While I don’t exactly get the association between comedy and dance (other than the assumption that both are supposed to make you happy), Bale de Rua kick started the JFL fest for me. It was not the best of starts. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m a die-hard fan of “So You Think You Can Dance” and have been completely spoiled by the professional dancers and Emmy-award winning choreographers on that show, but I left Place des Arts feeling like I had just witnessed an earnest, if not rather amateurish, display of dancing.
Bale de Rua should have been called “The B Boys of Brazil”, as there were some attempts to remind us of the urban origins of break dancing and R & B inspired hip-hop moves, but not enough skill or “cool” to pull it off.
While plenty of people in the audience seemed to enjoy the performance, it left me rather indifferent. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I were in an all-inclusive resort down South and this was part of the entertainment. At times, that’s exactly what I felt like I was watching. Perhaps if I were sipping on a Pina colada at the time...
There are better shows to spend your money on!
Which brings me to the next show I saw. Scorching the Earth by Marc Maron is, in my humble opinion, one of your best bets at this year’s festival and a downright steal at $15. Painfully raw, brutally honest, and heartbreakingly hilarious, Maron’s personal account of a past drug addiction and two failed marriages and subsequent debilitating divorce hits close to home for anyone who has ever experienced dependence, loss and thoughts of revenge, bordering on the obsessively psychotic. But enough about me.
Maron’s like a train wreck. A funny train wreck you can’t look away from. You can’t help but occasionally wince as he brutally recounts his failings, his insecurities, and his glaring relationship mistakes, but, at some level, you can relate. He’s human, imperfect and – like all of us- a work in progress and there’s no denying that some of the funniest material for comics lies in the darker recesses of their minds and their past painful experiences.
Carol Burnett said: “Comedy is tragedy plus time” and for over an hour Marc Maron wowed the small, but enthusiastic audience at Théâtre Ste Catherine, who were witness to an emotionally honest, extremely well-written act, darkly reminiscent of George Carlin and Lenny Bruce.
There’s the kind of safe comedy that offends no one and makes humorous observations about life’s silly little oddities and then there’s the kind of comedy that makes you squirm as it reminds you of life’s (and love’s) absurdity and ability to crush you into a million little pieces. I’ll take the latter anytime!
You have two more opportunities to catch Marc Maron: Scorching the Earth. Thursday, July 23, at 11:30 p.m. and Saturday, July 25, at 10 p.m. at Théâtre Ste. Catherine (264 Ste Catherine St. E). Run to see this show!
The star of the 2005 Just for Laughs hit “G-d Doesn’t Pay Rent Here” is a naturally funny woman and she certainly had a lot to say about her Jewish mother, her bouts with depression, her gay relationships and what she truly thinks about her kids, but, at times, the show felt unfinished. It didn’t help that Gold occasionally forgot her lines and had to refer to her notes.
The 90 minute show, sprinkled with lots of musical numbers and anecdotes from her life as a gay woman, ranges from extremely funny to somewhat funny, but is also quite moving at times.
When Gold points out the sheer absurdity of a government that would deny gays the right to marry, yet would allow that same legal right to jailed murderers like Eric Menendez, how can one disagree with her logic? It’s a heartfelt message and plea and one that was not lost on most in attendance on opening night. Whether you’re gay or straight, Jewish or not, the show is sure to make you laugh, but I don’t predict that it will blow you away.
Judy Gold: Mommy Queerest runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Centaur (453 St-Francois Xavier, Old Montreal) at 8 p.m.
I had heard a lot of buzz about Ross Noble before showing up for this show, but nothing could possibly prepare me for one of the most manic, zany and offbeat comedians working the circuit these days.
Critically acclaimed, Noble is rumoured to be an ad-libber extraordinaire who grabs on to anything and anyone he sees in the audience and runs with it – for the entire show! Before you know it, he’s off on a tangent about battery shopping, reporting on a possible suicide, babies, playing the melodica, puffins, and Horatio on CSI. The only people reading this who have a chance of remotely understanding what I’m talking about would be the ones who were in the audience with me. What I also know with certainty is that, if I were to attend tonight’s show it would be completely different. Never, in all my years of attending comedy shows (and I’ve attended many), have I ever come across a comedian as frantic, as likeable and desperately in need of Ritalin as Ross Noble. If you like your comedy slightly manic and completely unpredictable, with no real connecting thread, than Noble’s the man for you.
Ross Noble performs until Saturday at 10 p.m. at Musée Juste Pour Rire, 2111 St. Laurent Blvd. Tickets are $20.
With only a few days left for this year’s Just for Laughs Fest, I am still attempting to squeeze in a couple more shows in. The New Faces of Comedy and The Best of the Uptown Comics are on my list of must-see shows. Go to www.hahaha.com and see what appeals to you.
While in the midst of writing this column, I received a letter addressed to the media from Eric Amber, owner of TSC, who recently made headlines when he reacted rather rudely to French-language theatre troupe Les Sages Fous, who, in turn, were upset to have received an all-English message regarding Zoofest programming as part of the Just for Laughs festival.
Long story short, when the French theatre troupe received the all-English message, they emailed back asking for a French version. What they got back was, to put it politely, not what they bargained for, as Amber rudely told them to “Go f*** themselves.”
I don’t personally know Amber and I am in no way condoning how he reacted (it was rude, inconsiderate and downright unprofessional), but I’ve followed his career closely and our paths have crossed, as I’ve been a die-hard fan of the theatre he founded five years ago.
I’ve personally seen what he’s done with TSC, housed in what was once a pizza parlour in a rundown building in a seedy neighbourhood (the landmark I usually use for friends looking to find the theatre is “it’s across from the Pussy Corps strip club”. I kid you not.)
Amber has tirelessly worked to bring some of the most innovative, ground-breaking, entertaining shows I’ve seen in Montreal and has provided an amazing little venue for numerous local actors to hone their craft and for theatre-goers to enjoy.
His extreme reaction appears to me the reaction of someone who is bordering on exhausted, running a one-man show fuelled by love for what he does and anxiety for what’s to come in the future. Exasperation at dealing with language politics is probably what broke the camel’s back.
I am all for preserving the French language and communicating in the French language, but I draw the line at acts that simply serve no other purpose other than to fan the fires of intolerance and fanaticism. As an editor, I receive hundreds of press releases a day, and if I receive an English press release about an English show I really don’t expect or care to receive it in French, my reasoning being that if you can’t read the press release then you wouldn’t be interested in the show to begin with. Is it faulty logic? Perhaps, but to me it makes sense; something that seems to go out the window the minute language politics come into play and les Jeunes Patriotes (who, I knew with absolute certainty would be camping outside TSC the minute Amber uttered those words) make their appearance, because this ridiculous group of rebels without a cause do nothing else, other than provoke, whine and incite hate.
While I don’t agree with Amber’s reaction, I do agree with him when he says: “I believe that the French language and culture is alive and strong, and need not be afraid of others.” I sincerely hope that the angry protests and death threats he received won’t dissuade him from continuing to contribute to Montreal’s artistic community. I, and many others I’m sure, would be greatly saddened to see this venue disappear.
