Baring it for
Head and Hands

HUMOUR AND GOOD PROPS: Glam Gam Productions

Cheeky burlesque troupe Glam Gam Productions will present their latest offering with the Bare Necessities show at Café Cleopâtre (1230 St-Laurent) opening tonight, Thursday, May 20.

The troupe’s fascination with feathers, glitter, sequined pasties, dildos, PVC and latex will again be on display as they “deconstruct taboos that surround nudity and sexuality” through play and performance, says Glam Gam’s co-organizer Michael McCarthy. Deconstruction aside, McCarthy says humour is the backbone of Glam Gam’s existence, and that many of their props and set were found in the trash.

“Many members of our troupe found themselves unsatisfied in their structured training of fine arts—burlesque allows us to connect more personally with our audience, as we are presenting an idea in a more gritty and tangible way,” says McCarthy.

Interactive activities, such as pin-the-tail-on-Michael McCarthy, a kissing booth and a naughty bake sale will help fund local youth sex organization Head and Hands. The Bare Necessities runs until Saturday, May 22. DJ Cat-a-Strofik will be on the decks for the after-party. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 with a non-perishable food item donation. Contact them at glamgamproductions@gmail.com.

by LINA HARPER

High-quality Healers

YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHY GUNS: A piece
by Hartmann

“In 2008, I started Society Suckers, a zine of all my own photos but by the third issue I was asking friends to submit photos,” says Daniel Pelissier, whose new zine project Young Healers launches with a party and a small exhibit at Off The Hook (1021 Ste-Catherine W.) this Tuesday, May 25 at 7 p.m.

Now in its third edition, Young Healers is a photography zine dedicated to the work of one specific artist. With a new release happening each month, until January, this latest edition features the work of Chicago-based photographer Nina Hartmann.

“Nina was in Issue 9 of Society Suckers, I reached out to her a while ago,” he says. “I was thinking it’d be cool to work with emerging photographers, people whose work I found on the Internet while researching Society Suckers.”

And though the end product holds true to its DIY roots, Pelissier has worked hard to make sure quality is top notch. “I came from a lot of punk and hardcore shows and zines are a big part of that, but I went through a lot of processes to get my zines to be high-quality.”

by SACHA JACKSON

Wonder at Push

Earlier this year, Push Gallery (372 Ste-Catherine W., #425) bid farewell to its home on the upper Main and moved into a bright white box in the Belgo building. Though more generic than the former space, with its multiple levels and oblong shape, the new room makes for a more cohesive viewing, as one encounters the works en masse upon entering the gallery.

Currently on view until June 13 is Umbra Penumbra, a collection of new works by photographer Jessica Eaton. Though the name might seem nonsensical, it in fact refers to the parts of the shadow created by a light source or celestial body—such as the sun during a total (umbra) or partial (penumbra) eclipse.

In Eaton’s work, this concept is actualized in images that play with light and shadow through experiments done primarily in camera. The results are marvellous in the true dictionary definition of the term: causing wonder and astonishment. On the surface, they seem too complex and layered to be photographs. Using long exposures and various mattes, a tree is transformed into a gorgeous pointillist wash of shapes and colours, and a shower of ping-pong balls becomes something magical, celestial.

by STACEY DEWOLFE

Sketchy and dangerous

The Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival may be smaller than its Toronto and New York equivalents, but if Internet celebrity Jon Lajoie is any indication, starring in the festival could lead to bigger things.

“It’s about giving emerging comedians and performers a chance to perform,” said festival organizer and Kick the Pricks group member Alain Mercieca.

Attending the festival, you’re likely to see a lot of sketches about the Habs recent winning streak, but also Buddhist monks who are strangely preoccupied with the current living status of game show host Alan Thicke. Now in its fifth year, the festival features both improv and rehearsed sketches.

“I always like to mix the two,” says Mercieca. “You get that sort of danger factor that improv has but also stuff that’s guaranteed to be good.”

The fifth annual Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival runs at Théâtre Ste-Catherine (264 Ste-Catherine E.) nightly at 8 p.m. until May 23, with an additional show on Saturday, May 22 at 10:30 p.m. Friday features all French performances, while Sunday is All-Star Improv night, hosted by Sandi Armstrong. See the full schedule at montrealsketchfestival.com.

by CHRISTOPHER OLSON

IS IT ART?

HOMEMADE DONUTS: For all the different food Montreal has to offer, there’s one food that is easier to find elsewhere—donuts. Sure there are Tim Horton’s dotted here and there, but they’re just not as ubiquitous and numerous as they are in, say, Toronto. But now, thanks to the Mini Donut Factory, you can make donuts in the comfort of your own home.

Looking a lot like a waffle iron, the Mini Donut Factory is a cheap ($19.99) and easy way to get your maple-glazed fix. Coming complete with its own recipe book, the “factory” makes up to six donuts at a time in just four minutes. And though you lose a bit of that delectable deep-fried flavour thanks to the healthy non-stick surface, donut lovers can console themselves with the fact that they can probably eat three at a time. http://is.gd/cdyeo

Arts hole

CATCH NO HERE NO WHERE BEFORE IT REALLY IS: This is your last chance to catch No Here No Where, a joint exhibit by painter March Hutchinson and photographer Dita Kubin at Gallery Ethecae (2131 Ste-Catherine E.). The show closes tomorrow, Friday, May 21 at 6 p.m.● READ IT: Author Miguel Syjuco launches his debut novel Illustrado tonight at Drawn & Quarterly (211 Bernard W.) at 7 p.m. ● HOT ART: Twenty-seven artists get in touch with their sexy side at L’art chaud: explorations dans l’érotique, which opens with a vernissage tonight, Thursday, May 20 at 6 p.m. at Espace les neuf soeurs (1900 Wellington) with performances by Duplessis, Colette Coughlin, Joel Asa Miller and others.

Artistat

The number of artists including Jeska Slater, Maya Beaudry and Sean Orean who are participating in the(y) may show, which is at the Red Bird Gallery (135 Van Horne) until May 27: 9