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SKETCH COMEDY ARRIVES IN PETERBOROUGH
By Lisa Pirone, TRENT ARTHUR

November 1999
 

The Much Ado About Sketch Comedy Festival made its debut appearance recently at Trent University's Wenjack Theatre on November 5, 6, and 7. 

Much Ado's performance included a variety of talented comedians and comic groups doing what they do best - being funny. Saturday night's presenters included the clever wit of Craig Lauzon, The Cowards, and The Gardeners of Eden, the festival’s organizers. 

Lauzon's one-man routines varied from a nervous Quebecois stand-up comedian to a Native Canadian wrestler, never missing a beat with accents or costumes. Lauzon's humour managed to capture the biggest stereotypes of each group and epitomize them in a character that was humourous without being harmful. A graduate of Ottawa U with only extra-curricular drama experience, his skits were all excerpts from his new individual show "HAM I AM" which he is touring this month and will soon appear on the Comedy Network. His humour has won him a nomination for the Tim Sims Encouragement Award for comedy, and justly so. 

The Cowards followed with a more musical variation of comedy. As Mark Richardson and Dave Pearce continue their quest for "world comedy domination", they had the audience delighted with bantering old Canucks, an ode to Moosejaw, and a hilarious melding of two classics in "Leave it to Ghengis". The most notable song of the night, however, would have to be their description of fantasies about popular news anchorwomen. If lyrics such as "Sandy Renaldo, you’d fill the void; But if you're busy, we'd settle for Lloyd," entice you, check out their website at www.cowards.net where you can not only find out more about this dynamic duo, but you can also download MP3s of their songs. 

The night concluded with the witty talents of The Gardeners of Eden (Trent graduates Teige Reid and Dan Smith). The Gardeners brought a traditional style sketch comedy to the stage, and then gave it their own wacky spin. They put a disturbingly successful spin on Julius Caesar with their necrophiliac's adaptation. A peek into "Irish" life gave inspirational words such as "You can always make more money lying on your back than you can sittin' on your arse!" And I don't think anyone will ever forget the Dirty Old Men Dancers who, after appearing on stage in only boots and trench-coats, proceeded to interact with audience members including our very own Master Brown from Champlain College. One female student in particular will not forget the concluding sketch of Nude Dude and his fight against terrorists from Greenland. 

Teige and Dan are also the organizers of the Much Ado festival. This was not their first appearance at Trent, however, this was the first time it was made public and on a grand scale. Their motives were simple, as Dan Smith says, "It's a lot of fun...[sketch comedy] has a lot to say without hurting anyone," adding that in comparison to plays: "There's not as much commitment, it's not as serious, and you have to ability to make people think, laugh, imagine, and laugh some more." 

Not only do The Gardeners hope to bring the festival back again next year, but they’re also trying to initiate improv and sketch comedy workshops at Trent in the near future.