GIGGLE CITY: Lorne Elliott goes madly on in all directions
The combination of the words “CBC” and “comedy” does not always elicit respect in stand-up comedy circles. Does Lorne Elliott care? He doesn’t appear to. One imagines that nothing fazes this guy. The smart and soft-spoken 58-year-old comic remains a popular draw even five years after his national CBC radio show “Madly Off In All […]
EDMONTON RADIO: CJSR still ‘alternative’ after all these years
If you’re going to listen to one radio station you can’t stand to listen to all the time, why not let it be CJSR? You could do a lot worse. Because, friends, those lonely days where one single station could sustain you, be your constant friend and companion, where the only good music on the […]
ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION: Lots of pumpkins, frights at Prairie Gardens
Every kid gets the same idea at this time of year – let’s go to Prairie Gardens! And every parent has the same thought: Oy, vey, I thought we were done blowing all our dough on festivals. Please, please, please and OK, damn it, just one more. And so this Halloween-slash-Harvest theme park located just […]
WHERE THEY ARE NOW: Christian Mena, Sabor Divino and Maracujah
Christian Mena was supposed to have become this big-deal Broadway star when he went away to join the touring production of Rent. How he wound up living back in Edmonton with a wife and kids and running a restaurant is a good topic for a VH1 “Behind the Music” special. But since there’s no tragedy, […]
GIGGLE CITY: ‘Dirty’ comedy gets serious
Darren Frost says he’s received death threats for some of his jokes – which takes heckling to an entirely new level. Too far? Too soon? Never. Comedy is dangerous, and the comics who performed for the XXX-rated “Beauty and the Beasts” shows at Yuk Yuk’s over the weekend – Frost, Kenny Robinson and Kathleen McGee […]
GIGGLE CITY: Kenny Robinson goes over the line
There’s always a “line” in comedy. Even when they say there isn’t a line, there’s a line – and the comedians featured in Beauty and the Beasts at Yuk Yuk’s this weekend intend to cross it. Kenny Robinson, Darren Frost and Kathleen McGee are all fond of “working blue,” but in order to make a […]
EIFF TONIGHT: The grown-ups are looney in Moon Point
“Never trust anyone over 30” is the hidden message in Moon Point, a melodramatic comedy about three whiny little turds on a road trip to nowhere. It screens Friday at 9:45 p.m. at the Empire City Centre. The cast and director will be in attendance. Every single grownup in this amusing yet affecting little film […]
EIFF REVIEW: A Bag of Hammers pounds metaphor to breaking point
While life is like a box of chocolates in that you never know what you’re going to get – though there’s probably chocolate in there somewhere – life can also be a Bag of Hammers. A little bell goes off in heaven every time an actor utters the name of the movie they’re in – […]
GIGGLE CITY: Dummies take the heat for Damien James
It’s not the comic crossing the line – it’s his puppets! The peculiar art of ventriloquism may seem like a crutch, a prop, a gimmick that can hold you back from the true pursuit of comedy, but it’s actually very freeing. You can get away with murder up there – as long as you blame […]
EIFF: A Generation of Whine
Entries are being now taken to come up with a name for the new generation that recently came of age and hates Generation X as much as Generation X hates the Baby Boomers. They’re here … and even that reference is out of date (Poltergeist, 1982). Any ideas? Generation Y is lame, Next Generation is […]
EIFF REVIEW: Meaty female roles let Oscar winners shine in Cloudburst
Remember how as a kid you used to recoil when grandma zoomed in for a big wet smooch and a cheek pinch? But you secretly liked it, didn’t you? Now imagine two grandmas kissing each other. Now try to get that image out of your head. These are just some of the emotions at play […]
