Jem Rolls: how i stopped worrying and learned to love the mall
Jem Rolls
“JEM ROLLS LEAVES AUDIENCE SHAKEN… highest calibre… beautiful, inspiring”, Montreal Gazette,*****, 2005/6. “Genius”,2007 “Dynamic, hilarious, riveting… A high performance master”, Winnipeg Free Press, ***** 2003/4/5/6/7 “Absolute master … sharp stand-up, hilarious”, Vancouver Sun 2007 “Charismatic wordsmith & rhymester” Scotsman 2008 “10,000 words about shopping”, Jem Rolls.
June 15th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
[...] Jem Rolls: how I learned to stop worrying and love the mall plays at The Mercury Lounge (56 Byward Market), June 20-29. [...]
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Unfortunately, I didn’t get out East this year for the start of the Fringe tour as I was lucky enough to do last year. You get to go to his opening night at the Mercury on Monday. I have to wait till Jem Rolls gets a little further West to actually see it, but apparently I know a lot of the material. And I can tell you it’s good stuff. Original thought, lyrical lines and a willingness to run a performance marathon every time.
This year, as every year, is a brand new show. Even newer is the concept of a single, hour-long piece on a theme. What I can promise you is a full-on gift of performance poetry unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. There is also the rare beauty of authenticity that is the hallmark of both good writing and good performance.
I can tell you this: Jem Rolls really is a rubbish shopper.
But he is also a very talented poet.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Brilliant. Funny. Thought-provoking. I really enjoyed this performance. For the talent, I thought Jem Rolls was fantastic and a definite wordsmith. For the content, this was kind of like Old Growth for me (reviewed on June 21). Jem Rolls talks about our obsession with shopping and consumption and what impact it has on us now and for the future. Like Old Growth, the message is clear, we need to think about what we are doing and the world we live in. But where Old Growth pushed for change, I felt like Jem Rolls really spoke the helplessness I sometimes feel about day-to-day living, and I really appreciated that. It’s so overwhelming to think about the human existence on this planet and what we as a civilization and I as an individual must do fix what we’ve all done. And that’s not easy. Because even if we hate malls for excessive choice, wall-to-wall advertising, and the notion of buying excessively for a better life, we still succumb to it all, much like that dreaded top-40 song you start out hating but come to love. It’s there, here and now, now and here. But really, where is that, because now and here is really nowhere.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I fell in love with the way this poet spoke. He was so captivating and HILARIOUS!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:35 am
More like street philosophy with internal rhyme, Jem Rolls put on a really fun, out-there show which is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Jem uses a really interesting brand of wordplay to convey some really entertaining angst about the absurdity of the act of the shopping (think comedian Lewis Black mixed with a bit of Monty Python and Dr. Seuss). If you’ve got an open mind, do not hesitate to catch this show!
June 26th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Jem is one of a kind. He mingles with the audience before his show — stands right there in line with them and introduces himself to each person. He hangs out after his show, sometimes openly telling people that he wasn’t happy with the performance they just saw. He’s a guy who seems to need no “performer cushioning” or filter or distance from those he’s performing for, which is refreshing. And “How I Learned…” is exhilarating and hilarious — I’m still laughing at the phrases and moments that stuck in my mind — Jem’s berating of store items (”I suppose YOU think you’re a CAN OF BEANS!”), his impression of a car-park that had greater aspirations, and the banter between “Here” and “Now”, the commentators he claims we each have watching us at all times, judging what we do (his commentators have delightful repartee to share about how much “nothing” Jem accomplishes). I found myself nodding and laughing and nodding and laughing all through his show, seeing my own dismay at my inertia, fatigue, negativity and consumer bafflement portrayed to exactitude in Jem’s words and actions. A very clever little whirlwind of a show!
June 28th, 2008 at 1:52 am
I’m so glad Jem Rolls hasn’t met a rich person to make cd’s of his material for him, or
I would have left with a handful of them after his show, and now I’d be broke. Do a bloody runner!
June 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I like language, and I really liked this show. Andrew Alexander said
elsewhere ( http://www.ottawafringe.com/interview-with-jem-rolls-303/ ):
Jem’s style has changed as he gained experience on the fringe
circuit. “I’ve become much more theatrical. The first time I
did a show, it was basically ‘Title - Poem! Title - Poem!’ For
an hour. There was no real talking, no real movement, it was just
very fixed-minded. I’ve learned a lot from the clowns. Clowns are
really, really free, and one of the things about being a performance
poet is that you’ve got your face, your voice and your body -
there’s a touch of mime - your body is your canvas.”
Yes to all of that.
Jem shook hands with us as we entered the Mercury Lounge before the show
on Friday. Arden and I sat in the front row comfy couch. I loved the
language, the images, the one-liners, the translations from Britishisms
to Canadianisms for us colonials.
But (Keir would say “HOWEVER…”), right after the show, Jem turned on the
canned music and literally ran off the stage, as if we had just watched
a movie and now the movie was over and all we could do was go home.
I don’t want Theatre to be like a movie. As much as the actors affect
the audience, the audience wants to affect the actors, especially in the
intimate theatres of The Fringe. When you flee the stage at show end,
you leave us with all that pent-up emotion and nobody to share it with.
We want to celebrate with you; but, you’re gone!
Jem - hang around on stage just a bit at show end. We need to complete
the evening by expressing our appreciation of the journey we’ve been
on together. You got what you wanted, be a considerate lover and let
us finish too!
June 28th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Poetry like I’ve never heard it before. Loved it. Treat yourself to some amazing poetry, a brilliant performer and, since you’re in the Mercury Lounge, enjoy a cold beer on the comfy couches the venue has to offer. Go. You’ll be glad you did.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Absolutely brilliant. I think Jem Rolls may be the cleverest man I have ever heard speak. This is not one to miss.