Get ready to laugh out loud with and interact with McMaster's improv team at the Westdale Theatre!
The McMaster Improv Team will be taking the stage on September 19 at 8:00 p.m. at the Westdale Theatre. This event promises an evening filled with spontaneous humour and engaging comedy, featuring not only the McMaster Improv Team but also a lineup of other hilarious acts including Dave Barclay, Carson and Taylor, and Smooth Comedy.
The McMaster Improv Team operates with a blend of structured improvisation and creative freedom, ensuring that each performance is both unpredictable and engaging. The team requires the use of quick wit to create entertaining narratives on the spot. “You go from club practices where you're performing scenes in front of your fellow members, which is easy, and then you go to performing in front of a crowd who might know nothing about improv.” explained Rachel Brinzan, vice president of promotions for the McMaster Improv Team.
The McMaster Improv Team creates narratives in real-time, a process that Brinzan finds very enjoyable. “If you’ve ever watched a TV show and seen a plot develop, in improv, you’re making that plot up on the spot. Sometimes, things circle back in scenes, creating a very interesting narrative,” Brinzan explained. This unscripted nature of improv allows the audience to experience a fresh and dynamic performance with every show.
If you’ve ever watched a TV show and seen a plot develop, in improv, you’re making that plot up on the spot.
Rachel Brinzan, Vice President Promotions
McMaster Improv Team
The team is divided into junior and senior divisions, with two student coaches and a head coach. The junior team consists of beginners who are new to improv and is under the guidance of student coaches Gabby Pelosini and Keon Madani.
The senior team includes those with more experience, further honing their craft under the direction of head coach Kevin, who oversees the entire group. “Kevin is an experienced improv coach with over 10 years of acting experience. He teaches us the curriculum and helps us develop our skills,” said Briznan.
The upcoming event at the Westdale Theatre will provide the team with a diverse audience off campus. “We’re excited to perform at the Westdale because it’s a great way to reach out and meet people who aren’t just on campus,” said Brinzan.
The McMaster Improv Team’s show is not only a chance to enjoy some great comedy but also an opportunity to try out improv for yourself. As Brinzan puts it, “Improv is all about having fun and enjoying the moment. Even if you’re not an actor, you can come and enjoy the performance or even consider trying it out yourself.”
Improv is all about having fun and enjoying the moment. Even if you’re not an actor, you can come and enjoy the performance or even consider trying it out yourself.
Rachel Brinzan, Vice President Promotions
McMaster Improv Team
McMaster Improv also includes an interactive element where the audience has influence on the performance. The performers will occasionally prompt someone in the audience for a subject, then the improv team creates a storyline from it. “You [the audience] can shape the way the scene is. If you want a scene to be about tomatoes you can have the scene about tomatoes. It's just a really fun interactive event. And you get to see how other people are going to interact with you, with your scenarios and with the people up on stage,” said Brinzan.
This event will be a great way to experience the creative energy and community spirit of the McMaster Improv Team. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to witness a night of spontaneous comedy and interactive fun. Grab your tickets, bring your friends, and get ready for an unforgettable evening of laughter at the Westdale Theatre on September 19th!
This Halloween, The Westdale screened the 1975 cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with an extra special drag pre-show with Hamilton drag performers
By Naomi Moshe, Arts & CUlture contributor
The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been drawing in audiences worldwide for over 45 years for a reason. The cult classic film is not only jam packed with fun, but it is also a landmark piece of cinema for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The film exudes the message of radical self acceptance, and being unafraid of the hidden desires that live deep within all of us––a sentiment that the queer community of the mid 1970’s desperately needed to hear. As a result, midnight screenings of Rocky Horror became safe spaces for the queer community to socialize and connect with one another at a time when simply existing as a gay person in broad daylight was a dangerous act.
When I heard that The Westdale was screening Rocky Horror on Halloween night, including a special drag pre-show with local Hamilton drag performers Jessie James and Karma Kameleon, I knew I needed to go. Besides, is there any better way to spend Halloween night than heckling profanities at a giant screen surrounded by hundreds of other people?
The atmosphere at The Westdale was, in a word, electrifying. Of course, crowds of people dressed up as characters from the movie. But more importantly, people were genuinely excited for the show, even though most people in attendance probably have seen this film more times than they could count on both hands. The energy was infectious––the entire theater was buzzing with anticipation.
The drag pre-show, hosted by Jessie James and Karma Kameleon, was a blast. Karma and Jessie performed campy lip syncs of songs from the movie’s soundtrack, including “Dammit Janet” and “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me.” The highlight of the night for me was Jessie’s incredible live vocal performance of “Sweet Transvestite.” I had the pleasure of speaking with Jessie shortly after the event to get some insight on the importance of nights such as these for Hamilton’s queer community.
“Visibility is so important. I didn’t see myself growing up, and I struggled a lot with that. Being able to put on public events where people can come see us be explicitly queer, it’s the first step in having a conversation about [queerness.] It demystifies the queer experience. It brings a lot of joy into it,” explained Jessie.
When asked about her personal highlight of the night, Jessie said that it was when the whole theater got up and did the Time Warp with her and Karma. “To look out into the audience and see everyone standing up and dancing along…There [are] very few words I could use to describe the energy you feel from that. It’s almost addictive in a weird way,” said Jessie.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show continues to bring together people from all walks of life, even 45 years after its release. And, for Hamilton’s LGBTQ+ community, events like these create space for authentic self expression and unapologetic queerness.
The Westdale Theatre will showcase various Halloween classics so you can get your dose of the spookies just down the street from campus
The Westdale Theatre screens independent films and provides a space for public performances and exhibitions. They aim to showcase diverse Canadian content as well as classic throwbacks. They also host live cultural events throughout the year.
The theatre is managed by the Westdale Cinema group, a charitable organization that hopes to provide a space for the community to gather to enjoy cinema and culture.
For Halloween this year, the Westdale plans to once again screen various Halloween classics, as they have been doing since they opened. However, this year, they will also be hosting a drag and movie mixer entitled REEL QUEENS on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m., where they will be screening The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
This event will be sponsored by the House of Adam and Steve and will feature drag queen Jessie James.
There will also be a sensory-friendly screening of The Addams Family geared towards family and kids on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. The sensory-friendly screening allows those with heightened sensitivity to light and sound to come to the theater and enjoy the show. The lights will be turned on and the audience can roam around and make noise.
Neal Miller, the Executive Director at the Westdale Theatre, hopes that everyone who comes out to the Halloween showings will have a great time.
“[I hope they] just come and have fun in the theatre. I think the great thing for Mac students to know is that not all universities in our country have access to such a cool place that’s within walking distance of their campus,” said Miller.
[I hope they] just come and have fun in the theatre. I think the great thing for Mac students to know is that not all universities in our country have access to such a cool place that’s within walking distance of their campus
Neal Miller, Executive Director, the Westdale Theatre
With the growing norm of just watching movies alone in your home, Miller hopes this event will bring the community together, as watching a movie with group of people is a completely different experience from watching one alone. It is important for students to collectively experience things with the rest of the community.
“Watching Rocky Horror Picture Show at home on your TV is not nearly as fun as watching it with 300 other people screaming and calling back to the screen and bringing props and having fun, not to mention all of the cultural value and that the health values of having culture,” explained Miller.
For The Rocky Horror Picture Show, they encourage viewers to dress up and to bring props. Miller hopes that this will provide students and adults a time to have fun and relax by dressing up.
“Dressing up, [for] adults, allows [them] to be kids, not taking life too seriously. Life [can be] pretty serious and difficult,” said Miller.
Dressing up, [for] adults, allows [them] to be kids, not taking life too seriously. Life [can be] pretty serious and difficult
Neal Miller, Executive Director, the Westdale Theatre
Over the next few weeks, they will be other Halloween-themed films as well, including The Nightmare before Christmas.
In the future, the Westdale Theatre hopes to continue educating the community through the arts and provide opportunities for the community to come together by showcasing local art and film. The Westdale Theatre also hopes to bring more of the city’s cultural works to the big screen, so more people can enjoy them.
