HATZENBAKER Bring Dirty Sweet Comedy to the Bad Dog Theatre
As comedy duos go, HATZENBAKER are hard to define. With their eclectic mix of sketch, improv, clown, video and song you never really know what to expect, except of course big laughs.
“We pride ourselves in our irreverence” says Alex Hatz the crafty, curmudgeonly and shorter half of HATZENBAKER prior to their two show run at the Bad Dog Theatre (October 14 and 21). Rob Baker, the silly, mischievous and taller half of the duo, agrees. “Our humour can veer into dark and uncomfortable places, but we like to balance that out with utter goofiness”.
“There are musical sketches like ‘Nobody Knows I’m a Psycho’ where a frustrated musician strangles a puppeteer to death, or ‘Flummox in Chains’ where a clown saws off his leg, but we also have sketches like ‘Dr. Boot’ a song about a weapons maker who gives up his profession to follow his heart or ‘A-Team, the Next Generation’, a video parody of two classic TV shows.”
HATZENBAKER draw a lot of their material from the world around them and current events, like suicide bombing and the consequences of the one-child-only policy in China. “There are about 18 million single men in China right now with no women to marry, so we came up with a series of radio ads by the Chinese government to entice single western women to move to China and find a husband.”
Rob Baker and Alex Hatz come from backgrounds as varied as their material. Rob Baker an improviser and writer originally from East Vancouver has recently appeared in the Rhubarb festival and Summerworks, while Alex Hatz from Toronto, is an actor and filmmaker who is best known as the guy from the ‘red ones first’ Smarties commercial (Hello!). They met each other over a year ago at the Bad Dog Theatre and have been performing their all encompassing brand of humour ever since.
In addition to their written material, HATZENBAKER like to break up their show with improvised sets. “We have a great chemistry when we improvise” says Alex Hatz, “our styles are very different, but always complementary. We can each switch from the straight-guy to the goofy-guy and we both like to take risks on stage, the audience really enjoys that about us.”
So why do HATZENBAKER like to mix so many different forms in one show? “We love so many different types of performance styles that we could never choose between them, so we do them all. It’s like asking a parent which child they love most.”
“Our goal is to make people laugh” says Baker, “and we don’t like to limit ourselves in the way we do that, whether it’s a sketch or improv or a song, if it’s funny we’ll put it on stage.”
The HATZENBAKER Comedy Show, with specials guests Kerry Griffen and Erin Kell. Friday October 14 and Friday October 21, 8 p.m. at the Bad Dog Theatre, 138 Danforth Ave. (just east of Broadview). Tickets, $10, for reservations call 416.491.3115 or email ralph@baddogtheatre.com
