Funny business down in the gorge
With help from some friends, Niagara comedian David Green has found the funny side to being lost in the woods.
Or at least the Niagara Gorge. Last fall, Green and a camera crew headed into the steep, often dangerous area near the Niagara River to film the “thrillarious” comedy Gorge.
It stars Green, Levi Mann and Rihan Rahsi as three local comics — “loosely based on ourselves” — who go hiking in the gorge despite warnings about a killer in the area named ‘The Stroop.’
Green says the film is based on a skit he filmed for his former talk show, Live on Queen with David Green, filmed in downtown Niagara Falls.
“We’d been thinking of shooting in the gorge,” he says. “It’s our favourite place, it’s the perfect setting. We showcased the beauty of the gorge, and showcased the danger of the gorge as well.”
“From that trailer, it inspired local musician Jason Smith to write a song for the movie.”
From there more friends got involved, including local musician Rod Standish who composed the score and local comic Marc Calaguiro who joined the cast.
Filming was hardly easy. Bringing the heavy equipment down into the gorge was one thing, but bringing it back up was exhausting.
The crew also had to be “discreet” while shooting, in case Niagara Parks Commission shut them down.
Then there was the aircraft: “I can’t tell you how many shots got ruined by helicopters. It’s all going great, then a helicopter flies by and we’ve got to do it all again.”
Odd things would also pop up. Green says there was some mysterious blood he had to clean up one day, and while he was alone once he spotted a husky which practically begged him to follow him back up the gorge stairs.
“I’d turn a corner and he’d be there, sitting and waiting for me. Then he’d run off again.”
The movie premieres March 31 at the Seneca Queen Theatre on Queen Street. The night will be a fundraiser for Niagara Falls Humane Society, which is looking for a new cat adoption centre with the impending closure of Niagara Square.
In addition to planning a new comedy festival in St. Catharines, Green is working on his next film with the same cast and crew.
“It’s fun. That’s the whole reason I got into comedy, because I wanted to make movies and TV shows.
“But the main fun thing about it is, with comedy you’re doing it by yourself, but this is a collaboration.”