| HOME | ABOUT US | NEWS & PRESS | EVENTS | ANTE-CHURCH OF THE UNREDEEMED | RISQUE SANTA | CONTACT US |
|
See more photo's > > |
NEWS & PRESS |
|
HURLING INSULTS, PLAYING FAIRY GODFATHER ALL IN A DAY'S WORKS FOR PRACTICAL JOKER TORONTO (CP) - For $2000.00, Robin Coverdale will invade a company's boardroom with a troupe of aliens. Or for 200, he'll sling insults at somebody. He's a professional practical joker. His firm, Amazing Events Unlimited, will stage just about any prank for the right money. Recently, he dispatched two actors to play servers at a house party. Every few minutes they would return to the kitchen and make derogatory remarks about the guests, in voices loud enough to be overheard in the living room - "Did you get load of that broad in the black pearls"? Another time, he hired a couple of elderly actors to portray the snobbish British cousins for a Toronto woman, turning up their noses at her husband: "My God. you have married beneath the family!" The man behind it all is Coverdale, alias Robin the Ripped, alias Robin McRipped. "I was just doing basic stand-up comedy and a variation on the singing telegram,". He created a repertoire of characters: a salty tongued Scotsman, a Chinese, an off-colour Santa Claus and a fairy godfather in pink tights and tutu (a formidable sight on Coverdale's 300-pound frame). "I went from floor to floor in the downtown towers, passing out business cards," says Coverdale. As business got better, he started advertising in newspapers and magazines, and he eventually got a business partner, Morton Katz. Now, he says he does five to 10 shows a week. Some are just solo appearances as one of his characters, but other are theatrical exravaganzas. To celebrate the launching of a new "out of this world" product line, a tableware firm hired him to invde the company's offices with two-dozen people in alien costumes. Another time, he hired an actress to play a waitress in a chic downtown restaurant. When the waitress discovered her customers (the intended victims) were lawyers, she told them how her lawyer husband had just left her and had legally sewn up all their accounts so she couldn't get access to them. "She told them all lawyers are scumbags," and the service declined from there. "She got the drinks all screwed up. If someone ordered soup, she'd bring a salad. Before any of them had a chance to eat, she'd whip the food off the table. Or she'd pour out her heart, while nibbling away on their food." The stunt ended when she checked her watch and announced her shift was up. The diners went hungry. Another proud moment for Coverdale was providing a computer consultant with a day of woe. Under Coverdale's orchestration, the man's first client fell asleep during his training session; the second was a computer whiz who argued with him on technical details; the third was a weeping woman convinced the computer as going to put her out of work. the consultant ended up paying her cab fare home. Then came the fourth, a pregnant woman who ordered a pizza she couldn't pay for (the victim did), then pretended to go into labor. the woman gave him the number of her doctor (play by Coverdale) who put him on hold every time he called. "He was really going snaky." says Coverdale. The victim ended up paying for that woman's cab fare, too. When the stunt was finally revealed, Coverdale offered his services to the victim. "We specialize in comic revenge, you know." |
| ULTIMATE PRANKSTER, CAN MAKE YOUR DAY OR EVEN RUIN IT! Toronto Star George Gamesters DEARLY BELOVED, we are gathered here today... Hey, wait a minute. Somthing's not quite right. The minister, dressed in archbishop's finery, is aking the woman in the black gown at the alter: "Do you promise to ignore and disobey this goofball from this day forward?" Then to the guy in the tux: "Do you pledge yourself never to love tyhis dingbat again?" And finally: "I now pronounce you ex and former." Hey, what is this? A gala divorce ceremony - with a bogus priest? Aaay, why not? If it's outrageous, mischievous and funny, there's a good chance Robin coverdale of Toronto is involed. You might call him Metro's 's ulimate prankster. Let's check him out. Robin, you run an operation called Amazing Events Unlimited. What do you do? "We are creative comic consultants to businesses and individuals. We use moonlighting professional actors to stage pranks an practical jokes" ...ahem. Could you gives us some examples? "We often work in an office setting, where people want to tweak a colleague. For instance, we can arrange a 'day from hell' where series of make-believe 'customers' will doze off, make amorous advances, suffer breakdowns orhurl insults at the unsuspecting victim while co-workers coverlty watch and snicker" Some of Robin's other scenarios include: - Insufferable "relatives" who invade the victem's birthday party and pepper him with insults. (They gleam their revealing and embarrassing tidbits from the spouse who has hired us). - Obnoxious waitresses and bartenders at a party who pretend to get into the booze and make derogatory (and all-too-accurate) remarks about the unsuspecting host and guests. Floozies who show up at the office party to remind the befuddled boss (with lots of juicy details provieded by family and friends) of the good times they had at that conventtion in Vegas. Ouch! Those things could be cruel, Robin. Do situations ever get out of hand? "We've had no problems. Capers are always arranged in advance, so everyone is in on the joke. Nothing is ever mean-spirited or malicous. We always end on a happy note. The victim always knows he's been had - and he gets a 'revenge' card, inviting him to turn the tables sometime." Uh-huh. And the cost? "Anywhere from $200.00 to $2,500.00 - depending on costumes, number of peformers and whether we have the 48th Highlanders Band march through your living room" Whaaat? You mean you actually... "Tell you later. Maybe on April Fool's Day?" |