Hoodo Hersi
Tells Bill Brownstein the charter of values fills her with pride — because the comedian lives in Toronto.
Hoodo Hersi insists she has never felt better about being from Toronto. She’s a comedian, but she’s not kidding around.
We should add that Hersi is a Muslim who wears a hijab all the time, including on stage. She is also up to speed on Quebec’s proposed charter of values and its take on the wearing of perceived religious attire by certain professionals serving the public.
“The charter has increased my Toronto pride exponentially,” Hersi says. “Toronto is looking really good to me. Even Rob Ford. He’s like our (George W.) Bush. He’s like this out-of-control child who’s always stumbling and falling. So cute.”
Her Toronto pride notwithstanding, Hersi heads to Montreal on Sunday to participate in the revue Taking Comedy Hostage: The Muslim Comedy Show, at the Comedy Nest. Joining Hersi will be host Ali MoComedy, Nour Hadidi, Faisal Butt, Danish Anwar and headliner Eman.
In spite of the charter, Hersi has no qualms about coming here. “Hey, I studied in Belgium and I spent time in France,” notes the Toronto-born and raised comic, “and there’s nothing in the world quite like European racism. Once you’ve experienced that, everything else is like child’s play.”
Hersi has played Montreal several times and has encountered no difficulty. “Of course, I’m doing standup in front of English audiences. I just happened to remember that every time I took shots in past visits at the Parti Québécois, in my own passive-aggressive manner, I got great response from the audience. I guess we’re on the same page there.”
Hersi’s comedy straddles everything from religion to feminism to more mundane topics, like Facebook addiction, “that unite most and that aren’t driven by colour or creed.”
Here’s an interesting factoid about Hersi: She attended the same “really Caucasian” high school, Richview Collegiate Institute, as our prime minister.
“If I make it big, Stephen Harper and I will stand out as the two most famous alumni of Richview, and I will spread that news on Facebook like herpes,” she muses. “That’s how white my life has been.” Taking Comedy Hostage: The Muslim Comedy Show, Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Comedy Nest, 2313 SteCatherine St. W. Tickets cost $10 with reservations; $12 at the door. Call 514-9326378.
Montreal comic Keith
Waterfield cares. He really cares. So much so that he has launched Life Lessons as a form of therapy for local performers and/or their suffering significant others.
But one human’s therapy is another human’s notion of high humour, so it’s fitting that Life Lessons is presented in front of a live audience.
Along with co-host Leighland Beckman, the ever-amusing musician/comic of Aural Turpitude fame, Waterfield stages another monthly edition of Life Lessons Saturday at 8 p.m. at Théâtre Sainte Catherine. Among the four guests they will be probing is Monika Schmidt, fiancée of comic and thesp Mike Paterson; one can only imagine what kind of tales she has to tell about cohabiting with the madcap mullet-man.
Waterfield describes this comedic talk show as “Dick Cavett meets Marc Maron meets alcohol.” Say no more — we’re there. Seriously, all the comic elements are covered here.
“We interview guests separately about a depressing, honest, sometimes embar- rassing story and we try to find the humour in these stories,” Waterfield explains. “The guests are encouraged to answer questions about the darkest moments of their lives, bolstered by their alcohol of choice. We then offer sound advice, followed by a prescription for future success.”
Waterfield reports that audience members can often relate to the angst of the interview subjects, and can learn from the Life Lessons.
“At one of our earlier sessions, we all learned it is never wise to go away on a vacation with a significant other who had previously tried to stab you,” he says.
For the record, this love unit is no longer.
Among the guests who have been grilled are star comic DeAnne Smith, the ever-fab actress/burlesque artiste Holly Gauthier-Frankel (Miss Sugarpuss) and performer/ playwright Gerard Harris, creator of Verbal Diarrhea — the Montreal Fringe Fest hit, that is.
Audience members can expect Schmidt to be particu- larly forthcoming, since her soon-to-be hubby won’t be in attendance. Paterson will be on another stage Saturday, performing in Glengarry Glen Ross at the Segal Centre.
And if Waterfield’s Life Lessons therapy doesn’t do the trick for Schmidt, comic/ actor Alain Mercieca will be popping up on stage to offer the subjects an alternative: his Death Lessons.
Life Lessons, Saturday at 8 p.m. at Theatre Sainte Catherine, 264 Ste-Catherine St. E. Admission costs $10; $8 for students. Call 514-2843939 or visit theatrestecatherine.com. Tragedy struck Jeff Gandell about 15 years ago. Clumps of hair began falling from his scalp. Horror of horrors: he was becoming bald. Then the race began to lose his virginity before he lost all his hair.
Such is the dilemma Gandell painfully recounts in the brutally honest yet comical confessional The Balding, a one-man show that was a hit at last summer’s Fringe fest. For those who missed it, Gandell has brought back The Balding for a run at the MainLine Theatre until Sunday.
Gandell has been paying dues as a raconteur and improviser around town. He was the winner of the 2013 Wired on Words contest, sponsored by CKUT radio. He is also the host of Yarn, a monthly evening of comedic tall-tale-spinning. He could well morph into Montreal’s answer to late, great New York storyteller/ actor/writer Spalding Gray one day.
Jeff Gandell reprises his solo show The Balding Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at MainLine Theatre, 3997 St-Laurent Blvd. Tickets cost $12; $10 for seniors, students and Quebec Drama Federation members. Call 514-8493378 or visit mainlinetheatre.ca.
The last time Tommy Tiernan was in town, he made this declaration: “I would rather play invisible fiddle in the dark than give in to a life of logic and sequential rationality.”
No worries about that happening. Certainly not when the ever irascible, ever hysterical Irish wit returns to town with his latest one-man show, Tommy Tiernan Live, July 21 to 26 at the Gesù as part of Just for Laughs.
Tiernan has a special connection with Montreal. He has already done Just for Laughs here six times and is, without question, one of its most popular attractions. He feels comfortable in the city. He really likes the fact he can go to a café to procure anything from “a latte to heroin to a false passport.”
Tommy Tiernan Live, July 21 to 26 at 7 p.m. at the Gesù, 1200 Bleury St. Tickets cost $39.50. Call 514-845-2322 or visit hahaha.com.