CREDIT: THE BLOCK

When you think about London, a comedy scene doesn't exactly come to mind. New York, L.A., Boston and even Toronto have a variety of comedic outlets, but London seems to be virtually off the radar.

Well, a new sketch comedy show has come to town and wants to change that image while tickling the funny bones of Londoners. I sat down and had a beer with the members of The Block — Adam Zess, Jamie Ian Badger, Forrest Rensby, Emily Forbes, Todd Georgeneau, Terry Staples, John Milne and Tanis Dean — to discuss the origins of the group and all things comedy.

How do you guys all know each other?
Adam Zess: “Most of us actually work at Rainbow Cinemas. I was one of the newer employees that came in and my personality quite changed after meeting these people. Between shows, we found we had a lot in common and got to talking about our love of movies, television and art, which made us all close friends.”

How did the idea come up to start a sketch comedy group start?
Zess: “The idea actually started from a conversation at the concession stand at Rainbow Cinemas between myself and the other cofounder Jamie. We were both very frustrated artistically because we weren't doing anything and we both went to school in both very art-based programs. The topic shifted to sketch comedy and we thought, ‘Hey, we could do that! Why don't we start a group?' Most of us working there were writers who had a bunch of material already written, so we had an extensive catalogue of sketches at our disposal. We knew John had shot movies before so it just made sense to get him on board to be on the technical portion of things.”

And how did it get brought to Rogers TV?
Zess: “I have a friend who works over at Rogers TV. I pitched the idea of a comedy show and she loved it. She definitely did us a favour and helped push the proposal to the higher-ups and got us a meeting. Since we are a third-party show, in which we require no budget, no funding, and shoot and edit everything ourselves, it helped the decision with Rogers to pick us up because were basically doing all the legwork and giving them free programming in return for airtime.”

What are some of your influences when you are writing?
John Milne: “For a skit like Carli's Cookies, I know a sweet girl who I thought it'd be awesome if really bad things would happen to her. That one was basically influenced by daily life like a lot of our sketches.”

Emily Forbes: “Working at a movie theatre definitely helps that. So many characters come in that place!”

Zess: “Like that weird guy who tried to touch my face! I was at the concession stand and he said I looked like Harry Potter and got a little too close for comfort.”

Todd Georgeneau: “This guy came out of a movie and said to me, ‘Wow I really loved the 3D on that movie.' We don't have 3D.”

How do you guys keep things fresh and funny, even after retaking a scene a couple of times?
Milne: “I feel like I know what the scene needs. I'm always telling these guys if it doesn't sound funny after a couple of takes, switch it up. I'm a big fan of improving scenes and changing what's on the original script to make it fresh.”

Zess: “Really if it's not funny to us while were shooting it, it's not going to be funny to the viewer while watching it. So trying to switch it up, go off script and make each other laugh definitely makes the experience very enjoyable.”

What are the next steps for The Block?
Milne: “We are always looking for the next step. We want to move on and hopefully get picked up and reach a wider audience someday. Being on a national television station or Netflix would be our dream.”

Zess: “Well, like I said, since we have no funding and no budget, we are trying to branch out and get any kind of sponsorship we can. Any businesses such as McCulloch's, Henry's or the P.A Shop that could give us a hand with costumes or equipment that would definitely keep the show going. We're not looking for much — any help you can give would be greatly appreciated and help us out tremendously.”

Check out The Block Saturdays at 11 or Sundays at 11:30 p.m. on Rogers Television. A new episode airs every month.