Our tech reporter’s top picks for next week: comedian Jerry Dee looking for a laugh; The Early Music Society presents La Rêveuse; And Mary Walls is reading her new novel in YA.
Jerry D
or: Theater Royal, 805 Broughton Street.
when: Wednesday, April 26 at 8 p.m.
the tickets: $58.50 – $209.25 at the Royal MacPherson Box Office at 250-386-6121 or rmts.bc.ca
Why: Toronto comedian Jerry Dee has officially embraced the world of sitcoms, despite a busy career that took him to Stage Royal on Wednesday. Dee, who rose to fame with Mr. D, the hit TV comedy about a down-on-his-luck high school teacher, is back on the small screen with the FOX comedy Animal Control, which makes good use of his deadpan delivery. He has over 20 years as a stand-up comedian, performing regularly to sold-out homes. Count on him to bring some fun when he returns to Royal next week.
Bird party
or: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas Street.
when: Saturday, April 22, 7:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6:45 p.m.)
the tickets: $27.90 – $31.00 from emsivictoria.ca or 250-882-5058
Why: Who better than La Rêveuse, six French pieces dedicated to the music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, to complement the 2022-23 concert season of the Society of Ancient Music of the Islands? A huge success during the two previous shows in Victoria (in 2015 and 2018), the group is preparing to present a selection of music by French Baroque composers (Camil Saint-Saëns, Jean-Philippe Rameau, François Couperin, Maurice Ravel) with a program specially chosen to celebrate spring. Fittingly, bird songs will be recreated in music, via ancient instruments ranging from the flute and theorbo to the harpsichord.
Mary Wells Reading
or: Zed Hotel, 3110 Douglas Street
when: Tuesday, April 25, 7 p.m
the tickets: $2 at the door
Why: Mary Walz balances her passion for writing with her job as a housekeeper at the Accent Inn/Hotel Zed in Victoria, so it only makes sense that the Sydney resident would return to the latter to launch her new young adult novel, Storm. The book is Walz’s long-planned second installment Brandon Trilogy, its first volume arriving in 2021 after five years of pregnancy. Notice to fans of magical fantasy worlds.
mdevlin@timecolonist.com