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Barry Potter and the Magic of Wizardry, An Interview and Where to Find This Show Next

This parody of the Harry Potter world is a fun adventure, and in Barry Potter and the Magic of Wizardry, who knows who might make a guest apperance.

Although Barry Potter and the Magic of Wizardry isn’t headed to the Vancouver Fringe Festival, fans will have to check social media to find where Tim Motley will be performing next. I’m sure this talented magician-comedian has a lot more shows lined up during the remainder of this year, and as for what he’ll do afterwards, we have to wait and see.

As a fan of his works, namely his Dirk Darrow adventures, I knew I had to ask him about why change it up? As stated before in my review, he’s not retiring the character. Instead, he’s expanding his repertoire, and it’ll be interesting to see if his Barry persona will include brand-new adventures instead of recapping the Harry Potter universe, which is what his latest play does from an outsider’s perspective.

The following is my brief interview with him after the show:

When did you get the idea to create Barry Potter?

It was a few years ago. I had a girlfriend who was a Harry Potter fanatic, and we’d watch all the movies together. He was the biggest thing in magic since Houdini. He’s bigger, and also the whole world [this character lives in] is a massive pop culture phenomenon. I asked why isn’t there a magic show too?

I looked into it, and I tossed around the idea for me to do it instead. But I don’t even have an English accent [to pull the performance off]. Like, how can I possibly do justice to it? I gave it a go in January of this year, and now it’s like gangbusters–I’m taking it on the road!

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A Nerd’s Guide to the 2023 Victoria Fringe Festival

A lot more shows are offered in this year’s Victoria Fringe Festival, and fans can delight in this guide that’s sure to satisfy fans of pop culture!

The annual Victoria Fringe Festival to close off the summer is looking bigger than before! That’s because previous years had the event scaling itself in accordance with BC Health rules, but now that life has settled back to where it must exist, I can’t wait to check out this year’s event. There’s now more touring shows, so for those who can’t plan to visit this garden city, there’s always the Vancouver version or the one near your locale!

The following is my nerd’s guide, and are arranged in no particular order. The links go to show dates and how to purchase tickets.

Dave and Jon’s Mixtape

Aug 24 05:00 pm
Aug 25 08:15 pm
Aug 26 02:15 pm
Aug 27 03:45 pm
Sep 02 04:30 pm

Dave and Jon are talented Improv artists, and by combining that with music, this show will no doubt be interesting to see. Just what kind of curves can be thrown at them depends on whether they can combine Ozzy with Pee Wee Herman, and anything else audiences can throw at them.

https://www.djmixtape.ca/

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Is It Die Hart or Die Harter? Movie Version Review and Sequel News.

Kevin Hart’s manic exuberance in Die Hart gets played up for different reasons. Can he become a different kind of talent that he’s not?

Not everyone knows Kevin Hart starred in a TV series which follows a fictional version of himself as he learns how to become an action star. Die Hart was released in 2020 on Quibi as 10 minute shorts, and to find an edited together movie on Amazon Prime is more of a reminder. That’s because Die Harter is set to debut on Roku on March 31.

From the official synopsis:

After achieving his dream of becoming a bona fide action hero in Die Hart, Kevin Hart now wants to cement his legacy as the greatest action star of all time. He’s developed a concept for a revolutionary movie where the action is so unscripted and unexpected that even Kevin won’t know what’s coming next. But his myopic dream comes with a blind spot, and he soon finds himself the victim of an evil revenge plot, orchestrated by someone from his past.

In the sequel, Kevin must enlist the help of his favourite co-star Jordan King (Nathalie Emmanuel, returning for season 2), his over-eager assistant Andre (Ben Schwartz), Andre’s mom Cynthia (Paula Pell), and legendary Hollywood stuntman Mr. 206 (John Cena) if he wants to survive.

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The Al Yankovic Story is Not Weird at Al. Just Bonkers.

MTV helped catapult Weird Al to fame. Without those crazy music videos, I don’t think he’d be as famous as he is now. Not every detail of the Al Yankovic story is recounted here.

Available to view on Roku enabled devices

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is one of those ridiculous fictional biographies to not take seriously. It’s a parody more than anything else, and it’s delightfully nutters when the humour gets cranked up to 12. If there’s any authenticity to who Alfred Matthew (played by Daniel Radcliffe) was before he found fame as a comedy genius, it’s probably in how much Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson) is a huge influence. But even before he fell in love with that radio show, he had a talent that needed to be nurtured.

There are some seeds of sincerity here and there, but knowing facts from the heavily embellished moments requires memorizing everything revealed about the man in VH1’s Behind the Music profile. As that documentary revealed, the record label, the Scotti Brothers, took a chance on Al. They knew he had a subtle and understated style. They allowed him to not pull any punches.

Also, MTV helped catapult this comic musician to fame. Without those crazy music videos, I don’t think he’d be as famous as he is now. This detail isn’t explored in the film, and that’s surprising when considering how important it helped this musician’s career than the accordian. I imagine the real Weird Al and Eric Appel who co-wrote the screenplay together didn’t want to bog the story down, since it would have to mean recreating all those manic music video moments–something that an older Radcliffe may not be able to do.

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The Iké Boys and Saving the Day, Namely the Hell that was Y2K

Not every question raised here needs to be answered here in The Iké Boys. The concept behind this film is a fond look at how anyone can be heroes for more than just one day.

Shout! Factory
Coming to Digital and VOD Oct 11th

The Iké Boys is more than just a hero’s journey about two guys from Oklahoma who want to escape from the ho-hum. It also takes a peek back in time, when Japanese pop culture became part of the western media fixture in the 90s, and recognises what is great. We’re allowed to believe in miracles, and get to be a power ranger! The best part of this movie is that it includes vintage style anime and sentai action in its presentation.

In the case of Shawn Gunderson (Quinn Lord) and Vikram ‘Vik’ Kapoor (Ronak Gandhi), they’re not so ordinary in the sense that they’ve been branded losers in high school. That is, all they have is their anime fantasies to keep them happy. The latter dislikes the label and wants to be part of the crowd. He’s trying to do more with his life, but when Miki (Christina Higa) arrives, that one step forward (he’s crushing hard on her) ends up being two steps back as things go terribly wrong for them.

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