At last! The Cottage Country Comedy Festival made it to the Gravenhurst Opera House in 2011 on the evening of 23 June for the Gala Opening of its fourth summer season. In the deeply Muskokan atmosphere of a seemingly simple set, the comedians are encouraged to get their words flowing, with the well-timed silences and human and non-human sounds that are all part of the process. The CBC was filming and recording, and so picked up the boisterous enthusiasm of an audience more than ready for an evening that was clearly beyond their high expectations.
As Bracebridge native Tyler Morrison, Creative Director, and multi-award winner, writes on the CCCF website, the festival brings “comedians together from all over the world for a great weekend filled with laughs and a true Muskokan experience”. The intention here is, “to build shows with a dynamic all killer no filler appeal... the energy is very tangible, something that the audience can feel through the performances.”
Last night that energy bounced back and forth between audience and comedians as I have rarely seen happen at the Gravenhurst Opera House since Dave Broadfoot's First Final Tour in 2001. When we delighted in Dave, we were witnessing the mature talent of a Canadian icon, ever fresh and youthful.
On 23 June 2011, we heard a performer shout how thrilled he was to crown his career by making it to the stage of the Gravenhurst Opera House. Part of the laugh there included our knowledge that, like all his buddies on stage that evening, he has much to look forward to. And so have we. This is a young show, which perhaps partly explains the thread of pre-occupation with aging.
Unknown to the team, near the back of the hall was an 80-year-old reviewer-blogger who had decided to leave her notebook at home and just enjoy the show. The Cottage Country Comedy Festival with comic after comic prancing onto the stage did not seem an occasion to crouch in the dark making frantic notes in invisible writing.
The CCCF rampage continues at The Rosseau on 24 June and Port Carling Community Centre on 25 June. Bracebridge’s Griffin Pub on 12 August and the Rene M. Caisse Theatre on 13 August, as can be seen and heard on the CCCF website http://www.cottagecomedy.com/
They are updating it as I type. It’s a very generous, entertaining and informative site, with video samplings, also letting us glimpse part of the set, to whet appetites.
Click to return to the Gravenhurst Opera House website.
http://www.gravenhurstoperahouse.com/
Click to return to the Gravenhurst Opera House website.
