SHOWBIZ: Chris Brown goes bonkers
Watching the clip of Chris Brown’s awkward interview on Good Morning America today (here), it’s obvious why interviewer Robin Roberts kept pressing him on the Rihanna thing. The prospect of talking about his new album F.A.M.E. was just so unbelievably, excruciatingly, mind-numbingly boring that she just snapped. She lost it. She started with a Rihanna […]
GIGGLE CITY: John Caponera lives the Good Life
When it comes to stand-up comedians trying to break into television, many are called, few are chosen. John Caponera had his big chance as the star NBC’s The Good Life, co-starring Drew Carey, which was cancelled after the 1994 season. Caponera has since been on Letterman, had parts in big-time television shows like ER and […]
Hot Picks, March 21: Thank God it’s spring
Let’s talk about God. It’s the one thing we all have in common: the knack for knowing that if there wasn’t a God, people would just go ahead and invent One. Johann Sebastian Bach lived in a time where atheism didn’t even exist. They would’ve thought you were crazy – before ripping out your innards […]
PREVIEW: Music’s longest-running freak out
Back in college, I had a friend who speculated that the band The Residents were really just Van Halen in disguise. I asked her to explain her reasoning. “Well”, she said, “There’s four of them; we don’t know the identities of the members; and you never see them on the same bill…” Sound logic to be […]
PREVIEW:Diamond Rings appreciates the attention
Everybody wants a piece of John O’Regan these days. The Canadian indie-pop sensation known as Diamond Rings can find his colourful image splashed all over the Internet. And the phone calls keep coming. After Gig City connects with O’Regan, behind schedule, our conversation is abruptly cut off. We reconnect a few minutes later as O’Regan […]
THEATRE REVIEW: Dog soils the fine line between surreal and nonsense
Edward’s father is a disgraced war hero who one day started shooting his own troops because he could no longer tell the difference between them and the enemy. Edward’s wife Vally was five years old when her mother hanged herself in the kitchen. One thing is clear: Despite their Happy Days veneer, the characters in Dog […]
FILM AND MUSIC AT SXSW: Fish takes Austin up a notch
AUSTIN, TEXAS – Whatever doubts you have, stick them in a panty drawer. This sprawling creature called SXSW (South by Southwest Music + Film + Interactive Conference) may not be what it used to be, as the ultra-hip above us claim, but that’s kind of like saying sex is no good. It’s always up to […]
Hot Picks, March 18: Electric Six high on Charlie Sheen
Electric Six is one of these weird bands few mainstream listeners have ever heard of, yet the Detroit Band Formerly Known as Wildbunch is worthy of interest for at least two reasons. 1. They combine disco with heavy metal – and so many other things that the genre labels basically become meaningless. Ditto most of […]
GIGGLE CITY: Improvising with Stephanie Wolfe
Again we turn to the theatre community for funny people through which to explore the nature of comedy and comedians. Locals theatre buffs know Stephanie Wolfe as a veteran of Die-Nasty, the Live Improvised Soap Opera, which has run every Monday night at the Varscona Theatre for the last 20 years. It was invented in […]
RADIO DAZE, missing letters division: _ _ CK K-97, SOS and AGA
There’s yet another minor civic controversy brewing over yet another ‘controversial’ K-97 billboard … and, um, yawn … sorry, dozed off there for a second. ANYWAY, the billboards sport a large slogan that reads, “_ _ CK YOU!” City Councillor Kerry Diotte received a complaint about it, and because he works for YOU, the voter, […]
TRUE TALES OF THE ROAD: Michael Rault conquers France
Quick! – the question is fired at Michael Rault – name one big French rock band! (Montreal doesn’t count.) Long pause … and nope, he can’t do it. No one can. Why? It is because the French cannot rock, no? Oh, come on, everybody knows. The French and their gentle, gender-sensitive language are better at […]
