Team #GOLD Arrives in Edinburgh...

Yes, I woke this morn, pulled off my gold-sequined sleeping mask, the maid drew the blinds, handed me my mariboo bed coat, my morning tea on bed table and my day began...

OH WAIT!

Then I woke up with my ipad imprinted on my ass ( I slept on it) and remember that I fell asleep after watching episode 2 of season 2 of Downton Abbey (I was trying to get in the UK spirit)...I FUCKING LOVE THAT SHOW!!!

I am in some wonderful student housing that is RIGHT in the centre of it all!

Oh wait...this is how we flew...

George and I ALWAYS have our  TYRA faces at the ready.

After we arrived in a grumpy taxi outside of our lodgings...we dragged our bags into the downstairs hallway I was afeared that we were entering a crack den but then I saw this on the floor and thought it was good luck...

Yes, people, it says "GOLD"...disgusting hallway...but filled with graffiti and good luck.

We dragged our bags up 3 floors ( I do love that even though it is on the 2nd floor they lie to you here and tell you it is the 2nd...the first floor is 0 I guess...like the size dress that I am sure that Posh Spice wears...pandering UK reference...you are welcome...).

Our place is big and airy...the toilet fills for 20 minutes and need to be filled with water to flush...fancy!!

Here we all are after we were united here in the land of Scots....

Charlton the dog, Rob the producer, Cooch, Me and Simon (Rob's partner)...and George, the producer is behind the camera! Can you see the awesome Edinburgh brick out of our picture window.

Off around town, after sleeping for 4 hours...I am 43 people...I can't fuck around with my sleep...

George and I saw my posters EVERYWHERE!!!

WE saw a poster that made pass out....

The musical...and she's NOT EVEN IN IT!!!....Jesus wept...and then bought a ticket to Sharron Matthews Superstar: GOLD...because, if you are keeping score at all...he thinks I am funny...lord.

And then we went to get some toiletries...THAT SHIT WEIGHS TOO much to fly across the ocean, people....and I saw this magazine....

When I saw this I was instantly two things...happy that she really is popular here...and horrified that that crazy skank is popular here...what the fuck....this world...holy poop.

Then to celebrate that we made it safe and no one died on the way we went out for Italian at Ciao Roma, my fave Italian place in Edinburgh...the owner, Franco, was one of the first people to let me put up my poster last year...and when I was sad/sick I would go in for comfort pasta and he would give me the local discount and then sit with me and chat. 

He is a good man.

I don't have a picture of Franco...that would have been perfect....ah well... 

But here is a pic of the dinner...and this pic looks like an add for a freak ass sitcom...that I would watch...

And the new dude on the end is Huw, upcoming producer and long suffering assistant producer...intern. God bless his soul! 
Fave thing I saw on our walking tour yesterday? Besides my effing poster everywhere? This hairstraightener for hire in the bathroom of a pub we stopped in...EW...every Jill, Julie and Jamie in Scotland have used it...but it does say on it....

Yes...sterile...I am sure.

So, it burns your weave and gives you weevils...hahhahahahah...I just laughed out loud at my own stupid joke...I don't care!! Eff you judgers.

Now, I write, email, order TSHIRTS,  edit a video, go over the show, get ready for promo gigs...like I am hosting the LIST party on Thursday night!! LOVE THAT! One of my fave acts Le Gateau Chocolate hosted it last year! Hosting a night at The New Town Bar for the charity Waverly Cares! Yes....so many awesome things...OH, and my 'Best Of The Fest' Appearance  at the Assembly! So. much. fun!! 

HERE, if you have come this far...gold bless you...oh wait...I mean god bless you...(see what I did there...ya, I know you did...) Here are a couple of random shots that my sweet Georgie took!!!

 HEHEE HEHHEHE!!!


And, just so you know....Cooch and I change from the top picture into this...

3:40pm EVERYDAY (except Mondays)....here....

BUY YOUR TICKETS!!
PASS IT ON!!!
COME ON OUT!!!
I hope to give Susan Boyle a run for her money....

LAST show in CANADA TONIGHT!!

Hey ALL!!

I cannot believe TONIGHT is my last show in Canada!

I have been looking forward/have been terrified about this FOREVER!! 

The audiences have been SRO EVERY NIGHT! And I hope tonight is the same...because, you see, I have a little independent Canadian artist dream to sell 400 tickets over 4 days. I know this might not sound like a lot but when you are a solo performer the amount of work that goes into a gold...I mean goal like that (see what I did there) is staggering...I am not trying to be all, "oh my god, I work so hard...my life is so hard...."( and please say the aforementioned in a valley girl voice...dated, I know, but perfect) but just keepin' it real!

I have met my goal every night...or at least come pretty fucking close. And the community of people who have been helping on social media, bringing many people to show, and just plain supporting my tour is also staggering...so I thank you all for that.

I would like to personally thank the media who have helped me...and their help has really put this TO leg of the tour over the top...Now Magazine (Glenn, Jon and Jordan), XTRA (Chris Dupuis), Classical 96.3 (Jean and Mike), Proud FM (Richard and Chris), SheKnows (Sara), BroadwayWorld (Kelly) and all of the papers and webpapers in Scotland who have announced their "Best and Pics" lists so early that I could capitalize on them (Scotsman, ScotsGay, Comedy Reviewer and the wonderful New Current who named me "Woman of The Year"....holy freakin'). As of today myself and the two other shows I worked with to get to EdFringe (Mickey and Judy and NGGRFG) have all been listed in ScotsGay's Hot 100 Pics for the Fringe!!! Canucks ALL!! WOO WOO!!! Getting on those lists are a fucking achievement in themselves!

So, here we are!

The dress works.

The hair works.

The shoes work.

The Cholera gloves work.

The show is timed perfectly.

The flow is just right.

I think I am ready...holy shit.

So, let us do this one last night in Canada !!

Here is last nights fave tweet...for content and also because the writer went to the trouble to include the show info!! ROCK ON!!

"John McGillis ‏@JohnnyBMcGillis

Last night! better than anything u've seen in some time. @SharronMatthews - GOLD at Buddies in Bad TImes! call 416 975 8555 for tix."

Come on out!

Come early to get your tickets...if you don't have them already...I let a few go this morning that I have saved JUST SUCH AN OCCASION! I am not sure if the BOX OFFICE is open during the day today or if it opens two hours before show time....but just in case #416 975 8555

COME EARLY TO GET YOUR FAVE SEAT!

I can't wait to see you!!!

Here are some pics of the fabulous people who have come out to the show and posted their shots on the FB or the twitter!!! 

Gotta love it!

 Bailey, Myself and Tene! 

(These ladies were in Edinburgh last year and have been twittering FOOLS!! Thank you!!)

 Me and Lianne! 

(She came with the 30 or so AMAZING people from the Canada Sings Teams! And she wasn't even one of my team members!! GOD BLESS! She works for WestJet! YAY!!!)

 Me and Richard Ryder from Proud FM!!! 

(HE has a great laugh! AND had me on his show!

 Regan, Myself and Darci

(Regan and I went to high school together....she ALWAYS comes to the shows AND brings a huge group with her!! And Darci is a self professed SUPER FAN! YOU GOTTA LOVE THAT!!)

Karen from the Ontario Science Centre and Celeste from the OPP Team on Canada Sings! 
Both team captains. Met for the first time this night. Friends Forever! Karen arrange about 30 people coming to the show. AWESOME.

Five Fave Things That Happened... #GOLD

Five Fave Things That Happened at Preview Two of #GOLD  at Buddies in Bad Times

1. I got myself some new and special gold gloves from where, Fashion Crimes, of course, so that I could still shake everyone's hand before the show...and not get cholera (UK producer will be happy to hear this...Must remember to cleanse the cholera gloves)

2. At least 30 people came from the TO (and Calgary!) teams of Canada Sings...Ontario Science Centre, Elmwood Spa, OPP, RBC, WestJet...some friends from each team meeting for the first time...that show changes lives...we laughed and cried...and then almost all of them bought merch...making it my most successful merch night ever. 

YAY to Canada Sings!!

Thanks to Karen Hager (from OSC) for arranging it all!

3. When I got to a place in the show, in a story, where I named a certain real name from high school, 7 of my high school friends groaned...I was waiting for it all night. Leaving in real names of people who are shitty to you, making their bullying art, while you are wearing a gold sequined dress and looking amazing is the ultimate revenge.

4. We were Standing Room Only when the doors opened. Doing 4 nights of cabaret in TO is a very daunting thing. And to be SRO two nights in a row made me warm in my happy place. And then next two nights have ALSO sold really well...I release a special number of tickets everyday...have you got your tickets?

(Box Office opens at Noon #416 975 8555)

5.The Ever Amazing Alison Somerville wrote this on twitter...

"Alison SomerVille ‏@ShimmerVille

@SharronMatthews is underestimating herself if you ask me. Sharron Matthews Superstar - #PLATINUM ...GO SEE IT!!! Brilliance in action!"

Yah.

What a night.

I made a cut in the show...changed it up...gonna make a few changes tonight...it is always a bit "shit your pants" that way...come on down, people.

Let's play.

Thanks to Karen Hager for taking this picture...you can ALMOST see up my skirt...almost...

Amazing preview! GOLD 2012!

What a night!

As always, I am suitably nervous before a first preview...whole new show...all new jokes...new dress...new hair do...

Last night, as I put on my make up and my hair piece (yes...there is a piece involved and I ain't embarrassed to say it...and I actually wore the smaller one...the bigger one was TOO HEAVY...jesus wept...and then bought tickets to my show) I was putting these things on and because I was alone in the dressing room and (the plight of a solo performer...Cooch was out socializing) my thoughts stray...and I thought back to one of my first shows in the same room at Buddies in Bad Times...my Christmas Party in 2005...

There were no costume designs (George and I went to Le Chateau and I tried on millions of outfits and the cheapest/best one would win), hair designs (this is mostly about the sweat factor...when it is up, there is less...so I designed, with the help of my dear Hair Guru Bill, a rat for my bun...I used to put in a hair clip and hope for the best) no merch tables...it has been 7 years of struggling cabaret for a living...and I was a little overwhelmed by it all...and grateful for the journey.

As I put on my "Duchess of Cambridge", as John Austin called them, nude pumps I felt excitement and terror...still...this is always the way...MAKES YOU FEEL ALIVE!

The house was packed to the gills...on a THURSDAY NIGHT!! 

LOTS of new peeps!! One of my RCAF dudes from CS came!! Mike Hall!! Big BOB from the Hamilton Poilice came with his wife, Tracy! Some of my Insight family was in the house! Good friends, the Gays in the Corner (their title, not mine) and a bunch of dudes from Austria and a lady from Prague! So many awesome peeps...I have a new friend named Jill...who sat in the front row...oh, Jill!! 

I informed the peeps that it was a good night to come because I have no idea how it all will work...so who knows the debacle that might ensue!!

What an amazing and informative night it was.

These are REAL work nights for me...to figure out the timing (it has to run a hard and tight 55 mins...any time over 60 minutes in Edinburgh MUST be paid for..and it ain't cheap...unlike Le Chateau)...to figure out if the dress is working...to see if the effing jokes are working....the songs, are they placed properly?

I have already made a big change for tonight, by the by!

There was a wonderful response...and wonderful social media response as well...I felt very happy to make it through in one piece! 

Oh...no one likes Kim Kardashian...that, like music...is universal.

I am excited about the next three nights!

I have already received some emails about when the show is coming back to TO...THIS IS IT, PEOPLE!! These next three shows are my only TO SHOWS in 2012!!

Come on down, people! 

As Matthew said on TWITTER...  

"RT@mgkthompson 

If seeing @SharronMatthews GOLD show was the last thing I do, I will have lived a full life. (P.S. The show was amazing!)"

Well, how much do I love that...not that they might leave this mortal coil...but...you get the picture!

Here is a shot one @kevinmichaelt took from the audience last night! ( I encourage all picture taking! ) 

I LOVE THIS DRESS!! Thanks to Sarah Morden (of the Canada Sings team...among other fabulous jobs she does) for the design and execution!

And, though I don't arrive for over a week, the work has begun with my awesome producer in Edinburgh...

Posters are up, BITCHES!!!

 I feel full...life is ever changing and you never know what can happen...but right this second I feel full!! 

I hope to see you out in the next few nights at Buddies in Bad Times...again CALL AHEAD and buy your tickets (BOX OFFICE OPEN FROM Noon till show time #146 975 8555)...in Scotland or London (go to www.climarproductions.com for info on tix and dates)  or New York (tickets will go on sale SOON!) or effing South Africa!

HERE WE GO!!!

 

Wild Goose Chase to PROUD FM, Q responds and A NEW CLIP FROM "JESUS THINKS..."

I woke up bright and early in  my dear friends apartment (he is in London working at the fancy Olympics) did my hairs (even though I was going on the radio) and got into my car. Someone wanted to take my spot...I screamed out the window that I had some stuff to do before I moved...Like he gave a crap...he flipped me the bird and waited and then I took 45 minutes (it seemed that long...happily) to plug my earphones into my IPhone. Suck on that.

I got on the highway about 1:15 minutes before I needed to be at Proud FM 103.9 (who does not love them, I ask you...) and pulled out my GPS on my new IPhone.

And as I got farther and farther from TO my heart became scared...where the eff was I going?

TO THE WRONG PLACE!!! WHY DOES DUNDAS WEST have addresses with numbers that start all over again between Mavis and jesus knows WHERE!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK!?!?

I watched the time tick by as a navigated my way to...CLARKSON or some effing place...what the???

So, I called Chris and Richard at Proud FM and we did the interview on the phone while I tried to find my way back into TO.

It was also live to tape...sorry, people who tuned in...I will see when it is on and give you the high sign.

Whew...oh, am I almost ran out of gas...and I had WONDERFUL country and western hair.

SEE!?!? I kinda sacrificed a good angle so that you can see my poster hanging on the wall...up there...in the left hand corner...

SO!

It is 8 days till the big show...I had a wonderful rehearsal with Cooch yesterday....I would be singing songs and doing stories and then screaming out "I'VE GOT IT!" (scaring the shit out of poor little Cooch) and then madly rushing to try and write the idea before it flew out of my head.

I love this part...the creation...and you know what part I kinda don't love...wandering around the city...hanging up posters....yes, I do it myself...who else?

People accost me...they judge...they look snooty...I think, "Do you know who the eff I think I am...oh wait ...I know...and independent cabaret artist in Canada...ah yes...yes...I use scotch tape to hang them...thank you..."

Sigh.

So, I got some awesome news (which I can't announce till tomorrow) and some shit news this morning.

After my extensive 5 day campaign (on line and behind the scenes...I thank all of you who supported me in this) I have been informed that the powers that be have passed on me for Q.

Uber sigh.

Yes...I ain't gonna lie to you...it does sadden me.

With all the TV, the international credits and what not I thought this might be my year...ah well. 

What is a cabaret performer in Canada gonna do? 

Keep working her shit, people.

This is the moment when I send out a big thank you to all of the media in Toronto who supports the hell outta me...Chris and Richard at Proud FM, Jean and Mike at Classical 96,  Glenn and Jon at the Now Magazine, Richard at the Toronto Star, John who now freelances for the Toronto Sun, Kelly at Broadwayworld.com...if I have forgotten anyone...I apoligize! Thank you!

And speaking of working her shit...here is another taste of my "Jesus Thinks I'm Funny" Show from the EdFRinge last year. It is one of my fave bits...yes, bits...it takes a story from the Bachelor and weaves it with some Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston...and church. Accompanied by Chris Tsujuichi...he is awesome!

8 Days till Buddies in Bad Times!! BUY YOUR TICKETS #416 975 8555 

20 Days till Edfringe!! BUY YOUR TICKETS! www.climarproductions.com

Less than 2 months till London!  BUY YOUR TICKETS! www.climarproductions.com

Give a watch and if you dig it? Pass it on! LOVES! 

 

 

 

 

Jian responds, what will happen, EXCERPT FROM JESUS THINKS I'M FUNNY...

So.

Many.

Things.

9 days till Buddies.

16 days till we leave for UK.

22 days till I open at the Edinburgh Fringe.

AND it is Day 3 of the 'Asking Jian Ghomeshi To Have Me On Q' campaign and it has born some fruit...bourne...bourn...I don't know and I am too tired from publicizing, producing and rehearsing my upcoming show at Buddies to figure out the proper spelling (just 9 days till the show! The tickets really are going...I know I keep saying it...but I want all to be able to come...I want to see you guys...it has been too long! Call #416 975 8555 July 19th - 22nd...check the website homepage for info...www.sharronmatthews.com ) that is the longest bracket ever...what was I saying...oh yes...so tired...getting the show together...trying to get the independent publicity...I have interviews and radio spots and all...but I really want to get on Q. I really really really do. So, if you haven't been following my 3 day quest, I wrote Jian Ghomeshi an essay (because he is quite fond of writing them himself...here is the essay/blog I wrote http://sharrmatthews.blogspot.ca/2012/07/dear-mr-jian-ghomeshi-essay-to-get-my.html ) explaining why I thought I should be on the show...and I want to thank all of you who retweeted, wrote messages and whatnot...your support is always appreciated! And today...I received a tweet...a tweet from Mr. Jian Ghomeshi...

Yes...success...lovely compliment...acknowledgment of knowing each other...witty joke at the end...all good...but, wait...will he have me on...huh?

I will NOW go into Phase Two...which I cannot totally detail here...or else I would have to kill you...what?...I am so effing tired...HAVE ME ON THE SHOW, Jian!!! 

BUT I will tell you part of Phase Two is putting up some clips of one of my Edinburgh Fringe Festival performances of "Sharron Matthews Superstar: Jesus Thinks I'm Funny"....a clip every few days leading up to "Sharron Matthews Superstar: GOLD" preview at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. 

Today, here is a clip of the opening sequence...meeting the fabu audience...singing to James the audience member...telling them the rules...yes, there are always rules...and of course a bit of Gaga...a dash of Madonna and some Nick Glider to get you started...AND don't forget all you international folk...tickets are selling really well in Scotland and London...I am at the Pleasance in Edinburgh this year...and at the Tristan Bates and the Longacre in London...great rooms all...so go to www.climarproductions.com for all the info on buying tickets and what not... 

So, keep writing to @jianghomeshi on twitter...he is also on the facebook...wouldn't it be amazing to see an independent Toronto solo artist on Q? Huh?

Here is a little clip of 'Jesus Thinks I'm Funny' I like to title "Sharron Matthews Superstar: Who In The F**k Do You Think You Are?"

Dear Mr. Jian Ghomeshi: An Essay (To Get My Person On Q)

I remember the first time I met you, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi. 

You looked like this....

 
I was sitting backwards on a highback stool (no easy feat, may I add) shaking my ass at an audience while singing some saucy song that I can’t even remember now...I was on the stage (there wasn’t a raised surface...stage was a relative word...a suggestion, really) at the third version of the Queen’s Bedroom on Church Street...the year?
1994.
I think. (Bad with dates and years.)
Anyhow.
You were sitting in the audience with about 50 other people (the room was packed) and I was doing 15 minutes at someone elses variety night. After my gig was done I went to my dressing room (read: broom closet...that I stored my purse in...because I didn’t trust a one of you bastards not to steal it) and you came in after me...to meet me. What? I was 26...you were in Moxy Fruvous...you told me you were working on a musical with this dude named Des from the La Jolla Playhouse in California and that you were interested in the way I told my stories (I am paraphrasing here, of course...because I was all overwhelmed by the coolness factor of this moment to hear EVERY word you were saying) and you asked when I was gonna do my own show...so I invited you to my show the next week...and you effing SHOWED...which was ALSO pretty cool. There was nothing romantical or overtoney...it was the meeting of two artistic minds...which sounds lordy...but you know what I mean. You were very kind and very supportive.
I was all chuffed that someone well known in the Canadian pop world would take an interest in something so musical theatre-ie, a bit campy and all round “in” at the time. The audience was largely people from the musical theatre and comedy community.
It was cool of you to come to the gig.
We have both gone down many roads since then.
Oh yes, we have.
You are now in radio...and I, still in cabaret. Oh yes, I have done a number of different things (people other than Mr. Ghomeshi, who have followed my career and have sat through the speeling of my credits can skip along to this * sign...because the listing will begin...thank you for your patience and continued support)...I have done blockbuster movies (Mean Girls, Cinderella Man, Hairspray), had the good fortune to be a part of the big mega musical boom in Toronto (Showboat, Les Miserables, Beauty and the Beast) and have just completed my second season on the wonderful TV show, Canada Sings, on Global TV (as a vocal coach, musical director and on camera personality...it has been one amazing gig)...but cabaret has always been my day gig. Yes, my day gig. In Canada... and I fucking love it.
* While I was finishing out my time in musicals in the early 2000’s,  I was trying to figure out a way to make cabaret my day gig. There were no rooms in Toronto that were ‘cabaret’ rooms. There were no cabaret artists in Canada, that I knew of, to model myself after. So, I came up with my own idea of what I thought cabaret was...but it wasn’t lucrative and it sure as shit DID NOT draw an audience of regular people (read: not artists)...AHHHH....the holy grail...an audience of regular people. Imagine.
In 2003-ish (Badnamesdates) I went to New York to stay with Elaine Stritch (Do you know Elaine Stritch?...please tell me you do...lately she plays Alec Balwin’s mother on 30 Rock) and my friend, Marge, who was Elaine’s sound person/assistant/residentGirl Friday at the time. I was doing an audition for some freakin’ Andrew Lloyd Webber show in NY. Elaine was staying and doing her cabaret show at the Carlyle Hotel on the upper east side. Elaine invited me to stay in her gorgeous rehearsal suite in the hotel.  Again, WHAT? I stood in that fucking amazing rehearsal room and thought I had stepped into heaven...there were bound scores for Elaine’s show on the grand piano...the attached bedroom was her dressing room where she got ready...there were post cards and flowers from Elaine May and Mike Nichols...Stephen Sondheim...and, oddly enough, David Schwimmer...who was still huge due to the ‘Friends’...the windows were pulled up a little bit...and I swear to effing god...there were white shear curtains that blew in the wind...and there was music playing softly, from some corner of the room I couldn’t find...and I sat there and thought, “Eartha Kitt, Barbra Cook, Ute Lemper, Betty LaVette and Judy Collins have rehearsed here...holy fuck.” Possibly, I laid down on the persian rug and had a cry...maybe I stole a diet coke from her bar...maybe I touched the piano...a bit.
After I saw her show in the Cafe Carlyle (she managed to stuff a 6 piece band into one of the smallest rooms I have ever seen a star work in...she was fucking awesome...of course...amazing storyteller...she dated Brando...enough said), I talked with Elaine and  she asked me what I was going to do...I told her that I couldn’t really do cabaret in Canada, because no one cared about it...there were no rooms...I was 35ish (not sure) and it was a dead art form...NO WAIT...cabaret was an art form that had never really been properly born in Canada....saying you were a cabaret artist in Canada opened nary a door...nary a door...it was like saying you were (insert awesome analogy here and don’t forget to take it out if you can’t think of one...good work, Matthews).
And she said, with the grace of Buddha and the wisdom of an elder... “Just fucking do it...and stop whining...you aren’t getting any younger...and bitching gets you nowhere.” (I am also paraphrasing here because I was hoping for something a little more poetic....but this was the gist).
So, I did the ALW audition (so wrong for it...didn’t get it...for the best...though, still would have liked another call back for my ego) and flew home...and started to look.
I am gonna try to short form the rest...because this shit took a great deal of time, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi...are you still reading?...I know this is long...but life’s work takes some  time, man.
Played super small rooms and had to yell over drunken crowds and tell them to shut their pie holes. I used to call it taming the tiger. One super drunk dude told me that if I sang another ballad he would kill himself, I paused and said, “Well, please do us the courtesy of doing it quick and outside so the rest of us can get on with it.” (Lesson to self...sing less ballads)
Played bigger rooms with a show I formatted based on Late Night Talk shows. If I was going to get the ‘holy grail’ of the regular audience, I was going to have to draw them in with a format they were familliar with and...most important...sing songs they knew. I would have to (and this was a life changer) put away the musical theatre and get right to the popular music. Which had, actually, been a great love my whole life. I fucking loved pop radio...and I knew I wasn’t the only one...people love songs they know. I called the show ‘Sharron’s Party’ and performed, wrote, produced and cast a new ‘Party’ every month...you see, I also knew to build an audience I would have to bring other artists...amazing artists...every month I had on an established artist, I had on Tony winner Brent Carver, Tony nominee Louise Pitre, TV’s Gavin Crawford and Teresa Pavlinek...and so many more...and every week I had on an 'up and comer'...I went to a hundred cabarets (because, by this time, they were popping up all over...) and saw so many talented young artists and I asked a  new one to come on the show every month.
I went on to do 52 such parties...at the Gladstone Ballroom, at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, the Diesel Playhouse, all over Ontario...out east...out west...I toured that shit. I toured cabaret around Canada. Yes, I said it, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi...I effing toured cabaret around Canada...yes, sometimes we (me and my booker) called it a one woman show...a comedy concert...whatever words were not scary to a presenter...but I toured my cabaret.
And then I took my show around the world.
Did you know, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi, if you are an independent and commercial artist in Canada how effing hard it is to get an effing grant to tour your uniquely Canadian work outside the country? It is...as Jann Arden would say...shitballs.
So, I raised $40,000.00 (NO GRANTS) with the help of my husband and many supporters and got my show (this is TRULY SHORT FORMING BECAUSE THIS WAS SOME OF THE HARDEST WORK BUT I AM DOING MY BEST NOT TO BORE YOU...myself...or the others who have continued along...god bless you...) accepted to an Edinburgh Fringe venue in Scotland and to Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre in New York City...where Leonard Cohen, Judy Collins and Pete Townsend have performed. I was the first Canadian cabaret artist to tour their show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the first Canadian cabaret artist to debut their show at Joe’s Pub....who wasn’t already living in NY or on Broadway. Yes,  I know...very specific acolades...but I imagine that if I want to be on your show...I should be specific, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi.
And yes, I called the tour “Sharron Matthews Superstar: World Domination Tour 2010”...I figured one should go big or go home. And I did go big...the tour went very well...I got great revues....lots of attention and felt very pleased with the whole experience.
One reviewer in New York City named my show the “#1 Cabaret in New York City in 2010”...well, shit balls...and the good shit balls...not the shitty shit balls.
Another reviewer in Scotland simply proclaimed “How Fucking Good Are YOU?”...well, non shitty shit balls, again.
And who would I be to not try it again...so I went back to Scotland again last year, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi...and knocked that shit out of the park...better space, sold out crowds....top of the line reviews...the cover of “The Scotsman”...my articles got published...I got to do the awesome appearences...not the ones with the Kylie Minogue  type stripper/performance artist...and then sold out my London debut at Leicester Square Theatre with no advertising. ( A couple of Scots dudes had a fist fight outside of my venue one night over the last two tickets...awesome true story)
If this sounds like bragging...maybe it is a bit...I wonder if I should apologize (We Canadians do NOT know how to toot our own horn...I get some flack about my promotion...but what is an independent artist to do to sell their shows? Whisper the info into people's ears...lord.) but I have come a great distance and I am thrilled.
And I am proud. I am (happily as hell) supported by many artists in this country...and other countries ...by many a ‘regular’ person...who have traveled to NY, Scotland and London to be a part of my debuts and opening nights...to see my journey through. And I am also extremely grateful.
This year, my tour is so huge...for a Canadian cabaret artist...for a gal from Hamilton...a musical theatre artist...a self producer...a girl who took tap dancing fron the ages of 4 to 12....are you getting all this?
Toronto, Scotland, London, New York City and South Africa...yes...a new cabaret festival in South Africa has invited me to come...and I am very excited...and, again, proud. And excited. As all hell....I am excited, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi. For an art form that is still struggling to live in Canada...our small community of creative and singular artists are starting to export their works all over the world. And we are doing it ourselves. The government and funding bodies thinks we are too commercial...they don’t understand what we do...”Can you please describe to me what you do again?”, said the lady on the phone from the Canada Council. Sigh.
And, in an effort to bring this shit full circle...I now live in Stratford, Ontario...and do you know who works here.?..that dude named Des...though I have never formally met him. (I see him at openings...and he walks by my house sometimes when I am putting out the garbage...Sometimes the effort to bring something full circle involves a great deal of reaching) I  wonder what became of your musical...how you ended up on radio, (And let me mention here I am a avid listener of Q ) still in music and storytelling...and I ended up touring my shows all over the world...with music and storytelling.
Wouldn’t we have a wonderful time chatting?
Do you remember me, Mr. Jian Ghomeshi?

I now look like this (when I am made up for a photo shoot...and am pointing at you....)

I am a Canadian artist, in a genre that is still growing out of infancy...a very precarious infancy...who has used that genre to move into bigger mediums like TV and film...it is a funny road...but you have had some my cabaret and comedy contemporaries on your wonderful show...artists like ‘Meow Meow’ from Australia (who I adore!)...Danny Bhoy was just on...he worked down the street from me last year in Scotland...why not this homegrown girl...I am doing my shows at Buddies in Bad Times (the WORLD’S largest queer theatre) on July 19th to the 22nd....and then on the 27th I am go international...it would be great to talk with you about this genre that I love...what do you say?