Don’t worry if it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear.

Posted by Jeff on Jul 14th, 2010 in News | 0 comments

It’s Hammer time.

And by that, I mean that Grouch on a Couch is coming to the Hamilton Fringe Festival this week!
We’ll be at Theatre Aquarius Backstage for no less than seven shows, starting this Friday. Tickets are available for only $9 (plus the Fringe pin you have to buy to go to any and all shows at the fest). Check out the “upcoming events” listings on the right sidebar for details.

The show and I are mentioned briefly in this article in VIEW (Hamilton’s alt-weekly mag). If you can somehow obtain a copy of the print version, why, you can even see a nice photo of me.

And then, right after the Hamilton Fringe is over… Grouch on a Couch finally makes its debut in the city where it was conceived, written and rehearsed.
We’ll be on for three shows in Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre Short Play Festival.

Come one, come all. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell random strangers on the street. It’s time to get grouchy, dawg.

And on a somewhat different note:
VIEW isn’t the only publication that has recently acknowledged my existence. In fact, Torontoist ran a profile earlier this month on Burning Effigy Press, featuring an interview with Monica S. Kuebler. My name is in there somewhere. Check out that article here.

See you ’round.

Somebody come and play.

Posted by Jeff on Jun 14th, 2010 in News | 0 comments

This is it. Grouch on a Couch debuts at the Ottawa Fringe Festival this Thursday!

That’s six shows at the Arts Court Library, followed by seven shows in July at Hamilton’s Theatre Aquarius, and then three shows at Bad Dog Theatre here in Toronto.

Dates for the Bad Dog festival should be available shortly.
In the meantime, I’m gonna be on the radio again. In fact, it’s my third appearance on Click Here, hosted by Mitchell Caplan, on Ottawa’s CHUO (89.1 FM).

Click Here is an interview-based, magazine-style program that presents an alternative perspective on the arts and community issues, focusing on issues not covered by mainstream media and on the underground arts scene. I’ll be on the show this Wednesday, June 16 at around 5:40 p.m. EST (that’s 2:40 p.m. on the west coast or 10:40 p.m. in the U.K.). If you’re not in the Ottawa region, you can hear it on the CHUO website if you have RealPlayer or an mp3 player.

See you on the other side of the funny papers, Bucky.

Homeward bound, baby

Posted by Jeff on Jun 3rd, 2010 in News | 0 comments

Only two more weeks until Grouch on a Couch debuts at the Ottawa Fringe Festival.

The show will also come to the Hamilton Fringe during the second half of July. Keep posted if you’re in the Hamilton area, or if you’re in Toronto but willing to make the trek an hour west…

But if you can’t make that trek, well, I’ve solved that problem for ya:

Grouch on a Couch has just been accepted into the Bad Dog Theatre Short Play Festival!

Held by the popular improv theatre on the Danforth, the Bad Dog Festival specializes in one-act comical plays. My original script was picked by a jury, along with seven others. This means that my script must have some kind of comedic merit in it. (Summerworks turned it down, which suggests that Grouch has absolutely no serious artistic merit. But at least it has the comedic merit.)

The Bad Dog Festival runs from July 26 to 31. More specific info to come later.

In the meantime, if you live in the National Capital Region, come to my show in Ottawa. If you have friends or family in the area, invite them. Here’s the Facebook event page.

And in case you didn’t hear…
I’m giving away comps for opening night (June 17, 8:00 p.m. at the Arts Court Library). Interested? E-mail me.

Finally, I persuaded Audrey Hepburn and Elton John to say a few words on the Hamilton production too:

(Okay, it’s the same as the Ottawa video, but with the deets changed. Problem with that?)

Word. I say word.

Audrey Hepburn and Elton John have a special message for you…

Posted by Jeff on May 13th, 2010 in News | 5 comments

Five more weeks until Grouch on a Couch debuts at the Ottawa Fringe Festival!

“Hmm,” you say, “what’s that all about? I’ve heard nothing about this yet. You’re saying that they’re going to seek out some grouchy person and display him on a sofa for public view? And I was not aware that Ottawa was home to some kind of festival on the fringe of the mainstream. And for heaven’s sake, man, what are these ‘weeks’ of which you speak?”

Well, fret no more, good sirs and madams. Audrey Hepburn and Elton John are here to tell you all about it…

And here’s another promo video we’ve made for the show…

Are you adequately prepared for amusement?

Posted by Jeff on May 6th, 2010 in News | 1 comment

Grouch on a Couch‘s debut is only six weeks away, people. And the wheels are turning. Oh yes they are. Rehearsals are under way; promo info is being distributed; organazi-zational stuff is being worked out; and we’re trying to create an early buzz. Now that we know where (Arts Court Library) and when (six performances between June 17 and 26) the Ottawa run is going on, it’s easier to start spreading the word among the populace of the National Capital Region.

In the meantime…
this Tuesday, May 11 at Clinton’s, you can catch me as one of the readers in Art Bardy Har Har, the Art Bar Poetry Series’ biannual (or so) spotlight on comical writers in the Toronto scene.

“Comedy and poetry?” you say. “Why, is it even possible to mix these two distinct art forms? Bah! Bah and foofaraw, I say. I don’t believe you, good sir. What vulgar nonsense you bestow upon me this day. I shall now retire to my study, smoke my pipe, read Sanskrit translations of Atom Egoyan screenplays and remain blissfully ignorant of all such lowbrow claptrap and boorishness. Good afternoon.”

And I reply: Relax, dood. Come and have a bit of fun.

See, it won’t be just me reading there. You also get short sets by internationally renowned poet Sandra Kasturi; Toronto Poetry Slam founder and host David Silverberg; rawk star and storyteller extraordinaire Mike Bryant; playwright and Plasticine Poetry host Cathy Petch; slam star and Youth Slam creator Yehuda Fisher; and self-proclaimed “Brown Bastard” Rahul Gupta. The evening is hosted by Valentino Assenza.

For more info, check the sidebar or click on “Events”. (Sheesh, do I hafta do everything?)

I hope that the sixth day of May is going to be in sync with you. (That is my new Star Wars pun.)

My website and welcome to it.

Posted by Jeff on Apr 26th, 2010 in News | 0 comments

It’s finally here.

For years, they’ve asked me, “When are you going to get your own website, Jeff? When will you become an official member of the Internet community, like the rest of us? Have you no pride, man? No courage? No showmanship?”

Well, it seems I do. And here is the end result, in all its blue-green glory, baby. All built by Marilla Wex of Kvetchco Inc.

Have a look around. I’ve got new photos, fun links, mp3s of the spoken-word pieces of mine that people seem to like the best, and information on my upcoming one-man show, Grouch on a Couch.

There’s even a cute little logo of my name. See? Innit cute? Wooza wooza wooza wooza.

You will also find listings of upcoming events. The next one is Wednesday, May 5, in the comedy show “Poppin Wednesdays” at Neutral. I plan to perform a work-in-progress excerpt from Grouch.

Huzzah.