tippiseagram’s blog

It’s Officially a Tour!…5 Fringe festivals, 4 provinces, over 30 solo performances, 1 mini-comedy festival in between (The Calgary Comedy Arts Festival), 11 weeks away from home, 1 Guest Speaker spot, 2500 postcards to hand out, as many stand-up spots as I can beg, borrow, steal…2 huge suitcases with enough wigs, pantihose and false eyelashes to make a Drag Queen orgasm on the spot and no money….and of course…my buddy Tini, who will probably get me cavity searched at every airport!

Purring Tippi Captivates

By Christopher Doty

Johnny Carson must have died an unhappy man, knowing he never had a chance to book Tippi Seagram on the Tonight Show.

Tippi, the quintessential 1960’s lounge cougar, is smokingly realized by Hamilton-based actor Colette Kendall. Sporting blond curls and a little black number that she was poured into, Tippi looks like a gene-splicing experiment between Katherine Hepburn and all three Gabor sisters.

In the course of her 50-minute monologue she purrs her way through such touchy topics as menopause, starving children in Africa and the right to wear fur.

Filled with jokes you know you’re going to go to hell for laughing at, Tippi Seagram’s Happy Hour isn’t for audience members with deficient hormone levels. The character exudes a genuine sexuality that adds oomph to each of her double entendres.

Occassionally vulgar, frequently oversexed but always a riot, Tippi is not the girl you want to bring home to your folks.

But she’s the first one you’ll head to at this year’s Fringe party

By Patrick Langston

Little escapes the withering eye of Tippi Seagram (Colette Kendall), an aging grade B movie starlet, in this smart, funny one-woman show at Arts Court Library. Slinking around the stage in a black sleeveless dress, Tippi tears a strip off anti-fur types, Donald Trump and reality television.
Men are a special target, with several males in the audience being singled out last night for a lash of Tippi’s sharp tongue. Oddly, you can’t help but like the woman, maybe because she says all the things you’d secretly like to say. Tippi Seagram’s Happy Hour continues until Sunday.

By Vincent Chevalier

Tippi is a delight, especially when engaging with the audience. Un-P.C., with an acerbic wit, Colette Kendall really brings her alter-ego to life when discussing her dubious fame, post-menopausal sex life and she-bitch mother, Boobie. Go see this. The more people in the audience, the more meat Tippi can get her hands into.

By Amy Barratt

For the first few days of the Fringe, I decided that, rather than go to shows I had marked with “must see” stars in the programme, I’d check out some of the ones I’d marked with question marks-one’s capable of going either way. Predictably, some of them were revelations and others… not so much.

Tippi Seagram’s Happy Hour
This was definitely a show that could have gone either way. I was drawn to the promise of a monologue by a fictional “hard-boiled screen heroine, self-proclaimed sex goddess, sophisticated screwball.” On the other hand, the quotes from the show in the press release weren’t all that funny, and if this was the best material…I needn’t have worried. Tippi’s material may not be dazzlingly original, but she is a force to be reckoned with. Imagine Katharine Hepburn crossed with Carrie Fisher, with a little Mae West thrown in. I laughed myself silly over her comparison of children to terrorists, and her tales of her domineering, movie star mother. Ideally, this frank-talking bottle blond needs a house full of gay men and over-40 straight women to feed off of, but she did her best with the two straight guys and one lesbian who attended last Saturday’s performance in the dripping-hot Venue 11.

Although I rarely nowadays get to improvise as much as I would like to it has been my experience that some of the nicest people on the planet are improvisers….I think it has to do with the whole concept of people coming together on stage, in full public view, teetering between embarrassment and adulation each putting their trust in the other to do what’s best for the scene and setting aside ego….this makes for some very special friendships. I first started improvising in Hamilton at The Staircase Theatre which soon became a home away from home for myself and many other like minded individuals ……thanks to the passion and vision of Hugh McLeod and his wife, Kathy. Although the Staircase closed almost a year ago I have still managed to maintain some of these friendships. It is these friends that I confide in, laugh with, revel in each other’s success, console with in failure, and seek advice…more often than others…because I know from experience that they have my back…and likewise, I have theirs when needed. Although, sometimes they have more than just my back!

This blog, my dvd’s, intros, extros, my photos, my websites have all happened thanks to the assistance of my friends from the staircase, Hugh, Craig, Kevin, KPR, Kim, Peter and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being a very big part of this journey. Check out my peeps section…these are just some of the great people helping out.

From:Lyla Miklos, Chair

Hamilton Pride Festival Inc. was proud to present the unique humour of Collette Kendall as “Tippi Seagram” during our 8th celebration of Hamilton’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community in June 2004.

Hamilton Pride Festival Inc. was proud to present the unique humour of Collette Kendall as “Tippi Seagram” during our 8th celebration of Hamilton’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) community in June 2004.Tippi entertained the troops at our first annual Pride Awards at The Sheraton Hamilton Hotel. We honoured citizens, groups and businesses that enriched our GLBT community. Along with entertainment we also raised hundreds of dollars through our Silent Auction.

Tippi’s style and panache were exactly the right blend needed for this environment and event. Her professionalism and talent were unmistakable.