2-Man No-Show has certainly carved out a pretty big carbon footprint for just a two-person comedy troupe. Since its inception only three years ago, improvisers Ken Hall and Isaac Kessler have appeared in festivals from Edinburgh to Winnipeg (with Toronto and Chicago in between). We caught up with the dynamic duo while they were in New York for the first annual N.Y.C. Improv Fest to chat about Jurassic Park, cheating on exams and of course, improv.
How did your duo come about?
IK: We met at The Second City in the Conservatory program, and by chance we got into the Toronto Fringe Festival in 2009. Two days before opening night, 2-Man No-Show was born.
Why are there only two of you? Don’t like working in groups?
IK: You see us as you choose to see us. You see us as two, but two is an illusion. We produce the energy of a much larger group… and there’s more profit when you go halfsies.
Signed,
The Breakfast Club
What can people expect from your show?
IK: A lot of sweat, occasional profanity and Ken suspended mid-air magically by a large Jewish force he calls Isaac.
What do you love most about improv?
IK: The money. Also, the feeling of joy and play we experience in the moment is the best feeling in the world.
Which one of you is funnier?
IK: Ken Hall. No question. Just ask everyone.
You spend a lot of time together. What’s something about the other that no one else knows?
KH: Well, Isaac has seen Jurassic Park 13 times in theatres, and he also cheated on his Grade 12 Jewish Ethics exam.
IK: On the topic of school, Ken dropped acid before an OAC finite exam. He passed finite but not calculus.
Describe each other’s most memorable/bizarre/crazy/funny moment on stage.
KH: Isaac dropped a line in a set that can’t be repeated for awkward/inside-joke reasons that I can’t explain. It brought me and the house down for the count.
IK: In a scene where I played his wife, Ken (and his “huge” erection) jumped up, straddled me, and started having the most ridiculous and awkward sexual relations I’ve ever experienced. It was physically and anatomically impossible.
Biggest achievement so far?
IK: Define achievement. It could mean our standing ovation at the Montreal Fringe, headlining the N.Y.C. Improv Festival with Scott Adsit and Jet Eveleth, surviving the Edinburgh Fringe, or those amazing pancakes at the San Francisco SketchFest.
What’s next on the agenda?
IK: We’re excited to teach our sold-out improv duo workshops in April, and then we’re off to the Chicago Improv Festival for the third straight year. After that, DuoFest in Philly, and then hopefully we’ll get money, women and power! (But right now we’ll just settle for money.)
The details
Year established: 2009
Cast Members: Ken Hall and Isaac Kessler
Influences: Looney Tunes, Middle Age Comeback, Jurassic Park, and a really really tasty brunch (or at least a massive meal 20 minutes before we hit the stage).
Catch them at: The Imperial Pub, 54 Dundas St. E., 416-977-4667, April 3 (part of Pageant Feathers).