Formed in 2023 from the beautiful city of Montréal, Dead Stick People bring a new and deliberate edge to the city’s up and coming alternative rock scene. With a bumpin’ rhythm section, gritty/pretty guitars, and deeply honest lyrics, Dead Stick People write music that is of equal parts fun and thought provoking
Born and raised in NDG, Collin now lives in the South Shore as a full time single dad to his two teenage sons John and Patrick. Living with them are their younger half-siblings Harrison and Charlee, and their step-dad Gerry. A blended family brought together by the death of the children’s mother Sandee, who passed suddenly and unexpectedly in 2019.
Candice Ann is a book lover, serial hobbyist, and writer based in Montreal. She is the Editor-in-Chief at Forget The Box. She holds an English degree that led to a career in marketing, but she is currently pursuing a master's degree in Information Studies with the goal of becoming a librarian, so she can work surrounded by dusty pages for the rest of her days.
LFCD is a Montréal-based artist whose skills lie in the reconstruction of materials and conveying ideas and issues circling our modern time such as environmentalism, politics, and activism through their artworks.
Before I even stepped into Barfly, I was greeted by the crowd spilling out into the streets of St. Laurent. I walk past the vivid, brightly painted fly mural on a weekly basis, and I have to say I was more than a little thrilled to finally peek behind the curtain and enter the iconic bar.
During a long, lazy, blazing-hot summer day on school break, a group of neighborhood kids and I were shuffled off to a local library’s community room for my first-ever improv workshop.
Behind the unassuming vintage swivel chairs, and the classic blue and red swirling pole of a barber shop lies the long bar, dance floor, and carefully placed stage of the Blue Dog Motel.
Up a short flight of stairs, above Boulevard Saint Laurent, is one of the city’s top venues. From the outside, the only signage is plain black, but inside hides a true cabaret theatre.
Tucked upstairs on the ever-touristy St. Paul Street in Old Montreal, is one of the safest comedy rooms in town. Well, sort of. On the surface, Saanya Nanda’s monthly The Heckling Show would be the last thing most people would call safe; the name says it all, and every month comics take the stage knowing exactly what they're in for.
In the back room of N sur Mackay every Tuesday, something special is stirring up. And no, it’s not just the bar’s famous cocktails or the excellent whiskey tastings (though those are worth checking out). It’s Comedy on Mackay, a vibrant new weekly comedy show that’s quickly becoming a staple in Montreal’s comedy scene.
The atmosphere was reminiscent of a high school play, or at least that’s what my date leaned over to whisper into my ear as the lights dimmed. With its knots of young people huddled in their respective corners and coats hung up on wooden pegs near the stage, in a way I did feel transported back to high school, the fun part where I joked around with my friends in the stage wings before a production.
Docking my Bixi at the corner of St. Laurent and St. Catherine, I weave through the shiny new CIBL radio station and dodge the long line outside Club Soda. The air smells faintly of grilled meat and poutine from Pool Hall, and I jaywalk across the street toward the door of Café Cléopâtre.
