The Vestibules
The Vestibules,formerly known asRadio Free Vestibule,is aCanadiancomedy troupe composed ofTerence Bowman,Paul Paré,andBernard Deniger.[1]
Career
[edit]Based inMontreal,[2]the trio began performing in 1987.[2]Students at Montreal'sConcordia University,they performed in Montreal-area comedy clubs and produced a radio comedy program forCKUT-FM.[1]They had songs played on the syndicatedDr. Dementoradio show,[3]and soon began appearing onCBC Radio'sPrime Time,beginning with occasional parody songs and later expanding to a twice-weekly sketch comedy segment;[1]in April 1990, the program gave them a full half-hour special.[4]
The trio was known primarily forabsurdistcomedy based onpop culture,and resisted humor that was too explicitly political.[1]One sketch which aired onPrime Timein 1990 satirized Canadian radio comedy's predilection for political humor, featuring an audience laughing uproariously at a reference toMeech Lakein the punchline to a deliberately unfunny "anti-joke".[4]One of their most famous pieces was "Jellybellies Forever", amockumentaryabout the rise and fall of achildren's musicgroup[5]who had been inspired by the legendary supergroupSharon, Lois, BramandYoung.[6]Their satirical songs included "I Don't Want to Go to Toronto", a parody ofToronto's uptight and elitist image, and "Grunge Song", a parody of early 1990s songwriting which was frequently shown onMuchMusic.[7]Another sketch with rare political overtones was "Looking for a Job in Quebec", in which a nervous anglophone insisted that his surname, O'Leary, was pronounced "Thibodeau".[8]
In 1992, the troupe were given their own weekly series on CBC Radio, as a summer replacement forRoyal Canadian Air Farce.[9]In the fall, they returned toPrime Timefor the show's final season.[9]AfterPrime Time's cancellation, their sketches continued to appear on the CBC Radio programsBasic BlackandNight Lines,[10]and on follow-up seasons of their summer series.[10]
In 1993, the trio appeared in a segment onA&E'sComedy on the Road,as part of a series of specials taped at theJust for Laughs Festival,[11]and garnered aGemini Awardnomination for Best Comedy Performance for their appearance inCBC Television'sJust for Laughsspecial.[12]In 1994, they collaborated with formerPrime TimehostGeoff PevereonX-Ray Vision,a television comedy pilot which aired as a special onCTVbut was not picked up as a permanent series.[13]
In 1995, they appeared on CBC Television'sComics!,[10]released their first comedy albumSketches, Songs and Shoes,[14]and became regular contributors toDefinitely Not the Opera.[10]
Name change
[edit]The trio shortened its name from Radio Free Vestibule to The Vestibules in 1997.[12]In 1998, the troupe were the main writers of the sitcomRadio ActiveforYTV,[15]and they sold a screenplay forDisco Inferno,a genre-hopping disaster/action/musical comedy film about adiscothequeinside a dormantvolcano,toMTV Films.[15]
Their second comedy album,Get Spiffy!,was released in 2002.[16]They have since released three further comedy albums and a DVD.
Personal life
[edit]Paré is the uncle of actressJessica Paré.[15]
Discography
[edit]- Sketches Songs and Shoes(1995, as Radio Free Vestibule)
- Get Spiffy!(2002)
- Chest of Drawers 5.0(2005)
- The Complete First Episode(2005, DVD)
- The Jellybellies Forever(2006)
- The Best of the Radio McGill Years volumes 1-4(2006)
References
[edit]- ^abcd"Fringe trio moves mainstream - with elbows".Montreal Gazette,April 19, 1990.
- ^ab"Radio Free Vestibule set to tickle Montreal funnybones".Montreal Gazette,November 12, 1988.
- ^"CBC Olympic TV team will be a lean machine competing with the best".Montreal Gazette,August 10, 1988.
- ^ab"Surreal sounds from the Vestibule".Toronto Star,April 7, 1990.
- ^"The radio waves are getting weird".The Globe and Mail,July 25, 1992.
- ^"Comedy trio makes pitch to move to small screen".Ottawa Citizen,May 15, 1995.
- ^"The Grunge Song video an artful send-up from RFV".Montreal Gazette,July 5, 1995.
- ^"Waiting for good news in the Vestibule".The Globe and Mail,May 6, 1995.
- ^ab"Radio Free, you're up; Talented comic trio jumps from Prime Time to its own weekly show".Halifax Daily News,June 29, 1992.
- ^abcd"From Vestibule to centre stage; Trio of Montreal comics makes it big on disc, TV - and, of course, radio".Montreal Gazette,March 6, 1995.
- ^"Southern exposure: Comedy Nest jokers to be featured on A&E".Montreal Gazette,July 17, 1993.
- ^ab"Vestibules at home in funny business".Windsor Star,May 29, 1997.
- ^"Montreal comedy troupe warms up the ponies; CTV's X-Ray Vision isn't very penetrating but has its moments".Montreal Gazette,May 8, 1994.
- ^"Faces from the comic airwaves Radio Free Vestibule wired for live audience".Toronto Star,April 13, 1995.
- ^abc"Vestibules get past the front door".Montreal Gazette,March 20, 1999.
- ^"They'll have you in stitches: With their new CD, Get Spiffy!, the Vestibules continue their pattern of bizarre, artful comedy".National Post,June 7, 2002.
