Roman Danylo dreads the day when his Comic Strippers show gets stale.
Even after a couple of years of touring with fellow improvisers, the parody still feels "slightly giggly and exciting and weird" when they step on stage, he says.
But when he regrets slapping on that bow tie and tight pants then Danylo will cut it loose. "It has a short shelf life," he says. "Maybe one, two or three more years so we going to do this as much as we can but it's definitely no where near boring yet."
Audiences seem to agree. Across the country, in Australia and Las Vegas, the fake male stripper troupe has been playing to sold-out crowds with their hilarious antics. Last week, they launched their late summer/fall tour in the Okanagan, entertaining 300 people in Kelowna and another 400 in Salmon Arm.
On Saturday, they'll return to Coquitlam's Evergreen Cultural Centre (following sold-out performances in February and June) with their "farmers' tans," shower scenes and choreographed dances. Afterward, the men are off to the U.S., Ontario and Alberta for more gigs.
Danylo, who starred for five seasons on CTV's Comedy Inc. and has appeared on Just For Laughs and The Debaters on CBC, said the main appeal of The Comic Strippers is playing up the irony. "Everyone is pretending that we're sexy including us and everybody seems to enjoy that."
For their Coquitlam date on Sept. 20, Danylo (aka Chip Rock) will be joined by the original cast made up of David Milchard (Convos With My 2 Year Old) and Vancouver TheatreSports League regulars Michael Teigen, Pearce Visser, Ken Lawson and Chris Casillan.
As for his next venture, Danylo will be back at the Evergreen in February with Milchard, Lawson, Casillan and Denise Jones for the Roman Improv Games - an improv and talk show that will be filmed for a web series and a TV pilot. "We may even dress up a little," he quipped.
The Comic Strippers is at the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam) on Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets at $35/$30/$15 are available at 604-927-6555 or online at evergreenculturalcentre.ca. The show is open to anyone aged 19 and up.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
