Big Stuff at the Citadel - what are you holding on to?

This weekend, my Mom and I went to Big Stuff at the Citadel Theatre. The show features improvised moments and scenes within a framework wherein actors Naomi Sniekus and Matt Baram tell stories about all their "stuff" (physical) and their "stuff" (emotional and memory). They relate their meeting and tell the stories of their parents who have now all passed away. Throughout the show (and this is the improv stuff), the audience reveals stories about their things. When you arrive at the theatre, there's a notecard on the seat that you write about an object that you have that reminds you of someone close to you. During the show, at key moments, a card is drawn and that audience member is encouraged to tell their story and this is woven into the overall narrative. They also ask questions, like who has been married the longest, which my Mom won at 62 years (she said 62 but remembered later on the way to the car that it was actually 63 years). It was such a lovely show. Very funny both in the planned story and in the quick thinking incorporation of the prompts peppered throughout the show, but is is also touching and heart warming. So it's completely fair to mention that I laughed and I cried and I loved it! As we were leaving my Mom said, "Now that is the kind of theatre I want to see!". 

I've seen Sniekus and Baram before in Toronto in 2013. They are just as quick and in sync today and in a city like Edmonton with such good Improv, they are holding their own with this phenomenal show. It's a must-see!

Big Stuff runs at the Citadel Theatre in the Rice until November 9th. Tickets are $40-$69 and can be purchased here. 

FRINGE PREVIEW: Vancouver's Hip.Bang! presents Surveil

Devin Mackenzie from Vancouver's Hip.Bang! answered my Fringe Preview Questionnaire about their Edmonton Fringe production Surveil.  Check out more about this show that's sure to make everyone laugh!

Describe your Fringe show in 10 words or less. A comedy show about being watched.

Now the longer description... what else should people know about it?
Award-winning comedy duo Hip.Bang! (Just For Laughs, Comedy Central, The Irrelevant Show) returns with a new immersive comedy about modern surveillance and invasion of privacy. Please arrive early to sign the mandatory waiver and to prepare your belly for some deep, satisfying laughs. ***** -National Post/Edmonton Journal

What makes Surveil a great choice for the Fringe? This show has it all. A comedy from two trusted veterans, a subject matter that affects us all, and some theatrical techniques that we believe have never been done before.

 Okay, you're in rehearsal with an amazing group of people...
    a. Who makes you laugh the most? We were lucky enough to work with Peter Carlone from Peter n' Chris (Canadian Comedy Award Winners Best Sketch Group) so needless to say he made us laugh constantly and hard
    b. Who makes you groan? We were unfortunate enough to work with Peter Carlone from Peter n' Chris (Canadian Comedy Award Winners Best Sketch Group) so needless to say he made us groan constantly and hard.
    c. Who is most likely to give you a massage? We were fortunate enough to work with Peter Carlone from Peter n' Chris (Canadian Comedy Award Winners Best Sketch Group) so needless to say he constantly gave us massages with his strong, dextrous hands.

Hip.Bang! presents Surveil

Returning to Edmonton are Best-of-Fest winners Tom Hill and Devin Mackenzie in this groundbreaking new work of comedy which fuses the duo's signature style with live technology and surveillance used directly on and with the audience, creating a theatre experience unlike anything seen before. Surveil explores, deconstructs and celebrates the ways our world is watching us in an immersive, multimedia theatre experience that will scare and delight audiences in equal parts.

Click here for tickets.

Lots of Laughter in BOEING BOEING and WE'RE NOT AFRAID!

Last night I took in We're Not Afraid (part of the Made In Edmonton Series at the Citadel) presented by Rapid Fire Theatre.  The show is an improvised homage to Who's Afraid of Viriginia Woolf? (currently running on the Citadel mainstage).  It's not a sloppy copy, but rather leans on the relationships, style and themes of the show along with suggestions from the audience to produce a very funny evening of improv. The cast is the cream of the RFT Crop, featuring Amy Shostak, Matt Alden, Joleen Ballendine and Ben Gorodetsky and they were certainly up the task of delivering the deliciously biting and irreverent parody.  Armed with suggestions of a Funeral, The Moon Landing, and Ventriloquism they really went for it and man-oh-man was it funny! You don't have to have seen Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to enjoy it either. Most of us are somewhat familiar with images of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to get us to where we need to be to 'get' what is being parodied.  At my table, I was the only one who had seen the main stage Citadel show and the other 3 people were just as entertained. There's only one more show for We're Not Afraid left tonight at 8 p.m. It's a unique and hilarious option for you, I'd encourage you to check it out!

On Wednesday, I caught Opening Night of Boeing Boeing at Walterdale Theatre. I had seen the show a few years at the Mayfield and loved it.  The Walterdale show is similarly hilarious!  It's a great date night or night out for laughs. They embraced the door-slamming farce about a Paris bachelor with three fiancees who are all flight attendants on different schedules.  A storm lands them all in the city at the same time and the hi-jinks entailed to keep his secret are very, very funny.  They cast embraces the physical and over-the-top requirements and there are many gut-busting moments!  Highlights are Carrie Candy as the uber-passionate German and Heather Patton as the beleaguered maid who has to keep the menu straight, but Director Lauren Tamke has created a terrific ensemble with the entire cast. Boeing Boeing runs to February 13th - it would make a terrific date so if you don't have Valentine's plans, this would be perfect!