Montreal Sketchfest dispatch # 2 (Holy Fuck Comedy Hour, O Dat Dum, Chocolate Feelings, Joketown)

Still in its infancy, the monthly Joketown coincided last Saturday with the 11th annual Sketchfest at Theatre Ste Catherine, both two great things Montreal has right now in terms of sketch comedy one can look forward to, it’s like 2 “goldilocks” planets in perfect alignment. Is it the sign of the laughocalypse? NO! It’s the battle for mayoral duties over Joketown for the week, this time within a larger cadre of the Montreal Sketchfest.

If you don’t know what the heck Joketown is, it’s instantly become my new fave monthly night of freshly written sketch comedy; it’s not unlike being in the writer’s bullpen at SNL. Eight writers are randomly paired off with one another (so no favorite cliques or anything) to make four teams, then are given less than a week to write, assemble their cast, have it read aloud around the table, rehearse, then finally perform it in front of the paying crowd. It’s put on & hosted by one of my favorite performers/comedians/writers/air guitarist/improvisers D.J Mausner, and joined by TSC co-founder Alain Mercieca, both usually costumed as cops, coaches or anything that represents authority taken from the theatre’s “tickle trunk,” and keeping the “Key to Joketown” safe until a new hero is called upon.

For two months, Sehar Manji served back-to-back terms as Mayor as she got the unanimous vote for her strong stories & performances. Did she win a third term with another hilarious sketch? Or was a coup staged to overthrow her grasp on power by one of her rivals from within her writer’s circle?

Well, as defending Mayor, Sehar’s skit “The Beauty & The Beat” had the King & Queen of Joketown (Yes, add Joketown to the list of places still run by royalty. Or is it only symbolic? Hopefully someone could tackle this question in a future sketch) be cursed by the local wizard with insomnia for days until two rivaling troubadours finally break the spell.

Alex Brown’s “At the Drive In” sets up the neighbours kids, one inexperienced & dorky, the other expressive & active; throw in some overtones a la Graduate with the daughter’s mother, and you’ve got a smartly written piece that is hilarious & physical, while pointing out the social constructs within a patriarchal society.

Vance Gillis’ “Grimley’s Choice” employed some of the talented performers from Team Greco to give us a tale of weird fucked up ungrateful kids vying for their daddy’s love.If I saw these children at the end of a dark hallow at a dilapidated mansion while stripping it for copper wiring (diversify your remuneration streams y’all), I’d freak the fuck out.

Attempting to stop the slaughter at The Annual Clambake

Another Joketown writer favourite is Lise Vigneault, who served us the “Annual Clam Bake” with a girl from the Joketown cove who is in love with clams and needs to save them all. “Clams are like people,” she professes as she holds folded cardboard props in each hand, “they’re clams for your pockets.” Secrets are revealed. Expectations were reversed at the final gathering before all of the clams could be executed.

At the end of the show, the crowd cheered the loudest for their fave team/writer. Things got pretty close in decibels between Alex Brown and despot ruler Sehar Manji, but in the end one must emerge victorious, and so the golden key to Joketown was proudly passed on from Sehar, to the new Mayor of the month, Alex Brown, for her Drive In skit.

Tune in to Joketown Radio  for more news concerning its citizens and visitors. Like the Joketown page on Facebook for info on the next one: Joketown X (or 10 for you non-roman statespeople).

Montreal Sketchfest runs through May 14. For the complete schedule and tickets, visit montrealsketchfest.com. You can follow Xavier on Twitter.