The cast of Second City’s new show, Reloaded, are discussing the work of comedian Ray Romano. Cast member (and Scarborough native) Paul Bates is a close personal acquaintance of the Everybody Loves Raymond star after he played a role in the notable Romano vehicle Welcome to Mooseport.
“I have about ten lines, but I’m in the movie about every ten minutes. I was Ray’s buddy at his hardware store. I was, for all intents and purposes, mentally challenged,” Bates explains.
Of course, it’s not too long before Bates is doing dialogue from the film. In a slightly lower Bob Mackenzie-esque voice, he begins: “Heeeeeyyy, Ray.” “Whaatt?” he answers back in Romano’s token nasal whine.
I’m no expert, but it’s pretty good. The cast concurs.
Castmate Naomi Snieckus (along with Bates and cast members Matt Baram and Derek Flores, she’s a veteran of Second City productions) exclaims her love for Raymond, but co-star Lauren Ash (a former member of the SC touring company) has a dissenting opinion: “Watching that show made me want to eat my own face”.
So, I guess everybody doesn’t love Raymond?
The cast is gathered in a cramped yellow dressing room to discuss the new direction that Second City is taking. Big changes have occurred in the past few months, including a new cast, a new show, and a new building located on Mercer Street.
“This is exactly the right direction for Second City. I wouldn’t call the last place a mistake, but I think that they realized the mistakes they made,” says Bates, a veteran of the Second City program.
For those unfamiliar with Second City, the improv company (which gave rise to such illustrious alumni as Andrea Martin, John Candy, and Mike Myers and spawned the classic sketch comedy show SCTV) formerly had a home at 56 Blue Jays Way. The space was a pure tourist attraction (especially post-SARS), with Tony and Tina’s Wedding (a cheesy Italian-themed dinner theatre show) and Wayne Gretzky’s bar just down the street.
“I think that they had different ideas about what it was going to be…a casino was going to be in there, it was going to be part of this conglomerate,” Snieckus notes.
But that’s all in the past. After months of training in empty spaces (including the bar across the street) and in the basement of the new facility, Second City has a brand-spankin’ new venue. The layout is simple, with only a bar, space for rehearsal, and the mainstage performance space-which now seats 316 instead of the previous 385. Photos of former cast members from all six Second City theatres (aside from the one here in Toronto, there are five others across the U.S.) adorn the walls. And the focus is back where it should be-on the comedy.
“We’ve reclaimed that history that it had in the glory days,” says Derek Flores.
“Here we can actually touch the audience,” explains castmate Matt Baram.
“There’s audience touching all over the place,” Snieckus quips.
“I just think this is a better vehicle for us to perform in. It’s a better experience and environment for all,” Bates offers diplomatically.
The Second City show itself has been rejigged, putting focus on controversial material.
“It’s nice to take something that people ordinarily can’t find funny and make it funny,” says Anand Rajaram, a newcomer to the cast that’s been a familiar face in the local theatre scene as a puppeteer and mime.
The sketches try to push as many boundaries as possible. Take the piece with landlady Karla Homolka asking for a renter’s references (“Whatever my references are, they’re sure as hell better than yours”), and Conservative party leader Stephen Harper… well, killing children. Watching the performance a week before opening night, I was struck by how darkly political the sketches were, reflecting the current feeling of insecurity in a U.S.-dominated world.
One sketch in particular, “Thank You America,” illustrates these worries. The cast, standing together in a horizontal line, thanks America for its scary political climate, ridiculous authority figures, and “for making it so damn hard to get into your country.” You can sense the tension within the audience as the cast points out things that haven’t been directly said out loud. That sort of razor-edge comedy makes the new show truthful, dark, edgy-and adult. In short, Tony and Tina’s Wedding it is not.
So with such dynamic new material to choose from, what are the cast members’ favourite sketches?
“My favourite sketch is the one that just got cut,” Snieckus shrugs, putting an awkward pause into the conversation.
“I like the pizza sketch,” Rajaram says, referring to a scene where a nervous customer played by Baram trips over his own words asking a Muslim pizza place owner if he’s a terrorist.
“To take something that people traditionally do not or cannot find funny…to transform this for people, it changes the way they think about things in the world. Sometimes you can change their perspective, but otherwise it’s just about giving them that coping ability,” he points out.
The cast all have different theatre backgrounds, ranging from George Brown College dropout Lauren Ash, to street performer Derek Flores. And they all have different plans once their stint at Second City is over.
“I want to do stand-up some time. I am so scared to, but that’s kind of why I want to try it. But first I’ve got to write some jokes,’ Bates grins.
“I want to do theatre shows where I’m animated or I’m a Muppet. That would be an aspiration,” Flores chimes in. (Um, okay, then.)
“I’ve written a television pilot,” Ash announces proudly.
Probably not the most original thing to say amongst a group of rising comics. “Hey, you might be the first comedian ever to write a TV pilot,” Bates shoots back, laughing.
Second City’s Reloaded, a combination of sketch comedy and live improvisation, runs every Tuesday to Sunday at 51 Mercer St . After the show, there is a free live improv set with the cast. (Oh, and the bartender also makes a mean Bloody Mary.) For more info, see secondcity.com.
