If you haven’t had the chance to catch these two young studs of the Montreal comedy scene, much like John Cena, THE TIME IS NOW. Tomorrow night they’ll be co-headlining their show at Theatre St-Catherine and they sat down with Walter and I to discuss comedy, super heroes, bump and strolls and whether or not they’re breaking the rules by headlining their own show. You want to know my opinion? FUCK THE RULES. Enjoy the show.
Show’s tomorrow night (October 4th).
264 Sainte Catherine east. 8pm doors. 8:30pm show time. 8$ at the door. 5$ presale from Mike or Vlad (I guess ask them on their Facebook page.
Jakub Stachurski and Scott Carter opening.
Hosted by Darren Henwood.
As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Aural Turpitude!
I had a little chat with Alexandre Mainville, the Director of Operations at the Cabaret du Mile End about an event he’s putting together this week, hosting the Blue Mushroom Circus Sideshow. The show is October 4th.
What is the Blue Mushroom Sirkus Psyshow? What can visitors expect to see at the show?
It’s a flashback to the freak shows from the 1920s, with the strong man, sword swallower, the fire spitter, magicians, contortionist and then some burlesque elements (costumes and dancers, etc) added in for good measure. In addition, this particular show, on October 4th will also feature a DJ Sidi Khali who is an already well known swing DJ and Bad Uncle (who used to play with the Unsettlers) who plays with a carnival-esque feel. Basically, it’s a fun return to the 1920s for a night.
What attracted you to put on/promote a carnival-esque sideshow?
You don’t often see this sort of thing any more, maybe it has fallen out of favour due to a politically incorrect history (exploiting people with disabilities, doing nasty things like the geeks who bit heads off chickens, etc), but there are many elements that are still fun and perfectly acceptable. So, I’ve never had that kind of show in the cabaret du mile end and I always want to do one. It’s been at least 5 years that I’ve been thinking about making one and then I found the blue mushroom sirkius and it was exactly what I had in mind. So instead of amassing one myself, I hired them, and added a few extra elements that I thought would enhance the experience, and that was much easier. The result is the same, probably even better since they have experience and have worked together for some time.
Added extra elements?
Well all the staff would be in costume, we Also have a magician, an extra burlesque show and the band and dj which aren’t always included.
Why do you think Montreal is a good place to host an event like this?
Because Montréal is really very open to the new, strange or different, we have the école national du cirque, cirque du soleil, cirque éloize, etc. We tend to like burlesque and have a bit more of an openness to underground cultures and tastes. The show attracts a bit of a different crowd than the normal circus, because it’s a bit more quirky (obviously), but I’m sure there are a lot of people who love something a bit strange and retro. And Bad Uncle is an awesome band too, they will provide the perfect ambiance to the show. You really have to hear them to see what I mean. I use to produce the Unsetllers, they performed the same kind of music as Bad Uncle and they had tons of followers.
Are you a fan of the circus? Of magic?
I love the music in those kinds of events. I love the tiger lilies, dead men’s bones and bands like that. I did it for that at the beginning. I love circus too but usually find it a bit too clean, with too much artifice. I like magic too but the simple old fashioned kind, rather than the big televised spectacles that has Evolved from it. Sleight of hand and things with less fanfare, are much more impressive and fun. Freak shows and more down to earth performances are more human, bring you more in touch with human abilities and uniqueness rather than overwhelm your senses with ENTERTAINMENT. They’re more real, if you get what I mean…
Tell me a bit about the performers that are taking part in the show? Who are they , and why are they awesome?
Have you ever seen a sword swallower? It’s pretty awesome!. It the real shit! I love the costumes, the “mise en scène” and how much fun they have on the stage. It`s contagious. You’re going to see a strong man who bend big pieces of metal, swallow bottle of beer and break a phone book, You’ll have a contortionist, a girl who will do a choreography with herself as a Siamese, a gypsy dancer, an awesome magician who will perform in the venue for everyone (and he’s really very impressive)! Also, a burlesque show and an awesome band who will play for 45 minutes and it finishes with a DJ until 2-3h00 in the morning. It will be an experience, not just in front of the stage but everywhere. All my staff will be costumed and we encourage the crowd to come in costumes as well. Without spoiling the show with more details, we can say that guests will be immersed in the show rather than just sit back and watch a few performers on stage. It will be a lively night, a bit retro and lots of fun. As far as I know, there’s nothing else like it going on right now.
What kind of costumes should the crowd try for in order to fit in with the event, if they’re so inclined?
Carnivaleque costumes or fetish gear, maybe clowns… Anything that is circus-y or fits the theme of the show would be great!
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Tickets are still available! Advance Tickets: $10 July, $15 August, $20 September available here, and at the door. check out the event on Facebook here.
Tickets at Cabaret du Mile End: (514) 563-1395 or Reseau Admission.
The Blue Mushroom Psyshow with Bad Uncle and Sidi Khalil for a marvelous freak Show on the 4th of October 2013. Artists, actors, dancers, fire-eaters, sword-swallowers, burlesque strippers and other magicians of all kinds promise you an unforgettable night. The music will be lead by Bad Uncle and DJ Sidi Khalil.
Check out the video below for a taste of what’s to come:
Comments Off on Only in Montreal: Blue Mushroom Sirkus Psyshow
Long time LOYAL listeners (aka: probably not you) will remember that Massimo has actually already been on the show before. However, he had to share the stage with Big Mike P. Since Massimo is also leaving town, we decided to scoop him up and bring him up to the back of Grumpy’s for a last hurrah on the old Go Plug Yourself podcast. New computer is still interesting to edit on, I feel like I’ve gone too deep though, I have no way of knowing if this episode even sounds good. I think it does, but I also think I’m a victim of a phenomena I’ve named soundception. Enjoy the show with the one and only Massimo.
So there’s this other podcast in town. We don’t like to talk about it (nor do we really even like to acknowledge that other podcasts even exist), but now that one of the guys that does one of those podcasts is leaving town we’re decided to grab him and record a podcast. We’re talking about the one, the only, Mo Arora. He is one of the top guys over at the Laughmatic Podcast (one of the two). He’s also leaving Montreal. I think this is one of the latest of all our late night podcasts (some of our audio issues on this one stem from Walter actually dozing off once or twice). We talk about food, religion and Mo poses the most important question of them all right at the end of the episode. Enjoy the show as always.
Another amazing comedian from The Nasty Show stopped by to talk about podcasting, gesturing with two fingers and yes, even being a midget his whole life. Don’t criticize me for calling Brad Williams a midget, that’s what he likes being called. Littler person sounds like less than a full person and a dwarf is a mythical creature. His words. We don’t spoil how he closes his time at The Nasty Show but we do tell you what to look for on Youtube if you want to spoil it for yourself. Enjoy!
We had the extremely funny and talented Dave Merheje on last year during our JFL specials and he was kind enough (aka bored enough) to drop by again this year and talk about his show “Dave Merheje’s Family Affairs” as an added bonus he was accompanied by the lovely and also extremely funny Aisha Alfa who is currently opening for the show. We get a couple of candid stories about Dave’s family and also find out the name of Dave’s penis. Listen now!
Have you heard of a little show they do every year at Just for Laughs called “The Nasty Show”? If you haven’t, I honestly don’t know why you’re even reading this blurb and about to listen to a Just for Laughs podcast. The Nasty Show is a goddamned institution and most of the time it is hosted by this man, Bobby Slayton. This is where I would normally call him The Pitbull of Comedy, but he said he doesn’t like that during the episode and quite frankly he scares me a little. Also, Buddy Fitzpatrick drops by as comedians are want to do around the Hyatt lounge (even during the afternoon). Still plenty of chances to see this year’s edition of The Nasty Show.
If you haven’t heard of Picnicface you should probably deduct a million internet points from your current score.
If you haven’t seen Roller Town you should go listen to this podcast and then go watch it.
Suffice it to say, Mark and Kyle were two big parts of what made those two things hilarious, and now they’re here to make our podcast hilarious. Oh, and to promote their show: Mark and Kyle Go to Prom.
At around minute 33, the boys talk about how during their opening show their iPod stops recording at minute 33 and gues what? Kyle Dooley’s mic stopped recording around the same time! It is fucking sorcery I swear to God! You can still hear Kyle for the rest of the podcast, he’s just really quiet. I am so fucking sorry world, this fucked up the big dance number we had planned at the ending as well.
As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Aural Turpitude!
This thing isn’t even in the article, but it runs you over after a gas knocks you out.
In case you are wondering what you’ve missed, make sure you read the first two parts of our journey into the Tomb of Horrors: Part 1 Part 2
And now, what was going to be the epic conclusion of 9to5 (dot cc)’s delve into the depths of Evil and a final confrontation with the demi lich Acererak (I think it’s worth noting that just about every player at the table had a different way of pronouncing his name). Why is it not the epic conclusion? When I wrote this all out it was nearly 3000 words long, which is too long for your fun time internet reading experiences. So I chopped it into two. However, you can read this and rest assured that the 4th part is already written. It’ll be up next week. Cross my heart. As always Jono (the DM) has added his insights in blue.
So where were we? Oh yes, that’s right, completely stuck at this weird altar/temple place, with images of people doing everyday activities (presumably reaping and sowing and whatever non-Adventurer people in Dungeons & Dragons do) except, get this, all the people have no flesh! Creepy. Finally we remember the all-important rule of Tomb of Horrors: fucking checking everything with every ability that lets you check anything. What does that mean? It means you cast Detect Magic, Detect Trap, Detect Secret Door all the time, every time. That last one was our mistake. We were scouring the walls, floors and ceilings looking for traps, but for some reason we forgot to look for Secret Doors. Eventually we realized our error and found a door to the next corridor.
Yeah, that room was one of the places where Gary decided to make wacky dungeon dressing. There were portraits of good-aligned Gods and people doing normal things. In the book, it’s revealed that the players are supposed to wonder if maybe Acererak isn’t so evil. I think in the thousands of times this module was ran that happened all of never. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…
We cut out the middlemen (those run of the mill comedians) and head straight to the source for the JFL scoop (what a scoop!). Talar and Danny are a huge part of the behind the scenes publicity that goes on for Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival and they stop by to talk all about the festival and what it has in store for you, the Go Plug Yourself listener. Of course, by talk about the festival I mean talk about writing on bananas, mocking Toronto and smoking cold medication. Also there’s a lady who found a Jenga piece and really wanted to talk about it and gets interviewed by Danny Payne. Remember when Hollywood used to show up all the time on older episodes? It’s like that. This one is a little noisy since we recorded it on a Thursday evening and let’s just say that summer in Montreal brings out the drunks in all of us.
You can check out that little comedy festival these cats are repping over at: www.hahaha.com
You can follow Danny on Twitter: @dannypaynePR You can follow Talar on Twitter: @talaradam
As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Aural Turpitude!
Also, in case you were wondering about the bananas, here’s a sample:
