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Posted: 2018-10-14 04:57:24

Shatner's one-man show took us through his entire career, starting from his childhood and his love of vaudeville comedy, through to his joining Canada's premier Shakespearean company (where he was the understudy for Christopher Plummer) and on to his casting as Kirk.

Actor William Shatner during his one-man show.

Actor William Shatner during his one-man show.

Throughout, Shatner's distinctive voice – sonorous, with that unique cadence of long pauses followed by a rush of words – filled Hamer Hall, whether at a whisper or a booming shout.

Although he came on stage to the sounds of the Star Trek  theme, fans of the show may have been a little disappointed he didn't spend more time talking about it. Then again, as he pointed out, that first TV series ran for just three years, and perhaps his time on Trek has been covered so thoroughly elsewhere that revisiting it in detail here felt redundant.

Shatner is a natural storyteller and comedian. His anecdotes were punctuated by corny punchlines, but delivered with such apparent pleasure that the audience lapped them up. He told stories about growing up Jewish in Montreal, about live performances gone wrong and about some of his favourite (non-Star Trek) roles.

But we rarely got a peek at the man behind the performer (something that his raw and well-received 2004 album with Ben Folds, Has Been, achieved) – he spoke very little about his personal relationships or friendships. Only when discussing his love of animals, and horses in particular, did it feel like he was exposing his true self.

The audience lapped up Shatner's anecdotes.

The audience lapped up Shatner's anecdotes.

Then again, when trying to condense a 50-year-plus career into two hours, he can be forgiven for keeping things relatively superficial.

He may not have the physique of his youth, but at 87 years old Shatner shows no lack of energy – he spent almost two hours on stage, with no interval.

"Death is the final frontier," he said as the show took a brief turn into seriousness to look at mortality. But he seems in no hurry to cross it.

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