Brace yourself. The Comic Strippers are about to invade the Arden Theatre.
Sounds kind of sexy, maybe even lecherous. After all, who doesn’t enjoy tongue-in-cheek nudity? But these fellas are not quite Magic Mike or The Full Monty – more like shirtless dads wearing black pants and purple bow ties.
But these stripped-down comedians are far from shy. They dance, groove, gyrate and banter with the crowd. They are, in fact, some of Canada’s top improvisers, satirizing male strippers. And while the foursome attempt to be sexy, it only comes across as funny.
They include Roman Danylo, David Milchard and Chris Casillan. The show’s biggest parody is the fourth member — Denise Jones, a “fake” male stripper. And yes, she paints on a moustache, wears a wig and Tensor-bandages her boobs.
“The premise is a loose setting of a new guy trying to earn his purple bow tie. It’s a shirtless version of Whose Line is It Anyway with dancing, music and improv games in between,” said Danylo.
He co-starred on Comedy Inc., and appeared on CBC’s Comics, These Arms of Mine, Made in Canada, and the Just For Laughs Improv Championships, as well as CTV’s Corner Gas.
When Comedy Inc. went off the air in 2009 after a five-year run, Danylo hustled to find work. A comedy triple-threat who performs improv, sketch and standup, he was widely known to Canadians and enjoyed more options than many. However, in a business where you're only as good as your last show, Danylo was looking to produce his own touring shows. He flirted with a CSI parody and a variety show.
“They did OK. But I needed a concept where the title would get people in the door. I wanted to do something nobody else was doing.”
One day his wife came home from attending a flesh fest, a male-strip show with girlfriends. It was completely sold out.
“I thought, ‘OK. We’ve got shirts and we can take them off and improvise.' It was a perfect mix of energies to make it work.”
The Comic Strippers' first international performance was in Australia at Adelaide’s Fringe Festival, where most shows sold out.
“We knew we had something special.”
Their first Canadian premiere was at Fort McMurray to a 600-strong crowd.
“It felt like a jet engine from the response of the crowd. There was so much laughing and cheering.”
Since the show is self-produced, Danylo, now-based in Vancouver, wanted to see if it would sell in the United States. His troupe travelled down the American coastline to California, performing in cities such as Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. But their favourite spot was the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
“It was cool to visit these cities. Even if we did poorly, at least we could get a vacation.”
The Comic Strippers will never be confused with the real Chippendale dancers. But they’ve spent a lot of time perfecting their dance moves, said Danylo.
“You can do a lot with YouTube and a lot of our moves are based on aerobic dance moves. At first when we started, I thought we wouldn’t be doing this in our 50s. But we’re in our 50s and we just do more stretching before each performance, and we eat right.”
“This is a Canadian drag parody of male strippers. There is nothing cringe-worthy. It’s just a lot of fun. Tell your friends.”
The 18-plus show takes place Friday, June 16 at 8 p.m. at the Arden Theatre, 5 St. Anne Street. Tickets are $49 plus fees. Visit tickets.alberta.ca or call 780-459-1542.
