Montreal Fringe Festival Reflections

Well, it was fun. That’s really the take home message. I met cool people, did good shows, got a great review, met more cool people, and took some pictures of silly stuff.

Let’s begin…

This is the ID card (laminated!) that I was issued at the Fringe. Notice it says “artiste?” Yes, I am now a card-carrying ARTISTE. Not only did this little laminated beauty fill a void of artistic self esteem, it also got me a 15% discount on photocopies.

I tried hard to grasp the comples politics of Canada. This was by far my best tutorial. And if you are wondering if I always take a camera into the bathroom with me, I think the pic below should answer that question:

So, of all the beauty in Montreal, I find myself taking pictures of words:

Or stuff like this:

I took the foot picture with permission, just so you know. Not that I’m above secretly taking pictures of people’s feet, as readers of this entire blog will know, but that one was by request. And speaking of feet…

Montreal is a beautiful, progressive, European-flavored city, and the fact that Crocs, the most hideous form of footwear every to be unleashed on human-kind, have found their way there is just really a shame. I feel more strongly about this than the virus-like spreading of McDonald’s and Starbucks. I didn’t see too many people wearing them, so maybe the fact that they are on the sidewalk sale rack is good news. Stay strong, Montreal.

Turns out this whole French thing is pretty easy to pick up.

Some Fringe Friends.

Where I stayed, and where I ate…

What I looked like after not sleeping, which was most of the time (this picture is actually in focus)

What Montreal looked like to me after not sleeping.

This may be the only “here’s Montreal” picture I took. How telling.

 

 

 

Here I am getting ready for my show. James, the tech, is focusing my spotlight. I know there is probably some adjustment to be done in Photoshop that would bring back some of the detail in my head, rather than having it look like an actual light bulb, but I have a feeling that this is pretty much how it looked at the moment, and I don’t know how to do that sort of stuff in Photoshop. I could rotate the picture, or make it black and white, but that’s about it. So, light bulb head it is.

And finally…me, in the Denver airport, on my way home, thoroughly exhausted, poised on the brink of good solid week’s worth of sick-as-a-pig recovery. I once again stayed up all night before leaving Montreal, so when I finally got on my plane, around 8:30 a.m., I settled into my seat and the next sound I heard was the captain announcing that we were beginning our descent. I totally missed my pack of pretzels and Ginger Ale.

I paid a hefty price in Montreal – there was just too much to do, and sleeping seemed like a shame. So far, though, I still feel like I’m ahead. and I can hardly wait for the Vancouver Fringe Fest in September. I should be totally recovered by then…

Excuse

I have not forgotten to post reflections on Montreal, I have just become very, very sick upon returning home. Why post this? Because I think blogs should be updated regularly, even with lame-ass excuses as to why they have not been updated recently. Funny how quickly real life bleeds into blog life, eh? I will not ponder this further, as I am not feeling too spiffy. In fact, I'm looking forward to the relief that feeling like dog shit will surely bring.

Ugh…

So, yeah, reflections soon… 

Montreal Fringe Ends, Barry Is Sad…

Well, that was that – the Montreal Fringe is now officially over, and I have to say that "whirlwind" is a word I usually use with a touch of sarcasm, in this case it is the only word I can think of that fits. Then again, it is a bit early, and I am slightly hungover. In an adult, responsible sort of way. Here's a taste of the reason why…

More pictures and reflections will come soon, but for now here's the "Net Buzz" about my show from the Montreal Fringe web page, where audience members can log on and write their own little reviews:

***Great writing and storytelling, that really pulls you into the everyday atmosphere of a totally weird situation. Very honest and funny, with a neat mix of multimedia too–videos, slides– well worth it!

***The best show I've seen at the Fringe this year: an interesting and potentially perplexing story about joining a cult. In his one man show, Barry Smith interrupts the heaviness of religious devotion and spirituality with pointed comedy and skilled storytelling. Though God may not always be there in moments of indecision, you might [or might not] find Him in a basement in Montana.

***One of the better shows I've seen in the past few years. Funny, introspective, fast paced and very personal. Barry is also very likeable and you want to see where this is going and how he finally comes to the conclusions he comes to. Funny and effective use of slides.. "Was I cooking?'' hehehee.. couldn't stop giggling after that was uttered..

***This show was so good! I feel like I know this guy now. It was really captivating. Interesting and funny. Plus the visuals were great!

Good Morning, Canada…

I had every intention of resting up for this gig – I landed an interview on a major TV morning show whose name I have forgotten, but you have to trust me…it was the real deal.

So, yeah, major TV interview – my first ever. Really an amazing break, and I was going to rest up, really be fresh and ready, but things didn't turn out that way. Instead I stayed up all night long, so that when 8 a.m. reared its head, I had been up for about 24 hours straight. I'm such an asshole sometimes. I stayed awake in the green room by taking pictures, because I knew if I sat down it would all be over for me…

 

A guy walks into the Green Room who looks exactly like Tom Jones. I find out he's a Tom Jones impersonator. This is surreal enough, but when you place it atop sleep depravation, well…I had to hold on tightly to the rail.

I wish I coudl tell you the interview went well, but I honelstly can't remember. I have a video tape of it – I'll watch it when I get home, when I'm in a more cringe-worthy position.

My last two shows sold out, clearly as a result of the Montreal Gazette review. I have one more show this afternoon, in about 4 hours, actually. I am trying to rest up for it, as I am deeply, deeply tired. Fringe is the most fun imaginable, and I have indulged fully. Alas, this is what I look like at this very moment

Yes, quite flattering. I'm sitting on my little green couch in Montreal, it's blazing hot and muggy, and I'm afraid to look in a mirror, because I suspect that my head might actually be that red.

Still, I'm going to do a great show, and am hoping for another sell out house. Then I'm going to drink a beer.

 

 

Montreal Gazette Review

Well, it's here – my first bit of press. And I think it was worth waiting for:

Jesus in Montana: Adventures in a Doomsday Cult

Rating 5 Stars

Nothing prepared me for the sheer joy and awe I felt all the way through Barry Smith's monologue (with film and slides) about his journey to find the Saviour in Montana. Smith insists it's a true story, but even if it's not, it's a phenomenally urgent one. Smith, a humour columnist in Aspen, Colo., starts his tale of faith gone weird from his fire-and-brimstone childhood. He illustrates the effect it had on him with his reaction to the Biblical story of Abraham – the man who was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac until, at the last moment, God stopped Abraham's hand. Smith rejoins wryly: "Abe! You got punk'd!" And that isn't even the punchline of the tale. Indeed, there isn't a moment during the hour when Smith looks at his spiritual journey with anything but a scintillating sense of humour, a magnificent turn of phrase and a way with a punchline that is jaw-dropping. How he gets to Montana is half the blissful fun (there are stop-offs at the Paul McCartney-is-dead conspiracy and in hitchiker hell). However, when Smith arrives at the self-professed Jesus's house, I had a real revelation: For the first time, I truly understood how smart people end up in cults. And then my eyes were opened wider: This is a devastatingly significant work and I must spread the word. That I laughed – and laughed hard – all the way to that epiphany makes this Fringe a total success for me. You must see Jesus in Montana. – Gaetan L. Charlebois

So, uh, yeah…that's really quite a review. I'm a bit stunned. It was out in yesterday's paper, which is clearly why last night's show sold out, with people having to be turned away. And I think it was a really good show, too.

And I have two more to go…

Amen Surplus

Well, as bad as my second show was, my third show was that good – one of the best ones I’ve even had, in fact. My ears are still ringing from the booming “Amen!”

I heard the Montreal Gazette was at my show last night, so I’m hoping for a good review to be printed soon. Tomorrow, maybe?

Cool, then. I’m heading out for more late-night fringing.

This area of Montreal has the coolest graffiti…

People, Can I Get An Amen?

Generally, the answer to this question is, "AMEN!!" Right? I mean, despite your religious leanings or background, when you are asked this question, you shout "Amen!" I'm assuming that even a Buddhist Monk would respond this way. And I have just learned that I am wrong.

There's this part in my "Jesus In Montana" show, pretty early on, where I build to an exciting little bit, after discovering that Jesus has returned, and ask, loudly and with enthusiasm, if I can get an Amen. Last night, during my second of 6 shows, the answer I got from the audience was "No…no you may not. Not from us, anyway."

Now, when you're doing comedy, your jokes don't always work out the same. Even the ones that I KNOW are good sometimes don't get so much as a chuckle. But I'm learning that you can't depend on laughter, you just keep moving forward. However, in my script, it actually says, after the "Can I get an amen" part, "AUDIENCE YELLS AMEN." The audience obviously wasn't following along in the script last night, and I have to admit it threw me off just a bit.

Third show tonight, in a few hours. We'll see what kind of an Amen they have for me tonight…

Meanwhile, here's the theatre where I'm doing my show:

 

And here's my dressing room…

Blog Irony…

…I'm learning, is this – when I'm busy doing lots of really cool and different stuff, I don't have (or make) as much time to write about it. But when I'm sitting at home I have loads of time to wax on about all kinds of shit.

I'm still new to blogging, so maybe everyone knows this already…

I'm in Montreal now, performing at the Fringe Festival. I got off to kind of a late start with the promotional aspect, so by the time I got to the official Fringe beer tent, where most of the postering happens, it was pretty much full of posters. This was upsetting – if nobody can see your poster, then why would they come to a performance by an unknown out-of-towner?

However, there were a few places left that I consider prime real estate, namely…

I mean, really. It's a beer tent – what's the one place that everyone will have to visit at some point? And, while visiting said place, what's the one place that, the guys at least, will have to look?

I love marketing…

Montreal, Here I Come, Really…

Look, I live in Aspen, which is really a very small town. If you don't believe me, look at the line at the airport for my trip to Montreal. This was taken exactly one hour before my plane took off…

 

I take Dramamine before I fly. It gives things a certain perspective, which I find preferable to puking. I wish I could blame the Dramamine for this next picture, but I think there really is no excuse. I know better than to take pictures from the window of an airplane. Of course, there are great pictures taken from airplanes, but none of them from the windows of commercial. They look great and inspirational from your seat, with or without motion-sickness medication. But ultimately, they look like this…

And, in case you forgot what an actual airport looks like, here's what Chicago O'Hare looks like while the Dramamine is still kicking…

And once it wears off…

This is where I slept, from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. There were no people there at the time. I found a nice place to stretch out, got my pillow set up, because at some point you have to just accept that travelling with a pillow is actually crucial, put a plastic grocery bag over my eyes to blot out the fluorescent lights, put my bag under my knees and thought, hey, this is actually quite comfortable. I can do this. I'm actually drifting off to sleep here!

Then…

"ATTENTION PASSENGERS! DUE TO INCREASED SECURITY, AND TO COMPLY WITH FAA REGULATIONS, DO NOT LEAVE BAGGAGE UNATTENDED…"

Apparently they don't bother to turn these shrill announcements off just because there are no actually flights leaving the airport for the next 5 hours. I think I was right under a speaker. So every 20 minutes I got the baggage announcement, followed closely by the no smoking announcement. So, REM time was no longer an option…

I woke to the sound of the people at the Starbucks kiosk starting their shift. Milk foamers are really quite loud.

There was an uneventful plan and taxi ride, and now I'm in Montreal, crashing on the couch of someone who the Fringe office hooked me up with. They have invited a total stranger to come into their home for 2 weeks. Very cool. Here's where I'll be staying…green couch on the right…

Montreal Fringe Festival Bound…

I leave tomorrow for the Montreal Fringe Festival, where I'll be doing 6 performances of "Jesus In Montana."

As a Fringe Festival, this will be very different from my recent Uno Festival experience, though in no way lesser. At Uno they flew me out, put me up, did all of the PR, scheduled interviews for me, printed my programs, etc…very cool. A Fringe Fest is full on guerrilla theatre – well, almost. They provide me with a venue, a tech, front of house services (ticket takers, ushers, whatnot) and advertise the existence of the festival. I do all the rest – hanging posters, handing out flyers (I have 2000 of them), and generally drumming up interest for my show, which is one of about 90 happening at the 10-day festival.

So, as the days approach, everything is falling into place – my posters and flyers arrived on time from the printer (phew), I feel good about my show, having just done it in Victoria, the Fest arranged for a place for me to stay in Montreal (crashing on someone's couch – cool), and so on.

Except for one thing – a screen.

My show is multi-media, meaning I have a PowerPoint-like slide/video show (actually it's on Keynote, but let's not get bogged down in such Mac geek details) which I project, via my own video projector, onto a screen.

The only thing is, I don't own a screen. I've always been able to borrow or rent one up to this point, so have never needed to buy my own. The days are counting down to Montreal, and I recently found out that the venue has two screens available. This is great news, except that one is too big, as I only have 15 minutes to set my whole show up by myself, and this screen alone would take me 20, and the other is too small – half of my show happens on screen, so it won't work for it to be the size of a postage stamp.

If Goldilocks had wandered into an Audio/Visual rental house instead of the strolling bear's place, well, then I would be her. Or she would be me. I don't want to take that analogy too much farther…

I emailed the Fringe tech director, again, and asked if he could direct me to a local A/V rental place that might offer a Fringe artist discount. This was my third such request, but let's face it, there are 90 other acts emailing them about stuff, so I suspect they are busy.

He replied: "I've got two words for you – Bed Sheet." He then went on to direct me to a place that rents stuff.

My immediate thought was, hey, I've got two words, too: "Fuck You!"

This was a knee-jerk reaction. I used to be an A/V Guy, and I've worked really hard on this slide show, so there's no fucking way I'm going to show it on a bed sheet. What am I, in third grade?

Then, after a very short time, like 30 seconds, I though, "You know…a bed sheet could really work. Hmmm…"

And as the minutes went by I grew to love the idea. I even know how I could make it work – with some dowels and duct tape and the existing "too small" screen. Brilliant. And so very "Fringe." Soon I had fully embraced the idea, and that was that – final piece of the puzzle solved. Now I can relax.

This bed sheet solution happened on a Thursday. On Saturday my wife called me from the local Thrift Shop where she volunteers.

"There's a screen here by the dumpster. Do you want it?"

Sure, why not. Bring it home and I'll take a look.

Well, friends, this was not just a screen, it was a BRAND NEW screen, still in the box. And it was the PERFECT size for traveling with and for the intimate venue I'll be in at Montreal.

Look at this:

 

I mean, come on! This screen, though obviously a few years old, had, as far as I could tell, never even been set up before! And someone was going to throw it away!

 

So, this bodes well for my overall experience in Montreal, don't you think? Sheesh…