Skip to content

Comedians to make up for cancelled Salmon Arm shows

David and Ken: Comedy with Music!, scheduled for two nights plus improv workshop
29065665_web1_211117-SAA-Dave-Ken-Comedy-1_1
David Milchard and Ken Lawson will be bringing their improv comedy show, David and Ken: Comedy with Music!, to Salmon Arm’s Shuswap Theatre on June 4 and 5. (Contributed)

Ken Lawson and David Milchard want to make up for Salmon Arm performances that never were.

Twice the talented Vancouver-based improv comedy duo behind David and Ken: Comedy with Music! were slated to perform at Shuswap Theatre, and twice they had to cancel due to pandemic-related health restrictions.

Determined to get back to Salmon Arm, where they last performed with semi-dressed troupe The Comic Strippers, Lawson and Milchard have two 8 p.m. performances planned for Shuswap Theatre, one on Saturday, June 4 and the other on Sunday, June 5.

“We’re really going to make up for this,” said Lawson. “We’ve been there before with The Comic Strippers, so we’re big fans. We’re also big fans of the Shuswap Pie Company.”

David and Ken: Comedy with Music! has been described as an “audience-fuelled, conversational comedy show with real stories, character-driven improv scenes and hilarious, spontaneous songs with world-class guitar playing.”

Another description: “Whose Line Is It Anyway meets Tenacious D meets Flight of the Conchords.”

Post pandemic restrictions, the duo has managed to get back on the road, having recently completed a tour of Vancouver Island. Despite having done thousands of shows together, this recent outing gave them the opportunity to perform accompanied by lasers.

“That’s always a big moment in any artist’s career when they get to play music and have lasers,” said Lawson. “I don’t know if we’ll have lasers at Shuswap Theatre… Our laser-sharp wit is what we’re bringing there.

“The really great thing about our show is it’s so diverse. We talk to the audience and we do any style of song with drum machines and synthesizers and guitars. And we fully improvise it.”

Read more: ‘Playful, absurdist adventure’: Seasoned improv comedians bring new show to Salmon Arm

Read more: Male strippers appeal with comedy

But wait, there’s more.

In addition to the two shows, Lawson and Milchard will also be hosting an improvisation workshop at Shuswap Theatre. They call it the Back to the Fundamentals Master Class.

“We’re psyched to actually get some people in a room together and have some fun in a low pressure but high takeaway class,” said Lawson, explaining the class won’t just be about honing one’s improvisational comedy skills.

“It’s also great for actors just to even learn these techniques for auditioning, for doing plays, so that when you go on you don’t panic – you learn how to get back in the moment so you can be on script,” said Lawson. “Typically it will be comedic improv.

“For us, the comedy comes from really working together as a team and just being honest and not really worrying about trying to be funny. You don’t need to be a comedian to do it. It’s about the things you stumble into, and often the mistakes are the funniest part. We really teach people to just enjoy the mistakes and embrace the mistakes and use them to create comedy gold!”

Lawson noted the workshop will be limited to 20 people.

For more information and tickets, visit shuswaptheatre.com.



lachlan@saobserver.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

Sign up for our newsletter to get Salmon Arm stories in your inbox every morning.