I’d date her. Rebecca Northan gets all gussied up for a Blind Date.

DETAILS

24th Annual High Performance Rodeo
Big Secret Theatre
Thursday, January 7 - Sunday, January 31

More in: Theatre

You’re going on a date. A blind date, in fact. Twitching nerves. Jittery anticipation. Talking too much or not quite enough. Trying to impress the lovely lady sitting opposite you.

Now, what would you do if that lovely lady was Mimi, a flirty Parisian clown sporting a sexy vintage dress and a bright red nose?

She’ll lure you in with her lilting accent and coy smile, pull you up onstage, and before you know it, you’ll be pouring your heart out as she bats her curly dark lashes and flatters your ego, a room full of eager strangers cheering you on from the edge of their seats.

This is the premise behind Blind Date, Calgary native Rebecca Northan’s wildly successful show, slated for its return to the city at this year’s High Performance Rodeo.

Part improv, part clown show and, admittedly, part relationship counselling, Northan likes to “practise cynical benevolence when it comes to clowning.”

As an experienced improviser and performing artist, Northan has created a show with form and structure, but she never quite knows how it will turn out. The essential ingredient — her co-star — is different every night. “Something magical happens because of that little red nose,” she says. That nose disarms her co-star and the audience, inviting them in to play around with all the awkwardness, excitement and vulnerability that dating asks of all of us.

“A guy named Matthew came to the show by himself,” says Northan. “It came out onstage that he had planned to come to the show with his girlfriend but she’d dumped him the week before, and wouldn’t tell him why. He was such a sweet guy. The whole audience just fell in love with him.”

In fact, a woman in the audience was so impressed with Matthew’s candour that she put a post on Craigslist asking him out for coffee.

This is just one of the remarkable stories as Northan, in her role as Mimi, works to let her male counterpart open up and participate fully in the theatrical experience.

“Everything I do as the performer sitting opposite them is to take care of them, make them look good, and help them have a good time…. I’m never looking to have a laugh at their expense. It’s absolutely in celebration of that person,” says Northan.

It’s a terrifying, but often gratifying experience for the guy.

“I keep meaning to put a guarantee in the program that if you end up onstage, I guarantee you will be a better date in your life after having spent 90 minutes with me,” says Northan. She’s quick to add that it’s not just her — she polls the audience for tips, dating advice, and even asks whether or not they should fast forward five years into the future and see where the happy couple ends up.

After a successful run at Loose Moose Theatre in 2008, and repeatedly sold-out shows at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre, Northan has picked up a few tips for single men who are dating.

“What every single guy does when he gets up onstage is he tries to sound more impressive than he really is in a way that isn’t genuine. We all go through that, but when you’re on the receiving end of slightly too much effort, it’s a bit of a turnoff.”

So what can a nervous guy do when he just doesn’t know what to do next? Instead of stuttering through the awkward silences or changing the subject when you hit uncomfortable territory, Mimi might call a time out and check in with the participant to see how the date’s going. Don’t we all just wish we could do that in real life?

After Calgary, Blind Date will be remounted at the World Stage Festival Series in Toronto later this year. After that? Perhaps an off-Broadway show in the Big Apple.

It’s too early to say, but this feisty French clown isn’t worried about the future. For the moment, she’s enjoying picking up eligible bachelors at the Lunchbox Theatre and seeing where her next Blind Date takes her.