Lusty Mannequins (l to r) Ashley Comeau and Connor. Photo by Skye Regan

It’s no secret that dudes learn to play the guitar in order to join a band, get famous and then eventually have sex with lots of girls. It works, so why wouldn’t comedy be any different? Come on, who among us hasn’t paid several hundred dollars for an improv class in order to get laid? Anyway, I want you all to meet the Lusty Mannequins. A cute boy/cute girl sketch duo from Toronto who are a comedy couple. Aside from being funny, these two are also sharp dressers. Connor and Ashley were nice enough to take some time out of their busy schedules preparing for the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival to answer some of my questions. Check it:

How would you describe a Lusty Mannequins show to somebody that doesn’t get out to see a lot of sketch comedy?
C: Well, there are two of us…there are hilarious scenes about a variety of subjects. Ideally there are people watching this. Sitting in chairs, usually. And we’re on a stage. Sometimes there isn’t anybody there, and we’re in our living room. But these aren’t shows, see. No no. We call these ‘rehearsals.’ But I digress…

I see you went to Milwaukee for the Milwaukee Sketch Fest. What the fuck is in Milwaukee?
A: Beer. The Wisconsin State Fair (where one can purchase deep fried cheese curds, and be swindled into seeing the lamest “vaudeville freakshow” ever. Seriously. They had charred rubber dolls which were a ‘result’ of abortion??? ) But mainly, there is a really great comedy festival that we got in to. Matt Kemple runs a hilarious festival and has this Tony Clifton-esque character he does. It’s good times. Lots of great troupes from all over the US, and this year was the first year anyone from Canada had been in! They love Canada, and we love MILWAUKEE! Check it out : http://milwaukeecomedy.com/

How much of your sketch material comes out of your relationship?
A: We often play characters that have a sense of awareness that we may not have obtained yet. Like these characters who know what it’s like to be married, or they have had experiences that we have not personally encountered. Sometimes it is as simple as them being older than we currently are. In that I would say it’s a neat way to work with your partner to see that different side of them and what they could potentially be. We do have to set aside times to be working or dating. Sometimes they bleed into each other though. Like last night, during sex I just burst out laughing. It wasn’t at the sex at all! It was this brilliant idea I had for a scene. It wasn’t the sex at all. I swear.

C: Well, there’s ‘relationship’ Connor and Ashley and then there’s ‘professional’ Connor and Ashley, and never the twain shall meet, except sometimes on a lazy Thursday when she’s like ‘let’s rehearse’ and I’m like ‘the World Series is on’ and then she’s like ‘well at least let’s answer these questions Wade sent us’ and I’m all like ‘World. Series.’ and she’s like ‘just type out your answers and then I’ll type out my answers’ and I say nothing because Chase Utley just grounded into a double play with the tying run on first base and she says ‘are you even listening to me?’ and I say ‘FINE, gimme the goddamn computer’ and she says ‘if you’re going to be like that I’ll just answer the questions on my own,’ and I say ‘good because I wanted to be in bed by eleven anyway’ and I go to the bedroom but then inspiration hits and I come bursting out of the bedroom and say ‘hey, that little argument we just had about answering the questions would make a great scene!’ and she’s like ‘no it wouldn’t’ and I’m like ‘yes it would, I’ll write it,’ and she’s like ‘forget it, these questions are never going to get answered,’ and then she goes to bed but I’m too jacked on my brilliant idea and I stay up until four looking for obscure synonyms for the word ‘two.’

You can catch the Lusy Mannequins at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival this week:

Tuesday, November 10th – 7:PM
Theatre Passe Muraille
with 100 & 50, The Serious and Big Tease

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