Jef Catapang
life Reporter
Second-year comedy student Brett Morris’s first gig this school year was at a women’s rehabilitation centre for drug abuse.
“We were all pretty scared,” Morris said. “It’s a different story going into a place where people are recovering from addiction.”
As part of a new exercise for this year’s second-year sketch comedy class, Morris and his classmates performed their material at community centres instead of traditional comedy venues.
“It turned out to be a great opportunity,” Morris said, noting his classmates were initially dismayed about not being able to perform edgier material because of the new socially sensitive settings.
“A lot of us were upset and were wondering how we could be funny without being able to be profane or a little bit shocking,” he said. “But it’s worked out so fabulous because we’ve been able to create comedy that is funny without relying on crutches.”
The women at the Jean Tweed Centre for Addiction turned out to be the best crowd he’d ever played to, Morris said.
“They were just so happy for us to be there and so encouraging, and it was a total blast.”
Other places that the students have performed at over the semester include senior citizen’s residences and unemployment centres, with upcoming gigs at the Hospital for Sick Children and tonight’s performance for the Gilda Club, a social centre for people living with cancer.
Jenny Hickman, project assistant at the St. Clair West Employment Resource Centre, said the comedy class’s visit was welcome because her clients can face numerous challenges and barriers when seeking work.
“They get upset, so we just wanted to give them a chance to laugh and have fun and take their mind off it,” she said.
Although some of her clientele are immigrants who can’t speak English well, Hickman said the students were able to cross language barriers.
Instructor Robin Duke wanted her students to “write within a box.”
Duke, a former actor and writer for Saturday Night Live decided to force her students to write G-rated material that would be appropriate for a wide range of people.
But regardless of the audience’s age or social situation, Duke told her students, “funny is funny.”
