Posted by Skrud at Tuesday, June 13th 2006 at 7:08pm
I went to see both Jem Rolls and Uncalled For last night at the Fringe Festival. It was my second time seeing Jem Rolls and the third time seeing Uncalled For.
Jem Rolls is unbelievably awesome, it’s just impossible to accurately describe what he does to anyone who hasn’t seen him perform – even then, I don’t think you could accurately describe it. If poetry and cunning linguistics were turned shoved into a blender with Reese Pieces, you still wouldn’t have Jem Rolls. Technically, it’s a performance poetry, but that term doesn’t do justice for Jem’s act.
Unfortunately, Jem Rolls does not do any recordings – there are no CDs, DVDs or movies for you to get a sampling from – which only makes it that much more difficult to describe. Suffice it to say that if you even have a remote appreciation for hearing the English language used in peculiar, original and interesting ways you should definitely, definitely check out Jem Rolls before the Fringe is out.
Uncalled For is usually my favourite performance of the Fringe. They’re a wildly entertaining improv troupe that not only performs hysterical sketch-improv comedy, but experiments with it, too. Every Fringe show is completely different – and not only because of audience participation: they’re trying a different experimental approach to improv comedy each night. When Guillaume saw them on Sunday they did everything ”backwards”. When I saw them last night, they tried to show how Stalin was connected to Big Bob from Alberta through degrees of separation (Stalin and Big Bob were both audience contributions). It sure was hilarious, but slightly weaker than last year’s tunip (sic) patch, prison inames, Norway and siamese twins story. :D
I’m going to try to hit Uncalled For at least one more time this Fringe, but I doubt I can make any of the other showings.
Tags: 2006, comedy, events, festivals, fringe | 5 comments
Posted by Skrud at Wednesday, June 7th 2006 at 1:47am
The Montreal Fringe is always one of my favourite festivals. Ever since I saw the One Man Star Wars Trilogy a couple of years ago, I’ve been hooked. Here are the shows I’m planning on checking out this year, and the times. Feel free to join in!
- Jem Rolls Off the tongue is considered “performance poetry”. I saw Jem Rolls perform at my first fringe experience, and it was amazing. He not only tells poetry, but acts it out. It’s not nearly as artsy-fartsy as that sounds, and it’s pretty damn awesome. Update: We’re back to seeing Jem Rolls Monday, June 12th (that’s tonight!) at 6pm.
- Uncalled For 4: For Forever!. Uncalled For is always my favourite of the Fringe. This improv group is ridiculously funny, and I certainly won’t miss the opportunity to see them again. (Monday, June 12th @ 8pm – Subscribe with Google Calendar)
- My German Father. I don’t know much about this one, except that it’s based on a Just For Laughs act, and looks like it’s going to be hilarious. Harley pointed it out, so we’re going. (Thursday, June 15th @ 9pm – Subscribe with Google Calendar)
- The Sketchersons: Sunday Night Live On Tour! looks like another excellent improv comedy show. I’ve never seen nor heard of this group before, but that’s no reason not to check it out. Unfortunately the timing is a little tough to work out (11:45pm to 1am on a Thursday night) but that’s not going to stop us! (Thursday, June 15th @ 11:45pm – Subscribe with Google Calendar)
If you can only make it to one Fringe show, the choice is easy: Uncalled For. You can read my ravings on last year’s show if you’re not convinced.
Tags: 2006, comedy, events, festivals, fringe | 5 comments
Posted by Skrud at Monday, June 13th 2005 at 9:41am
We weren’t sure what to do last Friday night, then I asked when the Fringe Festival starts. Guess what? It started last Friday night. How convenient!
Harley and I headed down to the plateau to check out A Brief History of Warfare… an interesting look at well, warfare, from a completely skewed point of view; dancing girls included (to the Stalingrad song…). Stopping at their outdoor headquarters to pick up tickets. There’s always live music and beer and plenty of fun stuff going on around there, too. One of the great things about waiting in line at the Fringe Festival box office is that the person in front of you can just turn around – while you’re discussing which shows you want to go to – and hand you fliers for their show. In this case, it was Erin Leahy plugging Freak Out Under The Apple Tree. We decided we’d check that out, too.
(Before the show we went and sat in Cafe Pi, which was nice except for all the smoke – a huge turnoff.)
During the show, host Ivan Penaluna showed slides about war, made fun of Americans, and displayed letters which he sent to the British Ministry of Defence requesting that they name two new Aircraft carriers the “Death Star” and the “Millenium Falcon,” because they are much more intimidating names than the “H.M.S. Splendid”… he also showed the replies he got from the Ministry, because they reply to every letter. All in all, a pretty amusing show.
On Saturday we decided we’d hit the Fringe again, this time meaning to see Freak Out Under The Apple Tree and This is Uncalled For. (Two years ago, we saw Uncalled For at the Fringe with Ed and it was the most hilarious improv show… ever.). We ended up going to Baton Rouge to celebrate Terrel’s birthday instead of going to the first show (thanks for the reminder, Mel!)… and the whole Baton Rouge staff is worthy of entirely unfavourable rant that I probably won’t go into.
Uncalled For was in a totally uncalled for location. Pun intended. The venue was far norther on St-Dominique than we ever thought St-Dominique went – a good 20 minute walk from the rest of the festival. Still, the show was amazing. Somehow four completely improvised scenarios based on audience queues were amalgamated into a final completely improvised scenario. There were tunips (sic), prison gardens, rapidly aging twins and Norwegians. I want to go back and experience it again, when it will be a completely different show. If you only see one Fringe show this year, definitely make it Uncalled For. :)
Tags: 2005, festivals, fringe | 1 comment
