Island Summer Review: A Cracking Good Time
Sometimes jokes that seem to be insider-only can be awfully funny. We got a chance to steep ourselves in Prince Edward Island lore and inside jokes when we joined a packed house at the Harmony House Theater in Hunters River, about 25 minutes outside of Charlottetown PEI.
It was a wonderful musical comedy show called Island Summer Review that left both of us laughing like hyenas. Using slides with detailed illustrations of their hilarious points, musician Mark Haines and comedian Patrick Ledwell kept the crowd rapt with razor-sharp wit, fast-paced jokes about Halifax and Moncton, and plenty of original parody songs.
The crowd was rapt as Ledwell riffed about trips to Costco in Moncton, (“The whole village shares one membership!”) and the perennial favorite target, that $47 toll to get off Prince Edward Island on the Confederation Bridge. The bit that made us laugh the hardest was about putting together furniture and deciphering the crazy instructions from Ikea’s Billy Bookshelves. Who hasn’t suffered through this ‘marriage course?’
We were afraid we might not get the jokes since we’re from away, but after being on PEI for five days, we had heard enough about going to Halifax to see a specialist doctor and how everyone here goes to Moncton to Costco and how funny people here think the French spoken in neighboring provinces.
Mark Haine’s music was also brilliant–from a self-composed cello number to a parody about why we can’t remember why we walked into a room and can’t keep track of our keys, cell phones, and glasses, it was all spot-on and perfectly done.
The combination of Mark’s many different instruments and Patrick’s trumpet and bass made for a good time for all.
If you’re in PEI, don’t miss this terrific show! Harmony House Theatre