New South Wales will win this year’s Theatresports National Championships – by fair means or foul.
The dysle-X-ia Men – just like the X-Men but can’t spell – will go to battle for Australia’s premiere state in the ‘State of Origin’ comedy tournament at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday May 19.
Dave “Lowervine” Callan, Bridie “Rouge” Connell and Jon “Magento” Williams have been training for the big fight.
“We’ve developed new games and our secret tactics may include bringing a guitar and a puppet. And we’ve been jamming furiously,” says Williams.
“If worse comes to worse, we’ll steal the Cup. And we can emotionally blackmail the judges: we know where they live.”
Impro Australia and the Sydney Comedy Festival present this ultimate fighting comedy that pits the best improvising comedic minds from Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and WA against the NSW Cranston Cup Champions. The hopes for bringing the cup back home rest upon their special skills.
“Magnito can manipulate metal with his mind; I Magento can with my hands,” Williams says. “While Rogue absorbs the memories, abilities, personalities and physical characteristics of anyone she touches, our Rouge can change her hair colour at will.
“And we call Dave ‘Lowervine’ the “wine lover”. He has spoons in his hands, not knives – not always useful, but better at parties.”
These special powers are sure to come in handy. Last year in Brisbane, the Victorians won the day but at the ‘fortress’ Enmore Theatre, these super comics will do their all to stop those Mexicans from winning again.
“For me personally the Victorian team has the only other person with a shaved head so it’s personal,” Williams confesses.
“It’s a big burden but this year we have home ground advantage. We want to stack the audience so we need lots of NSW people to come.
“For our part, we’ll try every style of comedy possible.”
The Theatresports National Championships have had audiences laughing for more than 25 years and the country’s most ingenious comics – including Wil Anderson, Andrew Denton and Andrew O’Keefe – have graced its stage.
This year’s comp is hosted by comedian and Theatresports World Champion Rebecca De Unamuno, directed by Impro legend Marko Mustac and produced by Cale Bain.
When: 8pm May 19
Where: Enmore Theatre, Enmore Rd, Newtown
Bookings: www.improaustralia.com.au
Tickets: $36-$56
