What a laugh! Theatresports stand-up company with alumni including Keanu Reeves, Mike Meyers and Colin Mochrie celebrates 40 years

Ten years ago, Alia Ceniza Rasul was working a 9 to 5 job and intending to climb up the proverbial corporate ladder. The only thing holding her back was her fear of public speaking.

She tried Toastmasters, which she found way too intense. Then she enrolled in an improv theatre class at Bad Dog Theatre. She loved it and soon, encouraged by someone at Bad Dog, was onstage doing a 10-minute improv scene with improv ace Lisa Merchant.

“I still remember that feeling of saying my first blow line,” says Rasul, referring to the improvised line that gets a big laugh that ends a scene.

“Whenever I think, ‘Ah, art is hard,’ I remember that moment and realize this is where I need to be.”

Eventually Rasul gave up the corporate job and joined Bad Dog. For nearly a year now, she’s been the company’s artistic director.

She’s not alone in her love for the art. This year, Bad Dog Theatre celebrates its 20th year of making people laugh from made-up-on-the-spot games, scenes and full-length shows. Bad Dog grew out of Theatresports Toronto, which is also celebrating its 40th year and is named for its classic competition-style shows.

To mark the occasion, Bad Dog has been presenting 40 consecutive weeks of Theatresports matches, all leading up to a big gala show and fundraiser at Comedy Bar on July 7 featuring an all-star cast of alumni that includes Colin Mochrie, Andrew Phung and Ann Pornel.

“Improv is the most death-defying thing I will ever do without actually putting my life in danger,” wrote Mochrie in an email. Mochrie, of course, helped popularize improv in the long-running TV series “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”

“To stand in front of a paying audience who expect a show that you don’t have at that particular moment is electrifying,” he continued. “Watching some sitcoms is like watching a mathematical formula come to life — you can almost say the punchlines along with the actors. In improv, no one knows where the funny will come from.”

Theatresports was founded in Calgary in 1977 by Keith Johnstone, the influential British-Canadian teacher, director and co-founder of the Loose Moose Theatre who recently passed away. Legend has it that he came up with the format after watching pro wrestlers riling up audiences. It was soon taken up by teams across the country and its alumni include Mike Myers, several members of the sketch troupe Kids in the Hall, storyteller Sandra Shamas and Mochrie, who first performed it in the early 1980s in Vancouver.

Theatresports Toronto regular Marcel St. Pierre co-founded Bad Dog in 2003 with Kerry Griffin and Ralph MacLeod because, as he says, he wanted to give people more stage time.

“Unless you were self-producing, there were two places where you could go to do improv,” says St. Pierre. “There was Theatresports, which was once a week and was for its cast and its students, and then there was Second City, which in addition to its sketch featured a post-show improv jam for its cast and understudies. We wanted to grow the community and create more opportunities.”

And they did. Popular early Bad Dog shows included weekly improvised parodies of hit shows and movies like “Battlestar Galactica” (the Bad Dog version was called “Battleawesome Awesomestar”) and “Harry Potter” (“Hairy Patter”). Some audience members would become so hooked on the art form they took classes and tried it out themselves.

When a Bad Dog show called “Throne of Games” debuted (I think you can guess what it’s based on), Stephanie Malek, now Bad Dog’s corporate director and production manager for its Theatresports nights, was in the audience.

“Watching that my brain exploded and I suddenly realized what improv could be,” said Malek. “I had seen ‘Who’s Line’ before, but this was my first time seeing a narrative long-form show.”

The basic techniques of a game like Theatresports can also give artists the ideas for other shows and formats.

Theatresports alum Tom Hearn, who’s performing in the July 7 gala, dreamed up the idea for “Lipsynced” — a show involving lip-synching to popular songs, games, drag and audience voting.

And improv can also help writers generate ideas in a fun, low-stakes way.

Theatresports, Bad Dog and Second City alum Jan Caruana is also performing at the gala and is a writer for shows including “Because News” and “The Next Step.”

“Improv is helpful when you’re log-jammed for ideas,” said Caruana. “You just go, ‘What about this?’ It teaches you not to be precious — just throw out all your ideas and somebody’s going to glom onto something.”

As with any performing art, improv has gone through some big social changes over the past decade. Rasul was originally hired by Bad Dog’s former artistic director Julie Dumais Osborne to be its inclusion director. During her first year in the role, she remembers finding certain long-standing games — especially ones around accents and cultural stereotypes — problematic.

“We held workshops about how not to be harmful improvisers,” said Rasul. “That includes things like accents. What are you focusing on? With improv, it’s better to punch up than punch down.”

There’s also increased sensitivity around physical touch and intimacy. After all, who knows what might happen when people are making things up on the spot?

Rasul now has people check in at the beginning of rehearsals, shows and even auditions. Everyone reveals their names, their pronouns, and what their access needs might be for that day.

One of Bad Dog’s current challenges is its lack of a permanent performance space. After beginning on the Danforth and then moving west to Bloor Street W. and Ossington Avenue, it’s got temporary administrative and teaching digs on Spadina Avenue. But, following the spirit of improv, Bad Dog is adjusting. Their shows often happen at Comedy Bar, but they’re open to going anywhere. This fall, for instance, they’re mounting a pirate-themed show on a ship down at the Harbourfront.

Improv has changed thousands of lives.

“There’s magic in watching something being created out of nothing,” said Malek. “Once it touches your heart, it changes you as a person. I met my partner, I met my best friends through improv.”

But one person she’d still like to meet? Theatresports alumnus Keanu Reeves. This year, Bad Dog is inaugurating the Keanu Reeves Alumni award for an artist who’s used improv as a springboard to further their artistic practice.

“The award is a John Wick action figure of Keanu holding a dog over his head, as if he’s championing Bad Dog.”

The Theatresports40 Grand Finale & Fundraiser takes place July 7 at 8 p.m. at Comedy Bar (945 Bloor West).

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