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Like Conan,
only less awesome
BARBARIAN-LICIOUS: Vanessa Matsui
Legend of the Barbarian came about as the answer to the (probably rhetorical) question: What do you do after sci-fi? If you’re Two by Four Productions, you follow up futuristic original play Space Jail with a return to blunt instruments from the days of Conan.
Although it’s important to Two by Four to make their shows as funny as they can, “we don’t ever want to sacrifice storytelling for a joke,” says Brent Skagford, who, along with co-founder Etan Muskat, produces a “skeleton script,” then hands it over to actor-improvisers to develop.
Of their approach to the Barbarian genre, Skagford says, “We wanted to make it more than just chopping guys’ heads off. A guy like Conan is pretty simple. He’s out for revenge, and he’s pretty awesome at everything he does. We took away some of that awesomeness.”
Catch it until Oct. 20 at Théâtre Ste-Catherine (264 Ste-Catherine E.) Tickets $12/$10, (514) 284-3939.
by AMY BARRATT
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Plugged in art
TAKES A LICKING: “Cantique no 3”
For 10 years, Montreal’s own Daniel Langlois Foundation has provided funding to individuals and organizations working with art and technology. The foundation looks to the future by being involved in projects such as Équiterre’s green building in Montreal. It also preserves the past, for example, when it helps the Museum of Ghana transfer important cultural material trapped on ancient and no longer accessible technology. Langlois recently said, “We didn’t know it at the beginning, but 10 years later, we realize we are unique.”
The current exhibition, e-art, now on view at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, features work by 10 artists who have received funding over the years. I must admit that I, and the white-haired woman working the controls next to me, had a lot of fun with Marie Chouinard’s piece. It seemed to make everyone in the room wear a big goofy grin. Another highlight was Jim Campbell’s art and what he achieves using only LEDs and frosted glass.
The only big letdown was Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s installation Under Scan. I had to stop other viewers and point it out in order for them to experience the work. It needs a bigger space where there are more people—outside on Sherbrooke perhaps? e-art runs until Dec. 9, info: (514) 285-2000.
by CHRISTINE REDFERN
Poetic doubleheader
There’s so much talent in Montreal, we’re stacking up book launches like flights into Trudeau airport. This Tuesday, Oct. 16 starting at 6 p.m. at Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent), the light-hearted and soulful Endre Farkas is launching Quotidian Fever: Selected Poems 1974–2007, marking more than three decades of writing, performing and innovating in the Montreal poetry scene. Or, in Farkas’s own words, “Thirty-three years working on the night shift!” The launch features Elias Letelier, music by Patrick Hutchison, and the launch of the late Ruth Taylor’s last book of poetry, Comet Wine, edited by Farkas.
Meanwhile, pop culture poet David McGimpsey will be lighting up the Word (469 Milton) at 7:30 p.m. with the launch of his fourth book of poetry, Sitcom. “A lot of the intention of the pieces is to be funny, and they’re kind of performative in that way,” says McGimpsey. “There’s a lot of punchlines and jokes.” Both events are free.
by VINCENT TINGUELY
Dancing from a distance
For the past two decades, dancer-choreographer and philosopher Zab Maboungou has been a driving force in Canada’s African dance scene. When she looks back, she says one thing hasn’t changed: her movement sequences, what  she calls “poetics,” are always born out of rhythms. “I’m keeping the quest I have with rhythms and the structure of time and movement,” she explains.
Maboungou describes her new solo choreography, Décompte, as a meditative piece and translates it as “countdown, taking a distance, or looking back at what is left.” She adds that the title is à propos since it was in 1986 that she founded her company Cercle d’Expression Artistique Nyata Nyata.
Through the years, live music has always been a necessity for Maboungou, and in this show she tries something different and collaborates with cellist Jean-Christophe Lizotte, who is joined by drummer Marc Keyevuh. They perform at 8 p.m. nightly from Oct. 11–13 at Agora de la Danse (840 Cherrier), $18–$26. While you’re there, pop into the gallery space to see works by photographer Raymonde April. Info: (514) 525-1500.
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by MARITES CARINO
Is it art?
EXITENZ: XShot inventor Michael Daoud sums up the gadget’s uses saying, “People no longer have to rely on arm extensions or passing strangers to take their pictures.” Indeed, the XShot rules out any needless social interaction or body movement completely. The telescopic arm, which attaches to your  compact digital or video camera, allows you to extend the camera and take a self-portrait without any outside interference.
Lonely travellers aren’t the only ones to benefit from this convenient invention, however; YouTube and Facebook users are rumoured to be spicing up their pages with some DIY special effects. “One such effect is achieved when the camera is placed in video mode and the user spins in place 360 degrees,” the press release material explains. “When played back, the video appears three-dimensional and the subject seems to be standing in place. People have commented it resembles effects used in Hollywood films.” Make your own movie magic for only $24.95 from www.xshotpix.com.
Arts
hole 
WRAP PARTY: Film critic and Mirror contributor Matthew Hays celebrates the Montreal launch of his anticipated new book, The View From Here: Conversations With Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers at Opus Hotel (10 Sherbrooke W.) Oct. 17 at 5 p.m. Sure to be a party like no other.• PROJET CATWALK: Montreal Fashion Week rounds out with an Ethical Fashion Show tonight, Oct. 11 at 9 p.m. at Marché Bonsecours (350 St-Paul E.) featuring Montreal-based designers Harricana, Second and Véronique Miljkovitch among others.
Artistat
The top sprinting speed of a greater roadrunner, which you can see in its natural habitat until Nov. 25 alongside prairie dogs and burrowing owls as part of the Biodome’s desert habitat exhibition: 27 kilometres/hour |
