Feats of strength: improv band finds humour in day-to-day issues

Advertisement

Advertise with us

The musical improv group Mundane Problems didn’t start out with a Festivus-themed show.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/12/2025 (289 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The musical improv group Mundane Problems didn’t start out with a Festivus-themed show.

But during the holiday season, the band’s shtick — taking suggestions of mundane problems from the audience and alchemizing them into musical gold — happens to sync with Frank Costanza’s Seinfeldian holiday in which the airing of grievances is a central tenet.

It’s a coincidence that should have holiday audiences exclaiming, “Serenity now!”

Supplied
                                Mundane Problems will have you shouting, ‘Serenity now!’

Supplied

Mundane Problems will have you shouting, ‘Serenity now!’

Mundane Problems features Christopher Dunn (vocals), Evan Miles (piano), Josh Bonneteau (drums) and Sam Fournier (bass and vocals).

Issues such as stubbing your toe more than once in the exact same place or having the lettuce go bad before you have a chance to eat it will have them singing the blues on your behalf, figuratively speaking. (They sing multi-genre pieces during the show including rock, opera and pop.)

The quartet met at the University of Manitoba, where they all studied music, and they have gigged over the past three years. Sometimes, they have had to pull off a feat of strength to conquer a long-distance relationship problem, since Dunn now lives in Edmonton.

But as the vocalist is currently appearing in the Sick + Twisted Theatre production Jax, the Beanstalk and the Emperor’s New Clothes: A Merry Crip-mas Panto at the West End Cultural Centre until Jan. 4, the timing is perfect.

“Winnipeg is my second home,” Dunn says. “After fostering such great friendships here over the course of my degree, it’s the best gift of all to come back and perform on such fun shows this month.”

Suppliled
                                Mundane Problems will have you shouting, ‘Serenity now!’

Suppliled

Mundane Problems will have you shouting, ‘Serenity now!’

Shows are Friday and Saturday at the Basement speakeasy at 3470 Portage Ave. in the Howard Johnson. The band takes the stage both nights at 8 p.m. Tickets are $22 at basementwpg.com.

winnipegfreepress.com/randallking

Randall King

Randall King
Writer

Randall King writes about film for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Caution. Avoid shopping (except for food and gas) and important decisions all day. The moon is in Virgo.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

You might have to put your own emotional considerations second to those of someone else because an element of service is a theme for you. You also might explore ways to improve your health, especially through diet. Be aware there’s a moon alert all day.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Klein claims he was offered PC party position to exit 2022 mayoral race to help Gillingham win

Carol Sanders 6 minute read Preview

Klein claims he was offered PC party position to exit 2022 mayoral race to help Gillingham win

Carol Sanders 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:32 PM CDT

Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein said he was offered a position with the provincial Tories if he pulled out of the 2022 mayoral race that saw then-city councillor Scott Gillingham defeat former mayor Glen Murray.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 12:32 PM CDT

Canadian author Anne Carson wins literature Nobel for ‘bold and inventive’ works that blend genres

Jill Lawless, Hillel Italie And Kostya Manenkov, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Canadian author Anne Carson wins literature Nobel for ‘bold and inventive’ works that blend genres

Jill Lawless, Hillel Italie And Kostya Manenkov, The Associated Press 6 minute read Updated: 5:05 PM CDT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Canadian poet, essayist and translator Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for “bold and inventive” works that fuse the classical and the modern and blur the boundaries of poetry and prose.

The Toronto-born Carson, 76, has drawn on themes from classical Greek and Roman literature, modern influences and personal experience for genre-blending titles that have ranged from translations of ancient Greek poets to collaborations with dancers and musicians, including Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed.

The Swedish Academy that awards the prize said she won “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”

The permanent secretary of the academy said the author was in Iceland “listening to the wind” when the panel reached her to notify her of the honor.

Read
Updated: 5:05 PM CDT

Province restores library program at youth jail after ‘miscommunication’

Matthew Frank 3 minute read Preview

Province restores library program at youth jail after ‘miscommunication’

Matthew Frank 3 minute read 4:53 PM CDT

Manitoba Corrections has reversed its decision to cancel a pop-up library program at the Manitoba Youth Centre.

The monthly program had been operating since 2024 in partnership with the province before Manitoba Corrections informed the Manitoba Library Association last month it would be shut down.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said Wednesday there was “some miscommunication” about the use of the space at the Manitoba Youth Centre.

“When it comes to kids, we want to make sure they have great opportunities, books to read, teachers to teach them, which make a real difference in the path forward,” he said at an unrelated news conference.

Read
4:53 PM CDT

Kinew, two NDP caucus members file lawsuit defence, deny defaming former party MLA Wasyliw to expel him

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

Kinew, two NDP caucus members file lawsuit defence, deny defaming former party MLA Wasyliw to expel him

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:22 PM CDT

The premier and two New Democrat caucus members have denied they conspired to defame another politician as an excuse to oust him from the party.

Mark Wasyliw, now an independent Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Fort Garry, was booted from the NDP in September 2024, which the party claimed was due to Wasyliw’s former law partner representing convicted sex offender and disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard.

The independent MLA, who’s a defence lawyer, claims statements his former colleagues made in September 2024 linking him to Nygard or accusing him of lying, harmed him and his reputation.

Wasyliw filed his lawsuit in December last year, naming Premier Wab Kinew, Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie and Seine River MLA Billie Cross as defendants. The claim was later amended to remove Bushie as a defendant and add Environment Minister Mike Moyes, who was at the time chair of the NDP caucus, in his place.

Read
Yesterday at 5:22 PM CDT

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |