In its first year up to bat, Vancouver Sketchfest is proving the old sports adage, If you build it, they will come.
Peter Carlone, the festivals artistic director, has witnessed local comedians coming out of the corn since he first put out the call to audition.
As soon as I asked people to come forward with their sketch groups, we had groups that I previously wasnt aware of groups from all over the place, like Assaulted Fish from Burnaby coming in. There were a good five or six that I didnt know and I was like, Oh! Here we go. Okay.
Sketch comedy talent pools already dot the Vancouver landscape like watering holes, attracting new groups and earning loyal fans, which in turn attract more newcomers to the waters edge.
Im seeing a growth of shows, Carlone, one half of Fringe Festival favourite Peter n Chris, confirms. Everything from Clusterfun to the China Cloud comedy. And East Van Comedy is adding more shows to their docket.
Carlone has teamed up with Instant Theatres acclaimed artistic director Alistair Cook to lure the best in national and international sketch comedy to Granville Island this weekend.
With Sketchfest, the focus is on the groups. Its almost like a tradeshow of comedy, he jokes. You walk around and see what everybody has to offer. Im hoping to get a broader audience that isnt maybe the built-in comedy crowd. People that just want something to do for the weekend, to have a couple of drinks and laugh.
Five acts you cant wait to see during Sketchfest:
Peter: Aside from us... Mark and Kyle from Picnicface, for sure. (see video below, or this one)
Chris: Charles and Ladystache will be phenomenal.
Peter: Ive got a local one Im excited about. Actually, the whole show. Friday the 24th: Andrew Barber, Cam & Colin and Pump Trolley.
Chris: Theres so many people coming in from out of town, and the people who tour know what theyre doing. Like Hot Thespian Action, theyre a Canadian Comedy-nominated group. (see video)
Peter: Local group Sunday Service is also pretty hot.
Do people form groups just to come up with funny names?
Chris: We for sure didn't, because we couldn't think of one.
Nothing has come to you since? Like, an unofficial nickname?
Peter: Somebody suggested Eggs for Breakfast. We'll never use it, but if somebody was like, 'You need a different name right now we'll give you a million dollars?'... Eggs for breakfast.
You guys are allegedly 'the best'. What keeps it interesting:
Peter: Well thank you Right now we're trying to get more stuff online. This is a big month for us; we're shooting a trailer for a show idea that we have. We'll pitch it around a see where it goes.
Chris: And writing a new show keeps it interesting too. We usually write a new show for every tour.
What route do you recommend for the home joker?
Peter: Instant Theatre has some beginner-level character and improv workshops that are a pretty great place to start. Thats how you become a writer, you start improv-ing and realize you just have to write the funny ones down.
Chris: We also found the Fringe festivals to be a great avenue. Thats our bread and butter all summer.
What are some of your favourite sketches over your career:
Chris: Our first sketch was fun; it was all about me getting stuck in a piece of six-pack plastic like a bird. It was only 10-minutes long.
Peter: That one is so old; probably the one we perform the most.
Do you die in it?
Chris: I go into a coma
Do you ever tackle political subjects?
Peter: Only if it serves the joke. I love to be political and talk about that stuff, but the comedy that I want to do is more positive. Its not just a desire to be accessible we dont want to be lowest common denominator, Two and a Half Men, or whatever but we like to be tolerant and accepting.
Chris: People have said lately that we do shows that are like live-action Pixar, so its not really political.
Peter: In our new one we poke fun at the idea that were all obsessed these days with period pieces, and how were allowed to be kind of sexist or racist in them like Deadwood or Mad Men, where people are, like, pregnant and smoking.
Chris: Well see how that goes.
What is your earliest memory of comedy:
Chris: In Grade 4, I used to write down Jerry Seinfelds jokes when he would do stand-up on Seinfeld. My thinking was that when he retired and everyone forgot about him, I would be able to perform this material.
Peter: Mine was probably high school. It sounds overly philosophical, but it was to avoid getting bullied. I did a show called A Room with an Alan a BBC radio play. I was the only one in the drama class that could sort of do a British accent, because my mom is super British, so I got to say Cock, piss, partridge! on stage. And high school kids? Could not deal with that. It was the funniest shit theyd ever seen.
What is your definition of sketch comedy?
Peter: A lot of times people assume its like improv and standup, but its Saturday Night Live or Kids in the Hall or Monty Python.
Chris: The thing about sketch that I like is you get to do the same thing over and over, and you can really hone a joke down to the word. You get to be scientific about comedy.
Sort of like stand-up... Do you do that as well?
Peter: Ive done it a total of three times.
Chris: The audience tends to be more hostile.
Peter: Or theres an attitude of, like, Say jokes, funny man. As opposed to sketch comedy, where everybody is just looking for something silly and the laughter comes easier.
Chris: I dont like doing stand-up because Im at an open mic level, and those open mics are always the worst. You go in and the standups not having fun because the audience isnt laughing. So its like, Whos having fun here?? No one is having fun.
So the basis of your show is at least you two are having fun.
Chris: Yeah!
Peter: Absolutely!
Vancouver Sketchfest, with more than 25 sketch comedy groups from around the world, runs January 23-25 at various venues on Granville Island. Tickets start at $15; VancouverSketchfest.com.
You can follow Kelsey Klassen on Twitter @KelseyKlassen.
