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28 Artscene Oakville Beaver · WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2006 type of a remote control baby stroller down Lakeshore Road West on a busy Saturday afternoon. While walking with a latte in one hand and Rottweiler in the other he appeared the ultimate yuppie. The modern day spin on the mancatcher, which is not a single woman's dream, but a 1920s patent of a robotic guard that is at the ready to catch a thief, will be unveiled in the course of the show's season. The first episode aired last night and appears every Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. on the Discovery Channel. "Our intention is not to make fun of the inventors' ideas but to celebrate their creative spirit," said Brough. They poured time, money and resources into bringing their ideas to fruition and protecting the idea on a yearly basis (as required by patent), he added. Brough tested the shows on his wife and 11, nine and five-year-old children to great applause. And before the show has even hit the high definition airwaves, fans are already out there. People have been giving Brough the thumbs up while driving the Patent Bending vehicle around town. While he is hoping for a second season of Patent Bending, in the meantime he's developing other programs for Discovery Channel that are set to air in early 2007. No invention too offbeat for Patent Bending By Melanie Cummings SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER A motorized picnic table or floating campsite may not be the stuff of moneymaking inventions such as Velcro, Scotch Tape and Post It Notes, but who knows, they just may be. Brad Brough and his team of talented television hosts are willing to showcase and put these, and a dozen other absurd ideas, to the test on a new show he has produced for the Discovery Channel. Patent Bending is a series of 14 half-hour shows featuring some of the maddest ideas that never got off the page on which they were protected by a patent. Episodes entitled The Human Carwash, Uphill Skis, Chute'n Shoes and Bicycle Lawnmower attest to Brough's description of the show as clever but cocky, insightful but irreverent and scientific but definitely strange. It took one year and arduous research to put Patent Bending together. Brough sifted through millions of patented inventions listed on a U.S. website. The quirky ones chosen for the show's first season were like searching for a needle in a haystack, said Brough. In each episode he and science guy Russell Zeid, inventor Tom Stewart and PATENTED WHACKINESS: Tom Stewart and Russell Zeid with a bicycle lawnmower, one of the many whacky inventions featured on Discovery Channel's new show Patent Bending. master builder Rick Minke craft modern takes on the age-old ideas in a local warehouse that was converted into an 8,000square foot workshop. They also used local venues such as Coronation Park and Glen Abbey Golf Course to film the inventions at work. "Oakville opened its doors to us everywhere we went," said Brough. While he has never patented an invention of his own, being a television producer for the past 15 years with CHUM Television and now running his own production company called Boxing Cats, is a lot like inventing. "We do crazy well," said Brough. Few blinked an eye, or called the police, when Stewart tested the human carwash in a parking lot, wearing little more than a smile on his face. Stewart also tested a stainless steel proto- WEST's Cabaret earns top Drama Series honours By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF BARRIER ERSKINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER COMING ATTRACTION: Michael Walker, as Hal Savage, and Jackie Curtis, as Cindy Savage, perform a preview of Self Help at the Oakville Drama Series' annual Awards and preview night last Friday. Celebrating the past and promoting the future was the theme Friday at the Oakville Drama Series' 2005-2006 awards night. Best Production of the Season went to Cabaret, which was produced by John O'Hara and co-directed by Yo Mustafa and Paul Groulx, of West End Studio Theatre (WEST). "Thank you everybody," a smiling Mustafa told an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 100 at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. "Thanks to the actors, producers and everyone in the Oakville Drama Series. I couldn't have asked for a better producer, cast and crew." Cabaret's Joe Balaz picked up Best Male Supporting Actor for his role as Shultz, and Sean Lett won for Best Lighting Design. Mustafa also took home the Paddy Stewart Award for Best Male Actor for his role as Emcee in Cabaret. He's also directing Perfect Wedding, which opens the 2006-2007 Oakville Drama Series. The crowd was given a brief synopsis of the WEST's production of the play, which runs from Sept. 7-9 and 13-16. It's about a man who wakes up on the morning of his wedding to find a naked girl in the bed beside him. With no memory of his stag party the night before, a series of funny events follow as he's forced to make up a story to ensure the wedding goes on as planned. Burl-Oak Theatre Group's Self-Help is next on the Oakville Drama Series agenda from Oct. 5-7 and 11-14. It's a witty comedy about two struggling actors who become successful selfhelp gurus. Written by Canadian playwright, Norm Foster, the plot is driven by the pair's discovery of a naked dead man in their study and their attempt to hide him from police and a nosy reporter. The third production of the season is Oakville Players' Dark Victory, which runs Sept. 9-11 and 15-18. It's a drama about a young, rich socialite who's strug See Awards page 30 Our Best Sale Doctor's appointments arranged VISIT OUR EXPERTS TO REVIEW HUNDREDS OF OPTIONS FOR YOU! EVER! 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