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pe'?..?!'-'"-'----- PAGE " - 1"_rEioofrtr<mttxE, WEDNESDAY APNL te, use Entertainment "Comedy is a serious business for Mark Breslin - 4.; c. '-u"-usu.u= '.'.'. '. l 'tts .. " " '" Ir.er. " _ l . . e.e . Breshn ~‘ays he has never had a master plan in creatmg hrs comedic empire Had he not happened mm the comedy club business. Breslin says he probably would have gnne to law school, become a iltwytsr and that would have been hrs master plan, Brvslm had been workmg as the director of theatre and musxc at Toronto's Harbor Front during :I~ :naugural season m 1974 While there. he met a grnup of young, outrageous comedrans who _ perfnrmmg at a Harbor Front comedy night -The comedy night was w1ldly successful. but when Harbor Front changed as booking programs, and no longer had comedy nights, my comedy t‘rlends had no place to play," Breslin says. "I also want to nge the club an underground (veling, and I want to create a sense ofhmbo, where the only reahtles are the words on stage," Breslin my , "I want people to forget where they are. They're not 1n Kitchener -- they're in Yuk Yuk's - they're m my mind. In a sense, the big black room is a projection of my mind." The club's plain decor rs deliberate, Breslin says, because black looks better with a single strand of pearls because It's good enough for Johnny Cash No, seriously, It's because he doesn't want the club's decor to detract from the artistry of the performers To a crowd of a few hundred people, in a room which IS a decorative vacuum - black floors, black walls, black stage - Breslin tells how pleased he is to be back, and how proud he is of what the club 13 dang for the community - especially the Menno, mte community. members of which didthe decorat. In; ‘_\'uk yukr But lash weekend, Breilin played host at the Kitchener komedy kabaret, which is the 13th in a now 1Selub chain across Canada. It has been a while smce Yuk Yuk's monarch Mark Breslin visited his Kitchener club. Actually, he confesses, he hasn't walked through the doors sxnce tt opened one year ago, By Dobonh Grand." Through a friend of i fiend. ifrU,rn"'rl'nted the "I look for a characterization, meaning that all the Jokes have to seem like they're coming from the same person. There can't be jokes which are sometimes self-deprecating and sometimes aggres- slve. or jokes about certain things which might not fit m with others, It all has to seem real." What began as brief introductions for other comedians (because he was the cheapest M.C. he knew, Breslin's stage performances have increased In length, controversial material and abrasive nature. Breslin feels, as far as clubs go, he héélconquered must of the vital markets, and any further growth wogld be in the direction of television or film. “I fell into this," Breslin says of his Lr/iss. " recognized a good thing -. I surfed a good wave - but I also like to think I helped create the wave." Although he had no experience in the world of comedy before providing venues for some of Cana. da's more off-the-wall comedians, Breslin's own comedic flair has evolved and flourished, In keeping with his own controversial, fearless sense of outrageousnese, Breslin sets standards for those comedians qualfed to perform in his elybs, and for that reason. he personally selects and works with all of them. Now, Breslin boasts the largest comedy club chain "in the world." He has opened a club in most major cities across the country, has opened one in Maui, Hawaii, one in Rochester, New York and plans to open another in Bermuda. "When I went into Yorkville, I never though that I would be opening up more than one club, so I'm always surprised at how open-ended, or how high the horizon is for all of this." Two years later, Breslin opened his first omeial Yuk Yuk's in Yorkville, The club's increasing popularity and expansion since then have been an unexpected treat for Breslin. "I called it yik Yuk's, charged a Buck to iik in, My the place. went Ihroyrh the roof," B_reslinfays, hall of a community centre, providing his friends with a Place t? perfqrm on Wednesday evenings. The Cleveland Indians is the home team in the movie, Major League. and it's a team made up of the the usual assortment of goofballs and hacks who - against all the usual odds - make it. In this case making it means winning the pennant. Major League stars Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Corbin Bernsen. itt written and directed by David Ward, who also wrote the screenplay adapta- tion for Robert Redford's The Milagro BetsMeld War. The problem with some recent American movies (none. unfortunately, come to mind) is that they try to compensate for an otherwise unspectacular script with a tspectacularly-filmed movie. In Major League, viewers get a strong viewing sensation of the guts and glory of major league baseball but little beyond that. When an owner's wife, Rachel Phelps, inherits the Cleveland Indians from her husband she has the notion to move it to Miami. This, so the baseball team can play in better weather and strike a better stadium deal. She assembles a terrible team and Eric Beyer Chronicle Staff Well, the Bad News Bears have grown up, and have become the Cleveland Indians Don't groan, it's really true. . A Major League strikeout "o"-'--..........-, Perhaps Major League is supposed to be riddled with stereotypes; perhaps it’s supposed to represent some form of archetypal plot. If that’s the case it delivers something: You know, pay your way, get the prescribed shot of laughs, shallow catharsis. and harrowing momenta, and leave the theatre feeling better - similar to watching TV. Bread and circusea. Major League should be more comfortable within the stereotype it has created. But the stereotyped baseball form isn't deliberate enough to be carried out with exceptional elan. The movie, Tucker, the (Comm on m .“l There is also an irritating subplot in which veteran catcher Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger of Betrayed and Platoon) wins back the heart of his gorgeous ex.wife Lynn Westland (Rene Russo). Of course, he wing her back from a rurnee who's a real turkey. hopes attendance sinks below 800,000 for the year This plot sounds 0K in print, but on the screen It comes across as highly: contrived, even for a comedy. else? Ii probably wohd il'aieiiiurTriiiisii'c' if they had Ibeatien the Blue Jays). Phelps assemblgs isGiiiit"v'i/iiii1Farii1 News Bears; they gel, and win the pennant on the lasthday of.tht season against the Yankees (who Mark Breslin