Garden City Improv is Victoria’s professional improv comedy training centre and it’s produced some very funny people.
Of course, in the words of comedian Amy Poehler, "Nobody looks stupid when they are having fun." She also said, "There’s power in looking silly and not caring that you do.”
Perhaps that’s the most important lesson that Kevin Matviw, Garden City’s artistic director and instructor, teaches his clients.
Matviw has been performing improv comedy for 27 years. Fifteen of those years were spent in Toronto's highly competitive comedy scene, where he became a three-time Toronto Theatresports champion.
He also taught at The Second City Training Centre in Toronto for 12 years and has had the pleasure of many of his former students moving into careers as successful actors and writers in the Canadian entertainment industry.
But now, Matviw is bringing in another powerhouse improv name to Victoria for a limited engagement with Garden City Improv.
“We’re bringing in Becky Johnson for our show, Pro Improv Comedy, on Friday, July 26,” said Matviw. “She’ll be teaming up with me and Andrew Gardner (JFL Toronto, Winner: Best of Montreal Sketch Fest), to bring this show to Victoria and it’s going to be amazing.”
For those of you who might be unfamiliar with Becky Johnson, she’s the writer and improv juggernaut behind the Baroness Von Sketch Show and the winner of multiple Canadian Screen Awards for her writing and a Canadian Comedy Award for her improv.
“I’m super excited to have Becky come to town. When I arrived in Toronto in 2005 she was already a monster on the scene and in 2006, she trounced me at an improv competition at the Bad Dog Theatre,” said Matviw. “We haven’t had a chance to perform together since, but she’s brilliant. She’s very smart and creative and a lot of her ideas seem to come out of left field but they make perfect sense.”
“I should also add that Andrew Gardner, who’ll be on stage with us is amazing in his own right,” said Matviw.
Tickets for Pro Improv Comedy are available at gardencityimprov.com/shows.
But there’s more. Garden City Improv is a training centre after all, and Johnson will be doing a class on July 27 at Theatre SKAM (849 Fort Street).
“The class is called ‘It’s Already There’ and it’s all about getting over nerves and finding fun in your own great ideas,” said Matviw. “That’s often a really hard thing for aspiring comedians to do.”
The great thing about improv, Matviw said, is that it’s a brand-new show every time and you and the audience get to share those moments…moments that will never happen again.
“There’s an exciting element in that.”
It’s also the most challenging part of the craft, and Matviw said that the Pro Improv Comedy show is up to that challenge. “With Becky’s help, we’ll crush it”.