Hello. I am right now sitting in the tiny room I lived in as a child between the years of 10 and 16. Oh the wallpaper is a cheery flowery blue that makes you want to punch yourself right in the eyes. The floor is covered in mix match of toys. Toy radio, doll house, farm yard, cabbage patches spooning each other and a knitten doll of a bagpiper. Oh yes! That too!
My back hurts in all the places that make you feel like an old woman. Or… that you have been driving in a car for six hours. Which I have.
And though my back hurts, and the knitted scottish man is looking at me with an eternal wink, I am happy in my heart sitting a top a Mickey Mouse bean bag chair.
These last two days have been fantastic, playing shows to new audiences and meeting new improvisers and seeing old faces!
Brent and I rehearsed Wednesday morning in Regina. Having not played together in six weeks… we needed the time. After coffee and banana cream pie with my Grandma we had to get ready for the show. Curlers, shaving, gel, flowers, panty hose… it isn’t just wits and giggles that go into Dick & Honey, there is also a shit-load of vanity. he he he.
In Regina we played our show right before Regina’s own troop COMBAT IMPROV, were to do their set. We did a 45 minute set about wigs, boats and teeth grinding to a wonderful audience who seem delighted. It was great to be doing the show again after a short break, and even better to be playing infront of a new audience. The feeling is somewhat like a first date. Nervous, exciting, gas issues.
After our show we changed and stayed for the Combat show. There was four sets by fantastic grouping of Reginian improvisers. All showing their best. The last set was by improv veterans and all around stars Jayden Pfeifer and Amy Matysio of the General Fools. They were a group that I have watched and followed since I was 18. They are some of the best comedians in all of Canada, and it is truly an honour to watch such pros on up stage. They are so comfy in their bodies… so calm and grounded and delivered just pure comedy gold. Great characters with hearts and goofy bones. It was fantastic! Then a small intermission and a bit of competition match. Three teams four rounds, audience votes. What fun to be thrown up there with different improvisers who have just met each other. I love that feeling when you sincerely do not know what the hell to expect. Anything could happen, all you have to do is say Yes! So fun. I did scene where i was an angel acting as an interrogating cop, and the entire scene was a rap! amazing!
Brent was teamed up with General Fool Amy Matsyio and a hilarious Dan Willows. They were a team to be reckoned with. Though my team did beat them. he he. Rap always wins in improv. (This is not a lesson, just the harsh truth.)
The next day we drove to Winnipeg. And oh my. I have fallen in love. What an amazing city. First of all… IT”S HUGE! I didn’t know. In Regina, Winnipeg gets a bad rep. Don’t know why, so guess I thought (being a silly saskatchewan bumpkin) that it must be a similar size to Regina if Reginians always be boastin’ how much better Regina is. But nooooo, Winnipeg is BIG! And so beautiful. It has got the charm of the wide prairie sky in combination with a 1920’s styled downtown, and a bunch of cute little hipster villages. Now i might get kicked in the face for calling Osbourne Village a hipster village, but I just mean a place where you can find veggie sausage, fair trade coffee and organic house cleaning supplies in walking distance. Oh man.
We did our Dick and Honey show at the EXCHANGE COMMUNITY CHURCH! And one of the most charming and delightful troupes of all Canada opened for us. Outside Joke! I love these folks. They played at the Montreal Improv festival this past year. But I have known the troupe from years before when they visited Edmonton and killed the crowd with their charm, their songs, and their fantastic character abilities. These guys have such a great troupe chemistry they are fun to watch and fun to hang with!! Oh YES! And their name is true to their behaviour, no inside jokes with them, they always let you in the laugh, chuckle, guffaw and snort.
The crowd was filled with many Manitoba Improv League kids (that Canadian Improv Games in Manitoba (that’s an extracurricular improv tournament for highschool students.) They were a great crowd. Our show was about climbing mountains, falling in love with your husband’s brother, gum chewing, and wolverine analogies. I made an anachronistic remark about X-Men comics and felt like the ultimate nerd. I admit feeling both shame and glee at this moment.
The theatre was at The Exchange Community Church, which is downtown, right in the Fringe district. And what a district. I felt like Dick & Honey were home. I was so mad that both Brent and I had forgot our cameras. I only have my mind to remember what glee Winnipeg produces in me.
After a fantastic breakfast this morning at Stella’s (HOMEMADE JAM FOLKS! OH YES). We headed back to SK to crash for the night. Tomorrow will be an early morning. Hoping to get up 6 am (oh my god, i just barfed in my mouth) so that we may be on the road for 7. But it’s all worth it. We will be in Edmonton tomorrow. Playing at the theatre that started it all for me. The amazing Rapid Fire Theatre (at the Varscona Theatre) It happens to be Rapid Fire Theatre’s 30th anniversary as well. This company has spat out some of the greatest improvisers of the world… and they live all over the world. Past Rapid Fire Artistic Director’s now lead companies all over this world, in Austria, in Australia, in Atlanta. (only “A” places, it’s a rule).
Anyhow, I could not be more excited. We are half way through our little prairie tour and we have had so much fun already! Looking forward also, to getting back to Montreal and to my own little piece of heaven… the Montreal Improv Theatre.
