Comedian, actor and Virtual Reality entrepreneur Rodney Ramsey had a defining moment in his life at Dawson College. When he was studying in the Cinema-Communication program in the early 2000s, he remembers thinking \u201cwow, this is me – this is exactly who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rodney recalled his Dawson experience in an interview a few weeks before the special and intimate Dawson Comedy Night, taking place March 30 as one of the official celebrations of the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of Dawson College.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rodney had worked for a few years after graduating from Riverdale High School and then decided he needed to continue his education. First, he tried Social Science and then he found Cinema-Communication, which set him on the path to being a multi-faceted performance artist and Virtual Reality entrepreneur.<\/p>\n \u201cDawson College offered me the basic skills of writing scripts and editing video and I also learned how to do movie analysis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Establishing himself as an artist took about 10 years. Now Rodney mostly works for himself. On the comedy front, he recently organized the Underground Comedy Railroad Show, a\u00a0cross-Canada tour featuring black comedians. He has also written for CBC shows This Hour Has 22 Minutes<\/em> and The Debaters<\/em>.<\/p>\n Rodney developed his VR project on the side. His advice to young people is to \u201cuse your free time wisely to figure things out. Set goals and work hard,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Rodney will be opening for Canada’s favorite comedy duo Bowser and Blue on March 30.<\/strong> \u201cWe did a lot of shows at Dawson, especially for teachers,\u201d Rick Blue said in a pre-show interview. \u201cWe played the Selby cafeteria, the Viger cafeteria and at Lafontaine too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBack then, the teachers weren\u2019t much older than the students,\u201d he remembered. \u201cWe played music and told jokes between the songs. The Dawson crowd was a good audience and we would recalibrate our act after a Dawson show.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were like folk singers,\u201d Rick explained, \u201cwe sang about our folks and the things that concerned Quebec anglos. \u2026we became the voice of the anglos.\u201d<\/p>\n In the mid-1980s, Bowser and Blue travelled across Canada as the opening act for Katrina and The Waves, whose single Walking on Sunshine<\/em> went to #1, and they continued playing at colleges through the 80s and 90s. More recently, their song Colorectal Surgeon<\/em> has given them YouTube fame (with almost 2.5 million views) and \u201crock star status\u201d among the rectal surgeon community. \u201cThey (rectal surgeons association) flew us out to their conference in Vancouver and the doctors flocked around us taking selfies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is touching to be invited back to Dawson for the 50th<\/sup> anniversary. We feel we are part of the school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Acknowledging that many former students have moved away from Montreal, Rick quipped: \u201cWe\u2019re not leaving Montreal; we\u2019re colonizing the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n At the show, the audience can expect to hear old favourites and new ones too. As Quebec anglos have adapted to changing times and the threat of separation seems to be dormant, their material now tackles new themes, like traffic and construction and other concerns that unite all kinds of Montrealers.<\/p>\n Amanda McQueen, an up-and-coming comedian, will be the first act of the night.<\/p>\n Dawson Comedy Night is March 30 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong> in the Dawson College Theatre, 2000 Atwater, Montreal.<\/p>\n Limited tickets available:<\/strong> \u00a0www.dawson.college\/DAW50N-comedy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n