Ten Tips for a Collapsed Uterus, Studio 16, on selected dates as part of the 麻豆传媒映画Fringe Festival, Sept. 6-16. .
If you鈥檙e in the market for a performance that explores the inherent comedy of certain unavoidable changes to one鈥檚 body, like the growth of skin tags, chin hairs and other random acts of aging, Colleen Brow has just the show for you.
Brow鈥檚 getting set to perform her new one-woman show, Ten Tips for a Collapsed Uterus, at this year鈥檚 麻豆传媒映画Fringe Festival, running Sept. 6-16. The longtime North 麻豆传媒映画resident describes the show as 鈥渕indless middle-age musings鈥� and 鈥渂asically an immature show about maturation.鈥�
Like many creative endeavours, Brow鈥檚 started with grand ambitions to do one thing, before it became something else entirely.
鈥淚 wanted to write a show about motherhood, that鈥檚 how it started,鈥� Brow tells the North Shore News. 鈥淏ut it took me so long to get my act together it鈥檚 now about aging, and that is a universal theme because we just can鈥檛 get stuff done when we鈥檙e so busy working and mothering.鈥�
She hopes that the title of her show, while possessing an in-your-face directness, will also give people a sense of her comedy stylings and showcase the form of 鈥渞idiculous storytelling鈥� she favours.
鈥淚t captures your attention 鈥� and I literally do have 10 tips, so it鈥檚 not false advertising!鈥� she exclaims.
The 麻豆传媒映画Fringe Festival is produced annually over the course of 11 days in September. The festival employs an inclusive 鈥渆veryone is welcome鈥� mandate when it comes to selecting shows, meaning that theatre goers are treated to a wide variety of unique performances every year.
鈥淭here鈥檚 deep, meaningful philosophical shows that will change the way you view your very existence. This isn鈥檛 one of them,鈥� Brow jokes. 鈥淚 am one person with a microphone doing some standup comedy and comedic stories.鈥�
And while Brow鈥檚 humble about the minimalism of her one-person show in the face of larger, more intricate performances, she has no reason to be. She鈥檚 housing some serious comedic chops under the veneer of a person who has spent the last 25 years living on the North Shore and working in a number of different fields and professions.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be talking a little bit about the perfect Gwyneth Paltrow just because 鈥� once you get past the point of really caring about all that stuff and not being a young, hip woman reading Cosmopolitan magazine 鈥� you start looking at some of the things that young women are being encouraged to do today and I go: 鈥楾hank god I am not in my 20s right now,鈥欌�� she says, when describing a portion of Ten Tips for a Collapsed Uterus that deals with the number of extra self-care indulgences women are expected to partake in these days.
Her middle-age musing on the subject? She doesn鈥檛 want to have to deal with all the excessive extras. She also adds, as an example, that if she were to go camping and ended up forgetting to bring a pair of tweezers she鈥檇 come back looking like a 鈥渞etired David Letterman.鈥� It鈥檚 a facet of aging Brow鈥檚 OK with, and we all should be, she notes.
鈥淭hese are things you just laugh about,鈥� she says.
Brow first braved the hallowed standup comedy stages almost 20 years ago, when she was an amateur mainstay at places like Yuk Yuk鈥檚 Comedy Club and Lafflines.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 done it for 12 years,鈥� she admits, but notes that she has kept busy with joking, performing and writing as the years have went by.
Originally a radio news anchor by trade, Brow currently hosts a monthly one-hour interview program called The Storytelling Show on 麻豆传媒映画Co-op radio.
鈥淵ou just find guests who you think have an interesting story to tell and you shoot the breeze for an hour. 鈥� You ask them about their life, and pretty much all the time my guests and I will have a number of laughs,鈥� she says.
Brow also discovered the North 麻豆传媒映画Community Players three years ago, which she describes as: 鈥淭he best little theatre company I鈥檝e ever encountered.鈥� She was awarded the 2018 Dave Broadfoot Award for Comedic Performance for her role in Crimes of the Heart where she portrayed a southern belle.
Newly reinvigorated when it comes to comedy writing and performing, Brow鈥檚 thrilled to return to the standup stage at this year鈥檚 Fringe Festival after taking a break from solo comedic performance for years while she raised a family and lived a full life on the North Shore.
Asked what it鈥檚 like stand up on stage, alone, trying to keep an audience engaged and laughing for 60 minutes, Brow said she has already had the opportunity to try the show out at the recently held Nanaimo Fringe Festival, before adding: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e scaring me right now with that question!鈥�
But she鈥檚 not actually worried. Adopting the adage that 鈥渄one is better than perfect,鈥� Brow recognizes that writers and performers have to ply their craft regardless of how challenging it may seem.
And luckily for Brow, she knows that experience comes with aging.
鈥淚 just want you to come and enjoy some mindless middle-age musings as thick and course as a rogue chin hair.鈥�
