Guest festival blogger and local funny man Jon Mick gives Punctuate! Theatre‘s Vice Versa 19 stars! Catch Vice Versa this Wednesday, Jan 30 at 7:30pm and Friday, February 1 at 7:30pm at C103.
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Death can be hilarious. It’s hard to believe but it is true. Think about the time you chuckled when you heard about some poor soul getting crushed by 2 tonnes of marshmallows or when an action hero delivers a hilarious line before dispatching one of his many on-screen foes. Even in my own life, when I lost my grandfather as a child, my family and I were spreading his ashes when a large gust of wind picked up and blew his remains right into my face and I went running around screaming “I’VE GOT GRANDPA IN MY EYE, I’VE GOT GRANDPA IN MY EYE!”
Death can be hilarious, it just takes the right people to show you the comedy in it. This is where Tonk and Fozby, the two heroes in the hilarious clown show Vice Versa come in. The play is about this father and son duo are trying to come to terms with the loss of their wife and mother respectively. Throughout the show we are treated to all different sorts of coping mechanisms and ways to deal with finality. Whether it be through drink (a beer bong extravaganza), food (HOT DOGS!), romance (a dinner date with a blow up doll), music (Supertramp!) or sheer feats of strength (Sword fight!) we find Tonk and Fozby navigating all different sorts of emotions and finding many different ways to laugh in the face of death. Death is never easy, not by a long shot, but the people behind this hilarious work show us that at the very least it can be good for a laugh.
19 stars! Great work! Now beer bong me!
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About Jon:
Jon Mick is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He can do these things all at once or one at a time, it’s really up to you. He has performed at various festivals, including NXNE, Sled Island and Improvaganza, and has opened for the likes of Maria Bamford, Neil Hamburger, Tig Notaro and Brody Stevens. Jon has two stand up albums entitled “Who Knew?” and “Beardmilk”. He has written and acted in/for a nationally broadcast sketch show, can be found in puppet form in the Felt Up! webseries and is often putting on over the top extravaganzas at the Garneau Theatre. Really, Jon is just a funny guy who wants you to have fun with him. He also love perogies, The Bob Newhart show and was the Northern Alberta Connect 4 champion circa 1997, 98, 99.