We've got it all right here, folks! Everything that's ever been written up, photographed, and discussed on the Sad Mag website. Enjoy browsing our archives!
Sad Mag has a big ol crush on Christine McAvoy. Not only does she frequently adorn our release parties and bacchanals with her charming photobooths, capturing Sad Mag party-goers and performers alike (so you can never forget your best Vanimal costume), but she also contributed her analog photography skills to Issue 10– the first time she has been featured in our print pages! She’s also a megababe who knows the best things to eat and drink in the city, which might be the most valuable quality a person can possess. Here’s our Q&A so you can get to know her better:
Sad Mag: Who are you?
Christine McAvoy: I’m Christine and I’m a photographer… of many things!
SM: What did you photograph for Sad Mag #10?
CM: Some of Sad Mag’s favourite Drag Kings and Queens wearing eco-friendly costumes, doing an eco-friendly activity [for the Green Queens feature]! It was a lot of fun.
SM: What’s your favourite location in Vancouver for a shoot?<
CM: Any any of Vancouver’s best restaurants, does that count? Hmm, or maybe the Vogue Theatre or Biltmore for live music… Other than that, there are very few natural landscapes in Vancouver that aren’t ideal to shoot at…this place is beautiful.
SM: What was your first camera?
CM: A Mickey Mouse camera that I got in Disney World in 1994. My brother and I were allowed to choose one souvenir, and that’s what I got… It took 110mm film and I loved it.
I still have it, and I’m sure it would still work if I knew where to get 110 film (and where to have it developed). I still remember sending the film away at Shoppers Drug Mart. And now I feel old, thanks.
SM: Who are your other favourite Vancouver photographers?
CM: Right now I’m on a Parallel 49 Brewing – Seedspitter Watermelon Wit kick…it’s AWESOME on a patio in the hot sun. Steamwhistle and Phillips Blue Buck are always my go-to beers. So ‘cold beer’ would be my answer.
SM: Favourite summer beach?
CM: Kits on a weekday when it’s not as busy. With raspberries, a hidden beer, and a book.
SM: Where can we find more of your work?
CM: A VAST majority of my work is on Vancouver Is Awesome, my portfolio is here (but it needs to be updated badly.)
Turning the tables on our usual Q&A, Liisa Hannus from Vancouver Is Awesome chatted with our fearless leader Katie Stewart about the transition to film photography and illustration. While we love the magic and possibility of digital photography and technology, all of our issues in 2012 will feature only analog art, including illustration and painting. Issue 9 (the Transplant issue, on stands now!) was the first to feature only print photography. It’s a decision worth explaining to our pals and readers, so read on for our rationale:
Liisa Hannus: What prompted you to go all analog for the photography and illustrations in this issue? Is there a connection to the theme?
Katie Stewart: Absolutely. The Transplant issue is about transition, in more ways than you might think. We’re not only looking at people who have transplanted from East to West and vice-versa, but lateral transitions across continuums of gender, sexuality, geography, and in this case, technology. In all of these movements, there is a sense of rawness and vulnerability. So we decided it would be really fitting to look at a lateral transition in artistic medium. From digital–which can be modified, enhanced, and photoshopped into something radically different–back to film and polaroid. This means you’re getting the raw deal. It may seem a little rough around the edges, but it is beautiful in its imperfection–just like Sad Mag really.
Katie Stewart, fearless leader
LH: With the prevalence of software like Instragram that gives people the instant ability to apply a “film” look to digital images, do you think Sad Mag’s readers will notice any difference? Or was it mainly as a challenge for yourselves, to add a challenge to what you do?
KS: Instagram is an amazing little tool, and frankly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t horribly addicted. I like that people are attracted to some of the traditional aesthetic qualities of film, but something I’ve also noticed is the prevalence of #nofilter images that come up on the feed. There is a certain reverence for images that are untouched. So will you be able to tell that the photographic images in the Transplant Issue of Sad Mag are film and Polaroid only? I think so–just look at the grain, not the pixels–and overall, the image quality is totally different. The photographers for this issue shot with 35mm, medium format (check out the double exposures by Angela Fama), old-school polaroid, Fuji Instax, and even shot with disposable plastic cameras. Was it a challenge? Hell yes.
LH: Were the contributing photographers already used to working with film, or was this a new experience for them?
KS: Photographers such as Jeff Downer, Wayne Webb, and Ryan Walter Wagner shoot film regularly, so they were a really good fit for the issue. Other photographers, such as Leigh Righton–who is an extremely talented digital photographer (check out her shots of David Lynch)–had to put their favorite digital cameras away and source out film cameras specifically for the shoot. Even Brandon Gaukel, Sad Mag’s founding creative director, did his shoot with a disposable camera–brave boy.
geneva.b shot by Katie Stewart for the Transplant issue.
LH: What kind of challenges did this approach present for the Sad team?
KS: Puns aside, with film you only get one shot. You can’t see your results immediately so you really have to rely on your mad skills and hope to hell that when your film comes back it looks good. There is also a limit to how many photos you can actually take. 12 exposures isn’t a lot. And polaroid film packs you get even less. There are obviously cost constraints. Film ain’t cheap. We were really lucky to have our developing and scanning provided by The Lab (www.thelabvancouver.com), otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to make this issue look the way it does.
LH: How did it change the production process?
KS: Ironically, it made it really smooth in the production phase. It puts more responsibility/pressure on the artist to produce an image that, sans photoshop, can be published. So by the time we’re in production, there is really barely any editing to do, other than color balancing to the magazine proof, so when we print it, it looks like the original.
Shad, photographed by Leigh Righton for the Transplant Issue
LH: You mentioned that Kevin Kerr from Electric Company gave you some interesting feedback. How did that conversation happen and what did he have to say about this project?
KS: One of our writers, Ralph Bingham, sat down with Kerr and interviewed him in light of his play, Studies in Motion, which deals with the transition of film to motion picture. I guess you could say he has a vested interest in these types of transitions. Kerr is a brilliant playwright–we’re lucky to have him in Vancouver. Not surprisingly, he’s an eloquent speaker and writer. (Web editor’s note: We’ll be posting an interview with him on SadMag.ca later this week)
Iris and Diana Taborsky-Tasa, featured in the Transplant Issue. Photo by Angela Fama
LH: Now that you’ve done it, do you think you’ll do another all-film issue again, or perhaps look to using a mix of film and digital art work in future issues?
KS: If we have any digital images we’d like to use, they go up on the Sad Mag website. Only film, polaroid, and illustration make it to print. As long as no one closes all the photo developing places in Vancouver, I want to do an entire year (4 issues) of film/Polaroid. Even just from looking at the Transplant issue, it has radically changed the caliber of images we print. Pick up an issue–tell us what you think.
Tara Mahoney is one half of the Gen Why Media Project dream team, a “community building project that uses public art, participatory media, events and intergenerational dialogues to engage society in new forms of civic participation.” Given their commitment to community engagement, it makes perfect sense they would be part of the force behind this Monday’s Reimagine CBC Celebration. We talked to Tara about the event and why you should get involved in your public media.
Sad Mag: Hi Tara! Who are you and what do you do?
Tara Mahoney: I’m the co-founder and creative director of the Gen Why Media Project. The GWMP is a community building project that uses media, public art, events and intergenerational dialogue to engage society in new forms of public participation.
TM: We strongly believe in public media. We need a non-commercial provider to conenct us with the rest of our country, promote democracy and explore knowledge about ourselves and our culture, even if it’s not profitable. Commercial broadcaster cannot do that to the same extend as public media can. So that’s why when Open Media approached us about hosting Reimagine CBC event, we were totally on board. It’s an honor to be a part of a movement that encourages people to come together in a creative and generative way around such a deeply Canadian institution.
SM: How did OpenMedia and Leadnow.ca get involved? How do your organizations fit together?
TM: OM and LN both exist to promote civic engagement (in one way or another) and so do we. We have different approaches and focuses but ultimately we are trying to accomplish the same the goal, so it makes sense for us to join forces. Plus they are wonderful people and good friends.
SM: The CBC has such longevity as a Canadian institution. What makes it so beloved? How do they stay relevant?
TM: The CBC does many things very well and it has done a good job of innovating with technology – especially with their radio offerings. I think the one thing that keeps them relevant is that they reflect our Canadian identity back to us. They feel like a family member – a reliable and trusted source of knowledge. That is a profound and strong foundation to build on.
SM: What are you most excited about with the Reimagine CBC Celebration?
TM: Hm, that’s a hard one. I’m really excited about everything, we have an amazing group of participants. It will be great to see Wade Davis speak and hear a story from Ivan, and Steve Pratt always dazzles with his visions for innovation and the music will be great, it’s all exciting!
SM: What is your hope for the dialogues generated during the event?
TM: My hope for the dialogues is that people walk away feeling good and positive about how we can shape our public media together. I want people to feel like they have a stake in the CBC and responsibility to protect it, while also imagining the possibilities for the future.
SM: Do you have a vision for the future of the CBC?
TM: I think I’d be cool to see it be more open and integrated into communities so as to promote more cultural production. There is so much talent in this country, it’d be great to see the CBC as a platform that encourages and promotes crowd-sourced cultural innovation.
Sarah Swinwood has been performing at Hip Hop Karaoke since May 2011! And she generously lent us some of her remaining time in No Fun City before she moves to NYC!
Read on to learn about this fab lady of the Fortune Sound Club stage!
Sad Mag: Where are you from and where are you headed?
Sarah Swinwood: I am from Ottawa, Montreal, Ireland. Peru, and I am headed to New York City.
SM: How did you first hear about Hip Hop Karaoke?
SS: I saw it on a flyer when I came to stay in Vancouver for awhile May 2011. I rap and write songs, so of course everyone said, “You gotta do this, you have to sign up!”
SM: What was your favorite song that you performed?
SM: How often do you practice a song before going on stage?
SS: Usually not very much, I choose songs that I know by heart, inside out and upside down. I want to do justice to my favorite jams so I usually listen and read over the lyrics to brush up a few hours before.
SM: What do you love about performing at Hip Hop Karaoke?
SS: Fortune has the best sound system. The stage set up is perfect, and it’s always a packed, hyped audience. Flip-Out and Seko hold it down on the stage, and Chadillac, Paul Gt, Chris Dzaka and all the Fortune staff make it such a welcoming, comfortable experience. Overall I would say the sound system and audience enthusiasm knock it out of the park.
SM: Do you do any other live performing?
SS: I am also and MC/ Sarah Tone In, so I do my own shows, and also stand up comedy at other places around the city and now New York.
SM: What are your thoughts about Vancity as you head East?
SS: Vancouver can be a tough nut to crack. It’s a younger city, and there is not a very big Jamaican community, which makes it difficult to trust at times. I like a city with strong multiculturalism and flavor. I am happy to be heading back east for these reason. My very favorite part about Vancouver was performing at this event, and of course, the mountains and the ocean.
SM: Where can we find you/listen to your stuff?
SS: I am in production now so I do not have much out yet – it is coming and it will be a sweet surprise! Just keep your ears open for Sarah Tone In the MC and Sarah Swinwood the Comedian. You will see me on David Letterman and the cover of iD magazine. Swoon! Lots of love, and take care.
Issue 9 Launch at Hip Hop Karaoke
May 14 2012
Fortune Sound Club (147 E Pender)
$3 before 10:30PM, includes a new issue! RSVP on Facebook
At Sad Mag HQ we take an interest in all art forms, or at least we try; personally, I can’t sit through a musical unless it was penned by Joss Whedon. But when we heard about a velvet art show, we were curious: velvet art? What is that, anyway? We inquired with Peter Short, one of hte curators of The ILL’N Velvet Show, about this rare and beautiful (one might say unicorn-esque) art form.
Sad Mag: Why velvet?
Peter Short: Velvet is so soft and smooth. It feels good against your mustache. It’s sexy yet sophisticated. Many people who hang velvet paintings also climb mountains and drink only the finest scotch. These are just a few reasons.
SM: What made you decide to do a whole show with velvet art?
PS: I think its safe for us all to admit just how bomb velvet paintings are. It’s true that the factory production of velvet paintings that existed in the 1970s was a bit of a bummer. Everyone was left with a cheesy impression of what velvet paintings could be but its just an unfortunate misconception. It was only a brief moment in the long history of paining on velvet. The medium has endless possibilities. We wanted to offer art lovers a different kind of gallery experience. The show is a celebration of the ILL’N Club’s second successful year in operation so we wanted to do something fun and unexpected.
SM: Is velvet art making a comeback?
PS: There has always been a desire and interest in velvet paintings. It never really went away. The problem is that the average art lover has to depend on the thrift or antique market for their supply of works on velvet. Quality paintings are only getting more scarce and desirable. Even ‘bad’ velvet paintings can have an outsider quality to them which is very sought after for some collectors. It’s sustained popularity has even necessitated a velvet museum called Velveteria which is now relocating to LA from Portland due to its growing popularity. They are seriously carrying the flame as well as the collectors of this great art form. Collectors whom we can only assume are mostly spies and secret agents. They like to come home after a hard day and puff on their pipes while getting the evening news from Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team.
SM: When was it in style, anyway?
PS: We’re not even sure, really. Archeology can only tell us so much but we know that it popped up soon after velvet was invented in Kashmir. It was once treated quite seriously and the paintings mostly dealt with religious iconography. Sacred images painted on what was then a seriously luxurious material. There are velvet paintings that are hanging in the Vatican to this day. Who knows. Maybe all the popes smoked the dope.
Jeff Downer: I can’t remember the last time I was bored. My favorite thing to do is to go where I have never been before. I am a photographer. But when I think of a photographer, I think of one who shoots manicured fingernails on a bed of diamonds, a freshly-washed, well groomed poodle, or a structurally accurate rendering of a building that looms large overhead.
I use the medium of photography to present to others what I find around me when I am haunting the streets that may otherwise go unnoticed. I think if I wasn’t photographing, I would like to own a nick-nack shack on the side of the road, selling strange oddities, horrible coffee, mediocre food, smoking cigarettes, somewhere lost in the deserts of New Mexico.
SM: Why did you transplant to Vancouver?
JD: I moved to Vancouver because the stagnant pressure of the suburbs was too intense. In high school I spent my time doing homework at the bus stop, scrawling mathematics — a subject I disregarded — using the metal pole as a surface to write, or reading Franny and Zooey for English on the long bus ride into the city. This is also where I met some close friends, others who were just as estranged by the suburbs as myself who put up with the long bus ride down the highway, through countless strip malls, suburban lawns, taking us to the then old, defunct Woodwards on Hastings. However, like most Vancouverites I know, give me one year and I will be thinking about leaving and moving elsewhere.
SM: What did you shoot for Issue 9?
JD: Photographs I took when I was hitchhiking across North America, shortly after I realized how much a 9-to-5 was the least congruent thing I could do to myself. It was like wearing one of those radiation protective jackets they stick on you at the dentists when making x-rays of your teeth; it was that heavy. The other was of a terrific restroom in an Elvis themed cafe, lost in the middle of the highway somewhere near Hells Gate, BC, that had the kookiest owner ever. Imagine an Elvis paraphernalia hoarder with two shih tzu’s that probably hadn’t talked to a single individual for the better half of the morning.
SM: What do you love about photography?
JD: I want to describe the world around me, and attempt to do this through the medium of photography. I photograph what is around me, things that are just there, things that I am interested in. I like the process of taking pictures, wondering around finding things that catch my eye. The photograph is secondary to this act of moving through the world, and is sort of a document of this process.
SM: Do you have a favourite photo?
JD: Yes I have one, but no one will ever see it.
SM: Favourite local photographer?
JD: Besides Bryan Adams (kidding), has to be Tim Barber, even though, he lives between Vancouver and New York. His “untitled photographs” are so alluring and are refreshing moments that loaded within the moment. Beautiful.
SM: Where can people see more of your work?
JD: If anyone is going to be in Boston, I am part of a group show opening Friday the 13th at the Presidents Gallery. I have two publications out, one called “Gol Nu Get Mote” but the first pressing is currently sold out, and a new book coming in May “[ver-seylz]”. I have a website too.
Catch Jeff’s photographs in Issue 9, on stands everywhere at the end of April!
Carmen Mathes is a writer, artist, and UBC PhD candidate who took time out of her busy schedule to chat with Sad Mag about her contributions to the upcoming Issue 9, plagerizing Jack London, and the best gymnastics video on YouTube. Read on!
Sad Mag: Who are you?
Carmen Mathes: I am an academic and a romantic, who is spending the next six months in the South of Germany reading poetry.
SM: What are you writing for Issue 9? CM: I’m interviewing two twins who, having grown up together and then settled at opposite ends of the country (Vancouver and Montreal), are both breaking into the Canadian fashion scene. Although they are going about “making it” in extremely different ways, both possess panache, style and sophisticated cosmopolitanism.
SM: What is the first piece of writing you were proud of? CM: I wrote a short story in grade three that was a rip-off of Jack London’s White Fang. The teacher read it aloud to the class and my cheeks were definitely flushed with pride the whole time.
SM: Favourite Vancouver authors? CM: Gillian Wigmore (although she’s based in Prince George) and Rachel Rose are two of my favourite Vancouver poets. I brought Gillian’s collection Soft Geography with me to Germany, and it’s currently living bedside.
SM: Favourite place in Vancouver to read and write? CM: Upstairs at Trilussa pizzeria on Main Street. Go say hi to Alessandro and he’ll make you a breakfast pizza with nutella, strawberries and parmigiano-reggiano.
SM: Best bookstore? CM: The miniature Pulp Fiction on West Broadway
SM: Current favourite YouTube video? CM: This 1979 recording of Russian gymnast Natalia Shaposhnikova’s bar routine, which I found on the wonderful Rick McCharles’s website GymnasticsCoaching.com.
SM: Favourite annual Vancouver event? CM: Eastside Culture Crawl!
SM: Where are you as you answer these questions? CM: Die Vogelhaus Café und Kaufhaus. I’m sitting on a cushion in a little space between the regular tables and the window. I’m at street level, looking out onto the Münzgasse in die Altstadt of Konstanz.
SM: Last album you listened to? CM: “The Goat Rodeo Sessions” from Yo Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile.
SM: What are you most excited about right now? CM: This new word I’ve just learned—Möglichkeit—which means “possibility” in German. That is how my life currently feels: filled with possibilities.
Rachel Aberle and Adrian Glynn McMorran, by David Cooper
In 1974, Leonard Cohen was asked why his album New Skin for the Old Ceremony was a failure in North America and the U.K. but a success in Europe. “Maybe it’s because they can’t understand my lyrics,” he replied. Both Cohen’s self-deprecating wit and the achingly sad poetry of his lyrics are on display in Tracy Power’s play Chelsea Hotel, which is at Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova St) until March 3. Chelsea Hotel adds inventive dance pieces and impressionistic storytelling to Leonard Cohen’s classic songs, often totally revamping their musical arrangements so fresh associations are created. The young cast scampers around a set made of paper filled with discarded poetry drafts, while adeptly switching off on an astounding variety of instruments. Adrian Glynn McMorran stars as the Writer, who acts out romantic regret and creative struggle and sings beautifully. His solo turn, a wrenching rendition of Tonight Will Be Fine, is a show highlight.
Theatregoers familiar with Cohen’s work will hear new and often faster paced versions of his songs, such as a sexy cabaret-infused I’m Your Man and an ironic hard-rocking take on American Idol favorite Hallelujah. The cast’s voices are very, well, different from Cohen’s self-admitted limited range. Neophytes to Cohen will find Chelsea Hotel an excellent introduction to Canada’s unofficial Poet Laureate. And any audience should relish the opportunity to appreciate the depth and beauty of Cohen’s catalogue.
Rachel Aberle is a cast standout, playing a Sister of Mercy – a combination nun, nurse, and muse – with playfulness and intelligence. Sadmag spoke to Rachel Aberle about Leonard Cohen’s current caché, wanting to be a muse, and the state of the theater scene in Vancouver.
Sad Mag: How familiar were you with Cohen’s work before you started Chelsea Hotel? how did your relationship to his work evolve as you were doing the play?
Rachel Aberle: To be honest, I wasn’t super familiar with Cohen prior to this summer when I started to do some research for the auditions. I was familiar with Hallelujah, as I guess pretty much everyone in North America is – but to be honest, the version I was familiar with first was the Jeff Buckley version – which I loved. I remember when I finally heard a recording of Cohen singing Hallelujah thinking, “This is awful! This guy can’t sing!” This was several years ago, in my late teens. The cast is all within about 10 years of each other in age, and we all talked about how Cohen’s voice was something that put us off when we were younger, that it’s something we’ve grown to appreciate as we’ve grown into adulthood. Can’t remember who, but one of the cast said at a talk-back that “Cohen’s not for kids,” and I think there’s something to that.
Through working on the show I’ve come to appreciate him so much, not only in terms of music, but in terms of incredible poetry. I’ve always been a pretty lyrics driven listener, and for that you can’t get much better than Cohen. He was a poet before he was a songwriter, and it shows.
SM: Yeah, i think that’s one of the great things in the show. You can appreciate the lyrics as a captive audience
?RA: that’s great to hear. It’s been a really interesting process to connect such poetic language to some kind of playable acting
SM: Were there any Leonard Cohen songs that you wish had been used in the play, or that you rehearsed and didn’t use?
RA: Those decisions were made before I came on board. We did change and add some of the poetry used in the piece – just certain pieces getting moved around or shortened or changed to other things that Tracey felt told the story and got the audience on board faster and more effectively than what she had originally chosen. Because my knowledge of Cohen was admittedly pretty low before the show, and because we use so many songs (27 to be precise) there aren’t any that I wish were there that aren’t.
SM: Were the writer’s lines in between songs also snippets of cohen poetry?
RA: Yes. Every word spoken or sung in the show comes from Cohen.
?SM: OK, a couple more Cohen questions…Do you have a favorite song? Or a favorite line from his lyrics?
RA: I love Tonight Will Be Fine. I think the chorus speaks to something so profound and so honest about feelings that linger long after one might hope they would. More specifically the line “We swore to each other our love would surely last/You went right on loving, and I went on a fast/Now I am too thin and your love is too vast.” I feel like I’ve been on both ends of that statement – probably everyone has at some point. That feeling of regret, wishing you could feel things that you don’t, or that feelings you have could be matched, when they can’t.
I also think that Famous Blue Raincoat is one of the most beautifully heartbreaking songs I’ve ever heard. I’ve never listened to a song that made me sad so repeatedly.
SM: What do you think Leonard Cohen means to Canadians of your generation? How is it different from how he’s viewed by baby boomers?
?RA: To be honest, I don’t think Leonard Cohen means much to most of our generation, and I hope that changes. I wonder partly if it’s because so much of his music has been so widely covered by other artists, but I know for many people our age that I’ve talked to about this show, the most common response has been that they’re not that familiar with Leonard Cohen — which, prior to the show, was pretty much the case for me as well. I think a lot of people my age think of Cohen as someone that their parents listen to, that they weren’t that into when they were kids.
Hopefully it’s like a lot of music that’s just too mature for younger audiences, and people start to give it a listen now that they’re old enough to understand what the hell he’s talking about. I feel like it’s the kind of music people in their twenties should be listening to all the time. One of my friend’s fathers saw the show and said afterwards that he was tearing up through most of the first act because it brought back so many memories from his twenties. He said you don’t feel those incredible highs and lows forever. I think that’s probably what it means to a lot of people my parents’ age – it’s a reminder of the later years of their youth. His lyrics capture so perfectly what incredible love and incredible loss mean, but at a deeper level that anything you feel at adolescence. The love is vast because you’re old enough to feel like it actually means something real, and the loss is devastating, because it feels like a much deeper investment that’s come up dry.
SM: What instruments can you play? Did you have to learn any for the show?
?RA: Oh the instruments…
I played the cello regularly for about 11 years, but those years were between age 4 and 15… so a bit of it’s in the “riding a bike” camp, in that I learned so young that some of that knowledge will never go way, but I also had been out of practice for so long until about this time last year that my musicianship is definitely still a work in progress in my opinion.
I started playing the ukulele this summer for the fun of it. I played the piano in high school, and actually got to a pretty high level, but have been out of practice so long that it’s really crumbled back into a pretty rudimentary skill
And the bass guitar, which I play in the show – I had never touched until our workshops for the show in early December. Our first day of rehearsal Steve said, “Rachel, how do you feel about playing bass on [First We Take] Manhattan?” I said, “Well, I’m willing to try, but just so we’re all on the same page here, I’ve literally never even tried before.” Steve paused for a second and then said, “Oh yeah. I think you’ll be fine.” I leave that to the audience to judge. The more work I get in theatre, the more I’m starting to feel like half of the battle is deciding what you’re crazy enough to agree to try, and then dealing with the fallout of that agreement.
SM: Have you done much musical theatre before?
?RA: I’ve done a bit. I was one of those kids in high school that was really into musical theatre, and then I sort of drifted away from it when I went to university, and then to theatre school. I’d pretty much stopped thinking of myself as a musical theatre performer. Then in the last year all the shows I’ve wound up doing, while they haven’t all been full musicals, they have been full of music, and have required me to sing.
SM: What was it like growing up immersed in the theatre world? Did you always know you wanted to be an actor, or did you ever have phases of rebelling and wanting to go into business or something bourgeois like that?
RA: I had bouts of thinking that maybe I wanted to be a writer, and for a time even a lawyer – I don’t think they came from a place of rebellion however (and you couldn’t really call becoming a writer bourgeois). Growing up with a Dad who was in theatre taught me from a young age that it was a possibility – that the idea of trying to pursue a career in theatre (while maybe still insane) wasn’t impossible. People did it. Having that knowledge meant that I never went through the phase of thinking “Well, yeah, I want to be an actor, but nobody actually does that… so what am I going to do for real?”
?SM: And I bet a lot of your peers did go through that phase, right?
RA: Yeah – I mean when I think of the people I went to high school with who I did theatre with, I don’t think many of them are doing it any more. And to be fair, for some of them it was never something that they wanted to pursue after high school – but I do wonder how many more young people might consider going into theatre, or music, or any artistic field for that matter, if it dawned on them that it was a viable option.
SM: How do you feel about the current state of the theatre scene in Vancouver?
?RA: That is a tough question to answer. I guess what I would say is that I know for sure that I’ve been incredibly lucky with the opportunities that I’ve had, not only because opportunities are scant (and that’s true of theatre anywhere), but also because the projects I’ve gotten to work on have all been very fulfilling, and very different from each other, and have all involved incredible people. Of course I wish there was more funding – that should go without saying but unfortunately we need to keep saying it, and keep saying it, and then say it some more. And I wish I could figure out what would get the average Vancouverite more interested in seeing plays.
There is so much to do in this city. I get why on a sunny day people want to go to third beach, and I get why on a rainy day people are more interested in going up on a mountain where it’s snowing and riding boards and skis back down the mountain. What I wish for is a way to make people who are interested in those things also interested in sitting down and watching some fantastic storytelling. I would like to figure out a way to build the theatre into the recreational vocabulary of this city … I’m just not sure how.
SM: In Chelsea Hotel you play a muse. Have you ever been a muse? Or had a muse?
RA: (laughs) If I’ve ever been a muse, nobody told me. In terms of having a muse, I’ve definitely wrote some things based on or about people that have come in and out of my life – and I’ve definitely used relationships I’ve had with people as a way to connect with material I’ve worked on as an actor.
SM: Is it strange singing the same songs over and over again? Do you start making up your own versions of the songs?
?RA: It hasn’t seemed strange yet, and I think part of that is that the material is so rich that there are a lot of new things to find every day. I have an unfortunate habit of replacing words with other words completely subconsciously, and have definitely sang the words, “Suppose that he froze when the wind took his NOSE,” instead of, “CLOTHES” a few times in rehearsal, and once while rehearsing Take this Waltz I sang “I’ll bury my soul in a sandwich” rather than “bury my soul in a scrapbook.” But intentionally? No, I’m happy with the material so far
SM: (laughs) Sandwich!
RA: I know, I always think that if those were the lyrics it would mean that she dealt with the break up by eating her feelings.
?SM: It’s a good Freudian slip, something to sing when you are hungry.
?RA: Right?
SM: Right!
Chelsea Hotel
Firehall Arts Centre (280 East Cordova)
Now until March 3rd, 2012
$25 regular, $20 students and seniors Ticket info here
Emmett Hall is something of a comedy overachiever. He is one half of heavy metal band Knights of the Night, performs with the Sunday Service and is featured on their monthly podcast (A Beautiful Podcast), and still finds time to hang out with Sad Mag when he’s not illustrating My Little Pony. You’ve probably seen him all over town, but tomorrow night you can see him on the magnificent Cobalt stage. Read on!
Jeff Lawrence: Tell me a bit about yourself and what you do when you’re not being funny. Or are you always funny?
Emmett Hall: I am a British Columbian by birth who’s been working in the animation industry for about 8 years. Currently storyboarding on My Little Pony. My face is crooked, so I am always funny.
JL: I heard you are in a band called “Knights of the Night” where you play metal dressed as actual knights. Discuss.
EH: Comedian Ken Lawson and I realized we had a mutual love for heavy metal. Ken’s an extremely accomplished guitar player and I can fake my way through the bass and sing. We figured we could convince people to watch us play metal so long as we mince about in a jocular fashion. It’s tricky because we want to stay true to the glory of the music itself, but never stop taking the piss out the bombastic chivalrous personae blasting it out. Our armour consists of long -johns and altered dresses.
JL: What do you like about doing comedy?
EH: I like that I can invent contexts that are completely unacceptable and incoherent in any other form of expression. Comedy is also a very entertaining way exercise/exorcise my personal confusion and ego.
And most importantly, in the end times…when there’s nothing left, there will still be something funny.
JL: What do you dislike about it?
EH: The lack of satisfaction in performing, I guess. When people laugh at something I do, then I settle on the objective that that was merely the intended response. Generally nothing more. When I bomb, the weight of the all the work and effort I put in topples down in the wake of humiliation I subjected myself to.
How dramatic! Nontended response [sic]!
JL: What kind of humour do you find the funniest?
EH: Mine. Done properly. So not by me.
JL: On a scale of 1-10, where do you place your feelings on Valentine’s Day and why?
EH: I’d give it a 2 because Valentine’s Day is so important.
Sad Mag Comedy Show: Valentine Edition
February 9th
The Cobalt (917 Main Street)
Doors at 8:00PM, Show at 9:00PM
$10 cover, includes a 1-year Sad Mag subscription and dance party admission
We could not be more delighted that Sad Comedy: Valentine Edition will be hosted by the lovely Caitlin Howden. Originally from Montreal and trained in theatre at Ryerson in Toronto, she has a very long list of awards for being funny and also has a pretty amazing worst-show story. Read on!
Sad Mag: Who is Caitlin Howden?
Caitlin Howden: “OH, that’s me.” I emerge from the back of the room looking guilty and afraid.
“Why? What happened? What did I do?” I put away my cell phone, which I was using for one of my many fake phone calls I have to look less awkward in my own body. “Did I block anyone in? You’re not going to make me to a handstand, are you?”
SM: How did you end up in Vancouver? / What do you miss about Montreal?
CH: I spent 9 years in Toronto and I fell in love with it. I a very proud Montreal native, because it makes me feel just a bit cooler. I go back to both cities quite often. But I had never been to Vancouver. Everyone was talking about how booming the film and TV scene was out here. In Toronto, there are commercials and Canadian TV a-plenty, so I thought I would try my hand out here. Turns out as soon as I moved out here things just dried up. The US started offering the same tax credits that made Vancouver so alluring to US work. So here I am! Ah, but don’t feel so bad for me. Come on, stop crying. There is a happy ending, I have also fallen in love with Vancouver. I love my Canadian cities like I love my men; hard to reach and in threes. (improv joke)
SM: What was your first stage performance?
CH: I played Auntie Em in the Wizard of Oz in grade 3. I thought I was playing Dorothy, because that was what my brain heard. Then we showed up for first day of rehearsal and I cried.
SM: What do you like about doing comedy?
CM: We make people laugh. And laughter is good for you. And it’s what I’m good at. Some people are good at having stability, going for regular check ups, paying their taxes, or sleeping at night without full on panic attacks. It takes all kinds, right?
SM: What do you dislike about it?
CH: Please refer to what other people are good at in previous question.
SM: What was the worst show you’ve ever done?
CH: Probably the one where I fell off the stage while wearing a dress into a table holding three margaritas, a pitcher of beer, and a group of grown people who made a face I’ll never forget. They reacted to me the same way I would react to an open-mouthed shark falling on my face.
I had to do the rest of the 2 hour show with bloody knees, smelling of beer, and the lady-hose I was wearing to conceal my “less than a man, more than I’d like” leg hair was so torn up I went bare-legged and fancy-free. I could hear people in the front row whisper “Oh no, the blood is getting caught in her leg hair”. That was a shit night.
SM: Where do you get your inspirations?
CH: I like to stand naked in front of the mirror a lot. It’s usually my milky white skin that does the trick regarding inspiration.
SM: What do you like best: theatre, improv or standup?
CH: Well, Theatre is reaaaallllllly cute, and Improv did the funniest thing last night. Stand Up and I had a one-night stand back in 2003, so… I like them all, but Improv is the one paying my bills right now… .IMPROV! I CHOOSE IMPROV!
SM: What is the funniest thing you have ever seen?
Sad Mag has a big ol crush on Christine McAvoy. Not only does she frequently adorn our release parties and bacchanals with her charming photobooths, capturing Sad Mag party-goers and performers alike (so you can never forget your best Vanimal costume), but she also contributed her analog photography skills to Issue 10– the first time she has been featured in our print pages! She’s also a megababe who knows the best things to eat and drink in the city, which might be the most valuable quality a person can possess. Here’s our Q&A so you can get to know her better:
Tara Mahoney is one half of the 
Sarah Swinwood has been performing at Hip Hop Karaoke since May 2011! And she generously lent us some of her remaining time in No Fun City before she moves to NYC!
