OLD, FAT & F*CKED! NOW WHAT? to Debut at Montreal Fringe This June

How do you grow old and fat when you are a gay man living in a community where being young and slim is the official standard of attraction? Puelo Deir's latest comedic show tackles this struggle with humour, wit, and raunchy autobiographical anecdotes.

OLD, FAT & F*CKED! Now What? premiers at the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, playing at the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) from June 9-17 (see various times below).

Written and performed by Puelo Deir, an awarded and iconic figure in the entertainment and gay communities, the show is directed by writer/director/performer Philippe Gobeille. There will be cocktails and snacks! Language advisory... in case you can't tell from the title.

In this third installment of his trilogy, after sold-out shows Léo; une course contre la honte, set in the close(t)-minded era before LGBTQ was an accepted term, and Holy Tranity!, a coming of rage tale about sex and love, youth and experience, and life and death in the neon-glam AIDS years, Deir again smacks us in the face with the curtain as he's drawing it open. Here, ageism and the fear and loathing associated with it is exposed. And this time it's personal.

OLD, FAT & F*CKED! Now What? is informative and accessible regardless of age, gender or sexual orientation; sharing universal feelings of getting older, needing to feel alive, to be loved, to not be invisible. It's a raw, fascinating, pin-prick peek inside a world of strippers, night eating syndrome, disco balls, prednisone side-effects and yearning to 'own your body'. Explains Deir, "There are very few voices talking about what it's like to be an old queer, bruised and battered by age, disease and social mores, both within and outside the LGBTQ+ community. Working with Philippe is inspiring. This is our third collaboration and the first with him directing me. I can't wait to go out on stage and tell funny, poignant, touching and dirty personal stories." Director Gobeille echoes the feeling, "Working with Puelo is the best way to step outside the box- every show is a new challenge, a new twist, a new fun playground to explore subject matters that are often neglected."

"Grindr is the Sears catalogue mobile app for horny gay men- straight people were late to the program but they now have Tinder."

For Gobeille, the piece is as relevant as ever: "Society forces you to look good, but 'good' is redefined every minute. By the time someone tries to trend and be noticed, it's already at last year's price. Whether it's the 20 year old who turns around and asks 'Where did my teen years go?', the graduates who look back at their skinny selves from prom night, the elderlies who add weekly pills to their preventive cocktail... time bites us in the ass if we don't pay attention to life passing by."

Gobeille acknowledges the importance of facing the fear of the unknown, "The more people talk about what is usually taboo, the more acceptable the conversation becomes and we stop extrapolating our fears. I often wonder how I'll be in my 60s or 70s. When I look around me, not in my family, not in my social circles, not even on TV, do I see the type of family I want in the future. For example, there are no role models for gay couples with biological grandchildren. The fear of growing old started to kick in... "

Gobeille and Deir hope audience members ask themselves: 'Do I feel fat? Do I feel old? Do I feel f*cked?' and then choose to face their answers with a positive attitude."

Boy About Town deals with subjects that are too often censored for reasons of misunderstanding and fear. Each project aims to break taboos while offering quality entertainment. Bios below. Follow Boy About Town on Facebook for updates. #oldfatfucked

IF YOU GO:

OLD, FAT & F*CKED! Now What? 6 shows only!

Boy About Town at the St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival

Venue- 9- MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), 3680 Jeanne-Mance, room 103 All Shows 18+

Dates: Fri. June 9- 19:15; Sun. June 11- 16:45; Mon. June 12- 23:15; Wed. June 14- 20:00; Fri. June 16- 23:45; Sat. June 17- 22:15; Running time: 60 minutes

Tickets: $10.00 (+$2.50 service charge)

To purchase tickets: 514 849-FEST (3378) or online at www.montrealfringe.ca

During the Festival: Tickets also available at the box office located at FRINGE Park (corner Rachel and St-Laurent) or at the MAI as of one hour before show time.

Parking (underground) - 3625 Av du Parc, $6 fixed rate after 5pm

Puelo Deir is a playwright, producer, publicist, and the co-founder of Divers/Citeì, Montreal's original LGBTQ+ parade and queer arts festival. An organizer of countless Montreal events, many with a philanthropic edge, Deir continues to be a strong influence within the Montreal queer community. He co-founded and co-produced the pioneering and hugely successful Queer Comics with the Just For Laughs Festival. In 2013 he wrote and produced his first play, Holy Tranity!, one of the top five-bestselling plays in the 25-year history of the Montreal Fringe Festival, and enjoyed sell out audiences at Salle Claude-Léveillée in Place des Arts with the French version, Saint-Jude du Village. Rave reviews from critics and audiences alike were received for his second show, Léo : une course contre la honte. He is currently working on i.am.rentboy, a documentary theatre piece culled from interviews with male sex workers- a forthright and entertaining tale about sex work and sex as work which reflects on our cultural and political obsession, and discomfort, with sex in its many facets. Some of Deir's numerous accolades include Hour Magazine's Young Turks of upcoming movers and shakers, and the prix Arc-en-ciel (Montreal's LGBTQ highest honour) for his work co-founding Divers/Cité. The Montreal Gazette called him one of the people that make Montreal a great place to live, Fugues Magazine named him one of Quebec's 100 most influential LGBTQ leaders of the last 25 years, and Montreal Gazette journalist Richard Burnett selected Puelo as one of the Top 20 Hottest Montrealers of 2013 in his annual year-end column. Puelo was last seen on stage in his first solo show, You've Got to be Kidding!, at the 2004 Montreal Fringe Festival.

Philippe Gobeille has been involved in community theatre, corporate events and professional theatre as a producer, director and performer for the past 20 years. He co-produced and directed numerous puppet shows, musicals and plays, including Footloose and West Side Story (Expression); The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Rialto Theatre; MainLine Theatre), and A Christmas Carol (Rialto Theatre). His work has been presented at The Next Wave Festival, The St-Ambroise Montreal FRINGE Festival and the Montreal Pride Festival. Gobeille is also a writer. His latest commissioned works are the librettos and lyrics for two fairytale adaptations from Anderson's repertoire, A Forever Frozen Story and The Little Mermaid (Tohu Bohu Productions). Philippe recently directed the choir shows Juste pour toi (Les Enchanteurs) and Expression's summer show Variations, as well as Shrek, the Musical (West Island Theatre Association).This is the third production Philippe is directing for Boy About Town, after Saint-Jude du Village and Léo: une course contre la honte, as well as doing the French adaptation for both. Philippe joined Centaur Theatre as Apprentice Stage Manager for this season's You Will Remember Me.

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