“Colorectal Surgeon” stars Bowser and Blue, Dawson鈥檚 own Rodney Ramsey @Dawson March 30
Comedian, actor and Virtual Reality entrepreneur Rodney Ramsey had a defining moment in his life at 成人黑料. When he was studying in the Cinema-Communication program in the early 2000s, he remembers thinking 鈥渨ow, this is me – this is exactly who I am.鈥�
Rodney recalled his Dawson experience in an interview a few weeks before the special and intimate Dawson Comedy Night, taking place March 30 as one of the official celebrations of the 50th anniversary of 成人黑料.
Rodney had worked for a few years after graduating from Riverdale High School and then decided he needed to continue his education. First, he tried Social Science and then he found Cinema-Communication, which set him on the path to being a multi-faceted performance artist and Virtual Reality entrepreneur.
鈥湷扇撕诹� offered me the basic skills of writing scripts and editing video and I also learned how to do movie analysis,鈥� he said.
Establishing himself as an artist took about 10 years. Now Rodney mostly works for himself. On the comedy front, he recently organized the Underground Comedy Railroad Show, a听cross-Canada tour featuring black comedians. He has also written for CBC shows This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Debaters.
Rodney developed his VR project on the side. His advice to young people is to 鈥渦se your free time wisely to figure things out. Set goals and work hard,鈥� he says.
Rodney will be opening for Canada’s favorite comedy duo Bowser and Blue on March 30. 鈥淲e did a lot of shows at Dawson, especially for teachers,鈥� Rick Blue said in a pre-show interview. 鈥淲e played the Selby cafeteria, the Viger cafeteria and at Lafontaine too.鈥�
鈥淏ack then, the teachers weren鈥檛 much older than the students,鈥� he remembered. 鈥淲e played music and told jokes between the songs. The Dawson crowd was a good audience and we would recalibrate our act after a Dawson show.鈥�
鈥淲e were like folk singers,鈥� Rick explained, 鈥渨e sang about our folks and the things that concerned Quebec anglos. 鈥e became the voice of the anglos.鈥�
In the mid-1980s, Bowser and Blue travelled across Canada as the opening act for Katrina and The Waves, whose single Walking on Sunshine went to #1, and they continued playing at colleges through the 80s and 90s. More recently, their song Colorectal Surgeon has given them YouTube fame (with almost 2.5 million views) and 鈥渞ock star status鈥� among the rectal surgeon community. 鈥淭hey (rectal surgeons association) flew us out to their conference in Vancouver and the doctors flocked around us taking selfies.鈥�
鈥淚t is touching to be invited back to Dawson for the 50th anniversary. We feel we are part of the school,鈥� he said.
Acknowledging that many former students have moved away from Montreal, Rick quipped: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not leaving Montreal; we鈥檙e colonizing the rest of the world.鈥�
At the show, the audience can expect to hear old favourites and new ones too. As Quebec anglos have adapted to changing times and the threat of separation seems to be dormant, their material now tackles new themes, like traffic and construction and other concerns that unite all kinds of Montrealers.
Amanda McQueen, an up-and-coming comedian, will be the first act of the night.
Dawson Comedy Night is March 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the 成人黑料 Theatre, 2000 Atwater, Montreal.
Limited tickets available: 听
Link to Colorectal Surgeon Song:
