Jacques Lalonde feels fortunate.
A stroke he suffered Canada Day 2013 kept the celebrated storyteller from performing his 27th show in a row at the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Fringe Festival last year, but it could have been worse.
“One out of six people die [when they have a stroke],” the 51-year-old said. “Within the first year, one out of four or five die… The fact that it affected only my arm… but my legs were fine, again, lucky…The fact that I have so many caring friends and family that were willing to give me so much support, lucky… Lucky that my brain is such that I’m able to not become incredibly depressed about the whole situation.”
With his new comprehension of how the brain works and of the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, Lalonde has spun tales from his rollercoaster ride to recovery into a new show for the Fringe called Stroke of Luck.
He combines his and others’ experiences with puppetry, clowning, tennis and song, but mostly he plays himself.
“A lot of the time I find that the best theatre or the best art of any kind actually comes from personal journey, personal suffering, personal pain that you turn into laughter,” Lalonde said. “Hopefully me having this stroke means one or two other people don’t have to because they see my show and they go, oh yeah, maybe I should go see the doctor, maybe I should take those little aspirins, maybe I should listen to my wife or girlfriend — just little tips…"
Lalonde lost the use of his right arm and right side of his face. He couldn’t move his fingers at first and his speech was slurred.
But he learned how adaptable the brain is.
“I can’t play piano yet,” he said, “but I couldn’t play piano before, so it’s OK.”
The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Fringe Festival awarded Lalonde a Lifetime Achievement Award at its 25th anniversary in 1999. Lalonde has performed at the Fringe every year except 2013 since 1987, been a part of more than 25 holdover hits and twice performed in three held-over shows.
“This is the best one ever,” he said of Stroke of Luck. “Perhaps it’s more vulnerable than some.”
Lalonde last performed a highly personal show called The Unbreakable Popsicle Stick Gang in 2006. In it, he told his mother’s story nine years after her death.
He says Stroke of Luck is less musical than his Fringe hits A Closer Walk with Jean Chretien and The Kenny Rogers Experience.
Lalonde developed Stroke of Luck in the writers’ group Wordstir he attends alongside actors Suzanne Ristic and Jay Brazeau, who suffered a stroke while performing in 2011. Lalonde notes Ristic has written a play called Poor that Brazeau directs for this year’s festival.
“And when I first did the Fringe in 1987, we did our show for Jay and Suzanne and they did their show for us before we presented it to anybody,” Lalonde said. “And so here we are 28 years later, and we’re still friends and we’re still creating together and we’re still doing new works that are being premiered at the Fringe Festival. And that’s the beauty of the festival.”
Lalonde has performed for more than a million people at almost every major festival in B.C. including the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»International Storytelling, Children’s Dragon Boat and comedy festivals.
A Stroke of Luck plays at the Havana Theatre on Commercial Drive.
Lalonde urges audiences to arrive at least 10 minutes early so they can see his pre-show performance of a giant dancing brain.
“Get your tickets early,” he said. “It’s a small venue.”
He has checked out the Fringe program and suggests visitors to Havana make a day of it.
“There are a ton of awesome shows at the Havana,” he said. “Sam Mullins is there and he’s just phenomenal.”
Lalonde shared advice that extends far beyond the Fringe.
“Every day is so important,” he said. “Just love the people you know. And take a bite out of every bit of fruit salad that you can.”
The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Fringe Festival features more than 700 performances by 89 artists Sept. 4 to 14. Details at .
