Culture the other press ple who watch English comedy mingled together, united by our adoration of a super- star. When the music started and she came out on stage wearing a frock rioting with pink sequins the audience erupted with applause and cheering, which escalated when we were treated with her signature, “Helloooo possums!” Her wisteria hair perfectly coiffed, her outrageous bedazzled eyewear complimenting the scads of diamonds drip- ping from her ears, wrists and fingers—she was a marvellous sight. Straining her neck back to see the unfortunates in the cheapest seats, she bellowed out, “Helloooo pau- pers!” promising to look up at them every once in awhile—in direct proportion to the cost of their tickets. She then turned her attentions to the people “sitting in the ash- trays” or balconies. When they didn’t respond she decided they were deaf mutes and continued to “sign” to them throughout the show I had great seats, safely up on the second level. For the first time in my life I wasn’t lusting after the orchestra seats. Those poor souls not only paid more than the rest of the audience, but they were subjected to the Dame's full attention. She asked one woman where she was from, and when the woman replied that she was from Surrey the audience started laughing immediately. With dead-on timing the Dame asked if the woman was sure she was in the right seats. As the cliché goes—the crowd went mad. She had done her homework, demonstrating her local knowledge all night, with com- ments about Shaunessy, Ft. Langley and a scathing commentary on Abbotsford. Another unfortunate couple showed up late and she stopped everything to greet them, ask their names and inquire where they lived. When she found out they were from Vancouver she responded with, “I come from Australia. All the way from Australia and I managed to make it here on time.” It was great. She also commented on the shoddi- ly dressed crowd; I had to agree with her. There was a dismal sea of denim, fleece and October 30, 2002 your typical west coast sport wear. I am coming to terms with the fact that Vancouverites dress as though they may have to portage a kayak at any moment, but this was a night out at the theatre, for the love of God. I am dirt poor and I still make an effort. I may not be able to make rent, but I own a wicked pair of heels and a few natural fabric pieces. But I digress, and other clichés that will take me back to my review... Where was I? Oh yes, to borrow a Dame Edna motto, exercising “my ability to laugh at the misfortune of others.” Two other women in the audience were brought up on stage to eat a meal after the Dame noticed they seemed hungry. She ordered them pasta and wine and insisted they eat every morsel, while telling them a stomach-turning story about her estranged lesbian daughter who lives in a trailer in Abbotsford and raises Rotteweilers. My favourite part of the show was when she talked about her favourite son Kenny, who designs all of her costumes, has worked as a window dresser and airline steward and lives with a “nice man” who holds the Mr. Leather title in Australia. It was a wicked parody of a mother’s inability to recognize her son’s homosexuality, ending with a song called “Any Friend of Kenny’s is A Friend of Mine.” The show moved quickly and my face was hurting from laughing. I am not a laugh- out-loud kind of girl, more of a smirker, so that’s saying something. There’s so much more I would like to tell you, but it’s really pointless. I just cannot do it justice. What I can do, is urge you to go see her. It’s not that expensive and it is worth every dime. Relentlessly funny, intelligent and sometimes squirm-in-your-seat inappropriate, Barry Humphries escorts Ms. Everage through “the show that cares” flawlessly. Remember this may be only chance to get so close to an honest-to-God megastar. Literary Review Brad Cran Tom Mellish, OP Contributor University of Victoria alumni, Brad Cran “Brad Cran, poet and publisher, is known on the West Coast for having his finger on the pulse of the next generation of literary stars." —The National Post As a publisher and literary impresario, Brad Cran has estab- lished himself as one of Canada’s most successful promoters of new poetry. As a poet and cultural icon, some in the liter- ary industry believe he has changed how poetry is perceived in Canada. An alumni of the University of Victoria, Brad Cran is a poet, essayist and photographer. He is the publisher of Smoking Lung Press, a co-founder of the Vancouver based Stillworks photography collective, a contributing editor at Geist magazine, and a frequent event host at the Vancouver International Writers’ Festival. In his spare time, he operates literary booze cans in the downtown eastside. His poetry and essays have appeared in a number of publications across Canada. Nightwood Editions have just published his first book of poetry, The Good Life. In addition to writing, Cran has edited a number of anthologies including Hammer and Tongs and Why I Sing the Blues, which he did with poet Jan Zwicky. His work appears in several past issues of Geist. Cran has essentially been running Smoking Lung solo for the past couple of years. The Lung concept emerged in the spring of 1997 from a group of writers at the UVic Creative Writing Program. Brad Cran, Shane Book, and Barclay Brick Blair, were struck by an epiphany while sitting in a pub in Victoria. They realized that they didn’t have to rely on other people to publish their work, and they could do it themselves. They gathered up a few friends, designed and created seven chapbooks (small, photocopied self-published books), went into debt, and threw a huge bash to celebrate the release. The three of them, plus Aubri Aleka Keleman, Lori Maleea Acker, Debra Miller and Adam Chiles read to 250 people at the Open Space art gallery in Victoria, one rainy March evening. The energy levels were high, the crowd festive and Cran had to make two trips to the liquor store to supply the demand for liquor. Smoking Lung has a specific agenda since then. Publish the best young literary talent, and have debauch book launches. In 1999 Brad Cran erupted onto the Canadian literary scene with the release of Hammer & Tongs, a co-production with Vancouver's Arsenal Pulp Press. It became the best sell- ing book in the history of the Vancouver Writers Festival and was followed up with sold-out shows in Calgary, Toronto and Victoria. The pieces in Hammer and Tongs were selected from the 18 chapbooks Smoking Lung has released so far. Hammer & Tongs was better produced and edited than most “new voice” anthologies. The writing was more consistent, with editor Brad Cran promising to break down the barrier between styles of poetry and produce a round-table that had no man- date other than the value of the work. The anthology begins with a quote from a Seamus Heany poem: “So while the parish priest at her bedside/ Went hammer and Tongs at the prayers for the dying/ And some were responding and some crying/ I remembered her head bent towards my head,/ Her breath in mine, our fluent dipping knives—/ Never closer the whole rest of our lives.” In 2001, Cran co-edited with Jan Zwicky the ground- breaking anthology Why J Sing the Blues, a book-CD project that featured three generations of North America’s most prominent poets writing blues lyrics. Zwicky (UVic philoso- phy professor, Governor General Award-winning poet and blues fan) sent out 30 calls for submissions and received over 400 replies, including one from Brad Cran. Cran offered to publish and co-edit the project; the trick then was to choose pieces that respected the blues form but still manifested the writer's angle. 2002's, The Good Life, is Brad Cran’s first full-length book of poems. The work is an unembarrassed tripartite collection of three states of mind. page 15 ©