The Vestibules, formerly known as Radio Free Vestibule, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

comedy troupe composed of Terence Bowman, Paul Paré, and Bernard Deniger."Fringe trio moves mainstream - with elbows". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', April 19, 1990.

Career

Based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

,"Radio Free Vestibule set to tickle Montreal funnybones". ''

'', November 12, 1988. the trio began performing in 1987. Students at Montreal's

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, they performed in Montreal-area comedy clubs and produced a radio comedy program for

CKUT-FM CKUT-FM is the official campus community radio station of McGill University. It can be heard at 90.3 FM in Montreal. CKUT's FM signal, broadcast from a tower on the top of Mount Royal, reaches as far as the Eastern Townships and upstate New Yo ...

. They had songs played on the syndicated ''

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

'' radio show, and soon began appearing on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's ''

Prime Time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'', beginning with occasional parody songs and later expanding to a twice-weekly sketch comedy segment; in April 1990, the program gave them a full half-hour special."Surreal sounds from the Vestibule". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', April 7, 1990. The trio was known primarily for absurdist comedy based on

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

, and resisted humor that was too explicitly political. One sketch which aired on ''Prime Time'' in 1990 satirized Canadian radio comedy's predilection for political humor, featuring an audience laughing uproariously at a reference to

Meech Lake Meech Lake (french: Lac Meech) is located within Gatineau Park in the Municipality of Chelsea, Quebec, Canada. It is located about 20 km northwest of Gatineau. The lake was named after Reverend Asa Meech, an early settler in the area. Near the ...

in the punchline to a deliberately unfunny "anti-joke". One of their most famous pieces was "Jellybellies Forever", a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

about the rise and fall of a

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

group who had been inspired by the legendary supergroup Sharon, Lois, Bram and

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

. Their satirical songs included "I Don't Want to Go to Toronto", a parody of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

's uptight and elitist image, and "Grunge Song", a parody of early 1990s songwriting which was frequently shown on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

. Another sketch with rare political overtones was "Looking for a Job in Quebec", in which a nervous anglophone insisted that his surname, O'Leary, was pronounced "Thibodeau". In 1992, the troupe were given their own weekly series on CBC Radio, as a summer replacement for ''

Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...

''."Radio Free, you're up; Talented comic trio jumps from Prime Time to its own weekly show". ''

Halifax Daily News ''The Daily News'' was a tabloid newspaper in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that was published from 1974 until ceasing operations in February 2008. History ''The Daily News'' owed its existence to David Bentley, who, along with his wife Diana and Patric ...

'', June 29, 1992. In the fall, they returned to ''Prime Time'' for the show's final season. After ''Prime Times cancellation, their sketches continued to appear on the CBC Radio programs '' Basic Black'' and ''

Night Lines ''Night Lines'' was a Canadian radio series, which aired on CBC Stereo from 1984 to 1997.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ECW Press. . The show, which aired on Fr ...

'', and on follow-up seasons of their summer series."From Vestibule to centre stage; Trio of Montreal comics makes it big on disc, TV - and, of course, radio". ''

'', March 6, 1995. In 1993, the trio appeared in a segment on A&E's ''Comedy on the Road'', as part of a series of specials taped at the Just for Laughs Festival, and garnered a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

nomination for Best Comedy Performance for their appearance in

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

's ''Just for Laughs'' special."Vestibules at home in funny business". ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bo ...

'', May 29, 1997. In 1994, they collaborated with former ''Prime Time'' host

Geoff Pevere Geoff Pevere (born October 1957) is a Canadian lecturer, author, broadcaster, teacher, arts and media critic, currently the program director of the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival in Toronto.John Semley, "Can we play with madness?: Toronto' ...

on ''X-Ray Vision'', a television comedy pilot which aired as a special on CTV but was not picked up as a permanent series. In 1995, they appeared on CBC Television's ''

Comics! ''Comics!'' was a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television in the 1990s. A half-hour standup comedy series, the show focused on one Canadian comedian each week. The series was produced by Joe Bodolai and Sandra Faire Sandra ...

'', released their first comedy album ''Sketches, Songs and Shoes'', and became regular contributors to ''

Definitely Not the Opera ''Definitely Not the Opera'' (or simply ''DNTO'') was a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture and storytelling, that aired on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons from 1994 until 2016. The show's running time varied ove ...

''.

Name change

The trio shortened its name from Radio Free Vestibule to The Vestibules in 1997. In 1998, the troupe were the main writers of the sitcom '' Radio Active'' for YTV,"Vestibules get past the front door". ''

'', March 20, 1999. and they sold a screenplay for ''Disco Inferno'', a genre-hopping disaster/action/musical comedy film about a

discotheque A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

inside a dormant

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

, to

MTV Films MTV Entertainment Studios is the film and television production arm of MTV Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Founded in 1991 as MTV Productions, it is a consolidation of the former MTV ...

. Their second comedy album, ''Get Spiffy!'', was released in 2002."They'll have you in stitches: With their new CD, Get Spiffy!, the Vestibules continue their pattern of bizarre, artful comedy". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', June 7, 2002. They have since released three further comedy albums and a DVD.

Personal life

Paré is the uncle of actress

Jessica Paré Jessica Paré (born December 5, 1980) is a Canadian actress and singer known for her co-starring roles on the AMC series ''Mad Men'' and the CBS series '' SEAL Team''. She has also appeared in the films '' Stardom'' (2000), ''Lost and Delirious'' ...

Discography

* ''Sketches Songs and Shoes'' (1995, as Radio Free Vestibule) * ''Get Spiffy!'' (2002) * ''Chest of Drawers 5.0'' (2005) * ''The Complete First Episode'' (2005, DVD) * ''The Jellybellies Forever'' (2006) * ''The Best of the Radio McGill Years volumes 1-4'' (2006)

References

External links

The Vestibules
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vestibules, The Canadian comedy troupes Canadian radio comedy 1987 establishments in Quebec