Art Beat: Sketch comics serve hot takes in Gibsons Sept. 10

A traveling group of improv comedians will perform at the Gibsons Heritage Playhouse on Sept. 10 with a show invented on the spot in response to audience suggestions and canny observations about Coast culture.

The Improvisers unites three long-time stand up, radio and TV performers: Roman Danylo, Michael Teigen and Chris Casillan. Danylo has appeared on CTV’s Corner Gas and CBC’s Just for Laughs, in addition to gigs at comedy festivals and CBC Radio’s The Debaters. Teigen is credited in dozens of TV series and films and is also a frequent contributor to Vancouver-area improv comedy revues. Casillan, a musician and a comedian, is a two-time winner of the Canadian Comedy Award.

For the past 10 years, Danylo has been touring with The Comic Strippers, a show about a group of cynical male strippers who want to be appreciated for more than their bawdy antics. 

“We sort of rebooted it during COVID,” said Danylo, “and created a fully-clothed version of The Comic Strippers, kind of a mini variety show. Then we realized how much we enjoyed performing in these awesome smaller venues. That’s how The Improvisers found their way to Gibsons.”

The show will feature musical numbers as well as audience-inspired sketches. “There’s really nothing like [improv],” said Danylo. “There’s nothing better than that sort of spontaneous feeling that comes when you can sense that the performers have no idea what they’re going to say. That kind of energy seems to create this sort of electric kind of giggliness that naturally occurs.”

Tickets for The Improvisers are available for purchase online from Eventbrite.

Gibsons harbours musical variety

The Music in the Landing series, sponsored by the Town of Gibsons, continues to delight outdoor audiences with free concerts each weekend in Winegarden Park.

On Friday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m., Corner Table (Pamela Girone, Peter Hill, and Gary Bowman) serves up musical delights. The group has played together for over 25 years, and blends blues, pop and songbook standards in their eclectic mix.

On Saturday, Aug. 27, two performances are scheduled. At 3 p.m., Nick Verdes will charm audiences with his distinctive musical stylings, followed by (at 6:30 p.m.) the Steve Hinton Band (Steve Hinton, Al Alford, Sully Antonyk, and Tim Rannard) featuring a mix of blues, old-time country and rock and roll.

Sechelt parks summer concerts

In Sechelt, the final performances of the free Sechelt Music Series appear onstage at Hackett Park on Saturday, Aug. 27. 

Starting at noon, the Budge Schachte Group (Budge Schachte, Graham Ord, Arista Hawkes, and special guest Celso Machado) plot a smooth-running course through jazz, latin, pop, funk, folk, soul and world music.

Immediately afterward, the Monty Montego and the Rocksteady Crew (Michael Clarke, Keely Halward, Ian Hunt and Allain Morin) bring down the house with Jamaican music from the late 1960s and beyond.

BUGS are jamming in Roberts Creek

The laid-back Slow Sundays in the Creek series features a full lineup on Sunday, Aug. 28. The concert starts at noon with the BUGS Ukulele Jam, followed by the Harmony Hall Fiddler Friends, Double Treble Celtic Duo, and the ubiquitous Monty Montego Rock Steady Reggae Band.

Slow Sundays take place at the gazebo behind the Roberts Creek Community Library. Organizers urge attendees to bring their own chairs, blankets, hydration and shade before settling into the Coast’s “most intimate venue.”

Dramatic details

Last week’s coverage of the Driftwood Theatre School named two of the institution’s co-founders, but it’s worth mentioning that there were in fact five drama educators who united to bring the school to reality: Sally Williams, JoAnne Bennison, Milena Cassidy, Ingrid Bilton, and Sandi McGinnis. Most recently, during COVID, Bilton taught accents and dialects online and McGinnis focused on improvisation techniques.