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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Comedy Now!: Sean Cullen - Wood, Cheese & Children

Sean Cullen

CTV · 1998

A hyperactive hour of musical ad-libs, strange characters, and pseudo-biblical readings.

Sean Cullen steps out on his own after a decade fronting the musical trio Corky and the Juice Pigs, bringing a frantic mix of musical ad-libs and strange character work. He plays the room with the unhinged energy of someone fueled by jet lag, casually dropping a Stephen Hawking impression set to the tune of Neil Diamond.

Backed by guitarist Dylan Goodhue, Cullen leans heavily on his operatic baritone. The hour mixes improvised songs based on audience suggestions with weird, fully formed setpieces, including a country-western ballad about a love triangle involving conjoined twins. Later, he slips into character as Father Sean to deliver pseudo-biblical readings from the apocryphal gospel of Saint Justin, reassuring his flock that if there is room for laughter, there is room for Jesus.

Filmed in 1998 for CTV’s Comedy Now! series, Wood, Cheese & Children was the solo debut that proved Cullen didn’t need a band to hold a room. The live iteration of the show toured to the Montreal Comedy Festival and the HBO Workspace in Los Angeles, picking up a Perrier Award nomination at the Edinburgh Fringe and a Gemini Award nod in Canada.

The set list

3 bits

  1. Father Sean and the Gospel of Saint Justin

    Plays an irreverent preacher delivering pseudo-biblical readings from Saint Justin, a contemporary of Jesus, mixing church humor with references to violating parole.

  2. Country and western love triangle with Siamese twins

    A musical number describing romance gone wrong with conjoined twins, where he cannot tell where one starts and the other begins.

  3. Stephen Hawking and rock star impersonations

    Performs celebrity impressions, including Stephen Hawking singing Neil Diamond songs alongside caricatures of Sean Connery, Neil Young, Meatloaf, and Van Morrison.

How it plays

Tone
Surreal, absurd, satirical, and irreverent.
On stage
Described as a cuddly persona delivering energetic, interactive absurdity likened to Monty Python with ADD, pop-culture saturation, and a large singing voice.
Pace
Fast-paced, stream-of-consciousness delivery shifting between off-the-cuff crowd improvisation, mimicry, and full-throated musical set pieces.
About
religion and pseudo-biblical tales, romance and relationships, pop culture and celebrity parodies, audience-prompted improv songs

What the critics said

Praised by critics for Cullen's sharp crowd improvisation, rich vocal abilities alongside accompaniment, and spot-on celebrity mimicry, elevating conventional standup tropes into highly original absurdism.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, gooent.com, thetvdb.com, nzherald.co.nz, en.wikipedia.org, thecanadianencyclopedia.ca, chortle.co.uk.

Backstory

An episode of CTV's standup showcase series 'Comedy Now!' (Season 2, Episode 14), adapted from Cullen's solo stage show mounted after Corky and the Juice Pigs disbanded.

Details

Released
Where
CTV
Director
Allan Manson
Honors
Nominated for a Gemini Award
Topics
After
Comedy Central Presents: Seán Cullen (2002)

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