Live Comedy at The Historic Strand Theatre

Live comedy was alive and well last night at the Historic Strand Theatre in downtown Clinton, MA. A few times a year co-owners Rob & Bill bring local comics to the grand stage and only laughter ensues. This time was no different. With an eclectic mix of styles the comediennes kept the entire audience laughing from start to finish.

On this evening good looking, hyper energetic, host and funnyman Jesse Bickford started the show with a quick set of his own before introducing the first of the nights headliners. His witty repertoire of jokes about how the dating world has changed for the worse were light and humorous. His impressions were delightfully spot on and captured the moment. website

The first comedienne to take the stages is a teacher by day and comedian by night. Dave Lamb schooled the audience with his funny and engaging skit. As an IT guy I appreciated his skit about online security. "Passwords are ridiculous and are worth 90 points in scrabble" and his part about google being a more efficient was to search for porn. His joke about black people meets dating website. When he looked it up blackpeoplemeats.com he found a much different kind of website. website

David Rattigan is the ring leader of this group of comediennes. Operating the talent company that brought them all here he too is a funny guy. I loved his skit about Martha Burke who ran the protest at Augusta in support of women's right to join the club.  He went on to say how she inspired him to go home and grab his protest signs and visit the local Curves. website

The best comic of the night was Christine Hurley. website She is the mom everyone wishes they had. As a past finalist of Nick at Nights "Funniest Mom in America" contest she didn't disappoint. Her jokes focused on her life as a mother of 5 and wife to a local fireman. She tells the story of any mom raising that number of children and the hilarity of all the unusual things parents have to deal with. One of my favorite lines from her act was aimed at the mothers in the audience.

“I’m going to tell you ladies a little secret: You can mix Slim Fast with vodka,” she said. “First of all, it doesn’t curdle. Who knew? And second of all, all those condescending bitches at the bus stop can’t smell it on your breath.”

Her stories and views on motherhood and marriage are exactly what everyone is living through…people get it and love it and so did I.

I invite you all to attend one of the Strand's Comedy Nights so you can enjoy the hilarity of many of our local comics.

Strand Theatre - Jim Spinnato, R-rated Hypnotist

Located in sleepy Central Massachusetts town of Clinton is the Historic Strand Theatre. Built in 1924, today it is one of the oldest existing and still operating movie theatres in the area. During the heydays of yesteryear it operated as a vaudeville theatre and movie house until the late 1970's. Able to seat over 1200 patrons when it was built it reopened in 1995 after a lengthy renovation and now seats 304.

In additions to their regular movie schedule they host special events such as comedy nights. New to the Strand Theatre calendar was Jim Spinnato and his r-rated hypnosis. Having performed in the New England area for years at big venues like Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, Six Flags, and numerous colleges Jim brought his comedy, audience participation and hypnosis to Central MA 's Clinton for the first time at the Historic Strand Theatre.

After a brief introduction Jim Spinnato invited everyone in the audience to stand up and test their ability to be hypnotized by following a few specific instructions. Unfortunately I failed the test and would not be a good candidate.  The idea was to help the audience members who wanted to volunteer determine if they would be a good candidate as a participant for the show. 

Next he invited anyone who passed the first test and wanted to participate to come down to the front along the stage. Here he separated the girls and the guys and administered another test. This allowed him to identify 12 participants he felt would be great candidates and invited them on stage. 7 girls and 5 guys were selected.

Once all 12 were seated he asked the audience to be perfectly quiet as he slowly and methodically hypnotized the group of participants through a series of breathing and concentration while soothing music and his voice put them into a hypnotic state. Some it didn't work for and he sent them back to their seats to enjoy the show.

For those that did he become hypnotized the fun was just beginning. He created a key word chosen by the audience. Once that key word was said he told the participants that the closer they got to their fellow participants the better they smelled and the better they smelled the closer you should get.

Next he convinced them that they smelled terrible. The reactions from the participants was hysterical. After torturing them with the pleasant and foul smells he put them back to sleep. I wont ruin the whole experience by telling you everything but I will share a few more of the fun shenanigans

One of his gags was when that trigger word was said that the ladies would feel a tickle between their legs that felt amazingly good. One of the girls was very dramatic about her reaction. It looks almost like she was experiencing the most intense orgasm of her life.

During another At one point he convinced one of the older guys that he has lost his penis and that he could only ask Jim to help him find it. Jim suggested that a particular woman in the audience had it.. the very shy man tried to discretely ask for it back. Jim asked him to describe it and he did just that. The funniest part was Jim talking about how the honesty of the guy suggesting it was of just average size. Finally the guy gets his penis back while his entire family was laughing hysterically.

As a finally he picked one guy and one girl and made the others dance for them Even making the guys dance for the guy and the girls dance for the girl. It was a pretty outrageously funny evening full of giggles and outright laughter. Jim Spinnato is a class act and a spirited performer. His talent and personality made for an enjoyable evening filled with fun and excitement.

Factory of Terror - Worcester

I had seen signs for weeks now about the new haunted house attraction in Worcester and just had to check it out. Located in an abandoned factory building in Worcester's Grafton Hill area is the Factory of Terror. The entrance to the attraction is through an old delivery door where visitors queue up while some of the characters in all their spookiness keep you entertained. Some such characters were the scary clown, the deadly doctor and the silent child.
While you wait you also have a photo opportunity. They take your picture with a few of the props and text you a link to retrieve your group photo after. It was a pretty cool idea and a great way for people to get a reminder of the experience.

After paying the admission price we entered a room where we got a quick introduction to the attraction and a quick scare from yet another actor. As we moved through the next door we entered a more open area that looped around where as you walked along the path you were spooked by hidden actors mixed in amongst the scary props and behind hidden windows. This area while very cool with design wasn't particularly scary.

The next area we entered required 3D glasses which were handed out by a scary fella guarding the entrance. Once inside you were awe inspired but the 3d effect of the colorful and spooky art.

Everything glowed under the blue lights and amplified the feeling that the eyes were following you as you went. Whoever the artist is they did an amazing job and really captured the spookiness of each character.

 

 As we made our way from the maze of eyes and faces we entered a very snug entrance to another spooky and dark section. To pass through you had to squeeze your way through a tight passage. (It was like a balloon entrance that just pressed firmly against you no matter now small or big you are.) Once inside it was darkly lit and you had to follow along the narrow pathway's being greeted by even more actors who used their creepiness to intimidate and spook. Some snuck up close to you only to be discovered when you turned their way.

As we wrapped up the urban alley section we found ourselves finished and walking out the exit door. Over all it took about 15-20 minutes to make our way through the different sections of the Haunted Factory of Terror.

It was a good time and a great evening. I thought the price was fair for a seasonal thrill and I thought the actors really did a great job both spooking and entertaining each and every visitor.

King Richard's Faire

King Richard’s Faire, a renaissance fair held in Carver, Massachusetts, recreates a 16th-century marketplace and transports visitors back in time. It comes complete with handmade crafts, a wide array of performers including, musicians, singers, dancers, minstrels, mimes, jugglers, magicians, comedians, exotic animals, acrobats, mud beggars. It also includes the popular knights jousting on horseback, a royal court, and the fictional King Richard.

The idea of a renaissance fair is intriguing and definitely interesting even given the steep entrance fee of $29. We arrive just before 12:00 and made our way through the gates into the shaded 80-acre pine forest where we found a small medieval village where many of the spectators come decked out in full 16th-century garb.

There were 8 stages and a tournament field. And that is where we started. We made our way to the Dance stage where we were awed by the musical and dance skills of Hrafn with their Irish War Pipes & Drums and their lovely belly dancer.

 

Next we wandered to the Kings Stage and witnessed Paulo Garbanzo’s juggling act. He is clearly a skilled juggler and his show was a mix of juggling and magic/illusion. His grand finale was juggling 5 flaming torches which he did so effortlessly and worked his way down until only two were left.

 

If admission allowed re-entry I might have left for lunch and com back but they have you once you arrive. There is no re-admittance so you must stay for as long as you can and that includes buying lunch at Canterbury Kitchens. They work with the ticket style system where you are forced to buy tickets in $5 increments leaving you nearly incapable of using all your tickets.  We got $40 bucks worth and it was just enough to get a pulled pork sandwich each, a large fries to share and a regular size beer. We had 1 ticket left over.

After eating we headed to the Torture Show which was an interesting experience and I’ll admit when Ses Carny took the nail and plunged it up his nose into his sinuses it made me turn away. Something about things going places their not supposed to go disturbs me. Either way it was a perfect fit for the King Richard’s Faire and his entertaining performance was definitely one of the better at the fair.



The best show/performance was The Mud Show with the sturdy beggars.  Billy Billy Von Billy and Bob the Beggar after selecting a fair maiden as judge gave a comedic grotesque performance with forced audience participation. To prove their side of the stage was the best they got the audience to participate in a series of challenges from who was louder personal displays of mud enjoyment such as face planting in the mud to drinking the muddy water. Next it progressed to kissing audience members while covered in mud. The final coup de grâce involved collection of money from the audience and the side that collected the most would be spared having to eat mud. Billy Billy Von Billy was the unlucky looser and ate mud from the area’s mud pool.

 

Jack Lepiarz who performs as his alter ego Jacques Ze Whippeur in his Dashing Danger show at the Kings Richard’s Faire is a playful and exciting performance. His performance is part Pepe Le Pew and part Lumiere. Jacque first came to King Richard’s Faire in 2008 and has been a recurring act ever since. His skill and precision with a whip was on full display at the Kings Stage as he skillfully whipped piece by piece a stick from his mouth before his final act of a flaming whip. His comedic style and flamboyant flare made his show that much more captivating. I am sure when his shirt came off he got the attention of a few more
people too. You would never know he is a local radio broadcaster when not performing.

 

 

 After dashing lothario we moved on to the total opposite. The Washing Well Wenches and their Good, Clean Fun… Wet Dirty Women performance. This raunchy yet entertaining comedy show was a splash as the two wenches entertained us with audience participation and a quirky song.

This was definitely one of the highlights of the faire and worth every second of the performance. Be warned if you sit up front think Shamu at Sea World. You might get wet. Also avoid being called up on stage since that's a recipe for having everyone at the faire remember and laugh at you.

While we waited for the Tiger show and the Jousting we took a seat at the Hell’s Mouth Stage for a performance of the Sheriff’s Court. I gathered by the spectator’s presenting Violation tickets that over the course of the day they were given them for alleged violations of the kings law. They selected 6 juror’s from the audience 3 ladies and 3 guys who would after hearing the prosecution and the defense the Sherriff leaves it to the jury to decide their fate. If they are guilty they must sing as punishment. The crimes varied from public indecency to public displays of affections. It was honestly pretty boring and there is so much more with this I think they could have done.

After the Sheriff's Court we took the opportunity to wander into many of the shoppe’s. Most if not all the shoppe’s catered to the medieval times selling pewter beer mugs, swords, or other regalia appropriate with the times. Some carried more novelty type things like candle’s formed into dragons or chairs that hang from hooks. Then there were the more fantasy like horns you could wear. I picked up a small pair as a subtle costume to wear for Halloween.

With the Tale of the Tiger Big Cat Show starting soon we headed over to Tiger stage where we were introduced to a variety or Bengal tigers, ligars, a rare white tiger and even a playful monkey. The animals were amazing to see and the show was more about preservation then a performance. The animals were clearly very well taken care of and are used to help educate and fun programs to help the animals in the wild.

 

The final event of the day was the Joust to the Death at the tournament field where four knights battled to the death. Things got a bit out of hand when one of the knights didn’t respect the crown or the tournament and turned it into a bloody brawl.

 

 

All in all it was a fun day albeit a bit pricey for admission. My other gripe was that at each of the stages the performers more or less begged for money. After a steep admission I would have expected that at least the main stage performances would be complimentary without a feeling of obligation to pay more. Some like the Mud Show, Jacque Ze Whippeur and the Washing Well Wenches were wroth giving an extra couple bucks the majority of things were a bit of a bomb. It’s likely I won’t return since I am not one of those die hard renaissance people and given to cost. I did take my picture with a few of the performers.