It’s seventh heaven for local improv troupe

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This article was published 15/03/2024 (905 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seven improvisers! In a local theatre! Throwing a seventh birthday party!

Club Soda, a Winnipeg improv troupe, is celebrating seven years of community and impromptu comedy with an interactive birthday bash at the Gas Station Arts Centre Saturday.

“It’s really going to be something special,” Club Soda co-founder Kevin Ramberran says of the event. “It’s improv powered by friendship, so we’re excited to welcome the whole audience into our friend group.”

Club Soda was formed by a group of like-minded actors, many of whom were members of the Black Hole Theatre Company at the University of Manitoba.

“(We) really enjoyed the art of improv and improv comedy and wanted to find a space for it within our community,” says Ramberran, whose co-conspirators included Thomas Toles, Justin Fry, Laurie Macdonell and Daniel Chen.

At the time, there were few places in Winnipeg for budding improvisers to practise their craft in front of a live audience.

“There wasn’t much of a pipeline for people outside of high school. They’d have an interest in this thing and maybe a theatre course in university would entertain it. There were some programs independent improvisers were running, but there wasn’t a lot,” Ramberran says.

Club Soda received a warm reception during its first performance in 2017 at the Rudolf Rocker Cultural Centre — a since-shuttered event space on Albert Street — leading to regular shows at venues around town.

They found a home at Wee Johnny’s and gained a loyal following through annual Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival appearances.

Like many forms of live entertainment, the club moved online amid the pandemic. Ramberran has seen renewed interest in the craft among audiences and performers in the wake of the health crisis.

“It’s sort of had a bit of a cultural resurgence,” he says, adding that his favourite thing about improv is the freedom to play pretend.

“The playful imagination of childhood seems to live in improv.”

Club Soda as an entity has also grown in recent years. The group has found a new home at the Gas Station and now has a rotating cast of about 12 members, as well as dedicated support staff, including a stage manager and improv coach.

Tomorrow’s show is a celebration of the last seven years and an opportunity to think about what the next seven may hold.

“I want Club Soda to keep growing. I want us to keep offering audiences new, interesting shows and keep providing people with a strong example of what high-quality, polished improv looks like and the different things it can do in the city,” Ramberran says

Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; arrive early for an opportunity to mingle with the performers prior to the show. The opening act is an ensemble of women and non-binary performers doing a mini-improv workshop.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com

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