Bob Wiseman

A Few of my Favourite Things

Was I really just in Calgary? I'm writing this on the bus, on my way to my first day on set for the feature film House at the End of the Street, and it all just feels like a blur. Especially after two days of catching up on Lost - Season 3 (What do you mean "We have to go back"?!?! - rhetorical question - please no spoilers!) But, it did happen, and it was wonderful!

The Calgary Fringe was just grand.  I don't think I know of a single performer who had any major complaints.  And catching up on my friend Amy's blog about her Saskatoon Fringe Adventures, I really don't feel like I'm missing out (no beer gardens or place for performers to hang out?  Tsk tsk, Saskatoon!)

My only issue with the entire Fringe didn't have anything to do with the  festival, but rather the neighbourhood it was located in: It was impossible to get any food after 11 pm.

That said, there were so many other amazing things, including really responsive patrons, wicked cool volunteers, a Fringe Festival app for your smartphone, two reviews for almost every performance, and an executive director that gives hugs instead of handshakes and, well, you can be sure that I already want to go back next year!

And if/when I do, here are a few things I want to remember for the future:

Best Coffee - Wildernest Dream Cafe - you get your coffee in an individualized French press with a little timer - the place also includes free WiFi

Best Food (Quality & Price) - Eat Eat - my personal fave is the homemade buffalo chicken burger - also includes free WiFi

Best Place to Hang Out: The Fringe Club - enjoy some late night cabaret performances at The Stroke! - oh and more free WiFi

Best Beer - Wild Rose Raspberry Ale - it gives the Apricot Wheat Beer in Ottawa a run for it's money

Best Bike/Running Path - all along the river near the festival site - go north instead of south

If you were in Calgary for the Festival, what are some of your favourite things?

It's Midnight, Cinderella

It's midnight, Cinderella, but don't you worry none. / 'Cause I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater /And the party's just begun. - Garth Brooks

(Being in Calgary, I felt like country music would be appropriate.)

So our Opening Night in Calgary was good.  Crazy good, but still good.  Heck, we had a reviewer that night and we were anointed later on with a lovely 4 Star Review from the Calgary Herald!  If you don't want to read the whole thing, here's my favourite section:

Basically, The Last G-D Performance Piece is a comedy about an incomprehensible performance art piece where everything that possibly can go wrong, does.

And on opening night, guess what? The lights blew out!

And we (the audience) hardly noticed. I mean, I noticed a few odd lighting cues, such as the time one of them flickered, and then left both actors standing onstage in total darkness. But since the show was about a disastrous theatre performance, I didn't give it much thought at all. Meuser and Kenny both delivered such strong, confident, funny performances that I just figured it was all in the script.

So the first show was done and all the adrenaline in my body had left in one big giant rush that left me teetering between giggling uncontrollably and practically crying with relief.  I went to the Swans for a beer with the director and ran into the gang from Dale Beaner and the Turtle Boy, which I had decided I would watch that night.

It's a fun show that really isn't getting the audience it deserves.  Please come and check it out!

After the show, the Turtle Boy gang, the Peter n Chris duo and I made our way down to what I have now dubbed "The Happiest Place on Earth" (take that Disney!) - The Fringe Club!

The Calgary Fringe Festival doesn't have a beer tent or beer gardens, but on Saturday night they opened up an awesome new venue in the back of an art gallery.  In true Fringe fashion, you have to go through a sketchy alley (made less sketchy by the string of Christmas lights along the wall).  The place has WiFi and beer.  The only thing missing is some cheap food, but one thing at a time.

The place was filled with performers, volunteers, techs and friends, all there for the new late-night cabaret event called The Stroke.  We walked in just in time to catch the end of Paul Hutcheson's stand-up set/bits from his show.  There's a nice big stage set-up and the folks from The Goodtimes helped provide additional lighting, which they conveniently had stored in their awesome and thematically painted van.

It was just pure fun and magic.  And it was so nice to know that there was now a place for all of us to get together and relax and be silly.  Other bits included a chat with Cameryn Moore, The Phone Whore, the house music by The Ben Rose Wedding Band (which is apparently one guy who I'm going to assume is named Ben Rose), some brilliantly fun accordion music from Bob Wiseman, and even more awesomely hilarious music from The Goodtimes, with special additional accompaniment from Bob Wiseman.

A huge round of applause goes out to Nicole Zylstra & Peter Strand Rumpel for putting all of this together and hosting every night.  This little hotspot was probably the only thing missing from an already pretty great festival.

Friends, if you're in Calgary, you should stop on by 1222 9th Ave SE (after you've seen The Last Goddamned Performance Piece at 922 9th Ave SE, of course!) around 11 pm as I am signed up to do something at The Stroke...

I better start figuring out what that something is going to be.