A Canadian comedy star is on his way to New Westminster.
John Beuhler is set to perform at Lafflines Comedy Club on Friday, Nov. 3 in a live taping.
Beuhler began performing stand-up comedy at age 19 and quickly gained traction – in his first few years, he starred in a national comedy special, won the Just For Laughs Home Grown Comedy Competition, finished in the finals of the Seattle International Comedy competition and shot two more Canadian stand-up specials for national TV, all before the age of 25.
Beuhler has also performed in the Just For Laughs Festival Gala, and appeared on Corner Gas with his mentor, Brent Butt, after winning a $10,000 Corner Gas comedy contest.
Beuhler has opened for the likes of Dennis Miller, Brent Butt, Zach Galifianakis and Craig Ferguson, with a style that has been described as “wickedly funny, fearless and poignant.”
Beuhler is on the road in Salmon Arm on Oct. 27 and Kelowna on Oct. 28 before bringing his show to New West on Nov. 3. Lafflines is at the Columbia Theatre, 530 Columbia St.
He’ll be onstage for an early show at 8 p.m. and a late show at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, plus service charges. Buy through www.eventbrite.ca or see www.johnbeuhler.com for more details.
FIND YOUR VOICE
So you’re a writer, not a public speaker – but you want to be able to engage people with your words.
The Royal City Literary Arts Society is offering a writer workshop called The Dynamic Presented, facilitated by Ben Nuttall-smith, on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Nuttall-Smith will look at how to engage a listening audience, offering voice and performance skills for poets, performers and public speakers.
He studied theatre, voice and music at McGill University and has taught theatre and voice at all levels, from primary school to adults. He has worked as a radio announcer and has experience as an actor, having taken on such roles as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady and Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.
He’s also a writer, with two novels, a memoir, books for kids and several collections of poetry to his credit.
The workshop runs from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Anvil Centre, fourth floor. It costs $15 for members and $25 for non-members. Check out www.rclas.com/workshops for details or email [email protected] to reserve a spot.
FILMMAKERS WIN
Two New Westminster residents have a chance to produce pilot episodes for new web series, thanks to STORYHIVE.
STORYHIVE, funded by Telus, provides funding for web series, digital shorts, animation and music videos, who have the chance to win grants through a pitch and voting process. Local residents Michael Mueller and Krista Gibbard are part of teams that have received $10,000 grants to produce web series pilots.
Mueller is the project lead and director for Harebrained, a show that follows a group of pampered trust fund kids as they fight to win their money back from a string of bad business ideas.
Gibbard is the producer and production designer for Diaries of Badass Chicks, which follows the victories and mishaps of a female dirt bike rider in the world of motocross.
The two shows are among 30 finalists from B.C. and Alberta, and the pilots will be available in March. Teams now move on to compete for a $50,000 grant that will let them bring their full web series to life.
Check out www.storyhive.com for info about the shows. Voting will begin online in February 2018.
POP-UP HOME
A new public art project exploring the idea of home is popping up in Sapperton.
Pop-Up Home, created by artist Annie Briard, is being unveiled on Oct. 28 at 3 p.m. at the Brewery District, 290 East Columbia St. The official opening event runs from 3 to 5 p.m., and everyone is welcome.
The installation uses portable video projectors to project images of temporary homes around the city, sourced through social media calls and then photographed.
A press release notes that the work seeks to engage with discussions about our relationship to our environment, land ownership, and varied conceptions of shelter.
“As an avid backpacker and traveler with a home base in a difficult housing market, the theme ‘pop-up’ home resonates with me in many ways,” Briard said in the release. “I think of renters for whom ‘home’ is invariably temporary; of those leaving home in search of a safer land; of new homes being erected onto existing homelands. I think of portable homes popped up in the hopes of experiencing new ways of inhabiting this world, if momentarily, while others are erected out of necessity.”
The project was funded in part by the Government of Canada, in partnership with Wesgroup, and commissioned by the New Westminster Museum and Archives and New Westminster arts services.
DARK NIGHT
Poets Wanted: Dead or Alive.
Yes, that’s the theme of an upcoming open mike night hosted by the Royal City Literary Arts Society and Poetry New Westminster at the Heritage Grill, 447 Columbia St.
Read your own dark, eerie, mysterious poetry, or the work of a dead poet of your choice. The fun includes a Best Costume contest, so feel free to deck yourself out as your “dead poet” of choice or choose another suitably spooky ensemble.
It’s all happening Sunday, Oct. 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. See www.rclas.com.
A CAPPELLA SOUNDS
Love a cappella music?
Be sure to save Friday, Nov. 3 for the next much-anticipated concert by New West’s own Quayside Voices. The a cappella group is back with a full feature show at 7:30 p.m. at 100 Braid Street Studios, with a lineup of new arrangements and movement.
Audiences will also have a chance to explore the studios during intermission, so you have a chance to experience both a concert and a gallery all in one night.
The concert is at 7:30 p.m., and doors open at 7. Admission is $20 regular, or $15 for students/seniors, and you can save $4 by buying online.
Find more info at www.facebook.com/QuaysideVoicesor www.quaysidevoices.com.
CHRISTMAS TALES
A New Westminster author’s work is included in a new book of Christmas stories.
Local author Margo Prentice has a piece included in Christmas With Hot Apple Cider: Stories From the Season of Giving and Receiving. Prentice was one of 55 writers from across the country to make the cut after a rigorous competition.
The anthology includes true stories, short fiction and poetry, all surrounding the season of Christmas.
Check out www.hotappleciderbooks.com for more details.
REMEMBERING WOODSTOCK
If you remember Woodstock with fondness - or you just wish you did - you’ll want to save the date for this one.
Remembering Woodstock, with Completely Creedence – a Tribute to the Music of CCR, and Supernatural – A Santana Experience, is onstage at the Massey Theatre on Sunday, Dec. 10.
Tickets are $42.50 and on sale at www.ticketsnw.ca or 604-521-5050.
Do you have an item for Lively City? Send arts and entertainment ideas to Julie, [email protected].
