What: The Comic Strippers
Where: McPherson Playhouse
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $39.50-$44.50 at rmts.bc.ca, by phone at 250-386-6121, or in person at the Royal McPherson box office
听
The funnymen behind The Comic Strippers clearly don鈥檛 have the same cachet 鈥� or abs 鈥� as the actors who drove male-stripper movie Magic Mike to worldwide acclaim and boffo box office in 2012. Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey and Adam Rodr铆guez they are not.
But that hasn鈥檛 stopped creator Roman Danylo from trying to perfect his improvisational parody of exotic dancing. 鈥淭his is a genre that nobody has parodied, maybe for good reason,鈥� Danylo said from his home in Vancouver. 鈥淢aybe no one has been gutsy enough to try it.鈥�
The Comic Strippers came about around the same time as Magic Mike, which drew raves for its realistic (and humorous) handling of the male-stripper industry. Which got Danylo to thinking.
Five years after its conception, The Comic Strippers is still growing (Danylo has even taken the show to Hawaii, he said). The concept is simple: With help from the audience, the performance offers stripper-themed twists on improv-comedy games, 鈥渓ike a shirtless Whose Line is it Anyway? with comedy bodies,鈥� Danylo said. The idea came out of the Vancouver TheatreSports League, where Danylo and his eight fellow performers (five of whom will be in Victoria for their performance Saturday) cut their teeth.
Nudity is not part of the performance, but some of the content pushes The Comic Strippers into adult territory. The tone of each performance is determined by the audience, which is often a fairly even mix of male and female. Attendees eventually become part of the performance, Danylo said, as their suggestions fuel a big portion of the show.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about the male-stripper genre, which is about fun. Magic Mike wasn鈥檛 really done with irony, it just made people giggle. Our show is definitely done with a healthy sense of irony.鈥�
The dancers/comics have extensive comedy experience in sa国际传媒, from Danylo鈥檚 role on CTV鈥檚 Comedy Inc. to Milchard鈥檚 series of YouTube videos under the Convos With My 2 Year Old title. Danylo said he鈥檇 take an audience for The Comic Strippers over a standup crowd any day of the week 鈥� especially on the weekend.
鈥淥ur audience never seems to go out of control. It鈥檚 energetic, but well-behaved. Comedy clubs on a Saturday night for the late show, you can get some pretty rowdy crowds.鈥�
The Comic Strippers is tough for its headliners to handle, in that they are performing not only live without a net, but without shirts. Thankfully, Danylo said, physical fitness is not a prerequisite in any way for this comedy show.
鈥淏ut by simply doing this show, we鈥檙e sort of keeping in shape.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also hitting it from the other side with the touring lifestyle of burgers and beers after every show, so we鈥檙e keeping an even keel.鈥�
