Tag Archives: Comedy

08.27.19
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[Victoria Fringe Festival 2019] Jon Bennett: Playing With Men & A Lot More, A Review

Location:
Victoria Event Centre
(Fringe Venue 1)
1415 Broad Street

Remaining Shows:
Aug 29 09:30 pm
Aug 30 07:00 pm
Aug 31 08:45 pm
Sep 01 06:45 pm

Disclaimer: Profanity, sexual themes and adult humour.

Jon Bennett is always amazed in how he never misses performing at any Fringe Festival from around the world. The Gods of Comedy must love him and influence the lottery selection so that this comedian will never miss a chance to share his story. I knew I should not miss his latest show, Playing with Men, and its themes is not for the conservative minded. This show looks at what being machismo is about and the fallacies associated with it. At the same time, he talks about the most aggressive sport on Earth, Aussie rules football, and how it relates to his life now. That means:

  • No holding the man
  • No holding the ball
  • Out of bounds
  • Boys don’t cry

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10.26.18
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Paper Street Theatre’s Halloween Treats!

Runs Oct 24th-27th at the Intrepid Theatre
Address: 1609 Blanshard St, Victoria, BC V8W 2J5

Victoria, British Columbia’s Paper Street Theatre knows their pop culture. As an improv group, they enjoy getting audiences to laugh. Some might arrive already in giggles because they enjoy their shows far too much. Their performances take place throughout the year and are themed. That is, they are spiced with a little bit of every literary or oral tradition out there. This themed night had fog machines and ambient lighting room straight out of The Exorcist to get everyone into the mood for supernatural delights!

During this weekend leading up to Halloween, the team has supernatural campfire stories to tell. Some have the taste of urban legend spread all over it and others are truly creepy, Twilight Zone style. Ideas for story titles are taken from a community bucket, and the more bizarre they sound, the more challenging it is to put into a coherent narrative. With improv, the performers do not have time to consult with one another to decide on how the story can go, and everyone has to think quickly as they are under many peering eyes. Under the dimming light, not every glance will glow red.

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10.10.18
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A Brief History of Beer & Where to Find It

A Brief History of BeerSometimes, a venue can make or break a show. When the performance is all about beer, the Victoria Event Center is perfect. They are a licensed alcohol facility and cheering more than a mug is encouraged. I had root beer instead of the other kind. When it played at the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival last month, the buzz certainly had me deciding to go check it out.

I had to stay sober tho’, as I know my limits (namely I was driving). This show next moved to the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and now the company, Wish Experience, is taking a break. I’m sure this team will be back for the next round of Fringe shows. Even though this show began in 2016, I see it could use further polishing.

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08.29.18
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Victoria Fringe Festival 2018, on Death and Fake Ghost Tours!

Amazing things are happening at the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival. More touring acts are starting (Tues night offered a quick preview at The Metro Studio), and if Death from Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal is waiting on the wings, I doubt he’d want to hang out with comedian Rob Gee. This figure would fall apart in laughter. I digress. The rhythms from this slam poet and the fact he can keep it up for close to an hour is simply amazing in itself.

death-1008-1

Location:
VCM Wood Hall
900 Johnson Street
Victoria, BC

Remaining shows:
Aug 30 8pm
Aug 31 7:30pm
Sept 1 10:45pm
Sept 2 8:15pm

Death, a Romantic Comedy certainly positions Rob Gee as a tour de force! His past work, Kevin, King of Egypt and Pandemonium, are gonzo. This year’s Death, A Romantic Comedy is intriguing enough and I wonder if my appreciation of gallows humour is why I’m drawn to such a morbid subject.

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08.01.18
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Ed’s Picks of the 2018 Victoria Fringe Festival

Runs Aug 27 to Sept 22, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada at various venues

Victoria, BC’s Annual Fringe Theatre Festival is not only a terrific way to cap off the summer but also it’s a place to watch performers simply experiment with new ideas. In those that are runaway successes, they will return to stage as regular shows.

I have been attending the events for close to a decade now, and have seen a huge gambit. I naturally gravitate towards comedy, musicals and anything nerdy. However, I do not limit myself to them either. In those that I have seen outside my favourites, they are surprising. Of course, I never tire of the endless bounty of delights. The limitation is only with the imagination, and the journey to the Twilight Zone.

The following are my picks of this season. Please visit http://intrepidtheatre.com/festivals/fringe-festival for showtimes and to buy tickets.

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09.02.17
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From Psyops to Cabaret at VCM’s Wood Hall Victoria Fringe Festival

I spent Friday night at the Conservatory of Music‘s Wood Hall for the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival‘s kickoff into the long weekend. This time will be the busiest for the show, as it is the final weekend. The weather forecast predicts temperatures on the high side and it will be bright; please be sure to put on sun protection. If I can survive the Summer’s last hurrah, then there’s a few more shows I’m interested in seeing. The buzz from the street is to not miss Interstellar Elder, and fortunately that’s taking place at night, when it’s cooler.

To get back into downtown Victoria, however, that’s if I …

AWAKEN (Actually, the show’s name is AWOKEN)

AWOKEN

Remaining Dates:
Sep 2 – 4:30pm

Proper grammar usage aside, if there’s any way to interpret what Ottawa based actor Nick Amottt’s work AWOKEN is about, I’m sure Hideaki Anno, director of the Japanese Animation Neon Genesis Evangelion can make better sense out of it. The characters Amott play are projections from different parts of Todd Silvano’s psyche. Each of them seem to have some kind of complex just like the anime. This nerdy recluse suffers from a condition known as ‘fatal familial insomnia.’ There is no known cure for this brain disease. It eventually leads to hallucinations, delirium and eventually death.

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