Swipe Right: Adventures in Dating at Windsor’s Shadowbox is Rip-Roaring Fun

Promo photo: Adventures in Dating by Rob Tymec

Whether you’ve used dating sites like Lavalife, Plenty of Fish or currently perusing a dating app called Tinder, you’ll know that dating is not always smooth sailing at all. Adventures in Dating is a rip-roaring romantic comedy by Rob Tymec that takes dating to a whole new level of crazy, with only two actors (played brilliantly by Rob Tymec and Teagan Smallhorn) but portraying over 20 characters between them.

We caught the show on Saturday night (May 11) at Windsor’s Shadowbox Theatre.

There will always be winners and losers, and sadly Jeff is on a pretty consistent losing streak going on first dates with women who might have been left too long on the crazy train. His choice of restaurant remains the same each time, and so when each date goes badly, he can still frequent other restaurants without the bad memories attached. What an optimist! While dealing with dates ranging from a chatty cathy and OCD’er to an aggressive feminist who literally knocks him off his feet, Jeff still musters the strength to get through these dates and plot away to find his next one.

Jeff’s salvation throughout these dates is often his waitress hero, Jen. She comes to his rescue a handful of times with words of encouragement and slivers of wisdom.  Their bond begins to deepen with each date under his belt. She brings to the table a whole new perspective, as well as a red table cloth. However, she’s also mending a broken heart and jumps on the bandwagon of serial dating. Tables are turned (rather switched to blue this time), as she reminisces about her “first” date experiences.  Her luck is just as bad as Jeff’s dealing with a gym rat hopped up on protein shakes to a sci-fi geek who is outraged at Jen’s comment of mistaking Star Trek with Dr. Who.

The characters are engaging, funny and down-right quirky. Rob and Teagan are so impressive transitioning from one character to the next. The chemistry together on-stage is wonderful and unless you have been blessed with only amazing dating experiences, the play is quite relatable. It personally felt at times that I was reliving my past dating life.

You can catch Adventures in Dating at the Shadowbox Theatre here in Windsor, ON.

💜You can also check out my review at 519 Magazine: 

https://519magazine.com/swipe-right-adventures-in-dating-at-windsors-shadowbox-is-rip-roaring-fun/

Mental Health: Pushing forward into the unknown.

It’s been a strange past few months. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something has felt very off. Maybe I could blame the cosmos. What happens to us when our heart flutters, our mind races and sleep becomes disruptive? I feel like maybe at some points each of us could be extras on The Walking Dead. No need to worry though, it's just our friendly neighbour anxiety; the growing epidemic plaguing us all. 

The horrible feeling that creeps up when you think you finally have a grasp on this thing called life, only to have you catapult into a mess of over-exaggerated emotional turmoil and physical discomfort that make you wonder if something is seriously wrong.

Why do we really try when we know that we're going to fail miserably, or at least that’s what our mind tells us.  Oh and yes let's beat ourselves up and never give credit for accomplishing huge hurdles. I think we all want the same things in life and to surpass unfortunate visitors who try to claim our well-being. "They taught you lessons in life.” Yeah, I don't think we needed the lessons, I never needed them, but you can't always get what you want. These experiences can make us more hyper-vigilant sometimes to perceived threatening situations. I believe learning to become resilient is one of the best tools for our mental-health toolbox, but one that is very hard to acquire without constant modification.

Don't we all just want someone to love us?  To find someone who is proud of us, and won't hide us from the rest of the world. The beautiful life is and will always be subjective, but the desire to look forward to growing old gracefully in each other’s arms seems comforting and not all that far-fetched. However, in the flux of self-loathing and self-empowerment, it's like we ask for too much, yet settle too long for much too little.  We live with those painful scars, the fleeting moments of happiness, and that constant whisper that we are never good enough for anything or anybody.

Then we have friendships. Sometimes we build long-lasting connections and other times, we grow apart. The growing envy takes over as you see others who have held onto friendships since their childhood or even high school years, while you cannot even keep a gold fish alive for more than a few months. For some of us, we make the conscious effort to avoid taking graduation photos for the year book and our silhouette on the page has the caption underneath "missing in action." Why even bother attending graduation either, just to put on a smiling face, hug everyone and share all the wonderful memories that never happened? Yep, we are not all hypocrites.

Even in adulthood now, it’s the same drama, people are just older, more jaded, less educated, and popping out kids they regret, with the only consolation of getting into a drunken stupor to forget how pathetic their lives really are. Talk about soul-draining.  Then you get the phony bologna's who are sweet to your face, act like their lives are perfect, and back-stab you in the worst possible ways. We love them dearly (note my dripping sarcasm) because we strive not to ever be like them.

My trust meter is low and so I have disconnected myself a bit in order to process all the thoughts and feelings and to allow much needed rest and space.

"Love is like a barren place, and reaching out for human faith is like a journey I just don't have a map for." - Savage Garden-To The Moon And Back

September passed, then came October, followed now by November. Maybe we are all going through an existential crisis and not aware of it. The feelings could be very subtle or just take hold tightly and our fight-flight response is in limbo. It will pass, just like hours in a day.

I’m turning 36 years old in a few weeks, and I feel like life has passed me by.  Feelings though don't equal facts, which is often a tough pill to swallow. In reality, I know that I have accomplished a lot so far and will continue to make strides, even if they are itty bitty ones right now.  It may not be the same accomplishments that other people can gloat about, but my achievements and sacrifices do mean something.

I don't think we should ever hide who we are.  I know that the only limits I have are the ones that I put on myself. It's a long and daunting process to begin again, but well worth it.  I'm trying to explore, live more freely and make life purposeful on my own terms.

The wavering support that one may get in life shouldn't be diminished.

Thanks for reading.