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Lately, I’ve been waking up to feelings of helplessness and nihilism as my clock radio reminds me that I’m living in the age of Trump. I try to calm myself down by turning to the comedic monologues of late night talk shows, but the jokes have become repetitive. It makes me yearn for something with more substance, with more of a human touch. I need something that can stand the test of time, not just dabble in week-to-week politics.

This is why I believe local comedian Karl Knox chose to direct Eric Bogosian’s Pounding Nails In the Floor With My Forehead for this year’s Montreal Fringe Festival. Knox dug into the past and pulled out a script written in 1994 as a way of commenting on the current state of America, much like how Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trials in response to McCarthyism.

Pounding Nails is a collection of soliloquies delivered by a colourful cast of characters, some more relatable than others. Each character has felt bogged down by social norms to the point where they can no longer remain silent. Some seek comfort in support groups or grocery shopping, while others foam at the mouth with rage or fall to their knees cursing the very ground they walk on.

Knox opens the show with a nightmarish rant as a right-wing radio host; a role he slips into comfortably, being the real life host of CJLO’s Your Media Sucks! Knox returns to the stage later on as a middle-class optimist, staring pensively at his half-full pint of beer.

A standout performance was done by Dan Derkson as the Vietnam veteran-turned-drug dealer, Red. Derkson shares stories of wilder, simpler times, punctuated with maniacal laughter. But behind his bug-eyed enthusiasm are subtle hints of loneliness.

There was the noticeable absence of comedian Rodney Ramsey, one of the many reasons why I was drawn to this production. But his role as a “recovering male” was taken over by Ladies and Gentlemen co-host Daniel Carin, who brought a sense vulnerability and sheepishness to the character.

Throughout, the modestly-sized audience was either roaring with riotous laughter or dead silent, giving gravity to the ideas presented to them.

Between scenes, burlesque performer Shauna Feldman (or you might know her alter-ego, Elle Diabloe) sensually changed title cards and was complimented with hoots and whistles from the audience. Feldman closed the show by repeatedly telling society to “Blow me” in a monologue originally intended for a male actor. Despite this show of gender inclusion, my date felt that the production was still very “male-centric,” considering the emphasis on ejaculation in more than one monologue. This is a detail that couldn’t be helped since the script needed to be kept in its original form. Consequently, many out-of-date pop culture references flew over my head, since I was only a toddler at the time Bogosian wrote the play. Nevertheless, I still believe in the importance of thought-provoking theatre, especially today. If you’re looking for a remedy for your modern age blues, I recommend you head to the Wiggle Room to catch the final performances of Pounding Nails. 

Jazz music, incessant cigarette smoking, murder—this piece of detective fiction has it all! Everything that comes to mind from a murder mystery set in the 20s, right down to the pinstriped suites and showgirls, The Detective, The Dame and The Devil has it. What it also has in addition to your standard detective story staples are lame puns, cheap gags, and running jokes that give the whole show fantastic continuity. It was perfect. Small details revealed at the beginning of the show were easy to pass off as mere silliness, but so often they would tie into the plot in unexpected and incredibly silly ways, making the whole show completely hilarious and impressively well thought out. Throw in some plot twists and we have a winner!

The story itself is fairly simple, not very complex. There’s not actually a lot of mystery to the murder, no following the footsteps of an autistic genius detective and his ex-military companion as they scour for clues with inhuman powers of observation. Instead, the story is laid out plainly in front of us with clear, easy-to-follow details, until an unexpected plot twist elevates the intrigue of the play to the same level as its comedic mastery. We are then taken through the story again, this time walking through the shoes of another character.

This is where the brilliance of the play really begins to shine. We’re shown the same 12-odd hours from the point of view of the 3 characters in turn; first the detective, then the dame, and finally the devil. Each time we watch the same day unfold before us, the characters that we just got to know change, sometimes becoming themselves through their own eyes, sometimes transforming into the people that one of the other two see them as. The variations these characters evolve through are staggering. Even as each character is re-revealed, the attention to detail in their costumes is just as impressive as the changes in their personality. Small things like the length of a neck-tie or a glittery handbag are like rings on a pond—extending further and more subtly than is easily perceived.

The costumes weren’t the only details that exuded mastery in the performance—the set itself was a work of brilliance. There were three places that we saw on stage: the detective’s office, a jazz club, and a warehouse. Each time we saw the same scenes played out from different perspectives, the orientation of the set changed to match the change in perspective based on which character was narrating. It really helped to illustrate what is possibly the underlying message of the play: a thought-provoking commentary on seeing the world from perspectives other than your own. Either that, or it was a chance to make as many jokes as possible in an hour. Regardless, it was an undeniably brilliant work of comedy, mystery, satire and silliness and it is well worth adding to your list of shows to see this year.

After a fantastic debut with his breakthrough album TRAPSOUL in 2015, which managed to reach platinum status, Bryson Tiller released his long awaited follow-up  album True To Self. Although the R&B singer had initial plans of releasing the album in June, he gave an explanation as to why it the album was released a whole month early in an interview with Billboard. The artist stated, "I can't take the credit for that. It was just my manager, it was his plan [to] drop it a month early." The album's early release took many by surprise with its unexpected drop, but having had time to go on multiple tours, and to get feedback from fans as to what they liked and what they wanted, this album tries to satisfy everyone. From the fans of TRAPSOUL to those who preferred the work of the mainstream scene, True To Self tries to do this with a hefty 19-track production.

The project spans an hour long providing many R&B tracks displaying Tiller’s singing capabilities, alongside a couple rap tracks where he displays his diversity as both a rapper and R&B singer.

Many of his R&B tracks tend to speak on the matters of his relationships with different women throughout his life, especially after the success of TRAPSOUL and having performed a series of live shows. In his first track "No Longer Friends", there's dialogue which can be heard between a girl and what sounds like her boyfriend, where the two are arguing over her having, and possibly displaying,  feelings for Tiller. She's being accused of seeing him while being with her boyfriend, but she tries to mask Tiller as "her brother."  Even in one of his later R&B tracks, "In Check", Bryson gave the following rhyme as his reason for the album taking so long to be made: "Album overdue| You would find it hard to focus too| If you met the women I have| Hard not to get sidetracked." He also shows and expresses himself to another girl, who apparently smokes and drinks often, by saying "I'm the only drug you need to get you through it" in the chorus of "Don't Get Too High."

True To Self also delivers Bryson's first released attempt at making an afrobeat-styled song with "Run Me Dry." With fellow artists like artists Drake and Tory Lanez, to name a few, who've also taken a similar route at some point, Tiller, unlike the others, took a more melodic tone with this track. It delivers a more rhythmic and relaxed vibe to it, yet it's still very capable of being a good party starter.

In "Blowing Smoke" however, there's no real sense of creativity in the lyrical structure of the song. Attempting to once again blur the lines of singer and rapper, Tiller provides a catchy chorus, but verses that aren't really anything for taking notes as inspiration for your next mixtape. What is really worth checking out is "Money Problems/Benz Truck." Being one of the one of the better tracks on the album, it delivers both lyrically and melodically. This is something worth the 5-minute run time, offering something worthy of car stereo blazing for sure. Add to that a DJ scratch near the end of the song, it just makes the track more entertaining and interesting.  

Tracks such as "Teach Me a Lesson" and "Something Tells Me," alongside the many other R&B works found on the album, are Tiller's way of reclaiming himself as an R&B artist, taking a more 90s approach to them.

From listening to this album, one can tell that Bryson's latest work is more so catered towards appealing to a much larger and more mainstream audience than those who've praised his work and sat by desperately awaiting this album to drop. With tracks like "Run Me Dry" and "Blowing Smoke" it's pretty clear to see that.

Although the album has some noteworthy tracks, it's hard to say that this album was something extremely different to what's already out there by other artists. However, it's fair to say that this can be due to the current album's highly praised predecessor, alongside True To Self's heavy track weight, and its high anticipation due to Tiller's almost two year  hiatus, that really caused this album to not be accepted as something amazing, but still appreciated.

Hosted by Patricia Petit Liang

Stories by Jeremiah Ho and Patricia Petit Liang

Produced by Patricia Petit Liang