SHIRLEY GNOME: SHE'S PRESENTING Set for Petit Campus, 6/13-22

Shirley Gnome is a gifted singer, a skilled songwriter and a powerhouse performer - but you may not want to bring the kids to this one... This internationally acclaimed musical comedian hits the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival with Shirley Gnome: She's Presenting, playing at Petit Campus from June 13-22.

Over the past five years, the Vancouver-based comedian has achieved cult following by singing bawdy and provocative songs contrasted by the beauty and depth of her country-folk style vocal abilities. With a set list that features such song titles as 'Five Boner Night', 'Am I a Hooker', 'Big Hard Imagination', and 'Horrible Sex Dream', Gnome isn't afraid to get explicit when it comes to the unspoken truths of sex and romance.

You won't ever hear such filthy and honest notions sung in a more enchanting way than when Gnome unleashes her voice. She confides, "People often tell me that I could be singing 'real music' which I have always thought was both flattering and hilarious. What I perform is bona fide, creative compositions; they're just not going to be racing up the charts anytime soon." With lyrics like hers, you might understand why. In the delightfully vulgar track 'Hipster Vagina', Gnome sings about how her own genitalia might be a trend-setting scenester: "It thinks that mainstream porn is really kind of weird/I guess that would explain the bushy hipster beard." Or, in 'Big Hard Imagination': "We were meant to be together, unlike my thighs."

In 2012 Gnome scored a surprise win with Patrick Maliha's 'The People's Champ of Comedy' competition. Along with the $20,000 grand prize, the title launched Gnome into a career as an international touring artist. She released her second album, C*untry Music, in 2012 and enjoyed a critically acclaimed run at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival- the world's largest arts celebration.

Sometimes tongue-in-cheek, other times insightful and honest, Shirley Gnome - She's Presenting has people in hysterics. Gnome's music, while smothered in explicit language and racy humour, is sung with the voice of an angel dry-humping a cloud. Armed only with a guitar and a sass mouth, chanteuse provocateur Shirley Gnome has won over audiences everywhere with her shameless renderings, taking people on a musical journey with titillating tunes about the hilarious and profound ways that bodies collide.

Gnome is bringing her raunchy roller coaster ride to the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival this year along with appearances in Ottawa (Zaphod Beeblebrox), Toronto (Gay Pride Weekend) and New York City (Kitty Nights Burlesque). Shirley Gnome: She's Presenting will be her first foray into Eastern Canada and she couldn't be more excited, "Montreal has the most strip clubs per capita out of any Canadian city - I feel like I'm really going to fit in there."

When asked what her parents think of her bawdy style of songs, she says that they are supportive and amused. Gnome said her father played comedy records when she was growing up and she wasn't censored from the likes of George Carlin, Cheech and Chong, and Adam Sandler.

She says that most audience members find the material hilarious and has had very few complaints - at least to her face, "I have always taken inspiration from the school of Andy Kaufman, in that any reaction is a good reaction. If people are laughing, then they're seeing the material the way that I do. But for those who are offended, upset, confused or angry, I think that's valid too." To hear Shirley Gnome's music go to: shirleygnome.bandcamp.com/

Dates: Fri. June 13- 10:00pm; Sat. June 14- 11:30pm; Mon. June 16- 7:45pm; Tues. June 17- 10:00pm;
Sat. June 21- 8:15pm; Sun. June 22- 4:15pm
Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: $10.00, students/seniors $8.00 (+ $2 service charge)

To purchase: 514 849-FEST (3378), www.montrealfringe.ca

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