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Upcoming sketch comedy to highlight funniest aspects of living in Banff

BANFF – What happens in Banff, stays in Banff – or maybe it ends up discussed heavily by locals and added to a sketch comedy performance.
MG18 Theatre Collective
Actors animatedly perform in last years Banff Buy and Sell Comedy Sketch put on by the Banff Theatre Collective. (From left to right: Lena Fritzsching, Shannon Andrew, Ryan Leybourne, Heidi Murdock and Pia Ferrari)

BANFF – What happens in Banff, stays in Banff – or maybe it ends up discussed heavily by locals and added to a sketch comedy performance.

Perhaps some of the lighter aspects to being a local in the mountain community could end up in the upcoming Banff Buy and Sell Sketch Comedy put on by the Banff Theatre Collective.

The show aims to poke fun at some of the wilder things seen throughout the town – a lot of which ends up posted to various Facebook groups like the local buy and sell– the upcoming performance promises to be a funny and relevant comedic experience.

Timothy Eckmier, who started the collective three years ago, said the show plays with the transient aspect of the town using material that comes from threads within Banff specific Facebook groups.

“Essentially Banff is one of those really strange places where we’ve got our own little culture … It’s such a small town, but there’s so much going on,” he said.

“There are really funny posts posted [on Banff Buy and Sell Facebook group]. It used to be, when it first started out, all about people losing their jackets, like ‘hey, I can’t find my jacket, I got too wasted last night.’ So it became really funny because it was this group where people would just roast each other, or they’d tag their friends and be like ‘yo, is this you?’ It just became this really funny community of making jabs at each other.”

Eckmier said the group of actors in the upcoming show has a lot of fun with the content, pulling from other groups online and experiences that seem specific to Banff.

“There’s animal break and enters, and posts that are like ‘who’s cat is this?’ There’s people posting the worst apartments and all the rules like you’re not allowed to cook with cheese, or you’re not allowed to have people over after 11,” he said with a laugh.

“It becomes really funny and it teaches us a lot about this town, some of the funny scenarios kind of only relevant to Banff, or a mountain town.”

The show itself is an improv-based performance, which Eckimer said can be compared to the Saturday Night Live style. While the performers do practice beforehand, when it comes to performance time, anything goes on stage. According to some of the actors themselves, like Shannon Andrew, that’s what makes the show so much fun to put on.

“You never know what’s going to happen on stage,” Andrew said.

“It’s improv and we work on it every week so you’re able to have a witty reply, but sometimes you never know what’s going to come out of your face and it just ends up being really funny. You can just say the weirdest, most off the wall things and they can land.”

Lena Fritzsching said though this show would be around her 11th with the Banff Theatre Collective, this one is specifically enjoyable because of the easygoing nature when actors are under the spotlight.

“It’s often interesting to watch if you’re in the cast because every evening can be different, so each evening it can go somewhere else so you never really quite know. Which is really funny, I like that,” she said.

“Banff is really specific that you can do a show like this in a town here because there are so many specific things that, especially the locals, can identify themselves with.”

Nineteen actors will be taking the stage in this year’s performance, whether they’re from Banff, Canmore, or somewhere else in the world.

Eckimer said since the Banff Theatre Collective has grown since its humble beginnings to now producing five shows a year.

“We have about 30 regular members now, and we’ve done everything from children’s theatre to sketch comedy to improv nights to one-act play festivals and competitions,” he said.

“So it’s really grown in terms of all the different ways that people can get involved in different areas of theatre. It’s been kind of fun to create this group of people in town, to get together and have the social aspect of it but also to create new shows.”

The improv group meets every Sunday above the Banff Library at 7 p.m.

“It’s just a fun way to get together and produce a bunch of skits,” said Andrew.

“It’s not a lot of commitment, but it’s a lot of joy, I would say. It’s just really fun, it’s a nice way to experience theatre.”

Eckmier adds that since he’s started the group, different shows have blossomed out of regular conversations at one of their meetings, which has made the process just that much more beautiful for him.

“When you bring people together, something happens. That sparks new creativity and ideas, the sort of camaraderie you need to be putting on shows,” he said.

The Banff Buy and Sell Sketch Comedy will run from May 6-9 at the Lux Cinema located on Bear Street. Tickets are $10 and can be found on www.luxbanff.com. It’s an 18+ show because, as Eckmier said, once the actors hit the stage, anything can happen.

For more information on the Banff Theatre Collective or upcoming shows, visit www.banfftheatre.ca.

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