Fan Fiction The Show

DOCTOR WHO: Surely, the best fan fiction out there has to be when Ron Weasley inexplicably starts choking in the Gryffindor commons when all of a sudden, Dr. House walks in. For tales from a different doctor, one might drop in on Fan Fiction: Doctor Who—an event where comedic and improv artists take fan fiction from around the world and perform it live. Black Swan Comedy (154 Danforth Avenue), Saturday, 8 p.m., $5. - Torotoist.com

Fan Fiction: Game Of Thrones gathers some of Toronto’s best comedic minds to take on various fan-generated tales of the popular book/HBO series, Game of Thrones. The night’s performers will include The Prequels, The Sushi Boys, Rulers of the Universe, and host Andrew Chapman. Black Swan Comedy Theare (154 Danforth Avenue), Saturday, 8 p.m., $5. - Torontoist.com

You win or you die, or maybe you laugh
If you love the show Game of Thrones and you love to laugh, then you might want to head over to the Black Swan on Saturday, when its Fan Fiction comedy show takes on the critically-acclaimed HBO series for a night of hilarity mixed with hierarchy. - PostCity.com

Toronto’s East end is epitomized by a trifecta of acclamations: Greektown, the Beaches and Black Swan Comedy. With it’s resident stage stashed on the second floor of Black Swan Tavern (a favourite pub of neighbourhood locals), this thriving theatre company has grown from modest roots into one of Toronto’s top improv schools. With their popular live performance series “Fan Fiction” quickly becoming the best improv & sketch show in Toronto’s East end, Black Swan Comedy is building a formidable repertoire.

But what exactly is Fan Fiction? Besides being the flagship show of Black Swan Comedy, Fan Fiction is the live enactment of scripts written by die-hard fans from online communities. With scripts performed by some of the best troupes (and guests) in Canada (Falcon Powder, Vest of Friends) in front of audiences with standing room only, it’s no surprise the show’s gaining traction.

We had the chance to sit down with Jeremy Woodcock from Fan Fiction’s regular headlining troupe, Rulers of The Universe, to discuss the show’s teeming success.

CU: So, what makes Fan Fiction stand out from any other show happening in Toronto?

RULERS: The Fan Fiction shows aren’t exactly improv, or sketch, or stand-up, but instead capture the best aspects of all three because the show is both scripted and completely variable within each moment. There’s just always surprises. There’s a great dynamic between the performers and the audience which seems to be the key component of this show; it’s a big bonding fest that devolves into a huge gathering of people sitting speechless, likely for one of two reasons: either because of laughter, or because of an online author’s insane narrative choice.

It kind of turns into a communion of ‘Fandom’ (a community of people fanatic about a fiction) vs. comedy. In essence, both the performers and audience are trying to understand the impulse that would make a writer want to tell a tale about Garfield giving angry and profane advice to Winston Churchill on how to win WWII, while at the same time trying to sleep with Kelly from Saved By The Bell.

CU: What were some of most memorable moments of Fan Fiction so far?

RULERS: It’s pretty much anytime when Jamie O’Connor lays down the law by holding troupes and writers accountable for factual errors. As for our own performances, we recently took a rabidly furious “Author’s Note” from one writer’s Twilight story directed at “the haters.” Rather than just taking the easy route and stand around wittily mocking the work (even though we admit that does take up a certain percentage of our sets), we decided to just dive into the author’s perspective and read (make that, scream) it at the audience. I think was our way of earning back some good karma really understanding exactly what these authors feel.

Also we’ve thrown at least four chairs, tried at least three new accents each, and had to act out characters as disparate Worf (from Star Trek) and Niles Crane either having sex or fighting to the death.

CU: Have you gone to any lengths to become a fan of certain fiction genres prior to the upcoming Fan Fiction show?

RULERS: Often a particular topic of a Fan Fiction show will awaken the most intense fanboy/girl aspects of our individual troupe members. Never again in our lives will we learn as much in concentrated period as when our troupemate Carter lectured us on the finer points of the Star Trek canon in the hours leading up to the show. We always try to bone up on everything we don’t know which seems to be the key to be able to engage both the material and the audience. However, at the same time we like to remain distant enough from the piece to be able to affectionately mock the things which make for great performances. Anybody who loves a certain series of work knows that there’s also a bunch of things about it that are genuinely nuts.

CU: What can audiences expect to see from the show?

RULERS: It sounds cliche, but come expecting the unexpected. Considering that’s vague, we can also promise that the show is a combination of relaxed goofiness and absolutely committed performances. In the next Doctor Who show, we’re also looking to introduce (for the first time ever) costumes, which will inevitably be dishevelled by the end of the show from intense action. Also, as always, we will hold true to our Rulers promise which is that (besides adding all kinds of commentary about the story as we read it), we will perform the text of each story EXACTLY as it’s written. Occasionally, this leads us to speaking new non-existent words because of a flawed spellcheck. Other times we lose our breath after a minute-long monologue because the writer omits commas and periods during a particular story. It’s really quite fun. - ComedyUncovered.com

After selling out the debut show of the Fan Fiction comedy series where they took on the weird world of Twilight fan-fic, Adam Ward and Jamie O’Connor are gearing up for round two as they take on an err… differently beloved fandom, Doctor Who.

The show’s producer, Adam Ward, and host Jamie O’Connor spoke to us about putting the show together, the fantastic performers, and a little bit about what to expect from the upcoming Doctor Who edition of their live Fan Fiction comedy show.

What, or who, inspired the fan fiction series?

Adam Ward: The Fan Fiction series was inspired by creating a different type of comedy show for Toronto audiences. Parody comedy shows have always been a success in the Toronto community, so I think this show came from a natural evolution from there. A friend introduced me to fan fiction scripts online, and it was just natural for me to ask: “why aren’t comedy groups performing these?”

Tell me about the process of putting together a fan-fiction live show?

AW: Putting together this show has been great for me because at the core of it is just a lot of friends working together to deliver the best product possible. Black Swan Comedy co produces these with me, and I couldn’t be more fortunate to have their trust and support to run all of these the way I want to. I invite my favourite comedy groups from the city to take part in the show (Jamie O’Connor, Falcon Powder, Vest of Friends). The groups then take to the internet and find some of the funniest things I have ever heard in my 6 years of doing comedy. Rulers of the Universe, who headline each of the Fan Fiction shows, once read a script where Frasier and his brother Niles, were fighting for control of the world on a space needle as Sam Malone’s head delivered and monologue than blew up. I’m laughing now just thinking about it. Stuff happens you will not expect, and your SOOOO happy it does.

Jamie O’Connor: In terms of putting the live show together,as the host my process is generally to immerse myself as much as I can in whatever the subject of the the show is. For example, our last show was about Twilight, and I forced myself to read as much of the books as I could. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, but it lets me come at every show as an actual fan, as much is possible.

Can you give us a bit of a preview of what to expect from the Doctor Who show on November 3rd?

AW: For Fan Fiction Doctor Who we have some some really good acts joining us. I’m happy to have the Weaker Vessels performing, as they just finished a run of their hit sketch show “We’ve Only Just Begun”. As well, Jameson Kraemer of Syfy’s “Alphas” will be performing. Knowing how big of a Doctor Who fan he is, I’m already very excited. All ticket reservations can be sent to adam.ward [at] hotmail.com. Our last show Fan Fiction: Twlight sold out, so I recommend getting your tickets as soon as possible!

JO: Other than expecting one of the funniest shows in Toronto, I’m guessing there are going to be a number of stories about various incarnations of the Doctor hooking up with each other. Through time! You know, the usual fan fiction stuff. - G33KPRON.com

On Saturday night at Black Swan Comedy, I saw the seventh show of a monthly comedy series focusing on fan fiction. Yes, that often terrible, sometimes hilarious internet phenomenon has been taken from the shadowy depths of the interwebs and brought to life on stage by comedy troupes. And boy does it translate well. The show's themes have ranged from Harry Potter to Game of Thrones, Twilight to Star Trek, Kill Bill, Frasier, and even Saved by the Bell. Up this month, Fan Fiction: Star Wars edition.

By the time the show was over, I was shaking. It is a serious workout to laugh that hard for that long. Two and a half hours. Seriously. I think my dimples are now deeper than they used to be. And all I can do is thank comedian and show producer Adam Ward for it.
Have you ever imagined what Star Wars in the Smurf world would look like? Or what might happen if Darth Vader ever met Cookie Monster? Well, someone in the world has - and wrote it down for your enjoyment. And the performers on Saturday brought it to life.

Hosted by Andrew Chapman, who awarded some of his (I can only assume long-treasured) Star Wars toys as door prizes to lucky audience members, the show's roster included performances by the Sushi Boys (Adam Ward and Mark Cotoia) with Stephanie Schreiber, Jameson Kraemer, and special guest Mark Little, winners of the 2012 Toronto Sketch Com-Aggedon, Rulers of the Universe, music geek comedy duo, Debs and Errol, and the Weaker Vessels with Josh Murray.
"We find the best/worst fan fiction. We'll read it once to know that it's perfectly bad at the start, and then find out how horrible it is on stage together with the audience," says Tyler Hewitt of Rulers of the Universe. "Perfectly bad" could not be a more apt description. In the Sushi Boys' opening piece called "Bubbles," Boba Fett hallucinates a conversation with his bathtub, which seems to try to seduce him: "'It's not yo' age, sugah, you jus' too up-tight,' retorted the tub."
At the end of that piece, which provoked more than one smirk from these comedy vets, Mark Little said, "I'd like to comment on how little actually happened." Sometimes it's not about the action; sometimes racistly-hallucinated bathtubs are enough.

As the show came to a close, Chapman invited audience members on stage (unknowingly) for Wookie impressions, and an aftershow by the Weaker Vessels (a Harry Potter fan fic) ended the night. By that point, I couldn't handle any more laughing; I was laughed out. The combination of smart humour, popular topics, and quality comedians makes this show an understandably sold-out event every month.
The next shows are looking like James Bond and Videogames (think: Pong paddles developing a relationship). If you want to bust a gut and break your face from smiling, it's worth paying a visit. - BlogTO.com