TO Fringe Review: Relentless Sketch Comedy

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Brian in Everything, Fringe, Reviews, Theatre | 3 Comments

If you have been reading my other reviews or happen to be following my Twitter account, you may recall me whining a lot about how I was scheduled to see six shows on Saturday. This is no one’s fault but my own, of course, as I’ve been writing my own schedule as I endeavour to cover the 2010 Fringe for Panic Manual all by myself.

When I was doing my Saturday schedule I thought to myself “ah, a sketch comedy group, that’ll sooth my fractured nerves at the end of a long day of theatre,” and booked Relentless Sketch Comedy, a show from a duo calling themselves Charles from Seattle.

I have no notes on this show, since as soon as it was over I jumped on the streetcar, went home and crashed, so I’m kind of winging it in this review. From what I can recall, Relentless Sketch Comedy is a mostly ok show. A sketch with a ghost “disguising” himself as Patrick Swayze by wearing a different nondescript sheet over his regular nondescript sheet and turning out to be J.D. Salinger brought barely a chuckle for me (though the EYE Weekly reviewer was totally into it). But a lengthy sketch that started out at Westjet flight attendant comedy school and kept escalating until it ended up in a “jokes race” between Air Canada and Westjet and the Prime Minister bringing in replacements during a flight attendant strike was pretty good. Some bits about alternate realities and marine recruitment were also not bad, while an overabundance of vasectomy jokes and a weird zombie/shock DJ bit fell pretty flat.

The two members of the group, Chuck Armstrong and Charlie Stockman, have good chemistry together, and the writing for a lot of the sketches is less dick jokes and more quantum physics jokes, which is a good thing. But the dick jokes there are aren’t that good, and the hit or miss level of the sketches and some screwed up sound cues makes for a pretty middle of the pack show.

TO Jazz Review: Angelique Kidjo, July 1, Toronto Star Stage

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Mark in Concerts, Toronto Jazz Festival | Leave a comment

Toronto – Angelique Kidjo played the Toronto Star Stage during Canada Day to an audience that started the evening neatly sitting in their seats and ended it dancing on the stage. The music that she brought blended a number of African styles with a powerful and soulful voice. It was evident from the get go that Angelique wanted people to have fun and dance. She told us so at the very beginning of the show: it was OK to sit right now, but she wanted people to dance, and soon! The crowd was happy to get into the groove. Angelique’s genuine disposition and positive energy was infectious.

Near the end of the set, Angelique invited crowd members to join her on the stage for a big ol’ dance party. There was a real collectivism that was evident as she invited people to not only listen, but actively participate in her music. Her voice is basically flawless, and her band hit all the right notes to provide the right kind of propulsion for the show. Oh, and she can dance something fierce. This was clear during the big drummer circle dance off near the end of the set.

In between songs, Angelique spent some time imparting some of her wisdom and politics. On the one hand, it was very cool to hear Angelique talk about the importance of positivity in the face of adversity and life’s outrageous fortunes. She talked about how precious life is, and how one person can make a difference. On the other hand, the talking bits did seem to happen quite frequently and extend for some time. By the time the music started up again, the crowd needed ramp up time to find their respective grooves. Although the Canada Day crowd was a little on the sparse side, what they didn’t have in numbers they certainly made up for in energy.

The crowd was more than willing to forgive the talky start stops. Angelique is a gift performer, has smart things to say, funny stories to tell, and provides a positivity that you can’t help but get drawn into.

TO Fringe Review: Maude-Lynne Sells Out!

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Brian in Everything, Fringe, Reviews, Theatre | 3 Comments

Heh. You know, I just got the joke about the character name “Maude-Lynne” just now as I’m sitting here writing this review. Maude-Lynne. Maudlin. That’s clever.

Maude-Lynne Sells Out! is a pretty clever little show like that, and I thought a lot more of it after leaving the theatre and pondering it for a while than I did while actually watching it. It’s an oddball little show to watch: Maude-Lynne (Morgan Norwich) is a nerdy goth chick who lives in her Mom’s basement, and due to her sister getting married and being given the house has to consider the possibility of moving out of her “beloved withering depths” and possibly even finding a real job. To that end, and because she’s been banned from her business of selling on eBay for dealing stolen merchandise, Maude-Lynne has invited her customers and online friends (i.e. the audience) to her basement to raise a bit of money to aid in the house-hunting through live auction, while at the same time her sister’s bachelorette party is happening upstairs. She’s aided in this by her sidekick Colin (Peter Cavell), who adds musical accompaniement on the keyboard, reads an X-Men comic when he gets bored, and in general has a perfect slack-jawed idiot look about him.

Sure, the songs are just ok and Maude-Lynne’s Wuthering Heights-inspired speech and mannerisms grate slightly after a while. But this show has some real heart to it, and it manages something I’ve rarely seen: it actually has a likeable goth-kid protagonist. In a lot of popular culture, goths are really just there for comedic effect or worse, as a misfit to pity. But goths and geeks are more alike than different, and by virutally any social standard out there I am almost certainly a geek. Sure, goths are obsessed with things like Emily Bronte and dark clothes, while I’m more into things like nu-jazz and the Internet. But Colin reads comics, something I have a soft spot for, and does a quick rendition of the theme song from the 90’s X-Men cartoon show, which I was a fan of when it was running, while Maude-Lynne sings a song about being geeky that questions why a passion for something should be considered wrong.

As the real world intrudes on Maude-Lynne’s gothic fantasies, it’s hard not to root for her, especially if you’re of a slightly geeky bent. It’s a fun and clever show, and enjoyable even if you’ve never read Wuthering Heights.

TO Jazz Review: Terry Clarke Trio, July 2, Trane Studio

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Brian in Concerts, Everything, Fringe, Toronto Jazz Festival | 1 Comment

Toronto – I really liked the Terry Clarke Trio last Friday night at Trane Studio. I liked them so much I left during the break between their sets.

Wait, I can explain this.

Terry Clarke is a Canadian jazz veteran of some renown: he has the Order of Canada to his name, given to him in 2002, he won the 2009 Traditional Jazz Album Juno award for his first album as a band leader, and has been “Best Drummer” of the Canadian National Jazz Awards (yeah, I guess those exist) multiple times. It’s easy to see why. Clarke’s got the kind of chops behind a drum kit that transcends the rhythm-keeping duties that a lot of other drumstick-wielders are limited to, and somehow, even though you can’t hear the beat being kept over all the improvising from what’s usually the rhythm section, in Clarke’s trio it’s there just the same.

Clarke, along with saxaphonist Phil Dwyer and double bass player Don Thompson, laid down some impressive tracks from that Juno Award-winning album, which is called It’s About Time, and played a few versions of some classic jazz tunes, like Duke Ellington’s “Take the Coltrane” and Sonny Rollins’ “Freedom Suite.” I’m not the biggest Sonny Rollins fan, but it was a great tune for these three players. Thompson and Dwyer each took a spin on the piano for a couple of softer tunes, both of which were crowd-pleasers. And Clarke’s drumming was forceful throughout, demanding the spotlight several times a song.

Why, then, did I leave before the second set started? Well, to be honest, I got really bored. I had nowhere to sit in a packed to the gills Trane Studio, with all the seats (even the ones at the bar) reserved, and spent the band’s first set holding up the wall to the right of the stage with a handful of other people, trying not to trip the wait staff who were using that space between the wall and the tables as a lane from the kitchen. With nowhere to sit and no place to put a beer even if I’d been able to order one, as the break between sets passed 30 minutes in length, all I could think about was wanting to sit down, and how much sleep I was likely to get before the marathon next day at the Fringe I had scheduled.

So. Terry Clarke’s first set was pretty good. I hope the last half of the concert was good too.

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