Imagine popping in your favourite movie and seeing a completely different storyline than the last time you watched it. This is the experience of audience members every time they see a show from Uncalled For, a sassy group of five talented improv artists who specialize in creating something new and original every time they perform.
"Our show's always fresh," says Dan Jeannotte, one of Uncalled For's troupe members, "and that's what I think is a big appeal."
Set to make its third consecutive appearance at the Montreal Fringe Festival this June, Uncalled For is coming off a very successful run the previous two years, selling out most of its shows, and taking home the coveted Spirit of the Fringe Award, which assures the group of a spot at the festival this summer.
All five members of Uncalled For graduated from John Abbott College in the West Island. They portray a bevy of characters onstage, but each also officially serves as a general manager for the company. Mike Hughes is a co-founder of Gravy Bath Productions, which last semester presented a highly popular interpretation of Shakespeare's
The Tempest. Matt Goldberg coaches John Renny High School's Quebec regional improv champions, and handles the finances for Uncalled For. Anders Yates, a veteran of McGill's Players' Theatre, does much of the administrative work. Caitlin Howden rounds out the group, and she is a student at Ryerson University's impressive theatre program.
However, Jeannotte is quick to point out that all the work is fairly evenly divided amongst the players. "There's no leader or anything; we sort of spread out the work," he says.
Together for four years as an official improv team, Uncalled For seems to be coming into its own. In addition to performing their ever-popular improvised comedy routine, which the Gazette dubbed "just plain brilliant," Jeannotte and Yates were asked to emcee "The 15th Hour," a Fringe talk show, at The Grand Bayou Bar (12 rue Rachel O.). As if that weren't enough, the team will host "Fringe For All," a festival preview event at Café Campus, where each company will present a two-and-a-half minute sketch about its show.
Even after all this time, the team still gets revved up for every show, particularly when they have a stage to themselves. Comedy clubs and major events like Fringe Fest provide an unparalleled opportunity for the troupe to get its name out there. "The Fringe is brilliant. It's great. It gives people like us a chance to get out to a bigger audience," says Jeannotte.
All five members consider themselves actors, and each has aspirations for bigger and better things. For instance, Jeannotte hopes to put together a sketch comedy show with the other members of Uncalled For. Nevertheless, he emphasizes that improv will always be their bread-and-butter.
Though Howden is intimately involved with dramatic theatre at Ryerson, she always misses comedy. "My mother came to see a show in Toronto where I had just been raped by over 30 men, and she came up to me afterward, and said, 'I miss your improv shows, dear,'" she says.
What makes their improv worth seeing is not just acting so skillful that many people cannot believe their performance is not scripted, but the level of crowd interaction it inspires. Unlike many other improvised comedy outfits, such as Whose Line is it Anyway?, audience participation is integral to each game or gimmick. Audience members are even pulled onstage at times.
Usually this interactive approach makes for a better show, but there are exceptions. "People love yelling out dirty things [as suggestions]," says Howden. "We're not going to base our scene in a vagina, but thanks for yelling."
Uncalled For is the model of an initially unproven act going a long way, which is part of the criteria behind the Fringe Festival. "The whole idea is it's untested," remarks Jeannotte. "Anyone can get in, and that's its strength."
With several members moving to the Toronto area, the troupe will be spending more time away from home next year. However, they will definitely return. "We're going to keep doing the Fringe for a long time, I think," says Jeannotte. That being said, there is no time like the present to see their act and dozens of others at the Fringe Festival this summer.
For information about the troupe's plans and members, check out their Web site, at
www.uncalledforimprov.com. Read more about Fringe and all the other festivals in Montreal in the pages to come...
2008 Woodie Awards
