Christmas, culture, history and hockey in the Music City

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – There are plenty of destinations across North America where you could spend a terrific Christmas-style vacation, whether it be traditional or contemporary. But how about spending a country Christmas in the Music City?

During a recent press tour that I took of Nashville, I found out that you don’t have to go to New York City  (with its famous tree at Rockefeller Plaza and the annual Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular) to have a truly Christmas vacation. And in Nashville, the nucleus of this Country Christmas is at the Gaylord Opryland Resort just outside of downtown Nashville (www.gaylordopryland.com).

First of all, to say that the Gaylord Opryland is massive is an understatement. This hotel is like a city-within-a-city, complete with shops, fine dining and fast food restaurants, clubs and recreation spots. And every inch of the place was decorated in Christmas splendour, with some of the largest Christmas trees that I have ever seen under one roof, including the “Parade of Trees”, in which a number of trees are personally decorated by a selection of top country music stars (like Dolly Parton and Vince Gill) that are filled with gifts selected by these stars and are all up for auction t the highest bidder, in which the proceeds go to their favorite charity.

One of the highlights of the Gaylord Opryland’s Country Christmas is “Ice!” (pictured right), a dazzling exhibition at the resort’s Events Center, in which over two million pounds of ice are magically transformed into crafted ice sculptures; this year, these colorful ice sculptures retell in great detail Clement Clarke Moore’s epic holiday poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”. As well, “Ice!” features live ice carving demonstrations (pictured below), a Nativity scene done in crystal clear ice, 20-foot tall ice slides, a marvelous gift boutique and for adults, a chance to enjoy a frosty cocktail at the On the Blocks ice bar. And here’s a helpful hint: use the insulated parkas that are offered to visitors at the entrance of the exhibition, because with all that ice that needs to be preserved from now until January 3, it gets quite chilly inside.

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If you want to experience some culture in Nashville that doesn’t have to do with country music, here are two recommendations. The Nashville Symphony (www.nashvillesymphony.org), in their home base at the Schermerhorn concert hall in downtown Nashville (pictured below), offers a wide variety of classical and non-classical music concerts in their ongoing Classical, Pops and Legends of Music series. The night our press entourage attended the Schermerhorn, the orchestra paid a musical salute to great jazz and blues music of the 20s and 30s called “A Night at the Cotton Club”. Other Nashville Symphony shows that took place or are taking place throughout the remainder of the year included a concert with violinist Itzhak Perlman, a screening of “Home Alone” with live musical accompaniment by the orchestra, a concert with the symphony and Tony Bennett, a special event Christmas concert with Celtic Thunder, and a special performance of Handel’s Messiah with the symphony’s chorus.

The interior of the Schermerhorn concert hall

The Frist Center for the Visual Arts (www.fristcenter.org), which was originally built as a post office 80 years ago, is currently holding an exhibition that takes a look at a rare aspect of the art from the Italian Renaissance period. “Sanctity Pictured”, which runs until January 25, is dedicated to the artistic contributions of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders of monks in Renaissance Italy. The collection of paintings, hand-illustrated manuscripts, religious objects and sculptures tells a fascinating story of how these monks who devoted their lives to religion had a knack for creating such splendid works of art (many of which have been loaned to the museum directly from the Vatican’s library and museum in Rome). Also, take a few minutes to absorb the beautiful art deco style architecture of the museum’s lobby (which you can get the full story behind the building’s construction with a free architecture tour that takes place on the first Saturday of every month).

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Civil War buffs will certainly get their fill when visiting the Nashville area. In particular, the town of Franklin, where one of the major battles of the western theatre of the Civil War took place that sparked the beginning of the end for the Confederacy and its army.

This year marked the 150^th anniversary of the pivotal Battle of Franklin, and to commemorate this historical milestone, a full-fledged re-enactment took place at the site where the battle took place, which was the Carnton Plantation complex. Civil War re-enactors converged on Franklin the weekend I was there to step back in time to that fateful November day in 1864. And whether they were soldiers or civilians, wore authentic period costumes and uniforms (both North and South) and authentically lived the way of life of the 1860s, right down to the way they cooked their food and the magazines they read (I saw copies of “Harper’s Weekly” lying around the living quarters during my visit). And the battle re-enactment was just as authentic, from the battle maneuvers to the volleys of musket fire and blasts from the cannons that were positioned on the battlefield, which gave the huge crowd gathered for the battle a rather harrowing representation of what a typical Civil War battle was like in its ferocity. It even attracted a crew from the CBS News Sunday Morning program, which was doing an item about the movement to preserve Civil War battlefields across the U.S. (which aired on the November 30 broadcast).

The Carnton Pkantation main house

Also highly recommended is the tour of the Carnton Plantation (pictured right), in which owners John and Carrie McGavock literally witnessed the Battle of Franklin from the comfort of their home. The guided tour of the main house, which was built in 1826, is fascinating and is preserved to the way it looked in November of 1864, when the Confederate Army commandeered the house to use it as a field hospital. One of the more haunting aspects of the tour is walking through one of the bedrooms of the house that was used as an operating room, in which the bloodstains of the wounded Confederate soldiers are still embedded within the floorboards.

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If you are a hockey fan, then a visit to Nashville is not complete unless you catch a Nashville Predators home game at the Bridgestone Arena (aka “Smashville”), which is located just minutes away from the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the honky-tonk clubs of Broadway (www.nashvillepredators.com).

Action between the Nashville Predators and the Winnipeg Jets at the Bridgestone Arena

The Predators (which has former Habs player Mike Ribeiro and Carrie Underwood’s husband Mike Fisher on the team) have quite a large, loyal local fan base (in which they refer to going to a Predators game as “hockey-tonking”), and they show their devotion to the “Preds” in quite an energetic, spirited way. One way is when the Predators are on a power play, the fans in the stands have to turn the index and middle fingers of one hand into “fang fingers” (representing the fangs of the team’s sabre tooth tiger mascot, whose name is “Gnash”). And of course, country music pervades the atmosphere of the Bridgestone Arena; every time the Predators score a goal, the jumbotron plays a music video that features country music star Tim McGraw (wearing a Predators jersey) singing a shortened version of his hit song “I Like It, I Love It”, in which the fans sing along quite loudly. By the way, for those Montreal Canadiens fans who want to make the trip to Nashville, the Predators will be hosting the Habs in their only game at the Bridgestone Arena on March 24.

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To find out what else Nashville can offer tourists, visit www.visitmusiccity.com or call 1-800-657-6910.

A Night at the Grand Ole Opry

Exterior of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – It’s known as “the show that made country music famous,” and has the distinction of being the longest-running radio program in North America … 89 years and counting.

If you’re a fan of country music or not, there is no denying it … a visit to Nashville is not complete unless you see a live performance of the Grand Ole Opry, especially when it takes place in its most famous home, the Ryman Auditorium. And when I took part in a recent press tour of the Music City, I had the chance to do both.

Actually, the Ryman Auditorium wasn’t the first home of the Opry; in fact, it became the sixth home of the show in 1943 when it’s increasing popularity with listeners compelled its original sponsor, the National Life and Accidental Insurance Company, to find a larger venue to handle the growing fan base to see the Grand Ole Opry during its live broadcasts that were heard on 650 WSM Radio (which is still its official broadcaster), and for a time, on NBC Radio across the U.S. Although the Opry moved to its current home at Opryland – located just outside of downtown Nashville  -- 40 years ago, the Ryman’s historical attachment to the Grand Ole Opry still exists in the hearts of Nashville citizens and country music fans everywhere. In fact, the Ryman is now used as the official winter home of the Opry between November and January and in 2001, was deemed as a National Historic Landmark.

 After taking a special backstage VIP tour of the Ryman, I was amazed at this building’s impressive 122-year history. It was built in 1892 by Nashville-based riverboat captain and businessman Thomas Ryman, and it was used expressly as a church for travelling evangelical preacher Sam Jones (its original name was the Union Gospel Tabernacle). When Ryman died in 1904, Jones presided at his funeral and asked the packed crowd at the church if the building should be renamed in memory of Ryman; the congregants unanimously approved and it permanently became known as the Ryman Auditorium afterwards.

Portrait of Captain Thomas Ryman

From that day, the Ryman became the premier entertainment venue in all of Nashville, and has attracted some of the most illustrious names in entertainment of the past century to its stage, from Enrico Caruso, to Charlie Chaplin, to Harry Houdini, to Katherine Hepburn, to Bob Hope, to Louis Armstrong, to Bruce Springsteen. The Ryman’s long and illustrious history can be viewed in a massive illustrated timeline that graces the walls outside the Confederate Gallery level of the building, which is guarded by a rather large portrait of Captain Ryman (pictured above).

 

And at the rear of both levels of the building are exhibits of memorabilia that offer a living history of the Ryman’s connection to the Grand Ole Opry, with artifacts from such legendary Opry stars as Minnie Pearl, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash (pictured left). I also recommend for any visitor that before taking the tour, to view the highly informative eight-minute introductory video about the history of the Ryman that is played on a continuous loop throughout the day, and is narrated by country music star Trisha Yearwood. And if the mood hits you to become a future Grand Ole Opry star, you can take a souvenir picture of yourself onstage at the Ryman for a nominal charge, or make your own CD recording from a select list of classic country songs that is done in an actual recording studio (which doubles as WSM’s master control booth during Opry broadcasts), in which you can take home both as a souvenir of your visit to the Ryman (I did the former, pictured below).

During the backstage tour, I got the rare chance to see the Ryman from the point-of-view of a Grand Ole Opry performer.  I got to stand in the wings of the Ryman stage and see the pews where the audience sits from where the performers make their entrances. And the dressing rooms double as individual shrines to the memory of the following Opry legends: Hank Williams, Johnny and June Cash, Minnie Pearl, Patsy Cline and Roy Acuff, and when the surviving family members from either of these legends are present at the Ryman for a show, they are given exclusive access to the dressing room in question for that specific evening. Also, one interesting note I found out from our guide is that in the Patsy Cline dressing room, there is a painting of the legendary singer – who died in a tragic plane crash n 1963 -- that was done on a cupboard door that was taken from the kitchen of Cline’s home, which was donated by her widowed husband.

Vince Gill

Two days after I took the tour of the Ryman Auditorium, I was filled with plenty of its wonderful history and its longtime country music tradition, and was ready to take in a live performance of the Grand Ole Opry in its best known home. The Opry does four shows every week; one show each on Tuesday and Friday nights, and two shows on Saturday night. I caught the second Saturday night show, in which the line-up was a mixture of longtime Opry members like Ricky Skaggs and Vince Gill (who was sporting a Nashville Predators jersey, which meant he probably caught the Nashville Predators-Winnipeg Jets game at the nearby Bridgestone Arena before the show -- pictured right -- in which the Preds beat the Jets 2-1), to up-and-coming country music stars; the latter category was best exemplified by 10-year-old Fiddlin’ Carson Peters (pictured below), who brought down the house with his extraordinary fiddling skills and his rocking rockabilly rendition of the classic “Blue Moon of Kentucky”.

Rising star Fiddlin' Carson Peters

A typical Grand Ole Opry show is divided into four blocks of 30 minutes each, in which each segment had three or four performers do two songs each, and every segment was punctuated by Opry announcer Ernie Stubbs, who extolled the virtue of each broadcast sponsor, which are Humana (a healthcare plan), the Dollar General chain of discount stores, and the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store chain. Stubbs is someone whom you can easily define as a consummate professional, as his soft baritone voice guided the listeners and Opry live audiences through the experience of a Grand Ole Opry show and what each sponsor had to offer … no matter how many times a member of the group Riders in the Sky tried to distract him during a commercial break (pictured below).

Grand Ole Opry announcer Ernie Stubbs (right) trying not to be distracted by a member of the group Riders in the Sky

And as the curtain went down after two hours of what I believed was one of the most enjoyable, entertaining live shows I have experienced, I couldn’t help but witness a piece of American entertainment history, and see the ghosts of past Opry stars echo through the pews and stage of the venerated Ryman Auditorium, as the late George D. Hay, the show’s original announcer, proclaimed in a December 1927 broadcast that “for the past hour we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera, but from now on we will present the Grand Ole Opry.”

Finally, here’s an interesting Grand Ole Opry fact: the call letters of broadcaster 650 WSM, which was established in 1925 by the National Life and Accidental Insurance Company, stood for “We Shield Millions”.

For more information about the Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry, go to their respective websites, www.ryman.com and www.opry.com. And to find out what else Nashville can offer tourists, visit www.visitmusiccity.com or call 1-800-657-6910.

Abdul Butt: Making trouble for laughs 22 Minutes a week

Abdul Butt

Since he was six years old, Montreal comedian Abdul Butt had a talent for getting himself into trouble, especially for saying things that he shouldn’t be saying in the first place at such an early age.

“I was always saying stupid things and thinking those were things you can say when you were six years old,” he said. “However, I always got in trouble at school for that and I thought how come I am not allowed to say that word? I was always singled out; I made people laugh and got in trouble for it.”

Somehow, Butt made getting into trouble for laughs a career, as his videos where he buttonholes not only ordinary Canadians, but also prominent Canadian politicians, have become a fixture on the CBC TV satirical news show “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” (or 22 Minutes for short) over the past two years. And now Butt is ready to cause more humorous trouble, as the 22^nd season of 22 Minutes begins this Tuesday night (October 7) at 8:30 p.m. on CBC, along with fellow cast members Mark Critch, Shaun Majumder, Susan Kent and Cathy Jones, who has been with the show since its debut in 1993.

Butt’s road to 22 Minutes began in Chateauguay, where he grew up watching Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Martin Lawrence and Air Farce on TV, as well as VHS cassettes of old Red Skelton Show sketches from the 1950s and 60s with his older brothers, one of them, Billal, is now CHOM-FM’s afternoon drive show host.

When Butt attended Howard S. Billings High School, his propensity to cause trouble for laughs continued even further. “I wasn’t a bad kid, I just liked to joke around a lot. Somehow, as a result, I spent a lot of time in the hallways outside my classroom or in the principal’s office,” said Butt during an interview I conducted with him one late night in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel during this year’s Just For Laughs festival.

However, when he started attending Just For Laughs shows at the age of 17 (starting with the Ethnic Show), Butt realized he can be a stand up comic and make people laugh for a living without getting himself into trouble and earning him another trip to the principal’s office. By the time he was 21, Butt began doing open mic nights at the recently closed Comedyworks club. But when the club was reducing the number of open mic night shows, he realized that he could get a wider audience by simply making comedy videos and downloading them on YouTube. Most of those videos were mainly streeters that were similar to the type Rick Mercer did when he was a cast member on 22 Minutes. And somehow, Butt’s streeter videos caught the attention of soon-to-be 22 Minutes colleague Mark Critch, who sent samples of his videos to the producers of the show in Halifax.

“I met Critch at Just For Laughs two years ago when I sent him samples of my videos, and the following spring, they contacted me out of nowhere and asked me to come up with an idea to do a streeter video, and brought a camera crew to Montreal to help me shoot it,” he said.

Butt admits that his favorite videos are the ones when he ambushes Canadian politicians (which echoed the type of video segments that were done by former 22 Minutes cast member Mary Walsh in the guise of her alter ego Marge Delahunty). In that vein, Butt points out two segments that he is most proud of.

The first was when he confronted the mayor of the Quebec town of Herouxville, who garnered a great deal of controversy for his reasonable accommodation legislation regarding ethnic residents of his town. “It was a real pleasure to sit down with him and making him look really ridiculous,” he said. “I got to call him a racist on the CBC and presented him with a plaque that cited him as the #1 racist for his intolerance towards ethnic cultures. I never thought the segment would air, and when it aired, it was like the greatest feeling ever.”

The second moment was when Butt wanted to present a similar plaque to former Quebec Premier Pauline Marois in honour of her notorious Charter of Values. After fruitless attempts to arrange something with Marois’ representatives, he had no choice but to take the ambush route. “I was really nervous about it, because I was worried about the police taking the routine in a bad way, so I needed to say it in a right way, so it wouldn’t get me tackled to the ground by the police; however, I had another plan if I got arrested … I would say that the arresting officer was a cast member from ‘Just For Laughs Gags’!”, admitted Butt.

“In the end, Marois ran away from me,” he added. “I was upset about that because she didn’t stay to accept the award.” The incident ended up making headlines the following day in the pages of The National Post.

As Butt gets ready for more video comedy segments for 22 Minutes’ 22^nd season (with Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and Prime Minister Stephen Harper high atop his ambush wish list), he enjoys his career as a troublemaker for laughs. “It’s not always glamourous standing outside in -40 degree weather hoping to run into a politician,” he said. “But I am very lucky to be doing this and I love it, because that’s what I do on my own anyways. And collecting a paycheque for it is quite surreal.”

To see a sampling of Abdul Butt’s comedy videos, check out his website at www.abdulbutt.com.

Discover the shopper’s paradise that is Manchester, Vermont

The Polo Ralph Lauren outlet.

MANCHESTER, VERMONT – For many Montrealers, when they think of doing some cross-border outlet shopping for quality merchandise at deep discount prices, the first place that comes to mind is North Conway, New Hampshire.

However, for more than 30 years, the town of Manchester, Vermont (just four hours south of Montreal) is a picturesque town neatly tucked into the Green Mountains that houses a well kept secret in the world of outlet shopping that should no longer be kept a secret.

The interior of the Eileen Fisher outlet.

Manchester is the home of the Manchester Designer Outlets (MDO, www.manchesterdesigneroutlets.com), which encompasses 150,000 square feet of shopping space in the heart of the town’s centre, and boasts 38 top name designer stores offering the finest in designer fashions, luxury home furnishings, gifts and stylish accessories, in which bargain hunters can benefit from savings of up to 70% off the original retail price. And what high end and popular retailers have made the Manchester Designer Outlets their home? There’s Polo Ralph Lauren, Eddie Bauer, Yankee Candle, Armani, J. Crew, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Brooks Brothers and New Balance, to name a few.

And most recently, a new addition was opened to the MDO complex called the Marble Mill, which added 20,000 more square feet of shopping space, housed four new outlet stores (New Balance, Eddie Bauer, Armani and Eileen Fisher) and includes a 4,500 square foot exterior center court that is used by shoppers as a rest spot, as well as for various special events and ceremonies.

The new Eddie Bauer and New Balance outlets

What is so striking about the MDO is that the exterior design of each outlet store does not resemble the typical box store look that you would see in a typical suburban shopping mall. Each store is housed in a structure designed by Vermont architects that reflect the architectural style of New England houses that go back about 200 years, which combines New York City-style shopping with New England historical charm.

And besides the rustic small town beauty that surrounds the Manchester Design Outlets, the added attraction for shoppers is that there is no sales tax at all on all clothing that is purchased there. For example, during my weekend stay in Manchester earlier this summer, I took advantage of what some of those outlets had to offer. I bought three articles of clothing at Eddie Bauer that would have cost $90 plus taxes, and spent only $45; and at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet, I bought a Polo dress shirt for only $20, in which the retail price was $69. My total savings was $104 USD.

The Manchester Designer Outlets was the brainchild of Ben and Lana Hauben, who were originally from New York City. They began to spend their weekends in East Arlington, Vermont in the late 70s and Ben, who survived Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany and immigrated to New York in 1949, and established himself as a major footwear manufacturer and real estate developer, had a knack for restoring historic properties and began to see the potential in Manchester as a town that would be attractive for tourists and shoppers. In 1983, he and Lana opened the Manchester Design Outlets, with Polo Ralph Lauren as its first tenant.

“Originally, outlet stores were a place where retailers would get rid of their returns. We decided it had to take a brave soul to make these outlet stores have a New York City feel to them,” said Lana. “We wanted to give these stores a look to them similar to having your friends coming to see your house. So after the Polo store opened, we went to a lot of other clothing retail companies and invited them to come up to Manchester and see for themselves what we had to offer. And with a little luck and never letting up, many of these companies came to Manchester and set up shop here.”

“The outlets in Manchester are never going to be like a Target store, because the outlets, along with the activities and culture, make going to Manchester a complete shopping and vacation experience,” she added.

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And once you’re finished your day of shopping at the Manchester Designer Outlets, spend overnight at one of the town’s many charming bed and breakfast inns. The one I chose to spend the night at was the Inn at Manchester (www.innatmanchester.com), which is located within walking distance of the outlets.

In my travels, I have always stayed in a major chain hotel and never in a bed and breakfast; however, after my stay at the Inn at Manchester, I can see why they are so integral to the New England landscape and its tourist industry. The house was originally built in 1889 and became an inn in the 1940s (it became known as the Inn at Manchester in 1978). The inn has 21 guest rooms and deluxe suites, in which each room has its own name, design and character to it (and complete with the typical hotel amenities). Breakfast alternates between egg dishes and their signature pancakes, and for those who like a between meals nosh, the inn offers a guest pantry in the kitchen with a varied selection of snacks and goodies to choose from around the clock. And if you enjoyed your stay there (like myself), the inn also offers a line of Inn at Manchester merchandise for purchase such as coffee mugs, polo shirts and handmade bed linen sets that are similar to the ones that are used on the beds of each guest room.

Exterior of the Inn at Manchster bed & breakfast.

And the down home friendly service that’s offered to every guest at the inn is reflected in its current owners, the amiable husband and wife team of Frank and Julie Hanes, who bought the inn 10 years ago and moved to Manchester from their home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where Frank worked for a textile company.

“Frank always told me that he wanted to be in the hospitality business. So when he accepted a retirement package from the textile company after 22 years there, we decided that if we were to go into the hospitality business, let’s do it now,” said Julie. “We love the community here in Manchester and we love taking care of our guests and make them happy and get to know them.”

Besides the spacious guest rooms and suites, as well as the large, comfortable lounges and parlors, the Inn at Manchester also offers a bit of home with its resident pet dog, who is Chai, the not-so-miniature poodle who is always seen wandering around the inn and treating the guests as if they were part of the family.

“Chai is definitely a part of the business. In fact, he is on the payroll,” said Julie. “The guests also like to feed Chai at breakfast time. It got to the point that he was getting too big, and we had to place signs on each table that say not to feed him anymore.”

The Hanes’ love of running the Inn at Manchester has not only reflected in the high rate of repeat visitors and referrals they get every year (including a large number of visitors from Montreal, Quebec City and Toronto), it has also been reflected in their inclusion as one of the 13 Vermont-based inns to be part of the Select Registry, an annual guide of chosen inns and bed and breakfasts across the U.S. that’s comparable to being selected for the Zagat restaurant guide.

And Julie states that their love of the New England lifestyle in Manchester, and of running the inn (along with their youngest daughter Alice) has prompted them to expand the inn with the construction of the Celebration Barn, a 2,500 square foot facility that’s being built adjacent to the inn that will offer residents and visitors a place to hold celebrations and special events throughout the year; the barn is slated to be completed by this October.

“We love Manchester. There’s always something to do here. And we also love the fact that we get four great seasons here, not to mention the lovely scenery.”

21 shows in 19 days: A Just For Laughs post-festival report

Gilbert Rozon

Just For Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon and COO Bruce Hills looked a little tired, but were all smiles as they met the press late last Sunday morning to officially wrap up the 32^nd edition of the festival.

And they had every reason to smile. This year, the festival attracted over 1.3 million visitors and sold over 200,000 tickets during its 19-day run of shows in English and French that were performed by over 200 comics from around the world.

“This is a great, vast festival,” said Rozon. “And I have to thank the Juste pour rire and Just For Laughs teams, because what they did was out of this world.”

Hills remarked how Just For Laughs exploded on social media this year, with more than 10 million followers on Twitter, and how it captured a younger demographic, not to mention attracted 20% more industry people, especially due to the fact that the monumental Comiccon in San Diego was happening at the same time.

“The (comedy) industry can’t believe the caliber of talent and fans that come to the festival. It shows their increasing love affair not only with the festival, but also with the fans and Montreal,” he said.

Personally speaking, this is the 29^th time I have attended Just For Laughs (and the 15^th time I am covering it as a member of the media), and I am increasingly impressed with how this festival has evolved and grown tremendously since I attended my first Just For Laughs show back in 1986 (which was Jerry Lewis’ Vegas-style show at Place des Arts). After watching a near personal record of 21 shows over the past 19 days of the festival, I have gathered my share of highlights and favorite moments; so here is my highlight reel of what I saw at the 2014 Just For Laughs festival.

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The old and new school of comedy were well represented by the hosts of the flagship Videotron Gala shows. Don Rickles’ gala started off with performances by four top comics (Alonzo Bodden, Tom Papa, Adam Hills and Caroline Rhea). This was followed by an hour-long concert performance by Rickles, which was reminiscent of a typical Las Vegas-style show of the 1960s, complete with dancing girls and a live orchestra onstage. Rickles, who is 88 years old, might have looked frail and performed his entire set seated on a chair, but his insult comedy spark was still there, as he masterfully interacted with audience members and dished out one jab after another without missing a beat. He also showed his rarely-heard talent as a singer, and expressed his humble gratitude of having a long career alongside some of the greatest names in show business, as well as a loving and supportive family. It’s great to see a legend as Don Rickles still going strong after 60 years in the entertainment scene.

Seth Rogen at the Just For Laughs Awards Show

On the other side of the comedy spectrum was Seth Rogen, who hosted one of the most energetic galas of the entire festival. The day after he accepted the Just For Laughs Award for Comedy Director of the Year along with Evan Goldberg, Rogen played to a sold out crowd at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier in a gala that featured such rising young comedy talents like Hannibal Buress, Al Madrigal, Joe Mande, Jerrod Carmichael, as well as surprise guest Joseph Gordon Levitt, who wowed the audience with his rendition of a classic Jacques Brel song (and in flawless French to boot). Rogen ended the gala with a finale that pandered to his native Canada on an extreme level. First, Habs’ mascot Youppi brought in a wheelbarrow filled with Timbits that he threw into the crowd; then a group of young women distributed Coffee Crisp bars and bags of ketchup potato chips to the audience, and then Habs’ defenceman P.K. Subban walked onstage with two pitchers of beer that he poured into the bowl of the Stanley Cup, in which Rogen then proceeded to drink from (and got a massive beer shower as a result). And in the end, all of this benefitted Rogen’s “Hilarity for Charity” foundation, which helps research into combating Alzheimer’s Disease (there was also volunteers selling raffle tickets before the show, in which three winners were picked to have a selfie taken with Rogen backstage immediately after the show).

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In light of the recent closing of the Comedyworks club after 24 years in business, it was refreshing to catch the premiere of the documentary “Eat Drink Laugh” at the Cinema du Parc, which focused on the legendary New York City comedy club The Comic Strip, which has been a comedy institution – and a launching pad for such superstar comics as Jerry Seinfeld, Paul Reiser, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock – since it opened its doors in 1976.

The "Eat Drink Laugh" gang at the premiere screening

Five years in the making, with over 100 people interviewed, “Eat Drink Laugh” tells how the Comic Strip was more than just a club, it was like a second home to many of these rising comics, whom regarded it as an “incubator for talent” and a “college for comedy”, as it tells its story through interviews, as well as rare grainy videotape footage of Seinfeld, Reiser, Murphy, Larry Miller and Adam Sandler performing on the club’s stage. After the screening, co-directors Abby Russell and Brent Sterling Nemetz, owner Ritchie Tienkin, co-producer Jeffrey Gurian, and Comic Strip alumni George Wallace, Judy Gold, Paul Provenza and Robert Wuhl engaged in a lively Q&A, as they shared their fond memories of starting their careers at the Comic Strip.

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The Green Room with Paul Provenza

Since it made its debut at the 2007 festival, “The Green Room with Paul Provenza” was one show that I always wanted to catch, but somehow never got the opportunity to do so. “The Green Room”, which took place at Place des Arts’ Salon Claude Leveille, is basically a free-for-all comedy bull session, in which a select group of comics sit around and unabashedly talk about a certain topic that was picked by Provenza. On the night I went (July 24), comics Bill Burr, Dom Irrera, Robert Kelly, Darrin Rose and Dave Attell joined Provenza in an introspective discussion on the topic “Tribute to Our Recent Fallen Comedians”, which focused on a group of comedians who tragically passed away at a young age over the past decade (John Pinette, Greg Giraldo, Mitch Hedberg, Patrice O’Neil, Richard Jeni and Robert Schimmel). It was great to see these comics swap stories and find out another side to these departed comics (Darrin Rose, who was Pinette’s opening act during one of his Canadian tours, remembered the only time Pinette snapped at him, which was when he went to a nearby donut shop without letting Pinette know, and almost got kicked off the tour as a result). “The Green Room” had a brief run on the Showtime network, and I hope some enterprising TV producer will have the sense to bring this excellent, revealing show back on the tube again.

Me and Brody Stevens

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There were three comics whom I saw perform for the first time this year at Just For Laughs and were so good, I deem them as my “discoveries” of the fest: Irish comic David O’Doherty combined sharp storytelling and way out comedy songs on his keyboard in a show that became one of the smash hits of the OFF-JFL series; Brody Stevens walked onto the stage of the Montreal Improv without a set list of material, and ended up performing one of the most unconventionally entertaining shows I have seen at the festival in a very long time. Somehow, Stevens pulled off something that mere mortal comics couldn’t, and held the audience spellbound for 90 minutes (and he can drum a pretty mean table top, chair and floor); Doug Benson brought the art of interruption from something obnoxious to something hilarious with “The Doug Benson Interruption”. Accompanied by the manically multi-talented Sean Cullen, Benson had a group of comics perform their sets, and tried to see how they can handle Benson’s constant interruptions. The results were pure hilarity (especially when him, Cullen and Greg Proops broke into a hysterical spoof of the James Bond movies).

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My favorite lines: From Paul Varghese at the Ethnic Show (about the controversy surrounding the Cleveland Indians’ mascot, which is of a smiling Indian): “The last time a Native American smiled? 1491.”

From Alonzo Bodden at the All Star Show, (about the L.A. Kings winning the Stanley Cup this year): “At the parade, there were one million people looking for Kobe Bryant.”

From Ruben Paul at the Russell Peters gala: “Haiti is so poor that we didn’t have an earthquake. We made it up so we can get some help.”

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Paul F. Tompkins

Other Just For Laughs highlights: Russell Peters closing the festival hosting two strong galas; James Adomian, who tirelessly bounced from show-to-show without showing any signs of slowing down (and offered killer impressions during his sets); Orny Adams’ display of showmanship (and effective improvising) after his microphone gave out during his set at the Chevy Chase gala (and after he kicked down the mic stand in a flash of anger); Paul F. Tompkins and his impersonations of Richard Branson and the Cake Boss; the Sean Cullen and Greg Proops podcasts;  Mike Marino, who killed at the Ethnic Show with his routine about Walmart; Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry Address; Tommy Tiernan and Mike Birbiglia’s solo shows at the Gesu; Jim Jefferies, whose solo show played to a near full house at the Maison Symphonique (and proved that the MSO’s majestic concert hall can also play to comedy shows); Godfrey, who can host the Relationship Show (or any Just For Laughs show) anytime; the powerhouse Club Series foursome of the Nasty, Ethnic, Relationship and All Star shows; and Stand Up/Strip Down at the Mainline Theatre hosted by Montrealer DeAnne Smith, which effectively revived the good old days when burlesque and comedy played on the same stage, in a series of highly entertaining two-hour late night shows.

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Finally, a big thank you goes to the Just For Laughs PR team – led by Jamie O’Meara -- for helping to make my 15^th year covering this festival such a fun adventure; shout outs also go out to PR team members Danny Payne, Michelle Aikman-Carter, Stephanie Morin Robert, Talar Adam, Alexandra Pakis and Dane Stewart. Also, I would like to thank the following people for making Just For Laughs 2014 a memorable one for me: Allan, Bill, Paul, Mo, Jeffrey, Rob, Pat, Rudy, Jony, Abdul, Valerie, Christina and George. See you next year at JFL #33.

Just For Laughs: chatting it up with Jim Jefferies

Australian-born comic Jim Jefferies, who is known for his edgy style of comedy that touches upon such hot button topics as atheism, alcoholism, religion, recreational drug use and sex, has some helpful advice for those uninitiated who will be catching his solo show this Friday at the Maison Symphonique of Place des Arts, as part of this year’s Just For Laughs festival.

“I suggest that they should do a little bit of You Tubing and catch some of my past performances, because I am not as offensive as people think,” said Jefferies in a recent phone interview.

He also said that controversial, offensive material doesn’t always centre around swearing and obscene language. “It’s more about the subject matter, especially the subjects that make people feel a little uneasy. During my show, I will talk about gun control, my childhood in Australia, having a baby, sex, a few name-dropping celebrity stories and a few other topics depending on how the show is going.”

A native of Sydney who now lives in L.A. with his wife and son, the 37-year-old Jefferies was a fan of stand-up comedy since he was a kid, and was an avid watcher of stand-up comedians on TV specials. The urge to take up the microphone got stronger when he was studying musical theatre in Perth. “I got all the comedy roles in our school stage productions,” he added. He then decided to do open mic nights at the local club in Perth (“There was only one bar in Perth, and they did the open mic night every Wednesday.”). However, he realized that in order to establish a career in stand-up comedy, he had to make his way to Britain.

“Comedy sells well in Australia; however, the Melbourne Comedy Festival is a great showcase for international comics who fly in to perform there, and not for local Australian comics,” he said. “The U.K. is the best place to do stand-up. It’s the perfect environment, in which it is a compact country with 60 million people, and you can travel by train from town-to-town and do club gigs. It was a good way to make money, even if you weren’t famous.”

One incident that became a defining moment in Jefferies’ comedy career, and gave him plenty of notoriety, was when he was attacked onstage during a performance at the Manchester Comedy Festival eight years ago (which can be seen in his 2008 DVD release “Contraband”), and the incident is now an integral part of his act. The incident is strikingly reminiscent of the time when Scottish comedian Gerry Sadowitz was assaulted by an audience member during his set at the 1991 Just For Laughs festival, in front of a stunned crowd at the St. Denis Theatre.

“You know to this day, I still don’t know why it happened,” admitted Jefferies. “It took place 15 minutes before the set ended, and there was this guy whose date wasn’t enjoying the show. It must have been a combination of being drunk and stupidity, but the guy must have thought ‘I’ll punch this guy and my date will be happy again.’”

Jefferies has performed around the world, including comedy festivals in South Africa, England, and the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, appeared on TV and radio across the U.K., and has released four comedy DVDs. His most recent TV project, of which he is quite proud of, is “Legit”, which ran for two seasons (and 26 episodes) on the FX network. The sitcom, which Jefferies co-created and starred in, tells of his exploits on his quest to trying to be a good person with his best friend Steve and Steve’s brother Billy, who has muscular dystrophy. Although it was cancelled back in May, “Legit” was lauded for its fair and positive treatment of people with physical and mental disabilities.

“It was never our intention to portray a holier-than-thou attitude against people with disabilities. ‘Legit’ was the first time on TV that people who were physically and mentally disabled were part of a sitcom, and not a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie or an episode of ‘The Facts of Life’,” he said. “The show made them out as regular people, who liked to have sex and get drunk, and they didn’t have to hide their disabilities. After all, is there any other to treat them?”

Jefferies admits that the appeal of controversial comics to large numbers of audience members is not necessarily isolated to how they channel through their routines what people really want to think or say. “After my shows, I pose for photos with fans and many of them come up and tell me that I say things that they’re afraid to say, and I think not really true,” he said. “I think it’s basically that we put single thoughts they’re afraid to say. Also, many comics take a whole series of concepts and put them into a nice amount of words that people can identify with.”

“Another good way of testing what kind of controversial material people like is when you sit next to your wife or husband at a show, and see what they laugh at. That way, you will find out what your wife thinks is funny … or how deviant your husband is,” added Jefferies.

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For more information about Jim Jefferies’ solo show at Maison Symphonique, or any other Just For Laughs show, as well as to purchase tickets, check out the festival’s website at www.hahaha.com.

Some Just For Laughs capsule show reviews -- Relationship, Ethnic and All Star shows, plus OFF-JFL

So far at the 32nd edition of the Just For Laughs comedy festival, I have seen six shows (with about a dozen more on tap before it ends next weekend), and so far, I have been batting .1000 when it comes to strong line-ups and killer material. Here are capsule reviews of some of the Just For Laughs shows I have seen so far during the first half of the fest.

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The Ethnic Show at the Metropolis is a virtual United Nations of comedy, in which a cross section of ethnic and religious backgrounds were well represented. Persian comic Maz Jobrani, as in previous years, was the perfect host for the show, and gave his take on the recent World Cup soccer tournament, to how Team U.S.A.'s cheer was the least confident cheer he ever heard, to how orgasmic the game of soccer can be. East Indian Paul Varghese gave the best line of the show "The last time native Americans smiled? 1491". Montreal-born Greek comic Angelo Tsarouchas explored the true meaning of the Greek term "Malaka"; New Jersey native Mike Marino (pictured at right) represented Italians everywhere, and gave a killer routine about Walmart, especially when using the self-serve checkout lane, and thinks he deserves a 10% employee discount as well (it was like comedy with a Soprano attitude to it). Erik Griffith gave new meaning to "purging", and token Jewish comic Elon Gold talked about "pro-Semitism", and did a dead-on impression of Woody Allen as Abraham as he bargained with God about the first circumcision. The Ethnic Show continues until July 23.

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Since 1991, Just For Laughs explored the sensitive topics of dating, mating and relating with Date Night: The Relationship Show; and I am happy to say the tradition has continued. New festival favorite Godfrey (pictured at left) served as the show's host, and genuinely enjoyed entertaining audiences (especially when he punctuated a lot of his routines with plenty of chuckling between the jokes), especially when he talked about how women were always feeling chilly around bedtime and slept with 200-pound comforters in order to keep warm. Joe Matarese talked about what it was like to have a psychologist for a wife (and him a mental patient). Brassy Lynne Koplitz spoke about her 11-year relationship with her pet Yorkie dog, which she compared to an abusive little Italian man). And John Heffron gave advice to a 15-year-old couple about married life, especially about he was not allowed to use the bathroom, and has to carry a bag filled with his own toiletries every time he has to use it. The Relationship Show's final performance is on July 25 at the Metropolis.

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Perhaps the hottest ticket during the early part of the festival was the inaugural All Star Show, a showcase of six of Just For Laughs' most popular fan favorites. Host Dom Irrera was in top form once again, talking about his love of Montreal (and his "people", the hookers and heroin addicts who inhabit St. Laurent Blvd.) to how he uses soccer matches to help him fall asleep. Ryan Hamilton used his boyish Idaho charm to explain how it's very difficult to meet people and the hazards of riding on a bike's handlebars. Angst-filled Judy Gold spoke about her 92-year-old mother's constant battles with her string of home care professionals. Adams Hills sang quite a revolutionary new version of "O Canada" if Bryan Adams composed it. Robert Kelly talked about how when men get older, they don't care about their appearance any more (which means they reach the "fuck it, tuck it" stage in their lives). And Alonzo Bodden (pictured above) was the highlight of the show, giving a killer set on his take on some of the issues of the day, including how Toronto mayor Rob Ford is actually an "honest" politician. The final All Star Show is ready to invade Club Soda on July 26.

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The OFF-JFL Series offers the best value for your comedy buck, with comics giving one-hour solo or specialty shows in an intimate club setting, with a special offer of two OFF-JFL shows of your choice for only $30.

One comic's show that you should invest your two-for-$30 deal is Irish comic David O'Dougherty's solo show at Theatre St. Catherine. His one-hour showcase of storytelling, keyboard playing and bizarre songs offers non-stop laughs, and made me wish I could spend another hour watching him in action. He spoke on such wayout topics as Toblerone bar smuggling in your anal cavity, "ghost mice" in his attic water tank, and how disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong was responsible for all of O'Dougherty's personal problems and troubles. And his songs about bad, uncaring corporations and life in general had me crying with laughter. This is a must-see show!

The Midnight Surprise Show, also at Theatre St. Catherine, reminded me of the old Bubbling with Laughter series that ran for nearly 25 years at Club Soda, where there were always surprise appearances by top name comics who used the show as a sounding board for sets that would be performed at a gala the following night. At the Midnight Surprise Show that I caught, which was hosted by the talented James Adomian (loved his bit about why there is no Disneyland in New York City), had a mixture of comics who appeared in the All Star, Ethnic and Relationship shows, including Godfrey (who did a dean-on impersonation of Denzel Washington as a stand-up comic), Maz Jobrani, Judy Gold, Jarrod Christmas and Orny Adams, whose furiously-paced, anger and frustration-laden set killed at both the Relationship and Midnight Surprise shows. And the best thing about Midnight Surprise, is that no two shows are alike. It's a great way to cap off your night of comedy clubbing at Just For Laughs.

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For more information, or to purchase tickets, to any Just For Laughs show between now and July 28, go to their website at www.hahaha.com.

Just For Laughs: Paying some attention with Alonzo Bodden

There’s no doubt about it. Alonzo Bodden loves Montreal in general and the Just For Laughs festival in particular.

It was back in 1997 that Alonzo got his big break as a stand up comic, when he  performed a killer set at that year’s New Faces of Comedy showcase. And from there, his career took off, and his affection for the city and the festival remained unabated.

And the Alonzo Bodden/Just For Laughs/Montreal love triangle continues this week, as he returns as part of the line-up of the All Star Show, which is wrapping up this Saturday at Club Soda before it moves to the Metropolis on July 24 (which is hosted by Dom Irrera whom, coincidentally, emceed the New Faces show where Alonzo made his festival debut); and he will be spotlighting his own solo show “Alonzo Bodden: News is Not News” from July 21-26 at the Salle Claude-Leveille of Place des Arts.

“I always look forward going to Just For Laughs year after year. This is the best and the biggest comedy festival I have performed at. It’s where the most comics get together to perform and have a good time doing it. This is one of the few chances we get to see each other in a relaxed setting and crash each other’s shows,” he said in a recent phone interview. “And by the way, I forgot to mention that Montreal has the most beautiful women on Earth, who also happen to speak French.”

“I love the vibe that this festival brings. You have about 100 of the best comics in the world gather in Montreal every year to hang out and do what we do best,” he added.

Alonzo’s path to comedy actually began in the aeronautics industry, where he worked as an aircraft mechanic for Lockheed Martin. “When I was at McDonnell Douglas, I used to train new mechanics, and I would put in some jokes during those training sessions. I found out that I had more fun making them laugh,” he said.

From there he took a comedy writing class, did five minute spots at open mic nights and realized that stand-up comedy was more to his liking than showing mechanics the inner workings of an aircraft. His successful set at the 1997 New Faces of Comedy show convinced Alonzo to give up his full time job and pursue a career in comedy, which has proven to be a good career move, in which one of his crowning achievements was clinching the grand prize during the third season of NBC’s reality competition show “Last Comic Standing”.

Alonzo’s style of comedy is quite relaxed and matter-of-fact, seasoned with a great deal of personal observations, which he credits to many of the life experiences that he went through, whether it be healthcare, politics or relationships.

“I talk about healthcare because when I was an aircraft mechanic, I was also a union guy, so I know what healthcare plans are all about,” he said. “As for relationships, I have had a lot of failed relationships all my life, so it’s better to hear it from someone who has experienced them than from some smartass 24-year-old. And about the issues of the day, well, I have been in that world, so I look at that world through my eyes. For example, America has a Black president, and coincidentally, I happen to be Black!”

And Alonzo not only has the comedy club to use as his soapbox to comment on the issues of the day; he shares them with listeners on his podcast “Who’s Paying Attention?” During our phone interview, he admitted there was no shortage of issues for him to comment on that his fans and listeners should be paying attention to (Rob Ford notwithstanding).

“Right now (former U.S. Vice President) Dick Cheney is blaming President Obama for the mess in Iraq, which I find tragically funny,” he said. “Then this past week, no school shootings have been reported, mainly because school is out for the summer. Then there’s our favorite go-to person Sarah Palin, because whatever she has to say, it should always make us feel much better about ourselves.”

Besides giving his opinions, Alonzo was also noted recently for what he gave of himself. In March of last year, he underwent transplant surgery to donate a kidney for his brother, so he wouldn’t have to go through dialysis any longer. As of this writing, Alonzo is extremely happy to say that both he and his brother are doing fine. As a result of the successful procedure, he has become a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation, advocating not only kidney donations, but also taking better care of your kidneys.

“Donating a kidney to my brother was like giving a gift; it totally changed the quality of his life and I was happy to do it,” he said. “It’s really important that people should consider being an organ donor, because they are really needed. Also, it’s important to take care of your kidneys; you should be tested regularly and drink lots of water. And don’t forget, if you’re in need of a kidney, find a brother!”

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For more information about the All Star Show, Alonzo Bodden: News is Not News, or any other Just For Laughs show, as well as to purchase tickets, check out the festival’s website at www.hahaha.com.