Even when he was in high school at Sir Winston Churchill High, Calgary’s Roman Danylo had a natural ability to entertain. He ran a weekly sketch review show there and went on to study at Loose Moose Theatre. He has since been featured on the TV shows Comedy Inc. and The Holmes Show, and in films like Free Willy 3 and Duets. He returns home to Loose Moose Theatre this Friday and Saturday night with CSI: Calgary.
The touring show came about when his sketch The David Caruso School of Acting became popular on YouTube. He now crafts the show around the city that it runs in.
"In 2008 I went around the country doing a solo stand-up tour and each town has these wonderful theatres across the country that are the ideal place to play. It was fantastic and I wanted to do more shows in those sorts of places. I noticed that the sketch was getting a lot of hits on YouTube and seemed popular. It just hit me that we could make a CSI:Miami parody set in the town with lots of local references. The smaller the town is, the funnier the concept. CSI: Maple Ridge gets even funnier than CSI: Calgary," Danylo told GayCalgary & Edmonton Magazine over the phone from Vancouver.
"Every town has a trademark seedy hotel, the bad area of town, the local personalities that stand out. So it is a matter of filling in the blanks for those questions. I always find out good information from the cabbie on the way to the hotel from the airport. They have their ear to the ground so I pick their brains quite a bit. For other cities it is challenging and I have to seek out someone who’s out there and pick their brain and hope it’s current. When you do a specific reference to local things, you may get the information on say who the mayor is a month before when you are writing the script, you have to make sure they are still the mayor when you get there. So there are lots of checks and balances."
Although the CSI concept is a big part of the show, it is a sketch comedy show along the lines of Saturday Night Live, MadTV, and Comedy Inc. Some of the sketches will be familiar to viewers of CI.
"They have been really well attended, which has been fun. There was a full crowd in Surrey on a Thursday, all of a sudden it was packed in there. You don’t need to be a fan of CSI to enjoy the show. The sketch is a through-line that goes through the show but the bulk of it is some of our favourite sketches that we have put together. Some of them are from Comedy Inc. and some haven’t been seen by anyone. It is hard to do just a sketch show, you need to have an angle so that is why the CSI parody is enough of a hook to get people in the door to see good quality sketches."
Danylo has returned to Calgary many times over his career and it is always special.
"It is certainly a level of comfort coming home, it is the people that get me the best. No matter where you go to do a show there is a level of, will they understand my point of view? There are no better people than Calgarians at it. Generally in Canada people will get it but there are subtle differences... For example a few years ago I had a joke and the punch line was the word ‘gonch.’ They don’t know what gonch is out east, and I didn’t realize that until I said it onstage. That is a distinctly west coast thing. Another time I referenced ‘Halloween apples’ which is a reference only in Alberta and Saskatchewan. No one else has heard of it and thinks you are crazy if you talk about it. It is just little teeny words just in Canada, and then you go to the US and different parts of the world where it is more challenging. I did improv shows in London and got lost in a sea of references I didn’t understand. So it is nice to come back to my roots. If I mention Paskapoo or Channel 2&7 they will know what I am talking about."
Returning to Loose Moose is also a big deal, and Danylo gets excited when he the subject comes up.
"Everyone knows about them and their history. The one consistency is they are always in strange environments that nobody really knows about. The old one was out near the airport and was a cattle auction they turned into a theatre. The new theatre is at the Crossroads Market which is central but the first time I went there was nothing around for blocks. Once you get in there it’s fantastic there is an art gallery, this fantastic theatre. Going back and seeing the old improvisers that are still there running the place and taught me how to improvise, it is great to go and start jamming again.
The list of alumni is long, and includes Rebecca Northan (Blind Date, Kung Fu Panties) Mark Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch (Kids In The Hall), David Lawrence (Fubar) and Albert Howell (Improv Heaven & Hell host, Head writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes) among many others.
"It is funny because those names have spread out. Derek Flores is in New Zealand and I went and did shows for him. Patti Stiles is running theatre sports in Australia. Tony Totino was in Olso, Norway doing improv and I went and visited him 10 years ago. All these alumni have spread across the world like a little embassy of Loose Moose people you can go and visit. It is spread out everywhere it’s amazing."
As one of Canada’s most successful comics and improvisers, Danylo enjoys working with the next generation of actors and actresses, and uses much of what Loose Moose taught him to pass on to others.
"Loose Moose has always been great for really encouraging and giving opportunity to young up and comers that are interested in performing and doing comedy as a living. They have trained so many people that way. They taught me that and I do shows in Vancouver and set it up in a similar way - the first half is newer performers and you give them a chance to get on stage. That is the only way you can learn. That is what I feel is the right way to do it and I transmitted that to Vancouver. We do a show once a month called the ‘urban improv challenge.’ We invite anyone, no experience necessary, to try it out on stage. It is kind of like Improv Idol. If you watch improv and say ‘I can do that’ why not give it a try and see?"
If you haven’t seen Danylo perform, you are in for a treat. He promises to have a no-frills blast of funny for all in attendance.
"Along with the CSI parody you will see some of my favorite sketches that gained popularity on Comedy Inc. The tantric sex master is in the show and he is exhausting. We will be interacting with the audience a little bit so we will have people on stage. We have some different characters in the show like The Passionate Accountant. I am about being as low-tech as possible. If we can’t fit the prop in one bag we aren’t doing it. All of the props and costumes fit in one bag slung over my shoulder. There are less than ten sound cues in the entire show. It is all about just trying to present funny stuff and not rely on technical extravaganzas. There are no pyrotechnics, no strobe lights."