Saturday, December 10, 2005

Jerry Springer

So how do you unwind after a long day of birthday gift shopping (Cathy's birthday is Dec. 24) and Christmas shopping (Christmas trees are $75 in Iqaluit, btw)? Why, by watching some Jerry Springer on Bravo, of course?



Yeah, Springer on Bravo. Or, more specifically, Jerry Springer, The Opera.

On the off-chance you've never heard of it before and you think I'm pulling your leg, click the link and behold Jerry in all of his glory.

The show has been going on for years, and the reviews have been massively positive. It is also, terrifyingly enough, a great musical, drop dead funny and oddly poignant. Oh, and massively offensive. We estimate the combined total of times the word "fuck" is said in the show must number in the thousands. A drinking game involving doing a shooter every time "fuck" is said would leave you in a coma in less than 10 minutes.

Cathy thought I was mad when I flipped over to it. We thoroughly enjoyed it for two hours. When we weren't laughing, we were normally going "ooohhh" a lot as we saw something that would surely offend anybody with delicate christian sensibilities. "Dip me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians!" Sure, why not. Sounds good.

Perhaps this isn't something I should really admit, as a heterosexual male, but I really do enjoy good musical theatre. Back in St. John's I thought TaDa! did a great job with both Cabaret and Chicago. I saw Phantom of the Opera in London, England (You can hate Andrew Lloyd Webber all you want, it's was still a good spectacle for its times). Kirsten once showed me video taped stage productions of Sondheim's Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd that floored me. I think it was the first time I realized musicals could be really entertaining.

And while I haven't seen it (but desperately want to), I have Spamalot, the Monty Python musical, on my iPod.

I'm not really sure there is a point to this post, really. Other than perhaps on a very cold December night (-51 with windchill), when it feels like half of Iqaluit is getting ready to leave and go home with family for Christmas that it's nice for two hours, you can be amused from the unlikeliest of source...the musical Redemption of Jerry Springer.

Last 5 on iPod
1. Ways and means - Snow Patrol (Final Straw)
2. Title and registration - Death Cab For Cutie (Transatlanticism
3. Somebody's baby - Jackson Browne - Greatest Hits
4. The red light - Joel Plaskett Emergency (Truthfully, Truthfully)
5. Invisible touch - Genesis (Platinum Collection)

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