Montreal Comedy Clubs

Shane Mauss ‘Jokes to Make My Parents Proud’ To Be Released by COMEDY CENTRAL Records(R) Digitally on March 9

Shane Mauss ‘Jokes to Make My Parents Proud’ To Be Released by COMEDY CENTRAL Records(R) Digitally on March 9
Comedian/writer Shaun Mauss comes to COMEDY CENTRAL Records with his debut album “Jokes to Make My Parents Proud.” Â The digital album will be available on iTunes, eMusic and all other major download sites on March 9.

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Music Calendar, updated March 5

Music Calendar, updated March 5
THIS WEEKRock/Pop/R&B Reggae MARCHTribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber: Bob Lappin, Palm Beach Pops with soprano Tamra Hayden, tenor David Burnham. Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, 8 p.m., March 2-3. $29-$89. Also: Palm Beach Community College , Eissey Campus Theatre, 11051 Campus Drive , Palm Beach Gardens, 8 p.m., March 7. Train: Revolution, Fort Lauderdale, 8 p.m. March 4. $27.Kenny Vance and The …

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The Great Doug Stanhope

Doug Stanhope, born March 25, 1967, is a critically-acclaimed American stand–up comedian, influenced by the likes of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison, and currently residing in the small U.S.-Mexico border town of Bisbee, Arizona.

Stanhope’s career began in 1990 in Las Vegas, Nevada, while he was working in telemarketing. According to his own website, his original ambition was to get “free beer and maybe the attention of chicks who wouldn’t otherwise talk to him”, but Stanhope proved to have a penchant for making people laugh and started working the comedy circuit.

Since 1998 he has released 5 comedy albums, The Great White Stanhope, Sicko, Something to Take the Edge Off, Die Laughing and Deadbeat Hero, all displaying Stanhope’s brand of black humour, ranging from true-life graphic perversion to volatile social criticism. As Doug often states onstage, it is not an act for everyone, and includes none of the observational humour often done by American comedians.

One of the mainstays of Stanhope’s act is to try to enlighten the audience or make them see a situation from a different perspective. For example, he often advocates, in an extremely acerbic, yet humorous manner, that people unsatisfied with their 9-5 existence try to find an alternative, rather than working harder for material gain. As he sees it, unless it is a labour of love and they would do it for free, there’s no point to it, hopefully giving those unsatisfied with their current situation, be that working in clothing stores in Cincinnati or serviced offices in London a catalyst for change.

Stanhope has made appearances at several major comedy festivals, including the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, the Chicago Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where in 2002 he won the Strathmore Press Award. Stanhope was in 2006 voted GQ’s Comedian of the Year.

2007 saw Stanhope make two TV specials – one for Channel 4 Comedy Lab, filmed at the Caves in Edinburgh and one for US TV network Showtime, recorded at The Gotham Comedy Club in New York City, later released on DVD.

As a commentator of US politics, Stanhope intended to formally declare his presidential candidacy for 2008 during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show in May 2007, but ultimately had to pull out due to restrictions by the Federal Election Commission, meaning he would not be able to receive personal income from his comedy appearances and website if he was to use them to campaign. Instead, Doug chose to endorse libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Ultimately, American politics’ loss is our gain, as it means Stanhope will be on the comedy circuit for years to come, providing his loyal audience with laughs and insight into and what he sees as an ever-conforming world.

Melbourne – The City that Likes to Laugh

Melbourne is a popular city that offers good shopping, bars and excellent cuisine. In the Central Business District you can spend hours just sitting at one of the stylish pavement cafes watching the crowds go by. Melbourneâ??s location near to Port Phillip Bay makes it ideal for a holiday and there are numerous luxury and comfortable Melbourne hotels providing accommodation to the large numbers of tourists who visit annually.

The city centerâ??s main attractions can be found in the areas of the Docklands, Eureka Tower, Queen Victoria Market and Southgate. Federation Square is where everyone arranges to meet up and locals and visitors gather here for its cultural experiences, places to eat and , and shopping. Albert Park, Carlton, Richmond, and South Yarra are other places of interest, and St. Kilda is one of the most picturesque points of the Bay just a short distance from the city with sandy beaches.

If you are looking for somewhere to eat then head to Fitzroy, home to Melbourne’s bohemians, the streets here are full of alternative shops and artistic events, itâ??s also a focal point for the September Melbourne Fringe Festival, a celebration of the independent arts scene. Or do a little shopping at Smith Street in Collingwood and Chapel Street at Prahran, a stylish and fashionable destination with over 300 unique and diverse stores full of style and personality.

Melbourne is a city that likes to laugh and this is reflected in the number of comedy clubs and events that are organized in various venues. The annual Melbourne International Comedy Festival is one of the more popular events that attract thousands to its exciting line-up, and is up there alongside the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Montrealâ??s Just for Laughs Festival. It takes over the city every autumn with its adventuress timetable of stand-up comedy, cabaret, theatre, street performance, film, television, radio and visual arts.

Barry Humphries and Peter Cook are responsible for setting up the festival and it has been going since its launch in 1987. Each year there are more than 400,000 who come to see its local and international comedians and it is now Australiaâ??s largest cultural event. Tickets are reasonably priced making it available for travelers, tourists and locals to enjoy the 3 week event.

Not the only comedy venue in Melbourne, there are other clubs that have open-mic nights where anybody who so wishes can get up and try to tickle a few ribs. One such venue is Dog’s Bar, where every Thursday night they organize a comedy night with open-mic. The event originally started off in a small private room back in 2004 after it was seen how popular the Melbourne Festival was, and has been going ever since. Now a regular weekly event it advertises an intimate audience experience and everyone gets a chance to stand up and see if they can make the audience laugh, irrelevant of whom they are.

The Last Laugh Comedy Club was established in 1975 and is based at the Athenaeum Theatre. The club has seen all kinds of comedians pass through its doors, and been host to some of Australia’s, and the worlds, funniest comedians. The line up is changed constantly and some of the big names you might be familiar with include Alexei Sayle, Ben Elton, David Strassman, Wendy Harmer, Rita Rudner and Richard Stubbs.

The Comic’s Lounge in Sydney has live comedy 6 nights a week with big names from TV and radio making an appearance. If you prefer stand-up, improvisation, sketch or theatre they can accommodate everyones taste.

Melbourne receives a great number of tourists every year that are accommodated for with a range of luxury, middle and budget hotels. Check out Melbourne hotels online for a choice of accommodation to find one that suits your budget and needs. If you’re looking for places to stay in Melbourne that offer family accommodation or require full cooking facilities, you should be able to find what youâ??re looking for with an apartment in Melbourne.

Hey: Are You Having Fun — Yet?

“A word to the wise ain’t necessary ? it’s the stupid ones that need the advice.”
Bill Cosby

When you look around the world today, it seems that a lot of the fun has gone out of our lives. We take ourselves and life so seriously, we have stopped enjoying what we are doing.

Fun is something that provides amusement or enjoyment in your life.

So — in the spirit of the topic — this article is written with fun.

To be sure, there are somber moments and times when fun is not appropriate for the day. But if fun is never part of your day, week, and life, you may notice you have fewer friends than you could or should.

Some individuals feel that because the world is filled with so much violence and horror, having fun must be banned from their life. Our response is: it’s time to get a life. In fact, if you are not having fun in your life, your success is being severely hindered.

If I were to call your closest friends and work colleagues, what would they say about your Fun Factor? Would there be enough evidence to prove you are enjoying life or would you be guilty of drinking sour-prune juice?

We should translate fun into all areas of our life. Work, home, relationships, hobbies ? what area in your life can use improvement?

Here’s an example. Everyone’s work environment can be intense with deadlines; excellence is required in all our projects, but we try not to take ourselves seriously. Fun is an attitude, a choice, a philosophy about life.

Recently, the staff decided that creating significant stress in my life was fun, so they conspired to fake the loss of all our data on the server. It took them several days of prep (which I have since deducted from their pay) so they could enjoy my 180 seconds of terror. The real fun will begin when I finish getting even!

There is medical evidence that humor and fun improve your health. Norm Cousins, in his book The Anatomy of an Illness, watched Three Stooges movies while in hospital, to heal himself. Laughing and having fun produces endorphins that strengthen your immune system and overall health.

Think about it. Have you ever laughed so hard, you could hardly breathe? How did that make you feel? Amazingly good, right?

I encourage you to be aware of the way fun and enjoyment can be part of most of your life. Admittedly, in the last year, I personally was not having as much fun at home as I had in the past because of my busy work schedules and the demands of building CRG. We have changed that through my intention to make sure that fun, humor, and enjoyment are part of my family life.

Think back to the Pink Panther movies with Inspector Clouseau. In one movie, the Inspector hires Kato, a martial arts expert, to surprise him without warning. I have started that game with my 8-year-old son. We play it almost daily.

You don’t have to do what I’ve suggested — just get with the program of enjoying yourself and having fun. That will be unique to each person reading this article so identify your own list of fun activities.

Twenty years ago, Montreal started the week-long Just for Laughs Comedy Festival; nobody thought it would work, but now several cities around the world host these festivals. Apparently, we like to laugh.

10 Steps to Having Fun and Enjoying Life

1. Would your closest friends say you are fun to be around or . . .? If you are not having fun, yet, get with the program.
2. Think about the different parts of your life: work, home, and leisure time. Are you having fun in most of them? If not, think of what you have to change to achieve it.
3. Lighten up!
4. Take your life seriously, but not yourself.
5. This week, engage in activities that make you laugh. Rent a funny movie; go to a comedy club; invite funny friends over; if you don’t have any funny friends, rent some.
6. Life is busy; schedule your fun activities. Stop feeling guilty about the fun you are having. There is no redeeming value in being sincerely miserable on behalf of the world and your life.
7. Give your fun factor away. Become a Funmaster for others.
8. If you are unable to have fun or are not enjoyable to be with, please do us all a favor and limit your contact with others.
9. Question 8 was a test; if you got defensive after reading it, you failed the fun test. Return to the beginning of this article and start over; keep repeating this process until Action Step 8 no longer offends you.
10. It you are reading this Action Step, you got past the test question in number 8. Congratulations! Are you having fun, yet?

Until next time, keep “Living On Purpose.”
Ken Keis

Jim Carrey pal sentenced for sex assault

Jim Carrey pal sentenced for sex assault
BELLEVILLE, Ont. – Wayne Flemming, a longtime clubs comic, actor and “best buddy” of Jim Carrey, has been sentenced to 18 months probation after pleading guilty to sexual assault involving a teenaged girl.

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Comic Mo’Nique takes dramatic turn in “Precious”

Given the buzz that now surrounds her performance in Precious, Mo’Nique made the right decision. But her enthusiasm for the role of Mary Jones, the abusive mother of an overweight New York teenager, was tempered by the need to draw on traumatic events from her private life.

“Lee Daniels said to me, ‘Bitch, how do you make me hate you and feel sorry for you at the same time?’ ” she remembers. The answer lay in her own experiences growing up in Baltimore County, Md.

“I was molested,” she says, referring to a family member. “I won’t say I’m a victim, because to me that means I’m carrying it with me. But it happened in my life, and I don’t wish that on anybody. It started when I was about 7 years old and went on for a few years.”

Mo’Nique draws on a reservoir of emotion that might surprise those who know her best as the flamboyant comedienne who has starred on TV series like “The Parkers.”

But when she came to shoot, she didn’t dwell on it. “When it’s done, it’s done,” she says. “We never looked at dailies, we never went back over it. Everybody asked, ‘How do you know what to do?’ Well, I trust Lee Daniels and he trusts his actors. Some people, you’d be like, ‘Wait a minute, sugar!’ Not one time did I ever say, ‘Wait a minute, Lee, I don’t see this character like that.’”

She adds of characters like Mary, “You see them as monsters. You want to judge them and walk away saying, ‘I hated that person.’ But I don’t hate Mary Jones. I’m sad for Mary Jones. Mary Jones is mentally ill, has spent her life being sick, but nobody ever paid attention — including Mary Jones.”

In her own life, Mo’Nique has found love with her husband of three years, Sidney Hicks, whom she has known since adolescence. Twice divorced before that, she is also the mother of young twins.

She still finds time for a career in comedy, having delivered her first public performance during an open mike night at Baltimore’s Comedy Factory in 1991. She was able to leave work — including a job as supervisor at a phone-sex company — and pursue her craft full time.

Appearances on “Showtime at the Apollo” and HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” followed. Mo’Nique also opened an eponymous comedy club in Baltimore and played the Montreal Comedy Festival.

Then came a five-year, award-winning run on UPN’s “The Parkers” and appearances in such movies as “Phat Girlz” and “Soul Plane.”

Did she worry about alienating her comedy audience when she did “Precious”? “No,” she says. “I trust that they recognize this is entertainment, this is acting. They won’t say, ‘Oh, we can’t imagine Mo’Nique doing anything that doesn’t make me laugh.’ “

Daniels had previously cast Mo’Nique in his debut movie, “Shadowboxer,” as the drug-addicted girlfriend of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character, so he was confident of her acting abilities.

Now she intends to continue pursuing dramatic roles. “They keep telling me I’m an actress; I keep telling them I’m a stand-up comedian; they keep giving me these parts. I’m like, ‘For real? OK!’”

One project has particular personal resonance. “I own the rights to (Oscar-winning “Gone with the Wind” co-star) Hattie McDaniel’s life story, and I can’t wait to tell that story, because that woman was absolutely amazing. She had to stand up to the adversity of black and white (society) at a time when we really weren’t accepted. Mr. Lee Daniels is going to direct it, of course, and I’m going to be Miss Hattie McDaniel. I really hope I can do that woman justice.”

Comedy remains Mo’Nique’s professional priority, and she recently started a late-night talk show for BET.

“I love to get on that stage, honey, and make you laugh until you pee on yourself,” she exclaims. “That’s my baby. I will never stop stand-up. I will be 97 years old, with two teeth and maybe a bit of hair, and I will be on that stage hoping they’re having as much (fun) as I’m having.”

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Al Madrigal to play the Punch Line

Al Madrigal to play the Punch Line
Comedian playing hometown Comedian Al Madrigal heads back to his hometown this weekend for a series of shows at the Punch Line ( www.punchlinecomedyclub.com). Madrigal grew up in the Inner Sunset in the 1970s and ’80s – “a weird place,” he said, “where there…

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