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Bio: Before his steady climb on the Canadian arts scene (last summer’s show “The Art of Marge Simpson” was arguably the hottest thing in Toronto after the weather), Les Paterson (photo left) was an important powerbroker in the arena of Mid-West American politics throughout the nineties. Known amiably as “The Conqueror”, he is most remembered for his important contributions in legislation towards gambling and prostitution in Nevada , Utah , and Arizona . “If a young man can’t fuck it, he kills it,” was his famous slogan at election rallies. Known for his ability to inspire near-frenzy in audiences, his Trojan warrior costume helped secure the Nevada governorship three terms in a row. The conservative political ranks were a natural enemy to his pagan antics and the two came to a clash in 1998 when the mormon lawyer republican, Jeff Shom, asked him point blank if he believed in God during a televised debate. “Sure,” was his sincere reply, destroying his political career instantly. The right-wingers took relentless aim and drove the image of Les as ‘not just a showbiz pagan’. The tragic events of 9-11 then closed up his political career for good. His tried-and-true position about the needs of young men had become hopelessly out of fashion. Spiralling into a personal hell of discount gambling and prostitutes, he fled north to Canada in 2003. He remembers waking up on the curb of a Manitoba suburb to ordinary concerned faces. “I said to them as soon as I opened my eyes ‘I hate the Lord’, and then someone handed me a coffee…I knew I was home.” The Conqueror officially repatriated himself to the red and white later that year and it is definitely our gain. When asked why he has chosen the arts for his new life: “It’s like having a massive shit catapult on top of a mountain in clear view of Parliament Hill. I like that."
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