The One that Got Away

Now, don’t let the name fool you, last Friday, these improvisors weren’t letting anything get away from them. It was an early Valentines Day special for all you lovebirds out there, and let’s just say that the cast of DIY improv may have stolen a few hearts.

In keeping with their tradition of having amazing guest appearances by awesome improvisors, the cast of DIY was joined by RobYn Slade of local improv troupe; Outside Joke. RobYn didn’t disappoint, as the DIY crew and her blended seamlessly for two sets of high stakes, romantic, improv fun.

For the first set, the audience was transported to the fictional restaurant, The Squeaky Chicken, where we zoomed in on three hilarious couples out on a date. The laughs were fast and frequent, as we saw an English Professor and an Archaeologist talk about sex, murder, and punctuation. “Murder first, then sex, you know how this works!” Exclaimed Bruce Symaka to RobYn Slade, realizing that seems to be how all their dates end up.

Not to be outdone, they were followed be DIY veterans Suzanne Rae Cobb and Jesse Miki, who played a sexually unsatisfied equestrian rider and her always-too-busy-husband. The sexual innuendo was fast and furious, and no one in the crowd was left wondering why she got into horseback riding in the first place.

Just when things were getting hot and heavy, the romantic elements were put on the back burner when Aaron Simm and Matt Moskal took the stage as door to door encyclopedia salesmen out on a “bro-date”. Their relationship took a turn for the worst when they realized that the encyclopedias they were selling were actually just full of blank pages. “You mean I’ve been going door to door selling people lies? My God, I feel like a Jehovah’s Witness!”

After these three wild, and unlikely dates concluded, special guest Kyle Cobb played some soothing guitar riffs at intermission. His Motown inspired riffs and sultry style set the scene for the second set: The speed dating round!

The characters were just as weird and wacky, and the energy was just as high, as the sparks continued to fly throughout the second half of the evening. Aaron Simm and Kya Dimaline kicked things off, and had their date end in tragedy. It was a recipe for disater, as a spoiled rich housewife, and a high school gym teacher, who was secretly poor (not sure how he kept that one a secret) went out for lobster tails and French wine.

RobYn Slade and Matt Moskal were perfect for each other, as they showed us what true love and speech impediments really look like. That was, until Matt let his impediment slip, and he had to explain his corrective surgery to his unimpressed girlfriend.

Dr. Symaka didn’t let his maturity get in the way of his romantic date with Suzanne, who simply never got over high school. But not everything went smoothly, when in a sudden twist, Suzanne and Kya wound up storming out on their dates and switching places! It worked out pretty well for the spoiled rich girl to go out on a date with a Doctor, but not so much for the high school student who was now on a date with her gym teacher!

After the second set concluded to a round of thunderous applause, there were some special musical features to cap off another great night at the Loft Gastropub. Kyle Cobb, Canadol, and DIY’s own Matt Moskal took the stage to play us out on another successful night at the improv.

With all the dysfunctional couples, breakups, and encyclopedia salesmen, I’m not sure if you could really call this evening romantic, but I was loving everything they were doing.

Join the cast of DIY improv again at the Loft Gastropub, on Thursday, February 21st for Poetic Justice, featuring Bucko! Your favorite cast and crew returns with more special guests for a night of improvised poetry, and justice!

The Crow Speaks

Bruce Symaka gives us a “V” for victory, and rest assured, the February edition of Speaking Crow was full of win. There was no featured reader for this month’s installment, but with the caliber of the poets last Tuesday, it hardly seemed to matter. It was a night of inspired performances, clever wordplay, and heart wrenching poetry all around.

Our gracious host for the evening, the always sharply dressed Bruce Symaka, kicked things off with the traditional Crow poem, a very… bad, Crow poem. Having gotten his hands on a book entitled “Very Bad Poetry”, he read us a graphic account of the hungry carrion crow, making a meal of a less fortunate soul. And just when the audience thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, he proceeded to read “The girl with only one eye”, and yes, it is as bad as it sounds. With the bar set sufficiently low for the evening, the poetry had nowhere to go but up.

Even with the terrible opening poems, the night did not disappoint, not in the slightest. There was a myriad of different performers lined up: poets, improvisors, songwriters, and storytellers all took the stage to spill their hearts and share their stories. The poetry seemingly covered everything, from WWII fighter pilots to fire sprinklers, and from a carpool full of writers to sloths who forgot to dump out the coffee grounds, everything was on the table. Oh, and butts too, there were some serious poems, about some serious butts. Seriously.

There was also a special appearance by one of the feature readers for the upcoming March installment of Speaking Crow, Winnipeg’s very own Steve Locke. He delivered another inspired performance, a touching poem about bacon, masturbation, and the apocalypse. He capped off the incredible performance, with a shout out to the official Speaking Crow squeaking chicken, who gave his poem two squeaks up!

Be sure to check out Steve Locke, and his partner in crime Steve Currie, as the two of them co-feature at the March installment of Speaking Crow on March 5th at the Winnipeg Free Press Cafe. If the lineup is anything like the one we had on Tuesday, I promise you, it will be another night to remember.

The Man Who Couldn’t Sleep

In lieu of a week full of performances, we caught up with the man who couldn’t sleep himself, Matt Moskal, and had chat about the lingering buzz from his recent first tour, and what is necessary in being an attentive audience member, as well as performer.

Matt Moskal is, or has been, a journalist, a musician, spoken word artist, improvisor, and pro wrestling referee. Since moving from Southern Ontario to Winnipeg in late 2011, he has been active in many local performance circles, namely at the Frame Arts Warehouse  located in the Exchange District, where he helped to cultivate a growing and consistent community of performers as a host of the “Caravan Open Stage” series. Having shared stages with the likes of Daniel Romano of Attack in Black, Julie Doiron, and the legendary Fred Penner, the restless storyteller compulsively and courageously pushes his craft beyond its preconceived boundaries….which might have never been present in the first place…

It seems you are a jack of all trades in the performance realm: a musician, a spoken word poet, an improviser; but above all else, you consider yourself to be a storyteller. What does each form of storytelling offer you, and which one is your favourite?

Songwriting will always be my first love. I don’t have the necessary experience to be considered a seasoned poet, improviser or comedian. They have all been part of the show. However, performing music has always brought them all together for me. You can’t bring the same show to every crowd, so you need to be willing to follow your impulses. Whether they be comedic or poetic, you have to always be thinking on your feet. So I suppose my favourite form of storytelling is just interacting with an audience. I don’t play an instrument. I play crowds. That’s not too conceited, is it?

You recently went on tour in Ontario, which was your first. How has that changed your perception of your music, and yourself as a musician?

Absolutely. I had played maybe four shows in the year leading up to the tour. When my tour mate, Andrew Laviolette, pitched the idea, I was hesitant.

It felt like a “do or die” situation. I was either going to feel like I’d fulfilled my dream of playing musician, or want more. Now I want more.

A lot of the tour was playing for strangers. They took a chance on me. And I think we all left every show satisfied. It made the last year of internal arguments feel moot. Now I just want to play for everyone everywhere.

Describe the format of your upcoming shows. Why did you choose it? What does it offer audiences that a standard format doesn’t?

Most of my friends from Winnipeg have only seen my spoken word performances. So I added some songs to that.

But in all seriousness, I was a house musician at the Townehouse Tavern (in Sudbury, Ontario) for little over a year. In that time, you perform for a variety of audiences. Some nights, it’s a miniature concert. Other nights, you teach the bartender the chords to “Blister in the Sun”. I can play three 45-minute sets. But that gets tedious when it’s just one man and a guitar. So I invite the audience to raise their voices. I prolong applause. I tend to get animated. But most of all, I try not to get too comfortable.

With the upcoming shows, I have a few different types planned. On February sixth at Shannon’s Irish Pub and Eatery, I intend to play a set geared to even the most frigid of bar patrons. At The Loft Gastropub on February ninth, I am doing an eclectic mix of covers and originals. And then I’m throwing a bunch of songs in a hat. Top 40 songs, folk songs, hip-hop songs, etc. I plan to play whatever gets pulled out.

In your opinion, what makes for a good show, as an audience member as well as a performer? What are some of the best shows you’ve attended as a performer and as a member of the audience?

I think they both go hand-in-hand, being an audience member and performer. if you’ve got your guard up all night, you’re not going into either with the right mindset. I am as guilty as the next person for having my thumbs in my belt loops at shows. But they still come out to clap at the end of every performance.

The best show I’ve ever had as a performer and audience member was the “40th Annual Northern Lights Festival Boreal”. It was less about the performance and more about the atmosphere. A warm, receptive audience seemed to be walking every inch of the grounds. Everyone there was nearly on an even playing field. The moment you step off the stage, you’re part of an all-encompassing, compassionate crowd. You can redirect that positivity to other performers or other patrons.

What has your experience been like as a host of open mics? What can you say about the open mic scene in Winnipeg? What do the performers who come out to these events have to offer?

I can’t really comment on the overall open mic scene in Winnipeg. There are so many that I have had very limited exposure. But each one seems to have its players. There’s enough diversity if you venture as far as a storefront away. This is a great city to cut your teeth as a performer.

I have always just fallen into the role of open mic host. My first open stage hosting gig was thrust upon me two nights before the event. I had to develop a style very quickly. Needless to say, I had no style. It’s always been something off-the-cuff at open mic nights. But it has given me the opportunity to live out some fantasies. We made “Caravan Open Stage” into a late night talk show. That was surreal.

Catch Matt Moskal’s solo sets this Wednesday, February 6 at Shannon’s Irish Pub at 9, and Saturday, February 9 at Frame Arts Warehouse at 3:15, then at The Loft Gastropub on Corydon at 8.