We’re here for the Goodtimes
Toronto fringe performers' philosophy reflected in their name
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2010 (5893 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Goodtimes are here!
A pair of Toronto performers — Lindsay Milakovic and Ian Goodhue — said "I do" at their wedding in 2007 to, among other things, legally changing their surname to Goodtimes.
"It’s way cooler than Goodhue," says Ian over the telephone. "It’s pretty handy when you invite people over. Who doesn’t want to go over to the Goodtimes’ house?"
It’s also a very convenient moniker when you’re husband-and-wife musicians teaming up on an electro-vaudeville spectacle nightly (except Monday) at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival and attempting to stand out from over 150 other shows.
The pair’s marketing strategy is pretty much Goodtimes all the time. Their Bring Your Own Venue show (Venue 20, Exchange Community Church) is called The Goodtimes, as is their CD, for which there was a release party in Toronto last weekend, and colour comic book.
"Our forte is making good times happen," says Ian, 38. "We are trying to use every medium we can to get our music and our act out there."
Both are familiar to the Winnipeg bar band crowd — the 33-year-old fire-eating Lindsay was in the all-girl punk outfit Sexy Bitches and Ian was the lead singer/guitarist of White Cowbell Oklahoma. Ian made his fringe debut in 1996 in Hard As Rock, which promised an exposé of the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll groupie with a chaser of Jack Daniels.
Sounds like he offered a good time then, too.
"Uh, no," he says. "It was awful; please don’t put that in print. I’ve forgotten about that one."
This time, the couple travels through time with their robot drummer, Bleeps, to the 24th century, where they become interstellar mascot rock stars. It was their good fortune that the Winnipeg fringe adopted a sci-fi theme.
"As soon as you put things into space and add ‘robo’ and ‘electro’ to everything it makes it automatically hilarious and fun," he says. "We’re a rock band but there is a lot of silliness on stage and dirty words and hilarious bullsh–."
The Goodtimes, who are playing Canadian festivals in London, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton, are disaffected survivors of the rock wars and see the fringe circuit as a step up in class in their tireless pursuit of mainstream success.
"I’ve done the club thing," says Ian. "Really, every bar smells like a toilet. As soon as you get into a theatre the door opens to comedy, theatre, TV and movies.
"Rock ‘n’ roll is a game I’m sick of playing. It’s playing music for drunk people."
The Goodtimes truly started rolling with their 2007 nuptials, for which 300 people paid $75 each (presale topped $10,000) for an open bar and stage show. Highlights included a 300-person kazoo parade, confetti cannons and an airplane flying a banner reading, "Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Good Times."
"We played and we sang and that’s sort of the genesis of where the whole Goodtimes act started from," says Ian, who drove the Goodtimes van to Winnipeg earlier this week. "Then we got a $16,000 bar bill. We put on a good time and that’s our hallmark."
It won’t be all good times when the twosome has kids who get labelled with the problematic family name.
"Our children will hate us, especially the girl," he says. "She’s either going to grow up to be a rock star, an astronaut or a slut."
kevin.prokosh@freepress.mb.ca
