Jesus Jello and Montreal Improv

One funny Christmas play, Jesus Jello, and Montreal Improv will enliven your December dark nights

Tom Waits sings a great song called Chocolate Jesus, “kind of an immaculate confection,” he says by way of introduction. A similar pun has found its way into the title of a Christmas play, a hit from this Summer's Fringe Festival, Jesus Jello: The Miraculous Confection.

Jesus Jello enjoyed a sold-out run at the Fringe Festival. The current version, reworked from what was staged at the Fringe, is being produced by Sheep In Fog and Mainline Theatre. It's interesting to note, given the theme of the play, that Sheep In Fog takes its name from a Sylvia Plath poem that on one level is about a godless world. Like most of Plath's writing, it's a dark, sad poem. On their Facebook page , however, Sheep In Fog says their mandate “is to create new comedic works that provide satirical commentary on pop culture institutions and situations .” With a title like Jesus Jello, this one would certainly seem to fit the bill.

Mainline Theatre was at one time the Montreal Fringe Festival Corporation, but reorganized, and changed their name, in 2000. Now they produce plays throughout the year. Five years ago they opened up their theatre space at 3997 St. Laurent in Montreal's Plateau Mont Royal neighbourhood. They've staged classics from Stoppard to Ibsen, and have also produced original work with such titles as Johnny Canuck and the last Burlesque and The Midlife Crisis of Dionysus.

Jesus Jello begins when the main character, Miles Wilson, passes out at Christmas Mass, wakes up in the hospital, staring into the face of Jesus... in his hospital Jello. The play opens this Friday at 8:30, and runs right through to the 18th. Here's a promo video from this Summer.

Many people confuse improv with sketch comedy. The difference is that sketch comedy follows an idea or script, whereas improv or theatre sports can sometimes follow an idea, but more often than not it's made up on the spot, and the results are usually hilarious. Think of the TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway. This city's got a handful of great improv troupes in both official languages. Montreal Improv is a local outfit that offers workshops, but also stages shows. They're busy straight through the next few weeks doing shows with such titles as The Accident, Thank God it's Friday, and The Bat, with a couple of Smackdown shows thrown in to keep everybody on their toes. A smackdown, like the title suggests, is an improv bout, sometimes held in a ring, in which 2 teams go head to head. The object is to beat each other at their own game, psych each other out, trip each other up, all the while making an audience laugh. You never know what's going to happen next. And improv, if done right, is always funny.

Montreal Improv perform out of their space at 3713 St. Laurent, suite 202.