In the lead-up to Sad Mag’s epic comedy night, Laugh/Cry, on March 16th, we are celebrating our comic line-up with a series of interviews with Vancouver’s most notable, potable comedians…

Alistair Cook, AKA “The Godfather,” is the founder of Vancouver’s Instant Theatre Company. Cook, who has twenty years of experience performing, producing, and instructing improvisation, is also the former president and National Artistic Director of the Canadian Improv Games, which holds a tournament every year in Ottawa featuring the most talented high school teams. Cook chatted with Sad Mag contributor Darren Li about changing vocations, gullibility and bringing improv into every day life.

Darren Li: In your opinion, Alistair, what makes improvisation more appealing than all the other branches of theatre?

Alistair Cook: Live theatre speaks – live experience always stands out more because it’s so much more energetic.

DL: What is the most useful skill that you can master when it comes to improvisation?

AC: Being present in the moment. Not thinking about what is going to happen two minutes later or what happened two minutes before.

DL: According to the Vancouver Sun, you had a sponsor and were planning on becoming a professional snowboarder, until you broke your leg. Explain the transition you made from snowboarding to the theatre business. What specifically made you want to pursue a different goal?

AC: The fact that I was a young man in high school. I took drama instead of physical education when I was in rehabilitation and found that acting gave me an exciting adrenaline rush equal to the rush I experienced while snowboarding.

DL: Does having so much experience in improvisation influence how you perceive events and how you interact with people in your everyday life?

AC: Yes, there are two ways. The first is that I am more comfortable in my organization skills and am better at fixing problems when they come up. The second way, which is negative, is that it has made me a more gullible person. On the stage, you have to believe everything your partner says, but in real life, that is not always the case.

DL: Improvisation puts great emphasis on comedy. Have you always been a funny person?

AC: Not really, I am funnier on the stage than when I’m off the stage.

DL: A question from all the aspiring actors, how would taking some of your classes or workshops help them in developing their acting skills?

AC: They would learn the skill of being present in the motivation of your character. It is essential in acting and improv teaches you to be present in the moment. Things don’t always go as planned on stage, scripted or not.

DL: As the former president and National Artistic Director of the Canadian Improv Games, you say that the games have been a “tremendous training ground for actors” (Vancouver Sun). How so?

AC: The alumni base is huge, there are over 2000 kids involved every year. The improv games have been a great starting base for actors who are now famous including Seth Rogen and Sandra Oh.

The Instant Theatre Company provides classes, workshops and holds monthly shows for people looking to expand their interest in improv.

Inspired by Michelle Reid’s “Glamour Issue” article on Prop House Café, Sad Mag contributor Darren Li decided to explore this place himself. Li took Reid’s description of the Café as “a cross between the living room of a kooky grandma and a rambling antique museum,” as an erstwhile challenge, deciding to seek out four items and discover the story behind each one. In an interview with café owner Ross Judge, Li chronicles the material history of this unique Vancouver setting.

Darren Li: What or who inspired the idea of Prop House Café?

Ross Judge: Me. I felt that communities in Vancouver needed a home.

DL: How do you feel your one of a kind café influences the art and culture of Vancouver?

RJ: We are, what you would call, cultural provocateurs. This place invites and inspires all types of artists. There are cameras that would excite photographers, old records that would inspire musicians; we’ve got everything.

DL: How old were you when you first started collecting these items? Do you remember the first item of your collection?

RJ: I think around 1996. The oldest item that I have is a mountain lion growling on top of a rock.

DL: Most people have collections or memoirs. For me, I collect shot glasses from places I visit. What inspired you to start collecting antiques?   

RJ: A disease – a hoarding disease.

DL: Which item is sentimentally worth the most to you?  

RJ: The piano. It is a 1957 upright grand Heintzman. I bought it at the Woodward’s Building downtown in 1959. I won’t list anyone specific, but an incredible amount of people have played it.

 

 

Antiques and their stories

Hanging doll

This funny looking figure caught my attention as soon as I walked into the café. I thought he must have something to do with Christmas because of his red nose and innocent look, but upon asking Ross about it, he told me different.

“It is actually a hobo; he symbolizes homelessness on the Downtown Eastside. I have him hanging from the ceiling right as you walk in because I feel that homelessness is a big issue in Vancouver. You can tell he is homeless because of the clothes he is wearing; it looks like he made it himself.”

 

 

 

 

 

Sleeping Garfield phone

When I saw this old-fashioned phone, I smiled. I just had to ask Ross about it. Turns out he hates Mondays just as much as Garfield.

“I like Garfield and his sense of humour, and that is why I got it. When you pick up the phone, Garfield’s eyes open.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record player

AKA “Grove Machine,” turntable, phonograph, gramophone… this particular player picks the beats on Judge’s solid café record collection. The mellow sounds you hear when you first walk in are 100% vinyl.

This is old news, but bears repeating because did you know that the first record player was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison? The man was doing everything. It looked a bit like a trumpet, but we’ll excuse the Victorians their aesthetics. Later on, Emile Berliner transformed the phonograph, making it able to play gramophone records. Ross’s record player is Berliner’s version, what most people refer to as a turntable. There are grooves on records (get it? get it?), and while the record spins on the turntable, the needle traces the grooves and vibrates to produce the wanted sound.

 

Wooden figures

There was something mysterious and intriguing about these two wooden figures. When I asked about them, Ross told me the interesting story behind them.

“These two figures are from a tavern called The Breakers located in Point Roberts, Washington. There was a ‘no drinking on Sundays’ rule in Vancouver until around the 1980s. So people would have to leave Vancouver just to get a drink on a Sunday. The Breakers was a famous place people went to just past the border. The owner sold me these two figures. They are Tiki gods that guarded the entrance of the tavern to keep evil spirits away.”