There certainly was not a better way to experience the youthful and lively nightlife of Ottawa than this past weekend at Pressed café right in the heart of Centretown. On Sept. 25, this particular urbanized sandwich café served as host for a string of primarily-female stand-up artists and comedians from the Improv Embassy—a newly-created, non-profit theatre company located in downtown Ottawa.
The performance, titled Unannounced: A comedy show with humans (but mostly women), consisted of multiple styles of theatre specifically focusing on stand up comedy, sketch, and improvisation, with each act obtaining the spotlight for about five to 10 minutes. However, the allotted time slot for each of the performers was always enough to convey the message to the audience within the café.
The purpose of each act was to discuss “challenging and intersectional comedy” that would allow the audience to contemplate real life issues that seem to be taboo topics and get ‘swept under the rug’ away from attention.
The initial acts opened up the show with topics including sex, online dating, and public transportation, and used both foul and vulgar language to express the idea. Yet despite how unorthodox each of the performances appeared to be, the underlying social messages were illuminating.
From mimicking conversations that appeared to be demonstrating women as minimalistic individuals, to confronting everyday stereotypical thoughts about different cultures, each piece was extremely well-crafted and truly informed the audience about how ignorant humans can be to real life issues.
Being unrehearsed and completely on the fly, the final improv portion of the show demonstrated each performer’s skill level and dedication to keeping the performance funny and coherent.
Val Perelshtein, business director for the Improv Embassy and also a performer within the show, said that having a creative outlet, such as stand up comedy, is an extremely important asset in life.
Perelshtein said comedy allows an individual to discuss and address numerous issues or interests within society. She also said comedy creates self-confidence while also allowing participants to laugh.
This feeling was perfectly captured on Sunday night.
