“Back by popular demand” is a phrase often heard in entertainment marketing circles.
But in the case of The Geezers’ Expect Delays comedy show that runs at ArtSpring this weekend, it really is returning to the stage because of the response to its debut last October.
The theatre was about 90 per cent full for the first show and sold out for the second, said Geezer Les a.k.a. Sid Filkow. Lots of people who wanted a seat had missed the boat, so Filkow and fellow Geezer Bill (Patrick Cassidy) just had to do it again.
“The feedback was extraordinary,” said Filkow, “with people saying how hard they laughed. My favourite comment was ‘My face hurt.’” He’s less sure of what to make of the person who said she had to go home and change her underwear, but assumes it meant the show made her laugh a lot.
“I had a young lady come up to me in Country Grocer and just say, ‘Thank you. Thank you so much. We really need laughter right now, you know, with what’s happening in the world.’ I had no idea who she was.”
“So we decided the reviews were so good we were going to risk coming back,” said Filkow, “but you’re only as good as your last show, as they say, right?”
Expect Delays runs on Saturday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 29 at 2 p.m. They decided to include a matinee for the many people who prefer to not drive at night.
No two Geezers shows are ever the same — whether Filkow is teamed with Cassidy or his former partner in Geezer crime, the late Arvid Chalmers — but they do plan to include the same topics and material from October, with some updating as required. The show’s title refers to the impact of the Ganges Hill road construction that concluded last fall.
“The one we’re doing now is close to a script, without being a script,” said Filkow, “because we do have a running order, and we pretty much know the subject matter, more or less, that we need to get out, but how we get there varies.”
Filkow and Cassidy admitted that the real-life pitfalls of aging occasionally determine what happens on stage, despite efforts to bolster Filkow’s memory through use of a Driftwood newspaper prop, for example.
Referring to the last show, Cassidy said, “Sid took the paper once, and gave it to me, but the notes were in the paper. He took it back and then he couldn’t find the notes.”
Expect Delays will include a sing-along to the Geezers’ original Enjoy Yourself song, with advice to follow Cassidy’s opening note rather than Filkow’s, and a question and answer period at the end.
Tickets are available through ArtSpring.