Southeast comedian celebrates improv anniversary

The Crosseyed Rascals will celebrate 25 years of comedy with a special show in Winnipeg on March 14.

The Winnipeg-based improv comedy troupe has been operating on and off for the last quarter century and are very familiar to improv lovers in Manitoba.

Grunthal born and raised and current La Broquerie resident Cora Fast has spent nine years with the troupe, and said she loves the opportunity to get on the stage.

“I think it’s a great outlet to get to perform and be creative and just think on the spot which is not a performing muscle you get to flex very often,” she said.

Fast fell in love with improv in high school. She said she tried out for her school’s production in Grade 9. Though she didn’t get the part, her director asked her why she wasn’t part of the school’s improv group already.

Too late to join that year, she started in Grade 10 and has never looked back.

“Being part of the Rascals is something that I have very much enjoyed,” she said. “You don’t get a lot of improv that sticks within clean comedy, that’s family friendly. A lot of improv is more crass, or at least more willing to go there and it’s really fun to be able to stay within something I feel comfortable inviting my family and friends to from southern Manitoba.

That commitment to clean comedy is in the tagline the Crosseyed Rascals use, describing themselves as “the clean edge of comedy”.

The troupe has also boasted a commitment to community as they’ve blazed their improv trail across Canada.

In the last 25 years they’ve performed at locations from Edmonton, AB to Toronto, ON, and even taught a workshop in Anaheim, CA.

They’ve won awards such as Best of Fest in 2007 and Patrons’ Pick in 2010 at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

They’ve collected more than a metric ton of food for Winnipeg Harvest with their annual free Christmas Fruitcake shows.

They forged their way through the pandemic by switching to virtual shows and have teamed up with other local performers.

A press release announcing their upcoming show promises “more shenanigans, hijinks and tomfoolery”.

For Fast, those experiences on stage are driven by the audiences that come out.

“With improv I find that the audience plays so much into it because they give you what they want to see, and if they don’t’ like what they see you can adjust as you go,” she said.

Fast added the 25th anniversary show is one people will want to attend.

“They can definitely expect to laugh. They can expect to see performers they haven’t seen in a while,” she said. “We have invited as many of the previous Rascals as possible to come and join us.

The event called “25: Quarter Century Anniversary Show” takes place at the Colin Jackson Studio on the third floor of Portage Place on March 14 at 7 p.m.

Doors open at 6:45 p.m. for rush seating.

To purchase tickets, go to crosseyed.ca and follow the links.