Capt. Mondo's World o' Mondo-ness

At the Launch of The Frantics' Older But Wider Tour
I met Glenn A., a friend of mine and a long-time fan of The Frantics at the Tim Sims Theater. He had been dying to see one of their shows, and this was his first chance to do so. We got into the queue and we had a beer while waiting in line to get to our seats (the only way to queue). Managed to grab a good seat in the second row (first row in the Tim Sims Theatre is mere inches away from the performers), and we ordered the first of what would be a couple of pitchers of Rickers Red.

On stage were 3 large Roots bags. The stage went dark, and Peter emerges at the piano at the side of the stage, and the others appear from behind the curtain. We get a song and dance number sending up brand culture, and ending with one improbable product -- a fun start but I thought the punchline pretty predictable. Having heard just yesterday that assault rifle manufacturer Kalashnikov has just put their stamp on a brand of Vodka, it didn't have the stronger punch I would have liked. It soon became obvious that this first set were generally filled with newer skits that they were trying on for size, sprinkled in with a few solidly good skits that have debuted before. A highlight for me was seeing Dan Redican reprise his "Mr. Interesting" character -- I was in the same theatre years ago for one of the CBC radio tapings of his comedy show featuring this character, so seeing that character on stage again was a coming-round-full-circle experience for me. My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to remember the skits I recognized from previous show including: "Good Shit", "Wooing Women", "I Want", "Einstein Song", "Timmy", "Hotel Porno" and "Baseball Spitting" – all of them solid skits. The first set ended with a rousing version of the song "Dutch Cowboys". Glenn is of Dutch ancestry and he was still laughing at that one when the lights went up. Critically speaking, the first session was a bit spotty. Good, but not great, which is only fair when trying out bits for the first time.

The second set was killer. This is where they got their "A" material out, and they flattened the audience with it -- all rolling-in-the-aisles stuff.

One key difference with this show was the addition of better props and costumes, which was evident in the first sketch on the second set that featured a Viking family getting their dishwasher fixed by the Maytag repairman. Something about seeing Dan Redican wearing a breastplate and blonde pigtails and Paul Chato dressed as a wizened crone helped pump the laughs to the next level. Another of the more memorable skits that I hadn't seen before was what I would call "e-Withdrawal", as a company executive forcibly removes the cellphones, pagers and Blackberries from his staff in order to hold a face-to-face meeting. Seeing Peter go through this cold turkey had me in stitches. (Glenn is even more of a Blackberry fiend than I, and he too was howling with laughter. Both of us identified with the whole situation -- there isn't a meeting I go to these days where half the people either have their notebooks or are working a Blackberry – and that often includes me. So true, and consequently hysterically funny.) There was also "Now You Tell Us" skit (gay man comes out of the closet at his Mom's funeral; rest of family resents him not for being gay, but because he didn't give them all a "Queer Eye" treatment sooner) which has developed into really solid ensemble piece, the "Canadian Recruitment Center" skit (featuring the "Ed Gruberman" character from the classic "Tae Quon Leep" skit) who finds the Canadian military far too wimpy for his Rambo mentality, and the "Stop Hitting Me" skit, which has also become a classic. The show finished with the double-punch of the over-the-top-ridiculousness of the "Every Star Trek Episode in Under 5 Minutes" skit by Paul and Rick, and then the "Menarche on the Go Train" skit. By this point my sides were seriously hurting from so much laughter.

Just before the conclusion of this show Rick announced that their "Official Bootleg" CD wasn't available yet, and was expected by the end of the week – which is when they are having their first on-the-road show for their tour in Peterborough, Peter Wildman's home town. He also hinted that a possible TV production may also be in the works, which is major news.

Glenn wanted to talk to Rick Green about how much he enjoyed his "Prisoners of Gravity" show from about 10 or so years ago, and he told us that apparently that show has been revived on Book TV, and that it seems to hold up well, even after all this time. Glenn didn't get the chance to tell Rick all he wanted to, but there's the next show.

A great night out -– The Frantics were definitely at their best with that show.

I was very hung-over the next morning. Well worth it though...