Bif Naked, the tattooed rocker whose cancer journey and uplifting personality — armed with her personal secret weapon, humour — has connected her to people from vastly different backgrounds, is the subject of a new eponymously-titled documentary on Super Channel Fuse, which captures her resilience and kindness.
The “Spaceman” singer, who has penned lyrics about her traumas in such songs as “Chotee” (abortion) and “Tell On You” (sexual assault), wrote about her life in her best-selling 2017 memoir, I Bificus (she has a 1998 album of the same name). But unlike the solitary pursuit of writing a book, the documentary is pieced together by director Pollyanna Hardwicke-Brown with interviews not just with Bif, but with various people from her 54 years on the planet from childhood friends to industry pundits Denise Donlon and George Stroumboulopoulos.
What emerged time and time again are observations and assessments that she doesn’t present as a victim; she doesn’t lie down; she moves on; she’s always kind; and she expects nothing so is always delighted by what does happen.
“Pollyanna Hardwick-Brown, the director, honestly, I say this and I mean it so much, she really was my guardian angel because she did weave into the fabric of this film her perspective. She was a fan and she did ensure that my story was one of triumph more than anything else,” Bif — whose real name is Beth Torbert — told Now Toronto.
Born in India, adopted by American missionaries, and raised in Winnipeg, Bif said she cried when she saw the final cut of the film.
“I was so moved watching my birth mother speak. Obviously, that opened it; I was so happy that she got to share her story. So, from out of the gate, I was already set up for crying through the whole thing.”
She was also pleased how prominent her longtime manager Peter Karroll was in the doc. He has stuck with her through her personal and professional setbacks.
“I’m very proud to have worked with Peter for 33 years. I really am. And for a million different reasons, I think that it is important to be an example of loyalty in this business. I think that it may possibly be rare.
It’s important that Peter was interviewed so extensively because my story is not just my story professionally, it’s also Peter’s story. I think that this documentary does a good job in sharing that. That was really important to me.”
And how did she feel to hear all the beautiful things other people said about her? “It was very humbling,” she said.
Some of the old family photos were provided by her younger sister, but she was blown away by the inclusion of footage from her earlier band, Gorilla Gorilla, and said she “almost fell off my chair” when she saw the clip of her duetting with SNFU frontman Chi-Pig on Meat Loaf’s “Paradise in the Dashboard Light.” “I cried like a baby because, of course, he’s passed away,” Bif said.
Bif will be appearing Dec. 3 at The Andy Kim Christmas Show at Toronto’s Massey Hall and already has lots planned for 2026.
“The screenings are going to go across the country. We have more film festivals, if you can believe it. And we’ve already got our usual rock shows being booked. We tour every summer. And I have another book in the works. It’s another cancer book. And, they’re making a feature film based on the book I Bificus. That’s been in the works for a couple of years. It’ll probably take some time because they’re still working on casting that.”
Her new motto or the one she’s sharing with us entrepreneurial procrastinators is “don’t postpone joy.”
“I always say it’s a work in progress. Tina Turner didn’t start playing stadiums till she was in her 50s. So, I’m at my mid-career.”
