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CAPE GAZETTE - Friday, Feb. 24 - Monday, Feb. 27,2006 - 97
Live it up at the Evening of Laughter March 4
Event's proceeds benefit
The Jefferson School
By Mary Ann Benyo
Special to the Cape Gazette
Another "Elegant Evening of
Laughter" awaits those who call
early enough to get tickets to The
Jefferson School's third annual
fundraiser held at Del Tech
Saturday, March 4. in their first
year of elegant evenings, comics
performed to a sold-out house at
Possum Hall and then to a near-
capacity audience last year in the
larger space at Del Tech.
"These are funny fellows," said
Chuck Johnson about scheduled
comedians Tim Wilkins and Jim
Wiggins. Johnson is the owner of
Summit Comedy in Charlotte,
N.C., representing more than
3,000 performers booked world-
wide. Both Wilkins and Wiggins
specialize in clean comedy, filter-
ing their material to exclude pro-
fanity and themes commonly
thought to be offensive. Other
Submitted photos
Comedian Tim Wilkins will
perform at the Elegant
Weekend of Laughter.
than their shared professionalism
of maintaining appropriate con-
tent, Johnson noted, "They have a
completely different style
"Jim has been doing this for
more than 30 years," Johnson
said. "Recently, he got !lational
recognition on 'Last.. Comic
Standing' on NBC, and Was on
'[Tile Tonight Show With Jay]
Leno' just a few months ago."
Wiggins, now in his 60s, had
performed on the "Mike Douglas
Show" and the "Toni Tennile
Show," and had written for
George Carlin, Chuck Barris and
David Letterman before fleeing
the Hollywood scene and billing
himself as "The Last Hippie in
America," performing nostalgic
routines featuring sex, politics,
war and cookies.
In contrast, Wilkins is a former
Marine and a personal trainer, and
makes fun of the things he loves
most - staying in shape, technolo-
gy, trends. "Tim is making a niche
in the corporate world," Johnson
said. "He's clean. He'S likeable.
He does great impersonations and
characters. He's touring now with
Julio Iglesias."
Wilkins serves as a comedian,
writer and host. He writes his own
material for his stand-up routines,
and is a published author of
humorous articles in health and
Oyster eat, shrimp feast on tap
Feb. 24 in Georgetown, Lewes
The Georgetown Volunteer Fire
Company's 69th annual Oyster
Eat is set for 8 p.m. to midnight,
Saturday, Feb. 24.
Festivities will get underway,
however, at 6:30 p.m. with a "sur-
prise" tribute to Sen. Thurman
Adams.
Adams will be recognized at the
Oyster Eat for the support and
assistance he has given to the
Georgetown Fire Company dur-
ing his political career. Many
elected officials - both state and
local - will be on hand to help
honor Adams.
The traditional menu features
steamed and raw oysters, ham and
egg salad sandwiches, hard boiled
eggs and popcorn. Soda, water
and beer will be available.
The event has a long and storied
history. Each ear, 90 bushels plus
40 gallons of oysters rare pur-
chased, along with 100 pounds of
ham, 3,120 eggs and 160 loaves
of bread.
The year with the most cus-
tomers served was 1987, during
the 50th anniversary of the event,
when 1,195 attendees enjoyed
their oysters.
One of the highlights of the
evening is the auctioning of a
handcrafted oyster knife. The
highest bid came in 2003, when a
whopping $2,000 was paid for the
knife.
' For more information, contact
this year's chairman, Mike
Briggs, at 462-0009 or Jim King
at 745-6662.
Held simultaneously but at a
different location, the solf-out
Ladies Shrimp Feast starts at 8
p.m. at the Nassau Fire Station.
The event, sponsored by the
Lewes Fire Department, features
all-you-can-eat steamed shrimp,
egg salad sandwiches and other
fine fare.
'Eight Below'
Continued from page 94
The storm is a category 5 plane
pummeler, which means there's
only to be one plane trip out. The
dogs must be left behind like pup-
cicles.
They are abandoned for months
on end, forced to snag wayward
birds and stranded Free Willys for
grub.
It is when the dogs are left to
their own wiles does the film take
on the natural, poetic, and often-
times brutal, flow that makes this
Disney flick far above the stan-
dard kid-pandering, talking ani-
mal film.
As trained dog actors go, they
could not look more naturalistic in
their icy climes, which brings out
unexpected tender expression
from each of the quadrupeds.
That is more than can be said
for the human actors who popu-
late half the film. as Jerry pines
and tries to find a way back to res-
cue his "kids." ,
Submitted photo
Paul Walker Stars in "Eight
Below."
Director Frank Marshall does
manage to frame the perilous
beauty of the arctic (much like he
did in "Alive," based on those
aforementioned humanTeating
athletes). In fact, there are scenes
that recall the best of family
nature features, such "The
Black. Stallion". and "Fly Away_
Home." '"-
There are some really annoying
aspects of the film, though, most
notably Jason Biggs as some sort
of zany cartographer who seems
to have walked right off the set of
"American Pie."
Honestly, his shtick is so aggra-
vating, you wish the pilots had
tossed him in the snow and
grabbed a couple of the pooches,
instead.
Another is the screen crawl that
first shows the date in all caps
(FEBRUARY 14), then fades to
"DAYS ON THEIR OWN."
Then there is a long, dramatic
pause before flashing the day on
the screen (10). I'm no math
major, but after learning the date
they were left behind, it's rather
simple to add it up.
Yet only when those digits pop
up does the audience let out a col-
lective gasp.
But for whatever its small
faults, there is something endear-
ingly old fashioned about "Eight
Below: Inspired by a True Story,"
which is not afraid to wear its
bean on its icy Gore-Tex sleeve.
fitness magazines. When not per-
forming comedy for the opening
acts of pop and country music
singers such as Wynonna Judd and
Aretha Franklin, Wilkins serves as
the emcee of corporate parties and
annual award ceremonies such as
Mr. Olympia and the Jan Tana
Classic and is proud to have been
nominated for "Host of the Year"
by Welder Awards.
"Hands down, these two are
some of the best on'the nationwide
touring circuit out there," Johnson
said.
Even though the comics are
clean, this is an adult event and
parents are encouraged to leave
the kids at home and enjoy a
classy night out. This upscale
evening starts with a cocktail hour
at 6 p.m. with numerous hors
d'oeuvres and a cash bar. The per-
formance will start at 7 with a
brief intermission between comics
to have time to enjoy the coffee
and dessert bar.
Continued on page 99
Milton Arts Guild to host display Feb. 25
The Milton Arts Guild will host more than 30 fine artists from
throughout the region from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 25 at The
Power Station building in Milton's Cannery Village. Fine art will be on
display and for sale by the Arts Guild. The public is invited to view art,
meet the artists, and learn about the Milton Arts Guild. Milton's semi-
annual sidewalk art show, which has received glowing reviews for dis-
playing exclusively fine art, and a monthly plein air painting event are
the creation of the Milton Arts Guild.
Sponsorship and refreshments provided by Abraxas Studio of Art,
Deitrick Studios, Dogfish Head Brewery, Federal Street Gallery, and the
Milton Chamber of Commerce. Call 684-0590 for more information.
Stoney Lonen
Open All Year!
Thurs.-Sun. at 5:00
(everyday in season)
Spec00 o@t
"Kehoboth's best kept secRV -Out 8: About
208 Second Street 302 - 227 - 2664
Beach DE www.slmvylonm,com
U
l
Heading to the theater?
Be sure to read Rob Rector's moviereview first.
Rnd it every Friday in the Cape Gazette.
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