On January 9th, the Trent University Alternative Arts Collective (TUAAC) hosted a sketch show entitled “Straight from the Dome: Over an Hour of Comedy”. The pay-what-you-can event featured TUAAC members Hollis Ferguson, Drew Freemantle, Thomas Parry, Vic Bell, Em Legate, Sierra Ashton, Cameron Bratti, Miles Lothian, Ainsley Eppel, and PJ Jersen. The show was written by cast members with help from Ben Tedesco, while Ziggy Allin and Sam Jacquemain were in charge of lights and sound.

“It’s very improv-heavy,” said Hollis Ferguson, sketch actor and founding member of TUAAC. “In prior shows we had a bit more scripted stuff, but this time around, we’re leaning more into the improv, so I’m really excited for that.”

True to Ferguson’s words, the show included several improv games that lent themselves well to live events, such as the Dating Game. In this performance, a dating show candidate (played by Vic Bell) met with a gingerbread man (Drew Freemantle), a siren (Hollis Ferguson), a troll (Cameron Bratti), and a unicorn (Sierra Ashton) before matching with a demolition technician/big bad wolf (Miles Lothian).

“I did a lot of improv-related things with a lot of the people running the show—I was in Improv at Trent beforehand, and was asked if I would be interested in participating [in this show],” said Sierra Ashton, another founding member of TUAAC.

Another strength of the show was the frequent use of lighting as a plot device. One such bit began as a club night for Em Legate and their friends, as indicated by flashing multicoloured lights. These abruptly cut out with the arrival of the Russian Dance Mob, who intended to arrest Legate’s father (Drew Freemantle) for dance-related money laundering. 

The strobe returned as Legate, Freemantle and the Russian Dance Mob entered a dance battle to clear his eight-billion-dollar debt. Due to a lack of skill, they lost, and Freemantle was ushered offstage to await his trial and eventual execution.

In another scene, a red spotlight pointed to actor Cameron Bratti as he recounted the harrowing tale of his trip to Iceland. This family vacation involved murdering sentient garden gnomes with spiked boots.

“This time, we’re hoping to get a little weirder with some of our comedy,” said Thomas Parry, TUAAC Co-President and sketch co-organiser. “We’re hoping people enjoy the weirdness.”

Some of this “weirdness” could also be described as non-sequitur humour such as Parry’s opening skit, wherein he discovered that the W key on his keyboard was broken, and proceeded to smash it against a table. He repeated this with a second keyboard, littering keys across the stage.

This was TUAAC’s third-ever sketch show, and like its predecessors, it featured a musical interlude. Unlike previous performances, this year’s song was a pre-recorded compilation of synth beats, punctuated by deadpan statements from Parry. These included “A dog licked peanut butter off my big toe. Am I a freak for liking it?” and “I have been cultivating black mold in my bathroom. I’m just gonna leave it. See where that mold takes me.”

The show also featured two short films being projected onto the screen at the front of Sadleir House’s The John, both written by and starring Parry. The first was titled “Gord Bouchard’s Guide to Fixing a Car”, and can be summarized by one of the last instructions: “Go and find a random car, and hound ‘em at the door for money when you’re done.” The second film, titled “I Just Lost $35”, mimicked a crime noir film, and followed Thomas as he searched for his missing $35. (He eventually discovered it was in his left sock). 

“Thom and I have been doing sketch together since last year,” said Drew Freemantle, TUAAC’s Events Coordinator and show co-organizer. “We connected really well. [This] has really inspired me to start writing my own sketches, and I’ve always really loved acting, so [sketch] has been a really great way to pursue that in university.”