The Second City’s 64th revue, Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets, is not only an exceptionally hilarious show—it also features two U of T alum, Darryl Hinds and Matthew Reid. The Varsity caught up with both of them backstage, where they shared their thoughts on the world of comedy and their current show.

The Varsity: What was your time like at U of T?

Darryl Hinds: It was fantastic—some of the best times of my life. I went to the Erindale Campus…it’s unique in that it’s a little suburban community, a little neighbourhood, a vacuum of people. I was doing a theatre and drama program—it was a joint practical acting program with Sheridan College, but we also learned theatre and drama studies at U of T. It was the best of both worlds. I think it has been invaluable in the job that we do—it really teaches you how to appreciate all the jobs that take place in the theatre. And never to take those jobs for granted, because [everyone] works really hard.

Matthew Reid: It was a long time ago. It was cool to have long hair and goatees at the time. (Pauses for laugh). Imagine very little computer use—Internet is pretty unheard of. Social networks just don’t exist at all. There were some great professors. I took music, theory and composition. The music scene was very conservative in its radicalism. We were still living in that world of the 1960s and 1970s.

TV: How did you get into comedy?

DH: Most people who get into comedy will tell you that they were a class clown or whatever. I was a class clown, [though] I’m not an extroverted person in nature—I like making my friends laugh. I never spoke out in class and I was a pretty straight-laced kid. I remember it was one recess I started joking around and doing some impressions of characters from SCTV to my friends. Two of my friends were there and about 10 minutes later I noticed that a crowd of other kids gathered around and were watching me do these impressions of these characters. After recess was done, I looked at my friends and said, “Yeah. This is what I want to do.” So, it was like one of those profound moments during childhood.

MR: As a toddler, I had a natural propensity for slipping on banana peels. Falling out of balconies. Maybe if I made it look like I was doing these things on purpose, I would get more attention—good attention, as opposed to bad attention that accompanies accidents.

TV: Who were some of your comedic idols?

DH: The majority of the cast of SCTV. When I was growing up, SCTV was my Saturday Night Live. I didn’t really watch SNL. I watched SCTV and I’m glad for that. In my opinion, SCTV has some of the best sketches and writing that has ever been on television, next to Monty Python. Bill Cosby was a huge influence. His was actually the first comedy album that I got. I got a record which was The Best of Bill Cosby. I memorized it and recited it to my parents. Bill Cosby was huge and Peter Sellers was a huge influence as well. And Charlie Chaplin was also a big influence.

MR: In the comedy world, there [are] the SCTV guys, particularly Jim Flaherty, Eugene Levy, the Marx Brothers, particularly Harpo Marx. Also, Monty Python and John Cleese in particular. The Goon Show’s Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. The comedy side mixed with the profundity on the music side kept me balanced.

TV: Give us the take on your current show *Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets.*

DH: As most Second City shows go, the title has very little to do with the actual show. There is very little stuff about tweeting in it or social networking, per se…I’d say it’s about relationships and connections between people. There is a lot of political satire and I think in that way, we are getting back to The Second City of the ’60s and ’70s, because they were very socially and politically based. We are never offensive for [the sake of offensiveness].

MR: There is certainly a lot more in the show that will shock or piss people off. The play is shocking, but still in the realm of acceptable shocking.

TV: If you didn’t do comedy, what job would you like to have?

DH: Another creative outlet. It would probably be something in the visual arts—comic-book drawing or [being] a cartoonist. Actually, there was a year I took a break from acting in university and I went into visual arts, because that was something that I always wanted to pursue as well. So I pursued it and I found out that I really wanted to be a performer, as opposed to getting into the visual arts.

MR: Some sort of polemicist, probably. Writing on economics—it’s an interesting and fascinating subject. A lot of people have opinions on it without knowing what the hell they are talking about. I felt it was important to “edumacate” myself. So, if comedy, writing, or music weren’t available, then I would become an economist, a social scientist, or a barber.

Shut Up and Show Us Your Tweets is now playing at the Second City. For more info, visit thesecondcity.com.