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Culture Stage

13. Sara Hennessey

One of the more surreal experiences at Fringe 2008 was seeing Sara Hennessey perform her stand-up show, It’s Sara Hennessey Time, at noon one Sunday in the cold confines of the George Ig. “It was really silly,” recalls the talented comic. “Nobody does comedy at that time. But it forced me to be super-playful.”

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That attitude made for a terrifically casual hour of fun, off-kilter observations. This time, in the equally self-promotionally titled Sara Hennessey Town, she branches out theatrically. Rather than straight stand-up, it’s more variety.

“Think Saturday Night Live, except it’ll be with one person and it won’t suck,” she jokes. “Also, I won’t open with a lame political sketch.”

Hennessey’s trying out various characters, many of whom she’s introduced at comedy nights like The Loner Show and Sunday Night Live.

There’s a Sobey’s cashier who delivers a PowerPoint demo. There’s an angsty suburban teen. But one of her most challenging characters is a mid-30s fitness instructor who’s decided to switch careers and enter a law firm.

“It was really hard for me to find her voice,” says Hennessey. “When I improvise, I have a weird way of talking like a surfer dude. And my director keeps telling me that this character would never speak like that.”

July 3 to 12 at the Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace.

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