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Queen s players presents i go to queen s
The Queen's Players is a sketch comedy/improvisation/rock and roll troupe that performs currently performs at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario the Mansion. Previous revenues include Clark Hall pub, Alfie's pub, and Time To Laugh Comedy Club. It produces three productions every year: one in the fall, one in the winter, and one show in the spring. The shows are cast by and with Queen's University students in a selective process each term.
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The winter and fall shows differ from the summer show in various ways. The shows produced in the winter and fall semesters consist of a cast of 10 or 12 students, an even number of male and female characters (usually celebrities), and are each ten or twelve scenes long, following a continuous plot. The summer show is in the form of a sketch comedy show with a smaller cast ranging from seven to nine performers performing various scenes written by the actors themselves. Both formats of the show alternate each scene with a rousing rock, rap, or pop song sung by one of the players and performed by the show's live band.
The first manifestation of the Queen's Players was as the Queen's Drama Guild, established in 1900. Prominent members of the Guild included Lorne Greene and Robertson Davies. It was not until the 1980s that the troupe adopted the format that now makes them so popular on the Queen's campus. The shows draw characters from popular culture and has them descend upon the Queen's Campus. Each show is given a witty, often bawdy title that reflects some of the key characters in the show. Furthermore, the shows are marked by their often low-brow, ultra-sexual humour.
Note Worthy - Queen's Players had to be moved to Time to Laugh comedy club after, during a show the previous summer, a Queen's football player body checked a burly friend of his through one of the concrete pillars leading up to the entrance of the venue. No one was harmed in this incident, with the exception of Clark Hall Pub management - who for the most part lost their jobs.
The vocal abilities of the Queen's Players and the musical prowess of the band make it a consistent success. The show has proved itself to be the most popular show on campus, often selling each of its eight performances within the morning tickets go on sale. When the show was still at Clark Hall Pub, Queen's students were known to camp outside Destinations (Now Tricolour) for several hours or even the night before tickets go on sale.
The Queen's Players band is referred to as "The Bod Squad," "Twisted Mister," or "RadioSled," mainly because of the glowing and impressive collective physique shown to audience members as guitar players declare "Tarps Off" before the last act of the show. At this point, all members of the band take their shirts off. A recent development in this is the phrase "Shibi," which loosely translates to "Tarps off-Beers in."
Every term there are 3 awards given: The Order of The Diarrhea, to the production team member that really knows their sh*t, The Order of The Gouda, to the cheesiest performer, and The Orca, awarded to the band member who wails the hardest.
Profits from Queen's Players shows go towards local charitable causes, last year raising over $20,000.
Other noteworthy alumni of the QP include Laura Bertram, Ashleigh Banfield, Andrew Johnston, Andy Poole, Carly Heffernan, Elena Juatco, and the Arrogant Worms.
Recent productions include: