You know you’re a Montreal-er when you try to get out of the Communauto before that dumb recorded message finishes …or maybe it’s just me? Ok yes, I’m a weirdo, but at least I know what fun shyt there is to do this week…

Tucked away on the behemoth of Parc Avenue sits a small, easily-missable venue. I should know – I was almost late for my first show there because I walked right by it…twice. My friend Holly McLachlan was playing on a cold, February night, and she had invited me to play bass for a cover at the end of her set.

Discover the best of Montreal’s underground arts, live shows, and local gems with Montreal's PARADISE, curated weekly by Veronica Manning. This week features a Hip Hop variety show, old-school tunes at Pied du Courant, and Format MTL. Submit your event today!

Abby Stonehouse is an NDG-based stand-up comedian, writer, podcaster, and JFL veteran known for her honest, autobiographical storytelling style. A comedian with hearing loss, she actively champions barrier-free art through projects like Access Granted, an upcoming fully accessible comedy show highlighting performers with disabilities.

Discover the best of Montreal’s underground arts, live shows, and local gems with Montreal's PARADISE, curated weekly by Veronica Manning. This week features Sunday Shorties, The Food/Famine Tour, Fine Vibes Open Mic, and more!

Zaynab Mohammed is a Lebanese, Iraqi, and Palestinian award-winning poet, author, performer, visual artist, and filmmaker now based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Her multidisciplinary practice spans community storytelling projects, public murals, and her acclaimed one-woman show Are You Listening?, which was nominated for two awards at the 2026 Montreal Fringe Festival.

Out for coffee with a friend last week, her phone rang. They hardly ever ring anymore; often there's a text to set up a call, or a string of intermittent texts over days that replace phone calls entirely. This time though, it rang, doing what phones were meant to do, and, crazy as it may sound, she picked up.

When I began developing my method, what I term Immersive Reality (IR), codifying it in my essay, Strategies of Immersion, I understood simply that I wanted to build theatrical experiences that carried real visceral weight. I knew I couldn’t look to traditional theatre for the answers.

After turning to spoken word at age fifty, IF became a two-time Canadian Slam Champion, placed third at the World Cup of Slam in Paris, and was the subject of a CBC documentary. Now based in Montreal's Plateau, he recently published his first full-length poetry collection, In The Palace Of The Present Moment, with local publisher Cactus Press.

While discussing attachment styles is all the rage, there's always the flip side. In this case, it's the concept of detachment, but as this one doesn't have any memes about different styles, detachment can get muddy fast.