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Comedy Culture

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IMPULSE FESTIVAL presented by National Theatre of the World and Soulpepper at the Young Center (50 Tank House). Tonight (Thursday) to Sunday (December 12 to 15). $15-$20, four-ticket package $72. 416-866-8666, soulpepper.ca.

Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram have spent years on the international improv circuit, and now with help from Soulpepper they’re gathering some of the best troupes they’ve met on the road under one roof for a weekend jam-packed with performances and workshops.

Featuring eight far-flung companies including the School of Night (England), Combats Absurdes (France), Die Gorillas (Germany), Improv Comedy Mumbai (India), and Secret Impro Theatre (Australia), the festival offers many ways to participate. Each troupe presents its signature long-form improv show, but beyond that, mashup performances shuffle the groups into new combinations just to see what happens. All the while, a record-breaking attempt at a 55-hour marathon improv soap opera unfolds.

Presented in association with Alberta marathon veterans Die-Nasty, Christmas At Choke-Poke Toys focuses on a failing manufacturer of incredibly dangerous gifts. A core cast of Toronto’s best improvisers including Chris Gibbs, Carolyn Taylor and Herbie Barnes attempts to perform all 55 hours, helped by local celebrities (among them Colin Mochrie and George Stroumboulopoulos) as well as members of the international guest troupes.

And as if that weren’t enough, there’s also a pedagogical dimension: each guest troupe gives affordable daytime workshops open to everyone from the serious to the curious.

As organizers Snieckus and Baram explain, it’s designed more like a convention than a festival so we can get the most out of this rare concentration of talent.

“We met these people on tour, and we thought, We have to share them with Toronto!'” says Snieckus, who’s also been busy with the CBC sitcom Mr. D. “We want to give local talent the chance to perform and network with artists from all over the world.”

“We designed the festival so that audience and performers can do as much as possible,” say Baram on the phone from the East Coast, where he’s shooting the Citytv sitcom Seed. “During the day you can take a workshop, at night you can see shows by the guys from France or a mashup of performers from Edmonton and Mumbai, and at any point you can drop in and see how the marathon is going.”

While cross-cultural comedy has its challenges, Snieckus explains that a shared language – English is the lingua franca of improv – and rules help bridge the gap.

“Improv has become an international language, so regardless of nationality you and a partner can make a great scene because you both work from the same set of rules: you always say yes to offers, you both work to move the story forward, you flip things and show the opposite – things like that.”

There are cultural differences, however. Sniekus says North American improvisers tend to be very talky, whereas Europeans are more physical and suggest physical offers almost immediately.

And things can often be lost in translation.

“We were doing this show in Germany,” says Baram, “and I was given the character of an 80s punk, so I said, You should all get checked because the doctor says I have crabs,’ and the audience went dead silent. Later I found out that in German krebs’ means cancer.”3

stage@nowtoronto.com | @jordanbimm

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