Falcon Powder, composed of Jim Annan, Scott Montgomery and Kurt Smeaton bring their delightfully absurdist, buddy sketch show to hilarious life at the Al Green Theatre for the course of the Fringe Festival. They played to a sold-out audience last night as they revelled in the bizarre, the hilarious, and sometimes the goofy, as one…
Killjoys S01E04 – Vessel
Killjoys returns to Space tonight, and our heroes, Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), John (Aaron Ashmore) and D’Avin (Luke MacFarlane) find themselves in a bit of a mess, when they take on a warrant, from the Nine (the de fact ruling body of the Quad and owners of the Company) to recover some cargo from a badlands fortress on Westerly, and deliver…
Anna Christie (1930) – Clarence Brown
It’s time to spend a little more time with Greta Garbo, following my screening of Anna Karenina for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. The first recommendation comes with a fairly high pedigree, Anna Christie was Garbo’s first sound film, which saw her nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, and…
Toronto Fringe: All Our Yesterdays
Bold, beautiful, and packing a powerful emotional punch, All Our Yesterdays from writer/director Chloe Hung features masterful performances from Amanda Weise and Chiamaka Umeh. In April of 2014, 276 girls in Chibook, Nigeria were abducted by the Boko Haram (western education is forbidden), simply because they were seeking an education. Stolen as they sat down…
Toronto Fringe: Uncle Tommy’s Campfire Ghost Stories (For Grown-Ups)
Oral history and the social sharing of the campfire have been with us since we first harnessed flame to push back the night. But that fear of the dark has been with us ever since and we tempt and taunt it with ghost stories that cause us to huddle closer, laughing over loud at the…
Toronto Fringe: I Love You, Judy Merril
Jim Smith takes to the stage of the Theatre Passé Muraille Backspace to pay homage and share his memories of science fiction writer Judy Merril. A writer, I’m ashamed to admit I had not heard of, especially when confronted by the list of titles she’d penned. Merril crafted tales during the heyday of pulp science fiction…
Fringe Toronto: One Good Marriage
I have to admit, trying to take in some Fringe shows while also working full time during the days has been really taxing on my body so far this week. I was burnt out to begin with, and now that it’s Thursday, I find I’m struggling more and more. Even that, however, does not detract…
Magnum, p.i. (1983) – …By Its Cover and The Big Blow
Stuart Margolin is back! He directed an episode in last week’s installment, and this time he’s on-screen playing Rod, a character not so unlike Angel, the character he played on The Rockford Files, and first worked with Selleck, when he was private investigator Lance White. … By Its Cover was written by Bellisario, Rogers…
Fringe Toronto: The McComedy Show
I knew I’d made a good choice in seeing Shannon McDonough’s The McComedy Show when I sat down and the pre-show music was composed entirely of old TV theme songs! Ahhh, they just don’t make ’em like that anymore! I had no idea what to expect from the show itself, as I’d done no prior…
Toronto Fringe: People Suck
So last night I settled in for a musical presentation at the Randolph Theatre, and was charmed by the Nutmeg Creations presentation of People Suck. Written by Peter Cavell and Megan Phillips, who also is one of the show’s stars, the performance was a series of numbers, that illustrated the very worst in people. And…
The Mind Reels 