TV PERSONALITY: Ryan Jespersen and the Lake of Fire
Talk turns to gay rights within the first two minutes of a recent interview with Ryan Jespersen. Raised Christian in Calgary, the chatty Breakfast Television host got his journalism training at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., a Christian college that required its students to sign abstinence pledges that included a specific clause pertaining to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Kaleido festival amps up
From humble community event to major city festival, the Kaleido Family Arts Festival takes over the city this weekend along Alberta (118) Avenue – and once again they’ve amped up the live music with a heady mix of touring and local performers that’s sure to please almost every music lover. The Dodos are the headliners […]
SOAP-A-THON: Inside the Improvisers Studio
When Die-Nasty workshop leader Patti Stiles asked if there was anybody who had never improvised, I was the only one who raised my hand. Everyone else applauded! Some 30 actors, many of them professional, gathered on the Varscona Theatre stage Tuesday night for the first of two preparatory “workshops” leading into this weekend’s 21st annual […]
MUSIC: Alterra sticks to its Guns, Crue
Not every local band gets to work with a pole dancer who once performed with Motley Crue. There’s always a little bit of temporal vertigo that comes from hearing young rock musicians inspired by music that was made before they were born. Edmonton’s Alterra – not to be confused with the power company or a […]
Kaleido balloons into major Edmonton festival
If you were driving down 118th Avenue on Monday afternoon, you might have spotted clowns, mimes and tin foil robots, a Renaissance flautist in full regalia, along with Ukrainian dancers and Cuban dancers and belly dancers and ballet dancers and God knows what else. It could be only one thing, of course: The annual media […]
Garage sale a big story during Country Music Week
What a load of crap. Edmonton is hosting the biggest Canadian country music event of the decade and all the cool kids can talk about is Corb Lund’s garage sale. See, he’s moving to Calgary, so he has a bunch of odds and ends to unload, T-shirts, promotional hockey pucks, custom comic books, you name […]
New Brad Fraser play too fast for its own good
Kill Me Now is a title that speaks to a desire for death in the face of pain and misery. Add an ironic twist and playwright Brad Fraser’s trademark raucous humour and you might have a hit on your hands. With his new play, running through Sept. 22 at La Cite Francophone, he boldly makes […]
MUSIC: His name is trouble
Ben Sures has a lot of family lore to draw from. It starts at conception – said to be in Japan following a Beatles concert in 1966, “but I have never been able to confirm that,” he says. His name translates from Yiddish as “Son of Trouble” – which he chose for the the title […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Canadian country, California vibes
Welcome to the Hotel Edmontonia! Such a lovely place, such a lovely face. Plenty of room at the Hotel Edmontonia, any time of year … except maybe at this particular busy time if you’ve come into town for the Country Music Week! Building up to the CCMA Awards Sunday night at Rexall Place – and […]
