Montreal, Day1
This was our first day in Montreal. The travel went better than expected, esp. for a 4:30 AM wakeup call. Because Jon sometimes gets nervous when we travel, I in turn become chipper and in charge—a state of being I rather enjoy.
Our B & B is very nice, although there’s no lady hanging around giving you advice. First we went out for a walk on Ste. Catherine Street. We are near lots of cool things. Just around the corner, the Improv All-stars were playing at a theatre as part of the Just for Laughs festival. www.hahaha.com. Along with the obligatory burger king and subway we came across museums, malls, and movie theatres. We ate burgers and came back to the room to crash.
I took a bath in the fizzy hydro tub and it was awesome. But I learned you should wait until the tub is full to turn it on or else cold air just shoots into your back in the tub. But once the tub was full, it was awesome! I love bathing. Jon was supposed to have his turn next, but I took so long, that when I came back into the room, he was asleep.
After a serious nap, we walked around and came across an outdoor part of the Just for Laughs festival. It had a part for children with trapeze, sing alongs, and painting. There was a street performer with a huge crowd. His main tricks involved yo-yos. I love street theatre. I really wish it was part of normal life in the States. It’s so great. Theatre on the street. And the people get so good, b/c you have to keep and audience and make a living. This performer wasn’t particularly talented in the yo-yo department, but he had great entertainer skills, setting up his stunts, cueing the audience for applause, making jokes, keeping it moving. I’ve heard it’s great theatre training and I believe it, though I would be scared to try it. But now they’ve got lavaliere mikes for pretty cheap so you don’t blow out your voice and can have music and stuff.
Then I went to see the Improv All-Stars, which is, as Greg Proops put it in his intro—all the guys from Whose Line is It Anyway except the black guy and the tall guy. I learned several things from this show. Greg Proops was a great MC and started the show with a 10 minute set with regional humor. When introducing the improv part of the show, he said, “We’re basing our work on audience suggestions and participation, so if we suck it’s your fault.” Then he followed up with, “A lot of tonight’s show will be funny, and the part that isn’t funny—that’s art.” He introduced the rest of the group with great fanfare. In most of the setups he had jokes, which I’m guessing are standard, but were very funny and kept it moving. For example, when he set up Freeze Tag, he explained the game and then said, “It sounds difficult, but somehow we do it every freaking night.”
Tomorrow, I plan to pack in a bunch of tourist stuff.
Our B & B is very nice, although there’s no lady hanging around giving you advice. First we went out for a walk on Ste. Catherine Street. We are near lots of cool things. Just around the corner, the Improv All-stars were playing at a theatre as part of the Just for Laughs festival. www.hahaha.com. Along with the obligatory burger king and subway we came across museums, malls, and movie theatres. We ate burgers and came back to the room to crash.
I took a bath in the fizzy hydro tub and it was awesome. But I learned you should wait until the tub is full to turn it on or else cold air just shoots into your back in the tub. But once the tub was full, it was awesome! I love bathing. Jon was supposed to have his turn next, but I took so long, that when I came back into the room, he was asleep.
After a serious nap, we walked around and came across an outdoor part of the Just for Laughs festival. It had a part for children with trapeze, sing alongs, and painting. There was a street performer with a huge crowd. His main tricks involved yo-yos. I love street theatre. I really wish it was part of normal life in the States. It’s so great. Theatre on the street. And the people get so good, b/c you have to keep and audience and make a living. This performer wasn’t particularly talented in the yo-yo department, but he had great entertainer skills, setting up his stunts, cueing the audience for applause, making jokes, keeping it moving. I’ve heard it’s great theatre training and I believe it, though I would be scared to try it. But now they’ve got lavaliere mikes for pretty cheap so you don’t blow out your voice and can have music and stuff.
Then I went to see the Improv All-Stars, which is, as Greg Proops put it in his intro—all the guys from Whose Line is It Anyway except the black guy and the tall guy. I learned several things from this show. Greg Proops was a great MC and started the show with a 10 minute set with regional humor. When introducing the improv part of the show, he said, “We’re basing our work on audience suggestions and participation, so if we suck it’s your fault.” Then he followed up with, “A lot of tonight’s show will be funny, and the part that isn’t funny—that’s art.” He introduced the rest of the group with great fanfare. In most of the setups he had jokes, which I’m guessing are standard, but were very funny and kept it moving. For example, when he set up Freeze Tag, he explained the game and then said, “It sounds difficult, but somehow we do it every freaking night.”
Tomorrow, I plan to pack in a bunch of tourist stuff.
posted by Jonathan Bownds at
3:31 PM
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