No Fooling With The Weekend
The jokes all done, let’s get us some weekend.
Tonight you’ve got the 3rd annual Gala Guru, at the AGA. It’s the annual gala of Guru Digital Arts College, and a meeting of Edmonton’s digital heroes and cool cats. And me. The big news from Guru is the addition of illustrator Nat Jones, and the new course he’ll be teaching on illustrations, graphic novels and comic books.
On the music side of things tonight, you’ve got Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn, at the Winspear. He’s here as part of The Winspear Presents series which focuses on folk and world artists (the kind you’ll usually see at the summer Folk Fest.)
Actually tonight’s musical lineup just gets better from there (and we’re already talking about Bruce Cockburn)…The Whitsundays are at the Haven Social Club…The Secretaries are at New City…Tupelo Honey has a new album release at the Starlite…April Wine is at the Century Casino…and the B-52s are out at River Cree…
Saturday is a great day for music, with a big lineup for a good cause over at Original Joe’s Varsity. It’s Rhythm for Research and money raised from tickets and a silent auction will help in finding a cure for leukemia and lymphoma.
Also in Saturday music, Weird Canada has a sweet show at the Pawn Shop, presenting Peace, Brazilian Money, Sans AIDS, and Jessica Jalbert. Over at the Starlite it’s the Rural Alberta Advantage, with The Provincial Archive, and Hooded Fang. (If you didn’t snag tickets to this show you can catch The Provincial Archive’s Craig Schram earlier in the day at Rhythm for Research.) And, fresh off their hosting gig at the Edmonton Music Awards, rappers Kemo Treats are at bohemia.
Missing The Room will tear you apart.
If comedy is more your thing, you’ll want to head over to the Roxy Theatre Saturday night for Mostly Water Theatre’s latest guffaw extravaganza.
You can always catch a movie.
Speaking of movies…The movie event of the weekend is at Metro Cinema though. The Turkey Shoot is presenting the greatest film of our generation: The Room.
On Sunday, Metro Cinema begins screening movies in the Edmonton Jewish Film Festival.
The Edmonton Rush are home to the Colorado Mammoth Friday night.
Two new plays begin at the Citadel Theatre this Saturday. The Three Musketeers is in the MacLab theatre and Rick: The Rick Hansen Story is in the Shoctor.
And Sunday night kicks off a week of evening LRT delays. Enjoy! (Enjoy the weekend, not the LRT delays.)
God Only Knows
Of course a Smurfs reference would have made sense for a post about a play named Gargamel. But since we’re talking about God, and sound design influenced and including Brian Wilson songs, well, I opted for a holier (song) title.
Gargamel is a play from Mostly Water Theatre’s Trent Wilkie (who also stars in the lead role) about a guy, Dave (David), who loses his girlfriend in a car crash, and suffers mighty amounts of injuries, both physical and mental. Dave’s sister, Betty (played by Joleen Ballendine), sees that he needs to work through the loss of his girlfriend, Anna (played by Ellen Chorley), especially since he’s taken to screaming about fighting God. Although, to be fair, some of the encouragement to take on the Almighty is coming from long-dead Metis leader Louis Riel (Mostly Water’s Matt Stanton). Riel too feels like the big guy upstairs led him astray and wants David to know he’s right to want a duel. (more…)
End of February Events
I’m going to kick things off with something I’m planning on attending; Gargamel at the Varscona. It’s a new play from Mostly Water Theatre’s Trent Wilkie (a friend of the website since at least October) about a man who’s lost his girlfriend in a horrific car crash, sustained a head injury, and is being pushed around by a ghostly Louis Riel. Then he fights God.
There’s just something about the ghost of Louis Riel that sealed this for me.
Sticking with theatre, Concrete Theatre presents Jeremy Fisher, a play for younger audiences, at the Stanley A. Milner Library, Friday and Saturday. Fringe Theatre Adventures and Edmonton Opera are wrapping up The Barber of Barrhead this weekend. Legally Blonde: The Musical also wraps up over at the Jubilee.
Sunday, you can help out the Brian Webb Dance Company at their art auction at the Sutton Place Hotel. Or party a little Saturday night, and help out Latitude 53, at 53 Ways to Leave Your Lover: Factory Party Edition.
You might have recently watched Adaptation and be into orchids. Good thing The Orchid Society of Alberta presents Orchid Fair this weekend.
In music… (more…)
Mostly Water Theatre goes Viral
Man alive! A shout out to our friends at Mostly Water Theatre, who are getting a plenty of attention this afternoon, after a video featured in their awesome Christmas Show turned up on a whole bunch of popular U.S. culture blogs, including Gawker, The Huffington Post, and the Daily What. (If you guys see it anywhere else, please let us know!)
Nicely done, Mostly Water folks! A big hats off to you guys!
(You will, of course, remember Mostly Water’s Trent Wilkie from our election show back in October).
That’s a lot of Christmas
Since it’s the last weekend before Christmas you know there’s a crap-load of holiday cheer over the next few days. Let’s get all those Christmasy things listed first. I bet, even with the extensive list that’s to follow, there are going to be 27+ things I miss.
You can always head up to Candy Cane Lane to take in the lights and displays of Edmonton’s own Christmas street. The ETS also does Christmas light tours if you don’t want to drive. We also got a hot tip on a house at 136 Street and 106 Avenue with a classy lights set-up.
The Alberta Legislature is all lit up for the holidays, and has plenty of music, hot chocolate and Christmas goodness through next week.
Now…there’s also a singing Christmas tree…Candlelight Christmas with the McDades…a winter market at Churchill Square…the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (who just happens to be collecting for the Edmonton Food Bank during the season) has Christmas Pops and A Family Christmas Concert this weekend…
Speaking of the food bank, you can drop off donations (food or money) at a tweetup tonight, at Original Joe’s Varsity Row. That would be the perfect chance to send us a photo of your goodwill.
You can also save a couple of dollars at Hip-Hop for Hunger if you bring a non-perishable food item to the show. Since we’re talking about donations at music shows it probably fits to mention The Bissell Centre’s charity event at On the Rocks.
Mostly Water Theatre is back with their Christmas comedy showstravangaza, at the Roxy. That runs tonight and tomorrow night.
In music…The Provincial Archive are the latest to play Teddy’s. Freakin’ Teddy’s. Hot Panda is at the Pawn Shop…Carrie Underwood is at Rexall…Warning to Avoid plays the Haven Social Club…and there’s an Annual Holiday Party with The McGowan Family Band, which you might say should have been back with those Christmas events, but I’m including here because it’s at the Hilltop Pub and the Dawson Bridge is about to re-open…and I’m adding one more, since I popped into Wunderbar and was told about the show…Saturday night, Freshman Years, Micelli, Brash Tax and Jay Myatt…bang.
And the Oil Kings are home tonight.
Oh, and watch for LRT delays.
Mostly Water Theatre: Smells like Christmas fingers
Braving the first taste of our recent snowstorm, the Mostly Water Theatre crew took refuge in the empty Roxy Theatre on Tuesday night. The venue served two purposes that cold evening; the first, to get in from the damn snow. The second – and some would argue more important – reason, was a rehearsal for the comedy group’s annual Christmas show.
Who ate Brad's lunch?
As veterans of Edmonton’s sketch comedy scene (and a holiday favourite), the group’s actors seem ready, and eager, for new ideas from show director, Bradley Moss (himself a fixture on Edmonton’s theatre scene and Artistic Director at the Theatre Network).
Even on The Jane Austen Drinking Game (a sketch heard on CBC’s the Irrelevant Show that has garnered national notice for MWT), the actors on stage are taking fresh direction from Moss, continually looking for ways to make themselves funnier. Perhaps the prima donna attitudes kick in when nobody is watching – but it’s more likely memberss of this troupe are genuinely having lots of fun, and are open to fresh perspective and jokes.
Always the jokes.
This year, those familiar with the Christmas antics of Mostly Water can expect both “more of the same” and “something completely different.” If that makes any sense. (more…)
And now…an election day message from Trent Wilkie…
Have you voted yet?
If you have not, Trent’s got a great tip for you before you head to the voting booth. (video above)
After you’ve marked your ballot, head home, put the kids to bed, crack open a case of beer, order pizza, and watch our election show (I’m giving you a lot of things to do here).
Trent will be there. I’ll be there. All of your friends will be there.
Or, at least, all of your friends will be watching. Maybe invite your friends over to watch.
8pm. Right here at theedmontonian.com. It’s gonna be off the hook.
Failure is the only option
Sometimes there’s nothing funnier than unintentional humour. Take, The Room, or other B-movies, for example.
The people involved in the movie are really trying. They just happen to stink. The resulting humour is glorious.
Now, how about watching some of the worst possible writing and acting, on purpose?
That’s what tonight’s “FAILURE!” is all about.
FAILURE! – a kind of fundraiser (in which Edmonton’s best do their worst) is taking place at The Next Act pub (my favourite pub) at 8pm. Thanks to one of the participants, Morgan Smith, for tipping me off to the groan-inducing night of hilarity.
It really is some of Edmonton’s best (Stewart Lemoine, Chris Craddock, Human Loser, Jill Pollack, the Mostly Water Theatre guys) reading selections from terrible plays they’ll never actually produce. Some of the great (awful) play names include “LARRY ALWAYS WINS!” and “Brown Chowder! Sing It Louder!”
There’s a suggested donation of $15, and a silent auction. Money raised helps pay for Mostly Water Theatre’s “15 Minutes” and Human Loser/Allspice Theatre’s “Game Face” at this summer’s Fringe Festival.
Go ahead, they want you to laugh at their pitiful efforts.
