If you’re tired of seeing productions where you know what’s going to happen (spoiler warning, Hamlet kills Claudius), or if your summer is just feeling all too rote and predictable, it may be that some improvisation is in order. The Ottawa-based improv comedy group Crush Improv is putting on a full slate of improvised and non-improvised comedy performances and workshops over the next three weeks.
Crush Improv, who call their work “professional make-believe”, began in 2007 as a “weekly workshop play date” at the University of Ottawa, but have grown into an established group that hosts regular open improv jams and comedy shows, and puts on improv workshops for individuals and organizations. This is the fourth year that they have put on the “My Summer Crush” series. I spoke with AL Connors, who is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Theatre program, the National Director and President of the Canadian Improv Games, and one of the founders of Crush Improv.
Connors characterizes Ottawa as a city of niche markets: small arts scenes that are exciting and innovative, but sometimes difficult for outsiders to access. Ottawa’s small but busy improv comedy scene is one of these niche markets. My Summer Crush shows off some of Ottawa’s comic talents, but also brings in funny people from Toronto, and Montréal.
Several of the productions featured in My Summer Crush have also been performed at Fringe festivals here and elsewhere. Crush Improv has a long-standing relationship with the Ottawa Fringe Festival, which Connors praises as “a great entertainment equalizer” that promotes established artists and newcomers alike. In the 2013 Fringe, Crush Improv hosted a free outdoor Canada Day show featuring improvising performers from other Fringe shows.
For traditionalists who might be skeptical of the merits of improvised performance, Connors clarifies that “professional improvisers always know what they’re doing, they just don’t know what they’re going to do”. He contends that seeing an improv show provides a sense of “visceral engagement [that] is something you cannot illegally download or acquire in any way other than by being in the same room at the same time”.
For Ottawans looking to get their viscera engaged this summer, My Summer Crush is offering a wide array of comedy performances and workshops over the coming weeks. A summary of their programming, all of which takes place at Arts Court Theatre (2 Daly Avenue) is below:
This Canadian Life
Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre Company presents this improvised send-off of National Public Radio’s This American Life, featuring host “Ira Glasses”. Saturday, August 24th, 8PM.
Good Ol’ Make-Em-Ups
Crush Improv hosts a night of their favourite improv games. Thursday, August 22nd, 8PM.
Tough!
Kirsten Rasmussen, a Toronto-based comedian, presents this one-woman show, in which she plays both “a lounge singer with a troubled past” and “a boxer with a bright future”. Saturday, August 17th, 8PM.
Happiness™/Wolves>Boys
A double bill of two short productions from Ottawa’s May Can Theatre. Happiness™, which played at the 2013 Ottawa Fringe Festival (reviewed here), takes the form of a product demonstration by two salesmen from the Happiness, Prosperity, and Luxury corporation. Wolves > Boys is a play about the friendship between two boys, who became friends after finding themselves arguing about who would win in a fight between a boy and a wolf. It was presented at the 2012 Ottawa Fringe, and is reviewed here. Friday, August 16th, 8PM.
Uncalled For
The Montreal sketch comedy troupe presents some of their greatest hits, as well as new material. Saturday, August 31st, 8 PM.
Late Night Crush Improv
Crush Improv presents a late-night compendium of improvised hijinks. Saturday, August 17th, Saturday August 24th, and Saturday, August 31st, 10 PM.
Montreal Improv – Easy Action
Two Montréal comedians, Marc Rowland, director of the Montreal Improv Theatre and the Montreal Improv Festival, and Brent Skagford, co-creater of the comedy web series The Bitter End, satirize action movies in this “two-man improvised action blockbuster”. Friday, August 30th, 8PM.
Workshops:
For those interested in getting their hands dirty, Crush Improv is also putting on a variety of workshops as part of My Summer Crush. These include beginner and advanced improv workshops, as well as sessions on character creation, improvised movement, sketch writing, and more. You can find their full list of workshops here.
My Summer Crush runs from August 13 – 31. Single show tickets are $10. Weekend passes go for $25 and cover 4 – 5 productions from Thursday to Saturday. An all-show pass is $65. Tickets can be purchased here. OR enter to win one of three weekend passes – just leave a comment below telling us who or what you are crushing on this summer. You have until 5 pm today! We’ll do a random draw from all entries.
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