Life Lessons finds hilarity in romance gone wrong
Comics Waterfield and Beckman love to teach, Montreal Improv Festival celebrates 10 years of winging it
Though still young, Montreal comics Keith Francis Waterfield and Leighland E. Beckman feel they have picked up enough insights into existence to be able to impart their knowledge to others. So for the last few years, they’ve been holding their Life Lessons comedy talk shows/seminars around town.
The 11th lecture takes place Thursday evening at the Wiggle Room, and will have the all-baffling relationships theme. Expect the pair to point out the dos and don’ts of dating behaviour.
“It’s all about trying to avoid destruction in your romantic life,” says Waterfield, 32. “We go over some of the horror stories in the department of love — stories we’ve heard about and stories of a more personal nature relating to our experiences. There will be a lot of tears and pain and suffering, and hopefully lots of laughter, too.”
For example, pelting ice balls at a woman on the first date is not recommended.
“True story: the guy thought it would be a cute thing to do on a first date,” Waterfield says. “The girl was not amused. The relationship ended quickly.”
“But the good news is that there is humour in tragedies of this sort,” says Beckman, 34. “Essentially, though, we offer a travelling talk show, touching upon issues of the day.”
Beckman, a computer specialist by day, is a minstrel on the comedy scene by night. His forte is naughty songs. Yet while he can make patrons wince with his filthy albeit amusing lyrics, he can also win hearts by tenderly crooning tunes about love.
Though happily ensconced in a relationship, Beckman has had his share of horror tales. Such as the time, six years ago, when he hooked up with a woman he assumed to be the same age as him.
“Then she told me that she wanted to reveal her secret: that she was 16 and still in high school. I was shocked and asked her for her ID. I thought she was kidding. So she showed me her Grade 11 student card.” Beckman, relieved that nothing physical had transpired, showed her the door immediately.
Waterfield, who works at the Segal Centre, is an accomplished improv artist and sketch comic. He and another well-known local wit, Alain Mercieca, make up the award-winning troupe Genius Gold.
While his sketch skills may have helped, Waterfield claims to have wooed the woman in his life by keeping his mouth shut.
“I’m a good listener,” he says. “People love to talk about themselves, but I think listening is a far greater skill and one that can be far more effective in winning hearts.
“Of course, after listening attentively to someone for one hour, I sometimes have a tendency to break down and blab about myself for the next three hours.”
It’s not just Waterfield and Beckman blabbing about life and love on stage.
“That’s the cool thing about our shows,” says Beckman. “We get non-performers to tell their stories, which may be heartbreaking yet still rather humorous.”
To bring a little balance to Life Lessons, Mercieca will give a death lesson.
“He hasn’t revealed what it is yet,” Waterfield says. “But it just may relate to the fact that having 142 kids — which I believe he has — could put a damper on romance.”
Congrats to Mprov: the Montreal
Improv Festival, which celebrates its 10th anniversary at the Montreal Improv Theatre on the Main.
The bash kicks off Thursday and runs to Nov. 15, with the first three days focusing on franco improv and the rest of the festival concentrating on local, national and international anglo acts.
The fest has come a long way over the last decade. It began modestly as a three-day anglo affair at the Comedyworks with only two acts: this city’s On the Spot Improv and Toronto’s Bad Dog troupe. But since 2011, it has a permanent home at the Montreal Improv Theatre and has hosted troupes from as far as Edmonton, Texas and Paris.
Yet the fest has never forgotten its roots, and has helped bring nationwide exposure to such talent-laden local ensembles as Uncalled For, the cleverly named Without Annette and TSC Improv. In 2012, the fest went bilingual.
Highlights of the 10th edition include Vancouver’s Benjamins, Ottawa’s Crush, Winnipeg’s Sick Fox, New York’s Junior Varsity and Toronto duos Chad Mallett and Coko & Daphney.
Representing this city’s talent pool will be Easy Action, Jerry Orbach’s Eyes, Helmüt and Quest of the Dragon King. Returning to the fold will be original acts Bad Dog and On the Spot, the latter reuniting for this fest only.
Marc Rowland, the founder and head of the festival, notes that this edition will be the biggest yet, featuring about 40 acts.
“What’s really been gratifying has been the growth of the local improv community,” says Rowland, who teaches improv and performs with Easy Action. “The community started really small, but the number of people who have been watching, studying and performing has really been evolving. There are now more than 200 who come here to study and to perform, and in both English and French. The city has really embraced improv.”
Eman, a staple on the local comedy scene for years, will be performing and cutting a disc Wednesday at Club Soda. The host will be another Montreal comedy staple, the bicultural sensation Mike Ward. Eman’s frequent collaborator and mate Jessica Salomon will also be on the bill.
Happy as that soirée should be, it will be tinged with a little sorrow: Eman and Salomon will be leaving the city shortly, in search of more lucrative opportunities in the Big Apple.
Regardless, Eman won’t be turning her back on her comedy roots, and pledges to return frequently.