet up with cool disabled people across North America, and hear their stories, even famous disabled people, and people at the top of their field who are still struggling to make it work. We hear just how similar a lot of these systems are, but it’s all rooted in a very fun road trip.

Frederick: We wind up doing stand up comedy for the first time in front of a crowded room. We go ghost hunting in a haunted asylum in Illinois. We go on a lot of adventures.

Kim: How can people watch it?

Frederick: AMI+ is the streaming service and on cable TV on AMI, it premieres April 25 at 7 p.m. in Edmonton.