Ask us anything!
Hi I know this is an improv blog but you're on the comedy scene so I want to ask you where I could/should start to do standup in montreal? I don't speak French very well so I guess that's pretty limiting. Thanks :)
This one’s pretty easy. There are two English stand up clubs in Montreal: Comedyworks and The Comedy Nest. They both have open mic nights where you can try stuff out. If you go, you can talk to the other comics and they can point you to some of the indie rooms/nights in the cafes and bars around town. Those smaller rooms often let newer people work out their material. Buy them a drink and they will like you more.
Write as much as you can in the notebook you carry everywhere, work on the jokes that are funny after a night’s sleep, then get on stage as much as you can. Repeat until you cry tears of blood.
- vinny
[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three]
For the final part of this series (you may now descend from your tenterhooks), I just want to talk about the structure of the tragic show we mounted last year. I’ve never been one to develop a format and then protect it like the Coca-Cola formula. Part of the beauty of watching a Harold is in understanding the structure of a Harold.
It’s Not You, It’s Me was designed to be an improvised play with a simple tragic structure. I worked with Dan Jeannotte and Kirsten Rasmussen, two of the most experienced improvisers in Montreal who also both have a lot of experience in scripted theatre. For us, the show was the story of a personal, intimate relationship that ends in failure. It was something we felt was fairly universal and it appealed to us that it was explicitly the opposite of a comedy.
The show had three acts:
- Act One: Courtship
- This is where our protagonists meet and fall in love. They forgive all flaws and the tone is very sweet/optimistic. Not only are the couple falling in love but the audience should be in love with the couple as well. Comedy here is powerful. Your actors need to be charming and charismatic; cast well.
- Act Two: Commitment
- Things are going well. The couple binds to each other more and more closely until we reach maximum commitment. Maybe they move in together, start a business, get married, have a baby (any one of these is sufficient). Steps are taken to raise the stakes so when it falls apart, we fall a long way down. The things that will be problems (but are not yet!) are brought in if they have not been introduced in Act One
- Act Three: The Fall
- The cracks appear and/or adversity strikes. Both partners want the relationship to work but the audience starts to see how this can’t work for either party. It escalates to brutal honesty about the flaws in the relationship. And then the relationship finally ends. We need to see the corpse of the relationship. Perhaps there’s a post-break-up scene.
And that’s the general structure of the show. There are lots more details but I’m keeping it short. It ran about 70 minutes but I think with more practice we could get it down to 60 minutes. I think a 50 minute set would be the absolute minimum. A show like this takes time.
One more detail that we added (but isn’t essential, it was a stylistic/amplifying choice) are a pair of opening and closing scenes. It was a cute pair of mirrored bookends. The opening scene flashes forward and the closing scene flashes backwards and we used lighting cues to indicate this (but I think we could have done a better job of it).
The opening scene of the show is set just before the end of the relationship. It shows the couple in jeopardy. Not at their worst because we want to save that for the climax of the dissolution but things are clearly not good. This scene sets the tone that you’re not watching a comedy. It should be difficult/uncomfortable to watch. Tricky because we’ve established nothing (it’s the very first scene!) so being specific needs to be done carefully.
The closing scene comes after we’ve seen the terrible conclusion to a lovely relationship and the damage they do to one another. It flashes back towards the beginning of the relationship to a particularly sweet and close moment between the two. We wanted to show how far the couple has fallen and what has been lost on the journey. Marc later commented to me that he thought it was reminder of why we expose ourselves to such heartbreak, which I also thought was a nice way of looking at it.
And that’s it. Not sure there’s much else for me to talk about. I hope that illuminates a little bit of our thinking behind the show and how the arc of our story ran. I think you could do this show a hundred times and still be surprised. Each relationship is unique and fails in its own way. Also note, this show is horribly draining to workshop and after a show the performers need lots of cheering up so have hugs and/or chocolate and/or wine handy. If you have any questions, ask in the comments or in the Ask Us Anything sidebar.
- vinny
Montreal Improv will be holding open-call auditions for our first-ever House Teams on Sunday, March 11th from 7-10pm and Monday March 12th from 6-9pm. Auditions will be held at Montreal Improv at 3713 St-Laurent, #202. Callbacks will be held on Tuesday, March 13th from 7-9pm and Wednesday, March 14th 7-9pm.
Auditioners should have prior improv experience. Montreal Improv students won’t be given special preference, but we’ll have seen more of their performance style which could help. Those interested in auditioning should send us an email here which includes:
- Your name
- Preferred date for the audition (Sun, Mar. 11th 7-10pm or Mon, Mar. 12th 6-9pm)
On the day of the audition:
Auditioners will be seen for 40 minutes in groups of 4-8. No preparation is necessary in advance. All participants will be asked to perform in a few short group exercises and some scenes. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
Please arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of your scheduled audition to fill out a short questionnaire.
What is the House Team program?
Members of House Teams will rehearse once a week and have their own monthly show. More than one show a month may be possible depending on availability. House Team members will be directed by an experienced improviser and will receive discounts on select workshops given by local and visiting teachers. Membership costs $150 for 3 months (14 weeks) to cover coaching, room booking and other expenses. The team receives a 60% cut of the door from their monthly shows which will help offset their expenses. The first practice of the spring season is set to start on Sunday, March 18th and the last is on Sunday, June 3rd.
