Half A Star Podcast

On this BONUS episode, Justin and Ben share some extra interview content from their chat with Rory & Kandace (Screaming Beaver Productions) and discuss theatre on Prince Edward Island - particularly, an upcoming event called 'Pounding the Pavement' coming to the 2020 Island Fringe Festival.

Pounding the Pavement: Celebrating and amplifying artists from the fringe is an Island Fringe Festival production in partnership with the Confederation Centre of the Arts, with support from InnovationPEI and the City of Charlottetown.

Island artists who identify as Indigenous, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and those with a disability come together to tell their own stories from their own perspectives. Performances are made up of 10-20 minute vignettes that explore people’s journeys of discovery to having their voices heard (be they personal explorations, activism for equality, etc), and presented as dramatic readings of original poetry and plays, songs, dance, and stand-up comedy.

Rory and Kandace will be presenting a show as well - check out BLACKBERRIES! Blackberries, starring Claire Byrne , Joce Reyome, Cameron Cassidy, and Brandon Roy, is a one act play that explores the realities Black folx endure from well intentioned white people. Clara Bradburn, portrayed by Claire Bryne, and Joey Raymond, portrayed by Joce Reyome, didn’t dwell on the short notice they were given to perform at Gallant’s Theatre Company during their local Pride Festival. However, after meeting with Karen Campbell, the theatre’s artistic director, and Spencer Flowers, the theatre’s stage manager, they have to consider whether this gig is worth the emotional labour of educating those well meaning, but blatantly racist white folx.

For more information about Pounding the Pavement - visit www.islandfringe.com

Justin and Benton are joined by singer/songwriter Liam Corcoran! Liam Corcoran was the co-founder of the Canadian indie-pop group Two Hours Traffic. Since the group disbanded, Liam has released three solo albums, including his latest, Giving Tree and Other Songs. This episode features a track from Liam’s latest album, PLUS Justin and Ben sound off on some of the best band names that came from a Shakespeare quote. And rumour has it weatherman/professional wrestler Bradford Montague may have update for us… all that and more on this trip to Planet Half A Star.

Justin and Ben are joined by Kandace and Rory of Screaming Beaver - a theatre company based in Charlottetown, PEI. Rory and Kandace are the masterminds behind the 2018 Island Fringe Festival hit "Realizations" - an autobiographical memory play, and exposes the politics and negotiation of queer sexual awakening in a culture controlled by heternormalivity. Rory and Kandace delve into their own half a star experiences, PLUS - Ben shares his latest half a star experience (hint: both his arms are in casts). All that and more on another episode of Half A Star. 

... and SPEAKING of more! A BONUS "Pounding the Pavement" episode of Half A Star featuring Rory and Kandace will be released August 10th featuring a discussion about more of their own work, the Charlottetown theatre scene, and an awesome event coming up for the 2020 Island Fringe Festival. Stay tuned! 

Justin and Ben are joined by a few good men - Mark and Dana! Hosts of the podcast A Few Goodman - a podcast dedicated to exploring the work of the greatest actor of our generation, John Goodman. Plus, Justin and Ben discuss the nuances of The Flintstones. All that and more in a little town called Riverdale. I mean Half A Star. 

On this episode, Justin and Ben are joined by a pair of spooooooooky guests - Carly and Cecila from the 'Ghosts Are Everywhere' podcast! The pair of pairs chat about life, death, and whatever might come after. ALSO! Justin and Ben dive deep into the world of the top half a star ghosts from popular culture. All this and more in the wonderful world of Half A Star. 

Justin and Benton are joined by Yousef and Harri of Other HeArts Collective. This pair just released their latest project l00k1ngl4ss - a new puppet-centric performance piece based on isolation and new methods of interaction. While richly creative, Yousef and Harri are not without their disturbing tales of performance art gone awry. Also! Justin and Ben sound off on the Top Five Half A Star Puppets From History! All this and more on another wild episode of Half A Star.

Justin and Ben are joined by sketch comedy duo Gender? I Hardly Know Them, featuring Alberta-born, queer comedians Elena Eli Belyea and Sydney Campbell. "Drawing from their experiences of growing up gay, hot, and short in Alberta, Syd and Eli are out to queer the world, one denim punchline at a time." This quote is taken from their website because we could not come up with anything more clever than THAT. Elena and Syd share their stories of bathroom misadventures and the woes of strip-mall hair salons. Also! Justin and Ben share some of their own half a star experiences from their early days as comedians. All this and more on the wondrous world of half a star.

On this bonus episode of Half a Star, Justin and Ben share some extra stories from Teiya and Mel! They both go into some detail about their past and upcoming projects, AND stick it to a certain newspaper from Mel's old university. All this and more on this BONUS episode of Half A Star.

Justin and Ben are joined by performance artist Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 and partner Mel Carroll from their Toronto apartment and they share stories about their wild honeymoon experience as well as their picks for their favourite show on CRAVE. This episode also features some awesome music from contributing artist DJ QPID! All this and more on another trip to the wonderful world of Half A Star. 

Justin and Ben are joined by comedian Chad Anderson who shares what is quite possibly the most haunting half a star story to date. Chad Anderson also has as a great new comedy album available for purchase/stream online (Chad Anderson's Live At Wee Johnny's). But WAIT! There's more! Justin and Ben serve up the top five list for half a star ice cream flavours - spoiler alert: they're all terrible. All this and more on this episode of Half A Star.