Everyone is a bit of a comedian. But it takes a special wacky breed of comic to risk it all on improv.
St. Albert’s own funnymen, some of the freshest faces on the Capital Region’s improv scene, are storming Edmonton’s Avenue Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 26 with a salute to Halloween.
At ZOM-BEERprov, eight costumed comedians, including St. Albert’s Sean Bedard, Ali Yusuf, Ben Ternes, Cat Haines and Mark Laviolette, dish out their relentless energy. As well, Morinville’s Megan Hardman and Edmonton’s Andressa Ester ham it up for the crowd.
“We’ve developed a board game formula and tried it out at the 2011 Fringe and the audience really liked it. It’s getting more recognized in Edmonton,” says Bedard.
Their shtick involves dividing the actors into two groups battling for charade-type supremacy. An 11-foot-by-five-foot cloth designed with numbers is the main prop. Envelopes concealing secret instructions are placed on the numbers. The audience rolls a large die onto the stage, an envelope is picked and the fur flies.
They try to do about six games per act with names such as Whose Life is It Anyway and Party Quirk.
A Halloween favourite is Funeral where one member of BEERprov decides to die. “We have a funeral eulogy and each member shares a memory. It gets really funny and we keep it light-hearted.”
BEERprov first made a splash as the off-the-wall Epiphany Symphony about two years ago. But as with any experimental group, there were personnel changes and deep material revisions.
Last year on November 1, the comics rebranded the name to BEERprov. Avenue Theatre is now the official stage, and they trek down to perform on a semi-regular basis.
With the ongoing success of Rapid Fire Theatre and Die-Nasty, battling for a slice of improv audiences has been a tough slog. But the onstage chemistry is building.
“We get along really well. We know each other’s limits and quirks. We know what people have trouble with and we’re better at going with the flow. And our crowds are now averaging anywhere from 25-60 people.”
This is an 18-plus show. Doors open at 8 p.m. with show time at 8:30 p.m. The theatre is at 9030 – 118th Ave. Tickets are $5 at the door.
