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It's so easy to be turned off by the word clown. Just imagining it can carry collective emotions of childhood fears and whatnot. But there's no need to fear Caravonica.

In fact, I don't think it's possible to be afraid of someone so hilarious, creative and talented. Of all of the theatre and various other performance art I've seen, nothing I've encountered can quite compare to the weird brainchild that Caravonica crafted. Saying it was unique, captivating, and incredibly silly barely scratched the surface of how much fun this show was.

So let's break this down into two categories: Caravonica the clown, and Caravonica the musician.

Caravonica the Clown
The captivating part of Caravonica's performance as a clown was how extremely expressive he was, and how easily he brought different characters to life. With simple changes in demeanour, gesture and voice, he became completely different personalities in no time at a construction site. Through nearly wordless character development and pantomime, he told a simple yet entertaining story of these characters trying to work together on a project. His ability to create sound effects was truly inspiring; and had the audience (ofr me, at least) convinced that he rode in on a pony named Cindy, who he later travelled the world with, singing at each new place he landed.

Caravonica the Musician
I would be curious to know if there is an instrument which Caravonica that he can or cannot play. During his show, he sang, he beatboxed, he played the ukulele, the harmonica, the percussion, and the trombone, and not to mention that all of it was original music. In the fashion of today's one-man-band, he used a loop pedal to create layers and textures to already creative, imaginative music (one can only hope that Caravonica will release an album some day!). As he travelled the world on Cindy, he played music from each place he landed, even singing in Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

His incorporation of pantomime with original music was phenomenal. He used the construction site characters from the beginning of the show to assist in setting up his percussion instruments later on, also taking the time to involve participation from the audience. In general, it's safe to say that people don't like being dragged on stage and being forced to act silly, but Caravonica has just a gentle, open personality and such a warm energy that it seemed easy for the people on stage to open up and get into the spirit of the thing.

Overall, the show was amazing. I loved every second of it. From the weird, awkward noises, to silly gestures and facial expressions. I especially loved the music, and I highly recommend this show to anyone and everyone, whether you're looking for something new or you're a hardcore clown fanatic. There are four more shows to catch beginning Thursday through Sunday at The Wiggle Room. See you there!

This amazing and amusing one-man-clown show continues to play between June 16th to 19th at 3874 St-Laurent with the following times: 

- Thursday June 16 from 19:00
- Friday June 17 from 20:00
- Saturday June 18 from 20:00
- Sunday June 19 from 19:00

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Erica Bridgeman is part of CJLO’s Official Fringe Team covering the sights and sounds from the 2016 St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival. She also hosts The F Hole every Monday afternoon from Noon – 2pm ET, only on 1690AM in Montreal and online at CJLO.com.

They say that Montreal has two seasons - Winter and Construction. I disagree. There's three of them, Winter, Construction, and Festival.

Unfortunately, Construction and Festival occur in a brutal overlap that will make even the most patient traveler explode into loud and colorful expletives while sitting in a sweltering car or back of a traffic-confined bus. 

Fringe, Mural, Grand Prix Weekend, The Boulevard Saint Laurent Sidewalk Sale, and the collective of on-island and off-island construction unions - have all connived together to in a very successful attempt to turn Montreal in to a hellscape of over 40 traffic closures - making getting anywhere and back a complete nightmare.

But even with all of the horrible goings-on of befores and afters, I don't understand how it's 9:30 PM and this bar that's so popular is so dead. I wish that I had data on my phone to Shazam everything though, because the music is phenomenal.

It's a tribal, Arabic, and Klezmer-sounding masterpiece of a set. Reminiscent of one of my favourite DJs, but more Klezmer and dub. This makes me wonder why the Montreal Fringe Festival doesn't have more eggs in the electronic music basket.

With the powerhouse Tupi Collective and local legend Don Mescal following each other there's no shortange of talent - and these aren't even the headliners. It shows that Fringe has an entire world of potential to expand in to the digital market. Tupi Collective's set is something along the lines of Latin club music. Joyous and very Moombah-esque. Summery and sexy - drawing people in from the crowd of revellers outside. I recognize some vocals in a track from somewhere, and pinpoint them to a multi-culti release. This is a real vibe.

The rest of the set that I stay for promises a great evening. More people show up, this crazy Moombah track is playing, and it blows my mind that the people in the bar are still sitting down.  

I really hate leaving early. A short-ish walk brings me to the closest bus stop, and therefore begins the long, painful ride home. With a plethora of delays provided by the City of Montreal, a 10:30 departure turns in to 1 AM arrival.

As the bus drives me further away from the city; inertia rings through me unpleasantly like the reverb on a microphone. It's just the time where my body is deciding on engaging the mechanism of sleep or pushing on until the light of the morning.

I want to dance. I want to sweat; The amazing music provided by the talented DJs of Fringe's Macumba Digita is entirely to blame.

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DJ Thinkbox is part of CJLO’s Official Fringe Team covering the sights and sounds from the 2016 St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival.

She also hosts The Machine Stops every Friday morning from 9am – 10am ET, only on 1690AM in Montreal and online at CJLO.com. Follow her show Tumblr, @themachine-stops

Tune into Yonic Youth today at 3pm for an incredible interview with talented performance artists Monica Mirabile & Sigrid Lauren from FlucT!

FlucT will be performing live today with YlangYlang & Così e Così, Nothinge, SSURFACING and KAZUKI KOGA - 9:30pm at La Vitrola!! Find the event on Facebook here! Don't forget your dancing shoes and get ready for a drone-y night of experimentation!

Yonic Youth is an ephemeral platform used to celebrate the artistic genius of women in music.
Tune in to hear punk, rock, rap, hip-hop, underground, above-ground, outer space, wailing, wheelin', aching, screaming etc. etc. etc.

TONIGHT FROM 6-12AM, tune into a special #CJLOxSUONI live broadcast from La Sala Rossa hosted by Hooked on Sonics, Yonic Youth & The Belldog! They'll be interviewing the people behind Festival Suoni Per Il Popolo so you can learn all about the festival, as well as Paula: the promoter for Island Frequencies, Thor Harris, Echo Beach and Sivani, as well as many other artists playing Suoni including The Submissives! Catch The Submissives, Mega Bog and Vulva Culture at Casa del Popolo on June 17th!

Tonight at 9pm, Thor Harris will be performing and his friends Peggy Ghorbani, Sarah “Goat” Gautier, Thierry Amar, Sheenah Ko, Simon Trottier and Taylor Kirk! This special presentation by Festival Suoni Per Il Popolo and Island Frequencies will begin with performances by Sivani and Echo Beach! Tune into CJLO tonight or come on down to Sala for an amazing night of live sets and interviews!

Hooked On Sonics is your weekly dose of indie rock, post-punk, power pop, shoegaze, math rock, noise pop, post-hardcore and anything with loud geetars...with sometimes a little alt-country, post rock and hip hop tossed into the mix - Thursdays from 6-8pm!

Yonic Youth is an ephemeral platform used to celebrate the artistic genius of women in music. Tune in on Fridays from 3-4pm to hear punk, rock, rap, hip-hop, underground, above-ground, outer space, wailing, wheelin', aching, screaming etc. etc. etc.

The Belldog your #1 source for the beautiful, the tragic, the almost imperceptible process of incremental breakdown, the occasional tween pop culture. Tune in every Thursday from 9-10pm!