Ottawa comedy group launches web series
IN THE FIRST year of its inception, the Ottawa Sketch Group has attracted significant buzz in the Ontario arts scene for their hilarious performances. Even though part of the team’s success can be credited to their knack for good jokes and comedic timing, the group was actually born out of a reaction to traditional dramatic acting.
“A lot of the stuff I studied last year—the Meisner method and [the] Strasberg method—are very deep and heavy, and I came out of them going, ‘OK, I’ve got to make my own work and I’m tired of doing heavy, heavy stuff,’” says Stephanie Halin, actress and the group’s co-founder.
“I just wanted comedy back in my life, because that’s what I love.”
Halin’s enthusiasm for the project was all it took to convince Sarah Argue, fellow actress and producer, to join in the effort to bring comedy to the capital and sign on as co-creator. After gathering a group of talented, enthusiastic friends, the Ottawa Sketch Group was born, and the show Locker Lives shortly followed. The web series is show within a show that displays what happens when the same actors have been on a teen show for 15 years.
“The original idea was to have a web series like Saturday Night Live with lots of sketches and stuff like that,” explains Halin. “So we started writing that. Locker Lives was one of the featured shows we wanted to bring back every week on the web.”
While the team does have other projects in the works—most notably their successful live shows—the web series has been the focus of the sketch group since June 2011, when the first episode of Locker Lives aired online. Although only three episodes have aired to date, the series has developed immensely over the course of its short life.
“Now we know our characters and we’re kind of just running with it,” says Halin.
“Our writing has gotten so much tighter now; we’re just waiting for episode four to come up. That’s where we really started to get our writing legs going, [and get] in a groove [where] we really understand it.”
While the show is a primarily a comedy, Rachelle Casseus, writer and actress, believes the series also critiques gender stereotypes in the entertainment industry.
“It’s funny because I’ve had a few comments from older women who see the show and they’ve said, ‘Why does her character comment on being post-menopausal and why do you have derogatory comments about women aging?’ And I say, ‘It’s not really a comment on how we feel, but it’s a comment on how the entertainment industry—especially acting—perceives women,’” says Casseus.
One of the goals of Locker Lives is to have it broadcasted by a major television network. Casseus noted for both her and the rest of the Ottawa Sketch Group, the web series is about enjoyment first.
“I don’t know anything about how networks work and how to get shows picked up, and to be honest, I don’t really care. I just love being in the series,” says Casseus.
“That’s why we started—for the love of it.”
Fans can catch Locker Lives at Ottawasketch.com or on their YouTube channel.
—Keeton Wilcock
