Goodbye Winnipeg / Hello Wilderness

The Winnipeg Fringe came to a close yesterday.

Here, I insert my sad emoticon face ->  :(

But do not fret! That 'open-parentheses' is set to become a 'close-parentheses' very soon. And that's because da b'ys are gettin' back to their roots this Wednesday.

'What roots?' you may ask. Well, we ain't talkin' about any homespun mumbo-jumbo here. We're talkin' waaay back in those roots. Back to the days when wheels were the 'new thing' and when it was still acceptable to beat people with sticks. Back when all of us b'ys were just select sequences of chromosomes waiting to be aligned correctly.

Yep. We're reverting back into our primitive selves and heading out into the wild.  Check out more...

Days 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13: Over the Hump

Over the past week so many wonderful things have happened that it would literally require a novel to necessitate it all.

Hmm... That's not a bad idea (actually, it is. But... well... y'know).  Here's Little Dickie Milburn: The Novel.

Days 5, 6, 7 & 8: Journey to The Centre of the Country

What an adventure we've had already. B'ys oh b'ys, I tells ya, things are some good.

At 6 AM sharp on the 11th, we jumped in Da Boat and set sails for Winnipeg. It seemed like we drove forever through Northern Ontario but the hilliness and multitude of trees was welcomed. Accompanied by a soundtrack consisting of a lot of Canadian Indie Rock with an unusual amount of banjo and some Beethoven for good measure, we motored through the Canadian Wilderness vowing that if we ran into a moose, we would hunt it and make a delicious meal.

Around the time we got to Sault St. Marie,  Da Boat began to rock and weird noises emerged from its chassis. We stopped for the night at a Motel and discovered the next morning that the sounds were nothing more than a loose lug nut. With our newly-tightened lug nut and no fear of the tire departing from our trusty vehicle, we embarked once again through the Canadian wilderness.

One of the nicest little places we encountered was Wa Wa. Upon entering the town, we were astonished to discover it was being held hostage by several giant geese:

We scoured the town for postcards and met some nice people, stuffed mooses, and bears. We restocked on beef jerky and I bought some Pop Rocks and times were good.

Due to our late departure from Sault St. Marie, we drove until 3:00, then settled down for a 3 hour nap in Da Boat. At 6:00, I determined (since we had come to the realization that Manitoba does actually exist) that I would celebrate our arrival and discovery with some Pop Rocks. The popping in my mouth was so loud it awoke Robby T. who immediately began laughing.

An hour or so later, we had arrived in Winnipeg. Since we've been here, we have encountered many friendly people and it can be said that the "Friendly Manitoba" slogan on their license plate is far from false advertising.

Last night, we had a time at the King's Head Pub, the hang-out place for all of Winnipeg's Fringers. Mayhem ensued and we had a blast meeting with the lovely folks at the pub. When we were leaving the bar, a torrential downpour had pulled a sneak-attack on us and because no one wanted to go get the van in the rain all alone during  the craziest lightningy thundery storm ever, we all ran together, soaked to the bone and laughing wildly at the fun of it all.

The storm quickly took on a whole new attitude as we realized the van window had been busted and Shawn and Robert's laptops had run off to brave the storm. But alas, Rob has already purchased a new laptop and the city is still wonderful. Nestled into the abode of Shawn's Uncle, we are now ready to enjoy every bit of the festival and check out some incredible plays.

As promised, here's a picture of Shawn packing the Thule:

We made a new promo video. Check it out Here.

Opening night is tomorrow at 5:00!

Cheers,

Kyle and Da B'ys

Day 3 & 4: To the End of the World!

Seems we missed a blog last night.

But you can’t blame us for that one; it was the 2-4 birthday of the Golden Lion Pub here in Lenny-land. And, well... to be truly honest with yous all... we got a little saucy just then too. But with good reason! (story on that later in the post).

SO right now we are in the midst of a little sausage fest. Allie, the SM, is off in Montreal with her ‘sexy-pants man’ Ben, havin’ a time at the warped tour. Viv, the other half of our double-x chromosome representation, is meeting us up in Winnipeg. That means that, much to her chagrin, she’ll be missing all the pancake action on the first leg of the adventure.

I know, you’re thinkin’. “Pancakes? What in the name of the innocent baby Jesus does he mean by pancakes?” Well, seems the beginning of the journey has taken an unintentional turn for the syrupy. Upon the recommendation of George and Jo Jo Rideout, we will be ‘Dick’-in’ off to Pancake Bay to camp out on our first night. Followed by a recommended pancake lunch at Hoito in Thunder Bay. Cheesy? Yes. Definitely. But delicious too! More here

Day Two: Da Boat Moored in Harbour

The sun in the sky was hot,
we in the theatre were not.
We escaped its hot wrath,
but still need cold baths,
and our play is really great.

Profusely, I apologize for the poetic crime I've just committed, but while the heat may have taken its toll on MY creative-writing technique, I'm not the writer of this show, so you needn't worry, one little bit. (This is Lil' Dickie himself!)

'Da Boat' (our affectionately-named Van) was sparkle-shine cleaned today, and lights are currently being hung for our preview show in Turner Studio Theatre at Bishop's on Saturday at 2 PM.

In other news, The New Glasgow News printed an article about our Western exploits and about their hometown heroes Kyle and Allie! (Who am I kidding, they're heroes here too!)
Check 'er out!

Tomorrow we'll be doing an outdoor performance ~somewhere~ in Lennoxville, and be sure to keep your eyes peeled for another video to come at ya soon.

See ya tomorrow,

From us B'ys to you B'ys,

Rob D

Day One: The Sun Attacks!

(Cue up cheesy '70s music...) Da B'ys are back in town!

Our much-anticipated arrival to the land of Lennox-vegas (Lennoxville, QC) has left our crew sleepless with excitement for long enough. Yep B'ys and Maids, all actors are here, unscathed, accounted for, and nestled away in their beds.

But don't think we're takin' it easy! Oh no, not the one bit. We've been bustin' through this heat wave locked up in the theatre, workin' on songs, sketches, outdoor performances, and - of course - our potent little Fringe show.

Here's a taste of our work: A short improv'ed promo.

Expect a lot more of these to come. Now, after the jump, a sinister picture of The Doctor himself.