Review: (Montreal) Untitled Sam Mullins Project (Fringe: MONTREAL, WINNIPEG, EDMONTON, VANCOUVER)

The Approachable Storyteller
by Élaine Charlebois

Sam Mullins is a good storyteller, no doubt about it. In his most recent piece, he tells his audience four stories that revolve around four truths about himself. One particularly well-crafted and amusing story is about his struggle to manage the perpetual state of panic, later diagnosed as a panic disorder, which used to loom over his life. In this story, Mullins takes us through his early acting days when he was cast in a major role in a play, only to be overcome by panic as his turn came to step onto the stage. Telling this story with great self-awareness and humour, Mullins highlights the ways in which seemingly uncontrollable difficulties can take over our lives unless we decide to play an active part in our own self-improvement.

In a Word... Sam Mullins on the upcoming Fringe (2014) frenzy

The Fringe, Broken Hearts, Blazing Through and Fatherly feelings

by Gaëtan L. Charlebois

Sam S Mullins is a Vancouver-turned-Toronto-based writer/humorist.  He is a staff writer for the CBC sketch comedy radio program The Irrelevant Show.  As a storyteller, he is a regular contributor to the CBC storytelling program Definitely Not the Opera, has contributed to NPR's The Moth and has been featured on the New York-based comedy podcast RISK!.  His one-man show Tinfoil Dinosaur won "Best of Fest" at the Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal Fringe Festivals, and was nominated for the 2012 Just for Laughs Award for Best Comedy.  His new solo-show Weaksauce just picked up the 2013 Award for Best Script at the Montreal Fringe, was nominated for the 2013 Just for Laughs Award for Best Comedy and was selected to be Held Over at the 2013 Edmonton Fringe.

CHARPO: It seems to me the Fringe season has just ended and here we are with the lotteries! First, how many are you in for sure, and have you wound down at all?

MULLINS: So far, for my 2014 Fringe tour, I'm confirmed in Montreal, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver. I'm waiting to hear on Calgary and Victoria's lotteries.  I was also fortunate enough to get my show Weaksauce into UNO, which is a Victoria-based solo festival in May that I've always wanted to participate in.  I couldn't be more excited about it.  I studied at UVIC, and I haven't had the opportunity to go back and perform there since I graduated in 2008. I'm sure it'll make for a pretty nostalgic time.  Lots of me pointing at inanimate objects and turning to the person (who isn't really there) and saying softly, "Remember?".

I'd say I allowed myself some 'wind down' time after this year's tour.  I took off all of September to sort of bum around in British Columbia.  Y'know. I swam in lakes, drank some wine, ate some casserole prepared by my mother, caught up on some reading and AMC programs. It was pretty fantastic, actually. 

I even quit smoking again. But if my Mom asks, I didn't restart in the first place.

Sunday Feature: Sam Mullins' "Portrait of an Artist as a Bitter Man"

Portrait of an Artist as a Bitter Man

by Sam Mullins

@SamSMullins

Sam Mullens' Weaksauce continues its national tour, finishing up this weekend at the Winnipeg Fringe before moving on to Saskatoon. Despite the following being the most popular post the artist has ever put up on his website, we asked for permission to reprint it here. He was kind enough to allow us to. (Read our review of Weaksauce)

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[ARTIST is flyering a line-up of Fringe-goers about to see another show.]

ARTIST – Hey ma’am.  May I tell you about my show?

WOMAN – Um.  I don’t know.  How many stars did you get?

ARTIST – How many stars?  Like in my reviews?

WOMAN – Yes.

ARTIST – Hmph.  Well I’m actually glad that you asked.  I’ve been touring this show for about a year, and by standing onstage delivering the same words in the same order with the same cadence, while wearing the same clothes, I have been fortunate enough to receive 5-star reviews, 4-star reviews, 3-star reviews, and even a 1-and-a-half-star review from a Christian radio station who claimed that I said “Um” too many times.  So, no matter what your star preference is, I think I have just what you’re looking for.

[Artist walks away without handing her a flyer.]