This weekend will be filled with laughter, and artists steeped in improv and stand-up comedy.
There are two different shows hitting the Fraser Valley this weekend.
Gallery 7 Theatre (G7) Comedy Fest takes place Friday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Oct. 19, while the Improv Comedy Rumble hits the stage on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Langley’s Very Very Improv, a professional comedy group, will kickstart the G7 festival.
Ken Hildebrandt, managing artistic director at G7 theatre, said guests attending the festival have a lot to look forward to.
“A unique thing about Very, Very is no two shows are exactly the same. They're inventing scenes right before the audience's eyes, using only the suggestions that the audience provides them. The audience has just as an important role in a good night of comedy as the performers do,” Hildebrandt said.
“The quality of the show is dependent somewhat on the quality of the suggestions coming from the audience, so it's a lot of fun. It's very interactive, and it's very dynamic,” he added.
Very Very Improv is a relatively new Fraser Valley improv group, featuring a number of professional improvisers from all across the Lower Mainland.
"Our audiences will probably recognize some of them from the Panic Squad, in the past,” Hildebrandt noted.
Scott Campbell, managing artistic director at the Very Very Improv Theatre, agreed the audience is integral to their performance.
“Anytime we can get an audience member or members on stage helping us do scenes, which we do one or two of every show, are great crowd pleasers, because you're taking someone who isn’t the expert or the comedian and putting them in a situation where they've got to become a comedian. We work really hard to make sure that those audience members succeed on stage, but it's always a good laugh for the audience to see one of their own trying to navigate the stage,” Campbell said.
Bringing improv to the Fraser Valley to expand its audience is important, added Campbell.
“The message that we are trying to remind people of, or let people know about, is that we are a professional improv company based here in the valley, and so we are bringing the city quality comedy to the 'burbs,” he said.
“The hope is that people here in the valley don't have to travel into the city to experience that level of professional comedy,” Campbell commented.
The second day of the festival will entail a stand-up night held on Oct.19 at 7:30 p.m. hosted by actor, comedian and master of ceremonies Cliff Prang.
The Chilliwack man will be joined by a team of talented comedians, noted Hildebrandt.
“Fraser Valley comedy competition winner Monique Bellamy is Canada’s only female Indo-Fijian comedian, storyteller, and inspirational speaker,” he noted.
“I’m trusting that it's going to be a really electric and energizing atmosphere. It certainly was last year, and years before when we've done comedy and improv. I think people will be in for a really good time,” Hildebrandt said.
He added that the festival for all-ages.
“I'm expecting a fun weekend, where people don't have to be afraid to take their kids. Sometimes life can get a little stressful, so laughter is a good tonic, relieving some of the pressures of everyday life,” he noted.
Very Very Improv’s performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, 32315 South Fraser Way, in Abbotsford.
While the G7 festival entails improv and stand-up comedy, Saturday's comedy rumble in Langley will revolve around an improv competition.
The comedy rumble will spotlight Canadian comedy award winners Denise Jones, David Milchard, and Michael Teigen – who are a part of a group called The Comedy Department.
Jones, from Vancouver, said her cast’s performance will involve the departments’ three cast members competing to see who becomes the Improv Comedy Rumble champion.
“There will be three performers, and we're battling to see which performer can get the highest scores from our audience judges. It's a competitive improv show so we set up scenes that we think the audience will like the most, and then there's a winner at the end,” she said.
“People can cheer for the judges or boo for the judges, and it’ll be a battle for who's the funniest,” Jones added.
The performance is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for the community.
“This show has never been done before, and will never be done again. It's only for those people who are right there. And they get to collaborate, and we take their suggestions. It’ll be a great night out and not just the sort of run of the mill. It’ll be a really exciting, rowdy show for sure,” she said.
The comedy rumble begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Chief Sepass Theatre, at 9096 Trattle St., in Fort Langley. People must be 14 years of age or older to get in.
Tickets are $23 per day for the G7 Comedy Fest, and available at www.gallery7theatre.com, or by calling 604-504-5940.
Tickets for the Improv Comedy Rumble are $34, and available at www.eventbrite.ca/e/improv-comedy-rumble-presented-by-the-comedy-department-tickets-952832797547?aff=erelexpmlt.
