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Tragedy Plus Time takes us into the world of comedy in Toronto. With reviews of venues and shows as well as interviews and profiles with some of Toronto’s comics. |
Toronto stand-up comedians Blayne Smith and Troy Stark have partnered up to create The Shit Hawks, a five episode web series. Smith and Stark play two candy eating, soda shotgunning, “chemically dependent,” tattooed VD fomites who decide they need to start a band to justify their lifestyle. In need of a singer they end up selecting New Zealander Guy Montgomery (“Bad Dog”) as he is the least-worst candidate available.
Their rock star status is more in their imaginations than in anything happening on an actual stage, reminiscent of Flight of the Concords. Also, the inherent dryness of Montgomery’s accent adds to this effect. Nobody really likes having their work compared to other people’s work, and that’s not what I intended. An obvious point of difference is Montgomery’s role as somewhat of a straight-man in the trio, whereas in Flight of the Concords there is no straight-man. Between the shitty-band theme, the drinking, the weed smoking, and the New Zealand dryness, the series could perhaps be described as somewhere between Flight of the Concords and Trailer Park Boys. (You might have guessed the second influence from the name of the series.)
Since it’s a short series I shouldn’t give too much away. Just go watch it:
