Their name quickly got lost in translation.
When Strapless made its debut three years ago at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the all-female comedy troupe wanted a moniker to reflect their fearless, boundless sketches.
For fun, they threw in a risqué piece called Riverdance, which involved the ladies jigging it up on stage in tube tops. They got the attention they wanted but they also got a reputation.
Founding member Jackie Blackmore remembered the public’s reaction. “At the Fringe, people started to look at us in a different way,” she said. “They said, ‘You’re a naked comedy troupe?’ We weren’t that at all. Who wants to see naked comedy?”
Still, it didn’t take long for the ladies to turn the tables.
They wanted to be cheeky and fun but they also wanted to be tasteful and empowering. Most of all, they wanted to take the topic head on and show the world they had the chops — just like the guys.
Since then, Blackmore, Iva Kapsikova, Sidika Larbes and Lauren Martin have won over audiences across Canada and the U.S. In 2014, Strapless appeared at fringe festivals in Montreal and Toronto, and had a big response at the Gabriola Theatre Festival. Last year, they performed at about 20 gigs and, in January, they were back at the Vancouver Sketch Comedy Festival.
Their Coquitlam show on Friday night will be mostly new material, Blackmore said. “It’ll be a raunchy good time,” she laughed, noting some classics — like their crazy Riverdance routine — will also be thrown in for good measure at the Evergreen Cultural Centre, a venue they’ll be playing for the first time.
Blackmore said men need not shy away from their show. “A large percentage of our audience is male,” she said. “That was something from the get-go that we wanted to make sure that our comedy was for everyone. For me, it’s about entertainment first and foremost. We happen to be women…. We tell stories that are universally funny. We are talented writers, actors and performers who want to showcase the human condition and say what we find funny about it.”
• Tickets to Strapless on Friday, March 11 are $35/$30/$15 by calling the Evergreen box office at 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
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FREE TICKETS
The Evergreen Cultural Centre is giving away two tickets to Strapless. Email [email protected] by Friday morning to win the seats.
