Comedy troupe building buzz after theatrical hit Times Colonist, Page D7, PREVIEW Can it be that Victoria's Atomic Vaudeville is poised to become the next big buzz in Canadian theatre? Consider this. This summer, the company's production of Jacob Richmond's comedy Legoland drew sell-outs and critical raves (including the Georgia Strait's critic's choice award) in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto. Next week its production of The Qualities of Zero, also by Richmond, opens at Vancouver's Waterfront Theatre. Here in town, Atomic Vaudeville has built a devoted audience for its naughty, irreverent sketch-comedy nights at a funky Broad Street nightclub. In a city where theatre audiences tend to be grey-hairs, the troupe has managed to attract a hip 20-to-40 demographic. Atomic Vaudeville houses, averaging 100, appear to prefer sitting at little cabaret tables and sipping a cool Heineken to the formality of regular soft-seat theatres. |
The primary draw is the outrageous stuff happening on stage. It's not for the faint of heart. With Atomic Vaudeville, one can alternately thrill and squirm to skits about the Manson family's Christmas, the Politically Correct Racist Family, Jesus's brother Bob, and Billy, the post-nuclear-holocaust comic who introduces himself thusly: "Hey ... what's up, nobody?" Atomic Vaudeville co-founder Richmond notes one cast member, Rod Peter, Jr., lives up to his name by routinely exposing his appendage on stage. "He almost insists on it," said Richmond. Tonight and Saturday, the troupe pulls out its new Halloween extravaganza. The theme of The Delicious Carnival of the Dead is the old-fashioned freak show. There's a bearded lady, Siamese twins, Heartbreak Hannah (the saddest girl in the world) and her boyfriend, Hemophiliac Hank. Richmond founded Atomic Vaudeville in 2004 with director/performer Britt Small. Richmond, a former Montrealer, enjoyed cabaret theatre evenings in that city and wanted to try one here. Small, meanwhile, had just completed a graduate theatre degree at the University of Victoria. She was keen to get a regular theatre showcase underway -- especially one that might showcase skills she had gleaned studying clowning. The pair share a similar comic sensibility. They enjoy Bill Hicks, South Park and the bizarro-world humour of MTV's Wonder Shozen, a sketch comedy series parodying PBS children's shows like Sesame Street. "Our humour is pretty dark," Small said. | Atomic Vaudeville has several things going for it. Aside from Small and Richmond, it makes use of some of Victoria's top theatre talent, both veterans and newcomers. These include Celine Stubel (who starred in Legoland) Gina McIntosh (Atomic Vaudeville's Martini-swilling host) and Mike Delamont (who possesses the naturally funny presence of a born comic). The troupe's grassroots following is the result of heavy seeding. Small estimates 120 different actors and writers have participated in 27 Atomic Vaudeville shows to date. The spinoff from friends and family not only ensures a core following, but gives audiences a feeling of ownership that is key to the success of this theatre series. Because of the offbeat style of theatre, the informal venue and its lack of advertising, Atomic Vaudeville exudes a cachet that's clubby and faintly underground. Audiences learn about shows mostly through word of mouth. "People feel proud they've introduced somebody to the show," Small said. "They want it to continue." The left-field success of Legoland -- the satirical tale of a brother and sister's pop-culture-saturated journey across the U.S. --has fuelled the ambitions of Small and Richmond. They want to do more polished, finely tuned work. With this in mind, Atomic Vaudeville plans to introduce a new show every two months rather than monthly. The company also has its eye on performing more in Vancouver and elsewhere. "We're definitely hitting a chord for people," Small said. |