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Last week we had the extreme pleasure of attending Toronto’s Impulse Festival.

For organizers Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, it was a chance to bring improv to a wider audience and showcase some of the best talent on the planet.

Whether it was Shakespearean improv by England’s School of Night, Bollywood Musicals by Improv Comedy Mumbai, or Gypsy Prov from Secret Impro Melbourne, the breadth of creativity on display was astounding.

But perhaps our favourite event of the festival was the soap-a-thon.

For the price of a donation to Gilda’s Club, patrons could see the funniest of the funny give it their all in a production that spanned more than two straight days. Folks like Colin Mochrie, Carolyn Taylor, Carmine Lucarelli, Mark Meer, Jacob Banigan, Sean McCann, Alan Cox, Chris Gibbs, Sandy Jobin-Bevans, Bob Banks, Kayla Lorette, Aurora Browne, Gary Rideout Jr, Ashley Comeau, Dale Boyer, Mark Andrada, James Gangl, Michael Grajewski, Marcel St Pierre, Lisa Merchant, Wayne Jones, Linda Kash, Dhruv Lohumi, and dozens more.

Neither sleep deprivation, nor blizzards, nor even a Toronto Hydro blackout could keep the cast from completing their goal, which they did, with a record-setting 55 hours at 10 pm Sunday night.

It was truly a great opportunity to reflect on the generous spirit of the improv community, not just in Toronto, but worldwide.

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There’s so much great stuff happening at Toronto’s Impulse Festival, which started Thursday and ends tonight at the Young Theatre in the Distillery District.

Improv troupes from as far away as Germany, Australia, France, and India have come to play and mingle with Toronto’s funniest.

If you can’t make it in person, you can still watch a livestream of the 55-hour improvised Soap-A-Thon in support of Gilda’s Club Toronto.

A core group of fearless (some would say crazy) cast members are doing the full 55 hours, including festival organizers Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, along with Chris Gibbs, Carmine Lucarelli, Wayne Jones, Mark Meer, Jacob Banigan, and a gaggle of others.

Each episode is an hour and forty-five minutes, and in true soap opera fashion, you don’t need to see it from the start to understand the story. We caught it around the 24-hour mark and the actors were still shockingly coherent, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny.

You can watch the live feed and donate online here. Or better yet, come on down and support our hilarious community.

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Artwork © Kevin Whalen

Artwork © Kevin Whalen

Image © Comedy On Tape

Image © Comedy On Tape

If you live in Toronto, you may think you’re all laughed out from Mayor Rob Ford’s latest hijinks.

But if there’s one thing we Canucks excel at (and believe it or not, there are things besides smoking crack), it’s comedy.

That’s why improviser/KD heartthrob/friend of the blog, Devon Hyland, has launched a new thing called Comedy On Tape. It’s a live and online showcase of Toronto’s top-of-the-pops improv, sketch and stand-up.

Carefully curated by Hyland, the show features CCA winners, CBC writers, JFL veterans, and other super-funny folks not associated with acronyms.

The next show is Wednesday, November 13 at The Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Avenue, and the line-up includes improv superstars RN & Cawls, Falcon Powder, Chad Mallett, and many others.

Doors open at 7 pm, and admission is $10.

Image © Comedy On Tape

Image © Comedy On Tape

To everyone performing at DCM this weekend, break legs and blow minds! (Click below for the full schedule.)

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Here’s a show we can all relate to.

Toronto improviser Steve Baerwald bares it all in a new show called Honest Anxiety at the Black Swan Tavern.

The normally soft-spoken Baerwald came up with the idea of performing with people who intimidate him as a way of dealing with his social anxiety disorder.

The third Wednesday of each month, he’ll take the stage with some scary good improvisers. Tomorrow’s line-up includes The Beasts, POMP!, and “anxiety inducer” Matt Folliott, who’ll (presumably) share the spotlight with Steve.

The show starts at 8 pm, May 15, and it’s Pay What You Can, with all proceeds going to Children’s Mental Health Ontario. Click below to join the facebook page for updates and full details.

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Three-time Canadian Comedy Award winners, Slap Happy

Toronto comics are some of the best on the planet. But unless you’re already part of the scene, you might never know the comedy goldmine in our midst.

StreamFest aims to put an end to that.

In partnership with the Canadian Comedy Awards, StreamFest live-streams the city’s top comedians to the world, Sunday evenings at Comedy Bar.

As fans of live comedy ourselves, there’s nothing quite like being there. But for those who can’t (or don’t want to) visit our chilly part of the globe, StreamFest brings Toronto’s best to a whole new audience of fans

The carefully-curated mix of stand-up, sketch, and improv adds up to a thoroughly entertaining 90 minutes of laughs. Established acts like Colin Mochrie, Ron Sparks, and National Theatre of the World share the stage with newer names like fab sketch duo British Teeth, stand-up Rhiannon Archer, and improv favourites RN and Cawls.

The show is produced by Brian Smith and Kyra Williams. Smith, who co-created the freakishly funny Live From The CenTre, knows how to build an online following. And judging from the live audience’s reaction this past Sunday evening, that shouldn’t be difficult.

StreamFest runs every Sunday at 7 pm till May 19 at Comedy Bar. This week’s line-up includes Lady Business, Jordan Foisy, and Clifford Myers.

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The frightfully amusing British Teeth

 

Marty McFly’s trip back (and forwards) in time is one of the most loved films of the ’80s – or any era. For the past year, Toronto improviser/director/producer Quentin Matheson has been entertaining audiences with his ode to the franchise, Back To The Future: The Improv Show.

Cameron and I were the featured couple at their BCIF show last year, and it was one of the funnest times I’ve had on stage. (Hey, any chance to brag about dating the intern 10 years younger than me, I’ll take it.)

We asked Matheson about the geeky glory that is BTTF.

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P&C: For newbies, what’s the premise of the show?

QM: Like the movie, we explore the idea of rewriting history with the intent of still hitting the happy ending.

We get a real love story from a couple I interview at the start of the show. The cast then recreates the story, but we give it the Back To The Future treatment. Namely, a time-traveller who screws things up!

P&C: What inspired you to develop it?

QM: I was fairly new to improv and wanted to get more involved in it when I went home to my folks’ for Christmas. Comedy Bar’s Festival of New Formats was in a couple of weeks, which piqued my interest.

Anyway, Christmas is the only time I watch cable and that year BTTF was running constantly. Watching it, I was reminded just how clever and satisfying that screenplay is. And it just struck me maybe that story structure could work on stage and for any love story. I forgot about it for a year until the next New Formats came around, and thought I’d try it.

P&C: How do you choose your couples; what are their qualifications, so to speak?

QM: I’m looking for stories we can build an epic action-adventure around. But really just a fun, interesting story. A loving couple that’s been together a good while and are clearly going the distance.

P&C: It’s a great mix of comedic truth (the couple’s story) and truth in comedy (the improvised portion). Are you ever surprised by what people reveal on stage?

QM: I didn’t expect the couples to be quite so earnest. I think the supportive crowd helps bring that out. You get some vulnerability which is awesome, because it raises the stakes.

P&C: Tell us about the secrecy around the show.

QM: People are always curious who the next couple is going to be, but I keep it secret. Even the cast doesn’t know. They hear the story at the same time as the audience.

P&C: You’ve assembled a fabulous team of improvisers. What are some of the challenges of the show’s format, or do they find it relatively easy to play out?

QM: I think re-enacting a story just told is straightforward enough for seasoned improvisers, but our big challenge is working out the twist: how the time-traveller changes the storyline, and how to get back to the happy ending. Fortunately the cast is up to the challenge.

P&C: How can interested couples get in touch with you?

QM: Please email me at q@welldressedrobot.com

What Past Couples Have Said About The Show

How did you feel when you were asked to do the show?

“Flattered, exhilarated and excited.”

“So exciting. No one knew, but that year marked 20 years of being together. We’re not much for ceremony, but what a beautiful anniversary gift.”

How did it feel up there telling your story?

“It’s great to share. I guess most couples come up with their own original myth that they pull out when asked. Usually in the re-telling, you gauge your audience and cut it short when you sense you’re boring them. But it was wonderful to be encouraged to go on in detail in front of a captive audience.”

“People loved it. We felt like celebrities.”

What would you say to other couples who might want to do this?

“Feel the fear and do it anyway! It’s great fun, and an awesome chance to share your love story with others.”

The next BTTF: TIS is Saturday, February 16, 8:00 pm at Comedy Bar.

 

It’s no secret there are a lot of sci-fi and fantasy nerds – uh, fans – in the comedy community. But you don’t have to be a diehard Thronie to enjoy the improvised parody, Throne of Games. 

We asked Director Colin Munch and fellow cast member Kris Siddiqi about their world of the Seven Kingdoms.

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Photo © Paul AIhoshi

P&C: What were some of the challenges in adapting a series as popular – and mammoth – as Game of Thrones for the stage?

KS: Everything.

CM: Yeah, pretty much.

Picking what was important and what wasn’t important was so difficult. What moments we were going to focus on, what characters we were going to include.

KS: Getting people up to speed on a really thick, huge universe. And just being able to sort of skim the top of that, get that basic information out that needs to be gotten out, and still be able to translate the intentions of the character, and their placement in the world.

CM: [It was] probably equally challenging for those who didn’t know the world, as it was for those who do. Because you have to choose between being a know-it-all nerd and actually making choices that are playable, rather than just dumping knowledge.

KS: Totally. I think as improvisers, we always play in genres no matter what. If it’s there, we’re playing in the genre.

But that’s what makes these challenges easier to work with, because we’re all well versed in the tropes and the idiosyncrasies of the genre. And something like this is steeped in every single trope and idiom that a fantasy genre comes in.

CM: Yeah, it’s not just a mediaeval fantasy. It’s a murder mystery, it’s a family drama, it’s a horror story at times. It covers all the bases.

P&C: The cast reads like a Who’s Who of Canadian comedy greats. How did you choose people for each role?

CM: Well, we wanted [Kris] for Ned immediately. It was definitely a bonus that you were already a fan and were available. But you were the first name that was put forward for the cast.

I really wanted [Conor] Bradbury for Khal Drogo right away. I knew I could put him in jean shorts and he wouldn’t argue with me.

KS: Did you choose more on just on physical appearance or…?

CM: Well Paloma [Nunez] and Alice [Moran] did most of the casting, because they’re more familiar with who’s who in the community.

I was really focused on temperament and attitude rather than what they looked like. Rob Norman doesn’t look like a 14-year-old boy, but he plays Joffrey really, really well.

P&C: It’s rare to see costumes used in improv, let alone ones as elaborate as yours.

Does performing in costume help or hinder players?

KS: It helps.

CM: Absolutely. The one challenge it creates is it, in a way, can lock our actors into playing a single character. Which can be detrimental to the show as a whole.

Paloma can’t just toss off her dress and jump on and play another character; she pretty much has to be Cersei for the whole show. Whereas I as Viserys could probably just toss off my wig and come in as something else if I needed to.

KS: But I think really that’s the only difference. Because again it’s being improvisers and being used to like, “Oh, where’s a joke I can drop?” or “How can I help this scene?” We’re not as able to do that in this, again, because those costumes clearly define who you are.

CM: And it lets us act a little bit more than we usually get to. You get to sit in your character more; you don’t usually get that luxury when you’re just guys in t-shirts and jeans.

KS: When you have that pomp, it totally adds to it. Me and [James] Gangl did a show years ago based on Deadwood…

CM: Yeah, Dreadwood!

KS: We had a friend who worked at a costume store, and she did the fittings for everyone. And there was the day when everyone saw themselves in costume… The room was kinda silent, because everyone’s gears were turning in their head: “Oh, look at me, look at me!”

And then there was a silent thing amongst the guys in the cast where they all started growing mustaches and muttonchops.

CM: It’s amazing the beards that have sprung up in the TOG rehearsal process. Etan [Muskat]’s got a beard. Ken Hall’s been growing that beard for like, six months.

Also, I love how crappy Nug [Nahrgang]’s costume is. We just throw a cape and crown over whatever Nug shows up wearing.

His character is so in contrast to the rest of the players in the show. He’s this super contemporary, 21st century party animal. I haven’t seen him yet, but he’s ordered Stark and Baratheon jerseys for everyone.

KS: That’s what I like; where I’m taking it so seriously and he…not that he’s not, but he’s not, you know what I mean? And that’s the good back-and-forth that we have, is that I have to be so loyal and Nug is just taking the attitude that, yeah dude, Baratheon’s just a party guy. He’s just an old frat boy.

CM: And that’s the advantage that we have, doing parody. Kevin Whalen can take Peter Bealish and just make him, essentially pootytang. Take him to the extreme of this pimp character. And he totally gets away with it because he plays it so well.

P&C: Each show revolves around a different part of the storyline. How much is improvised and how much is true to the original books?

CM: We have a specific series of moments from the first season that we need to hit, but the content of each episode is completely improvised.

P&C: Game of Thrones has a dark quality that’s been compared to Mad Men and The Sopranos. How does that translate to comedy?

CM: I think that you can get away with so much if you tell people they’re about to see a comedy. You can take people to a real emotional place, to a real dark place, if you hold their hand and tell them “Don’t worry, it’s all in good fun.”

That’s my big philosophy with art and theatre, and I do it with Bad Dog and Sex T-Rex.

KS: Yeah. My thing is always when you take the work seriously, then the audience sees you taking it seriously, and they go, we will now commit to their commitment.

Like when Bruce [Hunter] walked in as Tywin in the last [season].

Bruce has been doing comedy and writing and directing in this city for longer than some of us have been alive. So when he walks in with a stage that’s packed with like, Aurora Browne and Paul Bates and Nug, I just remember him taking the piss out of everyone. No one could say anything to Bruce. Just like Tywin.

When he turned to Alice and said, “Who’s this? Has anyone raped her yet?” And just that, that’s a very dark line! It’s very true to the world, but it’s still pretty dark man. But it worked.

CM: For one of your first lines on stage. When you come in as character…and that’s the first thing you say? I can count on one hand the number of people who could pull that off.

KS: I think that’s what the darkness translates to. It translates to knowing when you can take advantage of it.

CM: And we don’t shy away from it, either. Our world is just as dark as theirs is. Bran still gets pushed off that tower. People die.

KS: People fuck.

CM: People fuck. People go to jail.

I’m looking forward to taking that to the next level in the second and third seasons, because the world gets so much worse.  And I know that we’ll be able to pull it off because the comedy is so good.

You can see Throne of Games at the Next Stage Festival, January 2 – 13. 

 

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Image © Alice Moran

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” – Mark Twain

For years, Chicago audiences have watched scantily-clad men improvise some of the dumbest scenes ever played on a stage. Now it’s Toronto’s turn.

Created by Mick Napier of The Annoyance Theatre, Skinprov is pretty much like it sounds: a bunch of guys do improv while wearing increasingly smaller pieces of fabric. Which makes the non sequitur scenes all the more hilarious.

Audience favourites Adam Cawley, Rob Norman, Wayne Jones, Kris Siddiqi, Dwayne Wilson and Matt Folliott bare their souls, or at least their flesh, next Wednesday, November 21st, 9:30 pm at Comedy Bar.

Ladies, start planning your staggette party.