Darren Stewart-Jones
Let me start by saying that I've never been a huge fan of stand up comedy. I prefer to see characters brought to life through the performance of a scripted piece rather than listen to someone telling jokes while standing alone on a stage. I feel personally uncomfortable and embarrassed for a comedian when their jokes fall flat in front of a live audience.
That being said, there is something very disarming and engaging about Patrick Cadegan's performance that made Closet Confessions: The Secrets of a Hot Mess an enjoyable experience for me. I find that there is always a universality to queer coming out stories but that each one obviously has its own set of individual circumstances that make it distinctive. Coming out in the town of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia with a population of less than 20,000 people, as Patrick did, was certainly unique.
Cadegan bundles up all of the angst of coming out as gay under those circumstances and makes his unique story funny for his audience. I am impressed with how comedians can turn some pretty heart wrenching experiences into one liners that make their audiences laugh out loud. And I definitely had some of those laugh out loud moments during Cadegan's performance.
The Fringe program description of the show is very honest. It explains that Closet Confessions "is not your traditional one-man show". With a few random characters interjected in between the stand up and the story telling, the show does have a certain uneven quality to it. There's some good stuff here and I was interested in Cadegan's tales of growing up queer in a small town. I just wish it had been a more traditional scripted show. I wanted to see him experience his stories rather than just hear about them.
Tickets and info for all Toronto Fringe shows can be found at fringetoronto.com
Let me start by saying that I've never been a huge fan of stand up comedy. I prefer to see characters brought to life through the performance of a scripted piece rather than listen to someone telling jokes while standing alone on a stage. I feel personally uncomfortable and embarrassed for a comedian when their jokes fall flat in front of a live audience.
That being said, there is something very disarming and engaging about Patrick Cadegan's performance that made Closet Confessions: The Secrets of a Hot Mess an enjoyable experience for me. I find that there is always a universality to queer coming out stories but that each one obviously has its own set of individual circumstances that make it distinctive. Coming out in the town of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia with a population of less than 20,000 people, as Patrick did, was certainly unique.
Cadegan bundles up all of the angst of coming out as gay under those circumstances and makes his unique story funny for his audience. I am impressed with how comedians can turn some pretty heart wrenching experiences into one liners that make their audiences laugh out loud. And I definitely had some of those laugh out loud moments during Cadegan's performance.
The Fringe program description of the show is very honest. It explains that Closet Confessions "is not your traditional one-man show". With a few random characters interjected in between the stand up and the story telling, the show does have a certain uneven quality to it. There's some good stuff here and I was interested in Cadegan's tales of growing up queer in a small town. I just wish it had been a more traditional scripted show. I wanted to see him experience his stories rather than just hear about them.
Tickets and info for all Toronto Fringe shows can be found at fringetoronto.com
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