Neeeerds!

Saturday night at the Comedy Bar was the inaugural show for Nerdy Little Secret, a stand-up comedy show that supposed will cover all topics nerdy. It was a hit-and-miss affair with only the final head-liner, Fraser Young, being truly outstanding. Gavin Stephens made an amiable host and a deft improviser, able to riff on the audience's participation and reactions. The first two opening acts had too little material to work with. Blair Streeter's claim to nerd-dom was pointing out the ragging he got having a "girl's name", especially that of a rich spoiled brat from "Facts of Life". The 80s reference went over the heads of the mostly 20-something crowd. Deborah Etta Robinson's schtick is that she's "obviously cool" but her stories show otherwise. Not much laughter for either one.

A comedy singing duo, Nerds With Guitar, did better with songs about the various video-game or movie heroes and villains. Nerdy for sure. However, their song about "Date Rape" was a downer. The topic didn't fit with the evening's theme and was a bit uncomfortable, even if it had a Deliverance-like twist ending. The first headliner, Nile Sequin, also riffed on nerdy things like video games and comic books. He also covered more general topics like Stephen Harper and hipsters. He was batting about .500.

But the last act saved the night. Fraser Young's jokes consistently generated uproarious laughter. He understood the nerd condition and it's not video games, comic books, and such. Some nerds like video games but not all; some like Halo while others prefer old school Pacman. Not all nerds like comic books or sci-fi movies. The essence of the nerd is that his head is filled with all these "facts" gleaned from books, school, hobbies, etc. From them, he creates a set of rules by which things "ought to be" if people were more "logical" and "reasonable". And it's a continuing source of frustration that the real world is not like that.

In real-life, this world-view makes a nerd whiny, pedantic, bull-headed, anti-social and often irritating to other people (I should know). Fraser Young makes these complaints funny. He gets people to laugh at the idiocy of a person not knowing how to make change for $7.90 from a $10, the "scientific nonsense" of a drink labeled 0-Calorie Energy Boost, and the illogical vagueness in the steps of a how-to guide to a first kiss.

Speaking of kissing, I question the nerd credentials of these performers. They all mention having girlfriends/boyfriends/spouses. Nerds are supposed to be social misfits, gosh darn it. In fact, I stood next to the girlfriend of one of the Nerds With Guitar. She was a pretty red-head who, at 6 feet and heels, not only towered over me (not hard to do) but was several inches taller than him too. How did that pairing happen? Hmm, maybe the secret is to be funny. After all, Woody Allen didn't get Diane Keaton by being tall and handsome.

Where's The Beef?

I was excited to see a twitter post about 7 local chefs banding together to create a 7 course meal with wine pairings at Cowbell this past Monday. This was the 4th such endeavour and this time around, it's all about beef dishes. The $145 price (plus tax and tip) gave me a big pause. I decided to pass on a rather expensive meal. Monday night, the 7 courses with description and photos were posted on twitter: 1st course, 2nd course, 3rd course, 4th course, 5th course, 6th course, 7th course.

They all looked rather disappointing especially for that price. Maybe I've been watching too much Top Chef Canada but I don't think they would pass muster in competition. Certainly, they don't seem to compare to the dinner I had at Susur when he had his farewell, best-of-Susur, month a few years. However, inspired by the menu's theme, on Wednesday I decided to go for a Vietnamese specialty of "Bo Bay Mon". That's also 7 beef courses, but it would be a lot cheaper. It's not available at every Vietnamese restaurants, so check ahead.

Mam nem

I ended up at Kim Bo at the corner of Bathurst and Dundas. I've known of this place for years now, but the wood-paneled pub-like exterior never encouraged me to enter. But I've heard from various friends that Bo Bay Mon was its specialty.

Vinegar Fondue

Not surprisingly, Bo Bay Mon $25 (or as I like to think of it: Beef 7 Ways) was the first item on their menu. They also have other less common Vietnamese dishes as well as the ubiquitous pho. Instead of nuoc mam (fish sauce), I opted for mam nem. This dipping sauce, although it is also made from fermented anchovies, has a much thicker consistency and stronger taste, though not as strong as shrimp paste. It is mixed with pineapple to juice to give it a tangy flavour. Also, the first 4 dishes are meant to be wrapped in rice paper with mint, basil, and other greens.

Bo Nhung Dam

First up was Bo Nhung Dam (beef fondue). The beef came in raw slices with a little fondue pot. The liquid is a mixture of vinegar (dam), chili oil, etc. It was a tasty start to the meal.

Bo La Lot, Bo Mo Chai, Bo Sa Te

The next 3 dishes came out together: Bo La Lot (beef wrapped in betel leaf), Bo Mo Chai (BBQ beef), and Bo Sa Te (grilled satay beef). The flavour of the betel leaf would be nicely stronger if it was grilled longer. The BBQ beef was average, I prefer mine a little sweeter. The onions added a nice crunch to the satay beef.

Bo Luc Lac, Cha Bo Dum

Next came Bo Luc Lac (shaky beef!). No, it wasn't made from mad cows. The "shaky" is the process of sauteeing the beef cubes. It's supposed to be quite spicy, so I was disappointed with the mildness here. The 6th dish has always been my least favourite: Cha Bo Dum (steamed beef ball). This giant meatball, mixed with vermicelli and mushrooms, was typically bland.

Chao Bo

Finally, a bowl of Chao Bo (beef congee) finished off the meal.

Did Kim Bo lived up to my friends' recommendation? Not really. It wasn't a bad meal but the quality was average. Your calling card dish has to be more than run-of-the-mill. On the other hand, I only paid about 1/6th what the other meal would have cost.

Zadie's Shoes To Place In the 6th

Before heading off to Factory Theatre on Bathurst to see Zadie's Shoes on Saturday, I dropped by Porcetta and Co. to grab a bite to eat. This tiny place on Dundas near Bathurst serves only 1 kind of food: a pork sandwich. I had never been there before, but was tempted by that day's tweeted special: the lobster po boy. But they were out of it by the time I dropped by.

The pork sandwich was all right, but I expected more fatty juiciness given the pork cuts; some of the slices were white with fat. The crunchy pork skin was a nice touch. But the store is a little stingy with the toppings: only the hot sauce and mustard were free. That might have explained why my sandwich with mushrooms tasted a bit bland. Also, stick to the dijon mustard, the grainy mustard added nothing to the meal.

Zadie's Shoes is a funny drama about Benjamin (Joe Cobden), an inveterate gambler who finally hit bottom, owing $7000 to a bookie. He steals his girlfriend Ruth's (Patricia Fagan) money to make that one big bet to win it all back. That money was set aside by her for an alternative cancer treatment program in Mexico. Benjamin's sorry state of affairs has him scheming with a fellow addict named Bear (William MacDonald). As a lapsed Jew, he also returns to his synagogue for some solace. There he finds unsolicited advice, and a horse racing tip, from gregarious Eli (Harry Nelken), an old Jewish man given to nosy questions, funny quips, and Yiddish quotes. Meanwhile, Ruth has familiar, and familial, conflict with her sisters: New Age Lily (Shannon Perreault) and control-freak Beth (Lisa Ryder - Beka Valentine from Andromeda). Rounding out the cast is Beth's horn-dog husband Sean (Geoffrey Pounset).

The large Jewish audience loved Eli with his stories and advice, all given in that recognizable Yiddish-influenced English. Bear also got a lot of love for his filthy language and blunt talk; the man is incapable of refraining from dropping 4-letter bombs every other word. But I thought that Benjamin and Ruth were thin characterization: gambling addict and worried patient. Why are they together? Why should we care about their problems? The flaky sister versus the uptight one was also a cliché. So it was a funny play but does not have much emotional impact.

I think a better story would have concentrated on Benjamin, the hapless underachiever, Eli and Bear. Who should Benjamin listen to: the elder scholar with his learned wisdom or the realist who learned his lessons from the school of hard knocks.

Holding Out For A Hero

Starting back in February, there was a series of concert to promote some local bands. There was some cross-promotion with a comic book release in May at the Great Hall. I had gone to the first one and decided to go the final one on Saturday. The cover charge came with a "limited edition no. 1 issue" of "Band of Heroes". I was disappointed that it was still shots of play-doh figurines instead of the comic-book art of the original poster. The story was an incoherent mish-mash involving the bands Lovely Killbots, Bella Clava, The Wilderness, and The Ruby Spirit. I think (and hope) it was just a fun personal project.

First up was Alphabot! I saw this one-man band a few months back. He still retained his manic energy even if the early crowd was possibly even sparser than his night at the Garrison. But then, the crowd never materialized for this show. Lovely Killbots was the official first act on the bill. For me, it was an ironic gig for them. On the one hand, the sound-mix was much better than their CD release party at Sneaky Dee's on May 7. On the other hand, there wasn't nearly as many people to enjoy their danceable electronica.

When The Wilderness came on, some of their fans crowded close to the stage. For the first couple of numbers, they distributed balloons so people can blow them out and throw them around. For the second song, they also had a stage hand flip posters with hand-written lyrics a la Bob Dylan. Despite their high energy, I didn't find myself engaged by their music.

With my energy ebbing, I didn't stay Bella Clava or The Ruby Spirit. Next time I'll try to catch these female-fronted bands.