August 20 edition: Confections of champions

Plus: Kevin McDonald, Waxahatchee, and subs

August 20, 2024

Hey there. Are you ready for a storm? How much you can trust a weather forecast is always up for debate, but tonight might have some thunder and lightning for an electric change of pace. 

I will be curled up at home reading a book (I’ve become an N.K. Jemisin evangelist), but if you feel like braving that 40 per cent chance of sweaty summer showers, you can find out what’s on tonight in the usual place: the bottom of this newsletter.

— V. 
Associate Editor

FEATURE

Mishmish’s purpose is as sweet as its namesake

A hand dips a tasty looking pastry into a cup of coffee, on a red table

For Mishmish co-owner Dallah El Chami, Mishmish—an Arabic word for apricot—brings back memories of his parents’ home in Lebanon. “I’d sit at the table with Dad in the morning, and we’d eat bread with apricot jam for breakfast,” he recalls. The new Fraserhood bakery is proudly cross-cultural, mixing Levantine influences with German, Mexican, and Persian specialties that reflect each of the four co-owners’ backgrounds. “Mishmish brings in an element of fun,” El Chami adds. “After all, you have to be a little crazy to do something like this in the first place.”

LIVING

Sex//Work: Submissive men and revolutionaries

A pair of masculine-looking hands wear red fuzzy handcuffs, while a feminine hand holds a black flogging toy against a black background.

In this edition of Sex//Work, stripper and dominatrix Madelaine Horn explains why men who kiss her boots are helping to dismantle the patriarchy. 

SPONSORED BY CENTURY GROUP

Homes, Farm & Community, By the Bay

Southlands Tsawwassen is a beach community rooted in farming and food. If you value farm-to-table eating, harvest celebrations, beach walks after dinner, and nature trails that meander through wide open spaces, you will discover that Southlands is more than a place to live. This is a place to make a life.

ARTS

The Kids in the Hall’s Kevin McDonald is ready to get Unhinged at The Improv Centre

A middle-aged white man with curly hair and blue eye looks at the camera, agaisnt a bright blue background

One of Canada’s comedy legends is coming to The Improv Centre this weekend. Kevin McDonald, who’s been a household name for decades thanks to sketch troupe The Kids in the Hall, has taken a teacherly turn in recent years—leading comedy classes that fuse two days of workshops with a rib-tickling live show—as an excuse to get out of the house. “I figured out workshops,” he says over the phone, “because I used to bore people at parties with my theories on how to write sketch comedy through improv.”

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MUSIC

Review: Waxahatchee brings her quiet confidence to the Orpheum

A woman in a red minidress performs at the Orpheum Theatre

A Waxahatchee live show feels almost like being in a trance. Channelling her distinctive Americana into a rippling sonic tapestry that falls over the Orpheum, Waxahatchee demonstrated the stuff her fans know and love: vulnerability, directness, and aching beauty. It was a night of magic—and magnificent hair.

*sponsored listing

FOOD & DRINK

Bon Ton Pastry and Confectionery has opened its delicious new home

Bon Ton Pastry and Confectionery has been sating our sweet tooth for almost a century, but it’s been on a bit of a hiatus recently. After its Kitsilano home shuttered in 2023, the bakery has been out of action—until now, as it has quietly opened the doors of its new location on the west side of town. Now, what’s the traditional cake to celebrate a reopening—maybe a Chocolate Vienna?

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

MUSIC
Michael Franti & Spearhead promises kick-off-your-shoes good vibes. (August 20 @ Vogue Theatre) 

FUNDRAISER 
Five emerging artists take over the Hollywood to raise money for BC Children’s Hospital. (August 20 @ Hollywood Theatre)

VISUAL ARTS
Four senior artists explore the earth through paint and clay in Terra. (August 21 to September 15 @ Silk Purse Arts Centre, West Vancouver)

FOOD & DRINK 
Botanist welcomes two-Michelin-starred Birdsong chef Chris Bleidorn for an eight-course collaboration dinner. (August 21 @ Botanist)

FILM 
Wrestling road trip The Death Tour flies in over the top rope, with a special director Q&A after. (August 21 @ Rio Theatre)

MUSEUM 
In ResiStories, drag performers take over the institution as “living archives of pride.” (August 22 @ Museum of Vancouver)

THEATRE
Sheila Sharma transforms into five musical icons in the musical Songs for Nobodies. (August 22 to 24 @ Deep Cove Shaw Theatre, North Vancouver)

FOOD & DRINK 
A&W is giving $2 from every Teen Burger sold on Thursday to multiple sclerosis research. (August 22 @ A&W, multiple locations)

Want to know what else is happening in Vancouver? Check out our events listings.

That’s it!

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