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<\/a>In our culture and era, our bodies are presented in a particular way, says James. The performers in the troupe aim to use fun comedy as a tool to open up a dialogue on those issues\u2014and politics, too\u2014but in a very, as James puts it, tongue-in-cheek way in the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have the Tim Hortons barista, we have the lumberjack, we have camping, we do a really funny retelling of Roch Carrier\u2019s The Hockey Sweater<\/em>; we take these things [in] Canadian culture and we break them down and we make fun of them a little bit,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A female member of the troupe, acting as a satirical version of Justin Trudeau, hosts Oh Manada!<\/em>, the show that BoylesqueTO is bringing to town. It sometimes seems, says James, that Trudeau is more interested in looking good than governing our country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur Justin Trudeau is a little bit of a sexy mimbo\u2014a male bimbo,\u201d he says. \u201cA lot of his politics\u2026 can be glorified sometimes, but [are] not the most substantial. Meanwhile, he\u2019s out there prancing around as a pretty boy, taking the shirt off, taking selfies\u2026 I mean, literally. Look at him out for a jog in the woods taking a selfie with random passersby. When have we ever had a prime minister who has done that? He sometimes seems to be more focused on that than actual governing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For James, comedy is essential, because if you can\u2019t laugh at yourself and all of the things that you do, he says, it would be a pretty boring life. But doing the sort of comedy he does has its risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is an art form that\u2019s designed for engagement,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can get disruptive hecklers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that heckling is always an opportunity to improvise and open up another conversation by putting the audience member in their place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had not so much a heckler but someone who tried to touch me on stage,\u201d says James. \u201cThe very next act I came out as a construction worker with a stop sign and I just walked right up to them, and pointed right at them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He says that it didn\u2019t feel great to have that happen to him, and that lots of performers in all sorts of different art forms deal with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI definitely have some privilege and safety as a man dealing with that,\u201d he says. \u201cI think it feels probably a lot worse for a lot of our female performer colleagues who have to deal with this stuff on a much more regular basis, every day in their lives.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n James says that when someone touches him without consent, it\u2019s an opportunity to address a much bigger societal problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI try and use that as an educational moment,\u201d he says. \u201cI try to say, \u2018Look, I don\u2019t even mind if you slap me on the ass, but you have to ask me first. You cannot do that without consent.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n