To be an April Fool in the Age of Bulls***
Edmontonians of a Certain Age can still remember an April Fool’s Day joke played by 630 CHED in the early 1970s. It was reported that the phone company, Ed-Tel, was going to blow all the dust out of the phone lines at precisely 7:30 am on April 1, so citizens were advised to put plastic […]
REVIEW: The Book of Mormon a sacrilegious joy
In a world of the ridiculous, satire is king. The Book of Mormon proves it. There are a million ways to describe this big production musical, playing at the Jubilee Auditorium through March 29. You could call it a lampooning of a religion. You could call it a story on the power of metaphorical belief. You […]
Kids in the Hall return to Edmonton
The Kids in the Hall are no longer kids, nor are they in the hall. They live in nice Hollywood homes – as legends of Canadian comedy should. Yet Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson are among entertainers known as “the working famous” – to maintain the lifestyles to which […]
Plastic Men shut out at Canadian Screen Awards
Tiny Plastic Men, Edmonton’s sole representative at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards, went zero-for-three at Sunday night’s ceremony in Toronto – but it was an honour just to be nominated. Really, it was. Mark Meer, who was up for Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Comic Role, was a good sport about the loss, Facebooking […]
[RERUN]: Young Drunk Punk returns to origins
![[RERUN]: Young Drunk Punk returns to origins](https://www.gigcity.ca/wp-content/themes/_opinions/timthumb.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gigcity.ca%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F10%2FBruce-McCulloch-feature.jpg&q=90&w=660&h=350&zc=1 "[RERUN]: Young Drunk Punk returns to origins")
Long before Bruce McCulloch became a comedy star, he lived the title of his solo show. He literally was a Young Drunk Punk – in Edmonton. Before it gets turned into a TV series set to premiere in 2015 on CityTV, the show returns live to the Arden Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 2. The Kids […]
Mike MacDonald and the Burden of Truth
There are two kinds of comedians, says Mike MacDonald, “diagnosed and undiagnosed.” That’s in the routine the Ottawa comedian will be doing at the Edmonton Comedy Festival this weekend – part of the act he put together six months after undergoing a liver transplant because when he woke up he couldn’t remember a damned thing […]
(RERUN): Parking Meter Fairy’s days numbered
The breathless Parking Meter Fairy runs to catch a parking enforcement officer about to ticket an illegally parked car. “Am I too late to save him?!” The officer stops writing and mutters, “You could.” Oh, thank you, Parking Patrol Officer. Clink, clink, clink, clink go four quarters into the expired meter – good for 20 […]
We won’t get April Fooled Again
Edmonton baby boomers can still remember an epic April Fool’s Day joke played by 630 CHED, which in the early 1970s was the only radio station everyone listened to. The phone company, Ed-Tel, announced that it was going to blow all the dust out of the phone lines at precisely 7:30 am, so you’d best […]
SkirtsAfire to burn glass ceiling
Whatever you think of grouping artists by gender first and by their art second, consider the all-female SkirtsAfire “herArts” festival – playing March 6-9 at venues around Alberta Avenue – as “theatrical affirmative action.” The stats on theatrical sexual equality in Canada are “grim,” says festival director Annette Loiselle, citing a 2008 study done by […]
COMEDY: Brent Butt ALMOST a movie star
The great thing about being a stand-up comic who gets a TV series is that you have a pretty sweet gig to fall back on once the series – inevitably – ends. A lot of comedy actors who try to be comedians after their television careers end aren’t so lucky. Ask Michael Richards. Brent Butt […]
Edmonton indie game developers find success par for the corpse
Pity poor Sir Reginald the Obtuse. He is brave, adroit, fleet of foot. But if you want to get across that spike pit, you’re going to have to bounce off poor Sir Reginald’s spike-riddled carcass to do it. The video game platformer Life Goes On is the most twisted little piece of black comedic […]
Young Drunk Punk has Edmonton roots
Before Bruce McCulloch became a dad who wears pyjamas in the daytime and lives in the Hollywood Hills, before he became a comedy star in Kids in the Hall, he was a young drunk punk in Edmonton. There’s the perfect title of the one-man show he’s bringing to the Arden Theatre on Jan. 27: Young […]
