Talking to Get Off the Stage About Staying On
Get Off the Stage
Get Off the Stage, a veteran troupe from the 2013 Montreal Fringe Festival is presenting a new show for Sketchfest. The troupe, comprised of Tim Diamond, Kyle Allatt, Matt Enos and Francis J. Martin, have about 28 years of collective experience in comedy and I had a chance to sit down and talk to them about what’s coming up for them next.
Angela Potvin (AP): So how did “Get Off the Stage” come together?
Kyle Allatt (KA): Tim invited me to come over for a writing meeting one day and at the end of the session, we were just like, let’s just write together.
Tim Diamond (TD): I had also gone to school with Matt and Francis so that’s how they came into play. For a while, Francis took time off to be a dad, but he’s back now. Matt had quit for a month, then we asked him to come back.
Matt Enos (ME): I had forgotten about that. Yeah, wanted to maintain the hype!
TD: It’s a bit of a rotating cast, but Kyle and I are the constants.
AP: What’s the theme of the show this time around?
KA: The last show that we did “All the Greatest Hits” and had a lot of ’80s pop culture references and it ended up being a bit obscure if you didn’t know who those people were. So now we kept that to a minimum and just focused on being accessible.
TD: This time it’s really focused on day to day absurdity and a bit of it has been developed from improv.
AP: If you were Kids in the Hall, which one would you be?
TD: I’d be the Mark McKinney, Mr. Generic.
KA: Paul Bellini
ME: I don’t even know, maybe Dave Foley, but I’m not that pretty. Francis can be Scott-Bruce, but mostly Scott.
AP: What are your sketch influences?
KA: Monty Python, for sure, and Mr. Show.
TD: Matt and I reference Mr. Show all the time, but as a Canadian, it’s hard not to be influenced by Kids in the Hall.
KA: John Finnemore, the Whitest Kids You Know. Also, the Simpsons are a huge influence in terms of the pacing.
AP: How would you characterize your humor?
KA: Fast paced, that way if a joke doesn’t land, it doesn’t matter quite as much, there’s more coming at you all the time.
ME: Like Arrested Development, we are trying to pack in a joke every six seconds.
AP: Any plans for after Sketchfest?
TD: Kyle is doing a BullS*** History of Canada, and Matt is also in another show at Sketchfest, Swaghetti Yolonaise. But we will be back as our troupe, hopefully soon.
Get Off the Stage will be performing as part of the Montreal Sketchfest at Theatre Ste Catherine (264 Ste. Catherine St. East) on March 26th, 2015 at 8 p.m., tickets are 13.25$, available online here.
