Even by the high standards set by real Japanese game shows, the competition known, for simplicity's sake, as "Dim Sum" at this year's Combustion Festival at Comedy Bar was both weirdly cruel, and cruelly weird.
Oh, and let's not forget mysterious, since even the organizers of the second-annual improv fete had a hard time remembering this particular entry's exact title. It was, I was told by one of the Combustion gang, something like "Samurai Davis Jr. and Dim Sum's Mega Happy Funtime..."
"Super Mega Happy," someone chimed in.
"Super Improv Mega Happy Show," said another.
"Funtime Happy Show."
There you have it. Clear as soy sauce.
Whatever it was, it was a highlight of fest's sophomore edition, with Amber Nash and Chris Blair of the Atlanta company Dad's Garage as the hosts of an improv face-off in the vein of Takeshi's Castle — inflicting all manner of challenges and torture on members of Winnipeg's Crumb, Halifax's Picnicface and locals ProjectProject.
That was last Tuesday night, which saw Crumbs' Lee White and PP's Sara Hillier drinking "wine" made from grapes mashed under each others' feet after they lost a round to Picnicface's Mark Little and Edmonton improv-er Kirsten Rasmussen.
Yeah, ewwww. And yet an earlier punishment, involving poster paint and freshly shaved body hair, had an even higher ick factor. I'm also told that Dim Sum's Saturday-night encore included something called "Volcano pants" — which is probably better left to one's imagination.
The festival is put on by ProjectProject and the troupe is hailing its second go-round as a success, having sold-out Comedy Bar (or come close) throughout the 12-show, six-night run.
"I'm exhausted and in awe," said ProjectProject's Julie Dumais on Sunday. "The sense of community was so palpable, so wonderful."
It was certainly packed last Tuesday, which also saw separate performances by Crush from Ottawa, and the troupe of the same name from New York City. The Canuck Crush seemed hobbled at first, working with just two of its usual performers — Little, Rasmussen and Bob Banks joined in— but they soon got used to each other and settled into an enjoyable long-form about teen brides, Ukrainian customs officials and carny folk.
The New Yorkers were a tighter show from the get-go, its five men and two women ably maneuvering around Comedy Bar's snug stage, opening with some note-perfect mockery of overly religious types.
Pat Thornton was also in the crowd that night, and at midnight surprised the room with a sneak preview his new show Hotbox, a mash-up of super-short sketches, puppet and animation bits that sprang from the success of his The Owl and the Man shorts.
"We really wanted to do something that was fast-paced," said Thornton, "A ton of different things... a really fast, really random show."
Local comics recruited by Thornton and Comedy Network for the show include Jason DeRosse, Levi MacDougall, Boyd Banks, Innessa Frantowski and Craig Brown.
"We ended up with a recurring cast of about 10 people but beyond that we really opened it up to the comedy community," he says, noting that he was able to squeeze in a few more friends through bit parts. "It was great bringing in a crowd of people and making a show that's for a community. Or tries to be."