Jacques and Awe: The Best of 25 Years on the Fringe

Attending Jacques and Awe: The Best of 25 Years on the Fringe last night was like attending a roast for Jacques Lalonde wherein he was honouring himself. I should have picked up on this right away. Waiting to get in, Jacques came out dressed as Jean Chretien with a Canadian tie and hugged older men in the line-up. Other younger men with movie cameras moved in front of me to capture the greetings. When I tried to start conversations with some of the men in the line-up they wouldn’t answer. Seriously. In 25 years I have attended the Fringe I never had this feeling like I did not belong. I should have left then.

The roast included a slideshow down a memory lane featuring none other than Jacques. Did he say he did a show in 1991 called Self-Indulgence? Could this be a remake? Apparently he owes his career to the Fringe, who knew? I guess many in the audience did. 

I enjoyed the Striken Jays and The Shiny Buckle Band who opened the show and then filled in when Jenny Magenta in The Goddess missed her cue. The band’s rendition of Poco Polka with its Mary Hill Bypass, and Rococo Condos was fabulous.

I guess I have to say something about Jenny. To be perfectly honest, I found this performance sexist and inappropriate, however you have to remember it wasn’t for me. The song 'Imagine' about the Stanley Cup was also in poor taste. 

I suspect that Jacques must have been going for the awe- in awesome. But for me he was a larger-than-life theatre personality doing an awful shtick.

There is only one performance of this. And at least now I know conclusively that even if someone gave me front row tickets to see Kenny Rogers, I will decline. It’s just not for me.