October 3, 2022 • 36 mins
This month we chatted with the immensely talented Michael Vetsch. Come join us for a discussion around collective processes, voice over, and the power of laughter!
A graduate of MacEwan University’s Theatre Arts program, Michael has been a longtime improviser with Sorry, Not Sorry Productions, as well as a writer/performer with local sketch comedy troupe The Debutantes. He can also be heard on the noir radio play podcast Hardboiled and as a player/editor on the sci-fi tabletop podcast Quantum Kickflip.
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#podcasting #itunes #podcastshow #interview #podcastlife #spotify
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#bubbletea #karaoke
In Process is available to listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcasts, Podbean and many other streaming platforms.
Captioned Version of In Process available on the Azimuth Theatre YouTube channel!
Guest: Michael Vetsch
IG: @vetschvest
Hosted by Andrés Moreno
IG: @Andres._.FM
Theme by Just Moe
IG: @iamjustmoe
https://m.soundcloud.com/moewaves
Sound Technician : Selina Painchaud
IG: @fancifultechnician
Editing: Andrés Moreno
Cover by: Andrés Moreno
Extra Links Mentioned in episode
The Debutantes @debssketch
Sorry Not Sorry Productions @snsyeg
Quantum Kickflip @quantumkickflip
Special thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts, Fringe Theatre, ATB Arts Barns, Azimuth Theatre and our community.
Learn more about Azimuth Theatre
www.azimuththeatre.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
THEME (00:02):
Oh I'm gonna trust the whole damn process for the record
till we are breaking records.
Reminisce about the past days,now we rise and fly, journeys to
the sky, Azimuth inside my grip.
Always know the way now!
Beauty feel my days now.
Take it day by day sound couldn'tbe prouder cuz y'know we alive!
ANDRÉS (00:24):
Welcome to today.
We have a special guesttoday Michael Vetch.
Michael Vetch, right?
MICHAEL (00:29):
Yeah.
That's the one, you got it
ANDRÉS (00:30):
Good!
Like, I've been calling you Michael Vetchthis whole time, so hopefully it's right.
MICHAEL (00:33):
It's one of those ones where people typically
say the first and last name.
I don't know why, but it'salways kind of been...
ANDRÉS (00:38):
I think Vetch is a fun name to say, you know, it's,
MICHAEL (00:42):
it's got a- it's nice.
Strong single syllable.
Yeah,
ANDRÉS (00:44):
Exactly.
It's great, welcome Michael Vetch.
Welcome to In Processthank you for being here.
MICHAEL (00:50):
Thank you for having me
ANDRÉS (00:50):
Im excited to chat with you and get to know more about you and
your process as well as an artist.
I'm gonna start with the questionthat I always start with.
Mm-hmm.
. Can you tell us a little bitabout your journey into the arts?
Like what brought you in andand where you're at right now!
MICHAEL (01:03):
I think one of the biggest things, I didn't really
start doing much theater orcreation stuff until high school.
But growing up I always loved beingable to make my friends laugh.
Mm.
That was always one of thebiggest things is like, what?
What can I do to crack a joke?
What can I...
act as I, I wouldn't say that Iwas like a class clown, cuz growing
(01:23):
up very shy, incredibly shy.
But in among my friends it was always,I, I'm kind of the one who, who's got
the quick wit and that sort of led meinto taking drama classes and going
from there into actually working onproductions and things and that was
like, oh, this is a place where, whereyou can really do a lot of that and
start picking up things like improv andstuff where it's like this, like it, it
(01:46):
all kind of came together and clickedas this is where I can really shine
and make a lot of people laugh at once.
ANDRÉS (01:51):
Yeah.
And being a class clown is a lot of work.
Like you're on all the time.
MICHAEL (01:55):
Yeah.
Not.
Not for me.
I need my breaks.
, ANDRÉS: Right?
Yeah,
ANDRÉS (01:59):
(Laughs) and so you started in high school and then from
there you progressed to MacEwan?
Or did you, do you havea pit stop between?
MICHAEL (02:06):
Yeah, no, I right outta high school I had to go to MacEwan and I
guess we were, we were a year apart?
ANDRÉS (02:11):
We were a year apart.
Yeah.
You were the year above.
MICHAEL (02:13):
And you, you came there after, was it RDC that you were
ANDRÉS (02:16):
I did, yeah.
I, I went to RDC first and thenI took a year off, and then I was
like, I wanna learn how to tap dance.
MICHAEL (02:22):
Nice.
That's-
ANDRÉS (02:22):
That's literally why I, that's literally why I went to MacEwan (Laughs)
MICHAEL (02:25):
it's all about the tap
ANDRÉS (02:27):
It's always about the tap . But what about since MacEwan?
MICHAEL (02:30):
Yeah.
After that, I just took some time,started auditioning for shows and things.
Really the biggest thing sort of comingout of that I made some friends working
on a, a production of Rocky Horrorone time, and they got me to audition
for an improv company Sorry, Not SorryProductions and I have been with them
ever since, like six or seven years now.
ANDRÉS (02:47):
Dang, that's a long time.
MICHAEL (02:48):
Yeah, it's time is weird.
. ANDRÉS: Yeah.
I mean-
It's hard to think that they, it's been that long, but yeah, I,
it's just a great group and they'veall become, Close friends to me and
really an artistic family in a way.
And it's, yeah, that's, it's probablybeen one of the bigger focuses and that
has spun off into other types of comedy,like sketch comedy and things like that.
ANDRÉS (03:09):
And can you tell us a little bit about what's the difference
between like, sketch comedy andimprov as opposed to like a theater
piece or like a, a stage production.
MICHAEL (03:18):
Gotcha.
Yeah.
, this is one of the things of like gettingto know this quite well for doing hand
billing at Fringe and being like, Ohyes, my poster says sketch comedy.
Do you know SNL?
Do you know Monte Python, Kids InThe Hall if you're really, really
Canadian about your content.
But essentially sketch comedy.
Sort of short form written pieces.
Oftentimes, if you're doing a show,you might just have a selection
(03:38):
of, of different little vignettes.
They don't all have to connecttogether, but other times they're
often like sketch comedy movies,which have a loose narrative that
kind of strings things along.
But yeah, just pre-written comedy,you can really sort of perfect
the, the bits and escalations.
And then a flip side of that improv justbeing on the spot, you might have a few
prepared things or you might be drawinginspiration from the audience, but it's,
(04:01):
it's very much just you and whoever elseis on stage throwing what you can down
and seeing if it builds up to something.
ANDRÉS (04:08):
And do you have a favorite between Sketch and improv?
MICHAEL (04:12):
I think probably improv it's where I definitely have the most
experience Sketch I, the, the sketchgroup, The Debutantes ,that I've
been a part of for a few years now.
My connection through that wasall entirely just other people.
Who are also in the improv company?
. Yeah.
And especially in creating stuffwith Sketch, I find I'm such
a, sort of flash idea person.
ANDRÉS (04:33):
Mm-hmm.
, MICHAEL: I can, I can pitch something or I can throw a line in, but to
sit down and fully write out anentire sketch takes me a while.
Sometimes , it either takes awhile or I know it in an instant,
and it, it's done in half an hour.
Right?
Yeah.
I feel that, I feel like sometimesthat can be funny off the cuff, but
if someone's like, write a funnyscript, I'm like, I, I don't know.
I don't know.
MICHAEL (04:54):
Is this, is any of this- have I ever been funny?
ANDRÉS (04:57):
Right?!
(Laughs) Well, and there's thislike weird line of, like, for
me, funny is like spontaneous.
. And so the idea of like plannedfunny is just, it's, it's a new
thing I'm wrapping my brain around,
MICHAEL (05:08):
That's definitely one where I find the, the improv and sketch
almost lend themselves to each other.
Mm-hmm.
, because if you just sit, if you havethe pitch idea, you can just sit down
with other people and riff off it fora while and essentially improvise a
little scene and then go back and lookand say, Okay, what worked in this was
this, did this made no sense at all?
Let's take that out.
What, what can we put in there thatmakes more sense with the overall
(05:30):
arc of what we were building here?
Comedically.
ANDRÉS (05:32):
Right.
And so do you have a lot of experiencenow writing like sketches or are you
more of like the, the worker, likethe collaborator and then someone
else is kind of writing as you go?
MICHAEL (05:41):
I've written a few.
Well, I guess more than a few.
A few.
Sounds like I've done, likenothing for this company, . No.
I'm, there's definitely people withinour group that are more suited to
being the writers and they, theygenerate a lot of sketches overall.
I, I kind of fall more into like pitchesand ideas especially within this last
little while in, in pandemic it's beenharder to find reasons to create stuff,
(06:04):
like without having the ability to goout and put on a show or, or feature in a
sketch collective or anything like that.
So we've shifted to doing morevideo content where we can mm-hmm.
and a lot of that just to come upwith ideas is like, Okay, what's
a, what's a holiday coming up?
Or something like that.
And we'll sit and try and figureout, okay, what's something
we can pitch off of that?
(06:24):
Recently we were actually justtrying to figure out a sketch
for Groundhog Day to do a video.
And people were like, Ah,do we even try anything?
And I just threw an idea out.
That's what we wentwith, and we ran with it.
And now it's, it's actually, wefully made a thing within like a week
. ANDRÉS: That's awesome.
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (06:39):
Where are these video contents being released?
MICHAEL (06:41):
Just through The Debutantes social media, we, we put stuff up
on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram,just kind of uploaded everywhere.
Most of them should be @debssketch,D- E- B- S-S- K- E- T- C- H.
That was way too hard to spell for me.
ANDRÉS (06:56):
Sunday morning.
You did great.
. MICHAEL: Oh boy.
But yeah, looking up Debssketchor The Debutantes YEG, even going
to thedebutantes.ca we've got allour stuff up there speaking of
through that we actually also inthe course of pandemic, have started
up doing a podcast of our own.
That's awesome!
Yeah.
I feel like a lot of companies have hadto do that bit of a shift of like medium.
(07:18):
How are we still storytellingin the pandemic, right?
Which actually is what brought us togetherto work again, cuz like we mentioned,
we knew each other back in the day.
We're not gonna say when(Laughs) a year ago.
Yeah.
MICHAEL (07:30):
Lose recently.
Quite recently.
ANDRÉS (07:31):
Right.
But yeah.
Now you're working for Azimuth as welluh, we get to do a podcast with you,
but we also get to do a little animatedshort And getting to work with you.
It's been so cool to like, see howyour arsenal is so full of different
voices you can pull out at any point.
Can you tell us like where thatkind of comes from, like where
that, where that impetus or thatkind of skill was harnessed?
MICHAEL (07:51):
Honestly, it's been one of like my long running dreams to do more
voice acting, voice work, . (Laughs) Sogetting asked to work on this project
was really a dream come true in someways to, to finally bust that out.
But at linking back to the idea of what,what could I do to make my friends laugh?
Most common things was like,do a voice, create a character,
build a thing like that.
(08:12):
So I've, I've been doing it as longas I can remember, different accents
and funny voices, things like that.
, ANDRÉS: do you have a favorite that you go to?
Oh gosh.
, it's sometimes my brain just drifts and(In different voice) I kind of fall into
doing different things just off the cuff.
I don't really think about it.
And then before I know it, I'vebeen talking like this for an hour
(08:32):
and then whoever I'm with is like,Michael is, is, are you okay?
ANDRÉS (08:38):
You're like, Right, this is not my voice.
MICHAEL (08:40):
Yeah.
There's a long stint where a groupof friends and I just did weird
like pirate-y kind of talk andit's like it, once you sink into
something, it just kind of sticksaround and you don't think about it.
ANDRÉS (08:49):
Yeah.
(Laughs) I'm glad you kindof like, give us an example.
Cause I was gonna be like,Can you give us some voices...
MICHAEL (08:56):
I'm, I'm open for business on that front, whatever you need.
ANDRÉS (09:01):
do you take inspiration from cartoons or is it just kind of like
you, you just start going and thenyou find a rhythm that makes sense?
MICHAEL (09:08):
I think.
It's sort of ingrained now, but a lotof it would come from cartoons that I
watched growing up, things like that.
I was always such a big fanof, of classic Looney Tunes.
SpongeBob was also a big one that likejust the, the process in which they
recorded where everyone was in the sameroom and was able to play off each other.
Various sort of radio show styleproduction is, is like, ugh, it, it sparks
(09:32):
so much inspiration in, in what you can dowith other people, even just with voice.
ANDRÉS (09:36):
Totally.
Yeah.
I I'm so excited for the day wherewe can actually have more than like
two people in the recording studio
MICHAEL (09:43):
mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (09:43):
to do something like that.
Cause I think an improvd oneand a cartooning around that
would be so much fun to do.
MICHAEL (09:48):
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (09:48):
Right.
Now can you tell us a littlebit about like where you draw
inspiration for some of your sketches?
MICHAEL (09:57):
So a lot of the ones that I produce, it's just little things
that I come across in the day to day.
. One of the more recent ones I wrotewas a very silly sketch about Big Macs.
Loose premise.
They're just like, What?
What if someone very devoutly fought theidea that it was called a Mick Big Mac?
And just, it's, it's very silly.
It's absolutely silly.
But I was outside walking around onenight and I happened to stroll through
(10:21):
a parking lot that had a McDonalds.
The idea popped in my head.
This is one of those ones that waslike, I had it done in an hour.
I just sat down once Igot home and it was there.
It was a full sketch that we havefilmed and performed multiple times now,
. ANDRÉS: I like that the Mick Big Mac was waiting for you was like (Laughs)
Somewhere down the years.
In the past.
I had already thought about it.
I'm sure.
(10:42):
Why, who can say, I don'tunderstand how my brain works?
ANDRÉS (10:45):
Who can say right?
(Laughs) now going back to like your,your, your start as an artist and
you kind of start as this career,like, do you have anything that like
you wish you kind of would've known?
Or like any wisdom you've pickedup that you're like, Oh, this
is something I should pass on.
MICHAEL (11:02):
Oh, that's a deep one.
ANDRÉS (11:04):
I know (Laughs)
MICHAEL (11:06):
I guess in something like, not everything always has to be perfect.
Mm-hmm.
, a lot of, especially like rightfrom the get go in, in the creation
process of something, it doesn't,nothing has to, not everything has
to fall perfectly in place and therewas always something growing up that.
I was a bit of a perfectionist inthings with schoolwork, stuff like that.
(11:27):
Working to get good gradesand things like that.
But like, creation can be messy andthat's sometimes a lot of where like
something going awry will be a newidea or a new thing that you wouldn't
even have considered as an option.
So like, being open and almostcraving the, the failures that come
along is, is really so key to seeingwhat potential there is out there.
(11:50):
Mm-hmm.
, because your brain willalways have an idea of...
this is my initialinstinct of where to go.
And sometimes those instincts are superstrong and you can find great stuff
following that, but it'll often also closeoff doors if you immediately go through
the one that opens right in front of you.
ANDRÉS (12:05):
And so do you find that in those situations, like collaboration is
where you really get to tear it apartand find the nugget of gold there?
MICHAEL (12:11):
Mm-hmm!
Yeah, that's definitely.
One of the hugest things is beingable to work with other people.
Like every, everyone's brains aredifferent everyone will have a different
perspective and different past thingsthat they can bring to the table
that you just like it, It's not, it'sno one's fault that you don't have
that, but you just don't sometimes.
ANDRÉS (12:26):
when you're collaborating on a script and you're, let's say
there's two rivaling jokes thatcould go in, how do you, how do
you kind of decide where to go?
MICHAEL (12:37):
Honestly, a lot of it comes down to just what gets the
biggest reaction out of other people.
Like it.
It'll often sort of go up to committee,in those moments where it's just,
what, what does everyone think overall?
And oftentimes if, if a script is beingsort of written by one particular person,
they kind of have the final say to vetoon that, usually everyone is like,
(12:58):
I love the people that I work with.
They're always so open to being like, Oh,you know, . I liked what I wrote, but your
thing is perfect for what we needed here.
It it sets something upin, in a, a good pattern.,
ANDRÉS (13:08):
that reminds me so much of like a lot of the great collaborations
that I've had in the past
MICHAEL (13:13):
mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (13:13):
where it's that selflessness of like, it we're working on something.
It's not about my ego, likemy joke being in there.
And that's what I love about likecollaborating when you really let go and
you really just work on like the piece.
Kinda like therapists talk about how likeyou should always look at the leg of the
stool that is the problem and not theleg of the stool that is you, you know?
MICHAEL (13:32):
Oh, okay.
ANDRÉS (13:33):
So I still will have three, three prongs.
Yeah.
One will be you, one will be yourcircumstances, and one, one will be
the problem that you're trying to fix.
So if you don't focus on the problem,you're gonna be like trying to fix
yourself or your circumstances.
MICHAEL (13:44):
Mm-hmm.
,ANDRÉS: where if you use yourself and your circumstances to fix the problem.
Those aren't the ones that are out of whack.
That's really interesting.
ANDRÉS (13:50):
Exactly.
I like to remind myself of thata lot when I collaborate, cuz I
also grow kind of perfectionist.
Hmm.
And so it's that idea of like,"Just let go and let god" (Laughs)
MICHAEL (13:59):
Totally.
ANDRÉS (14:02):
You mentioned you're doing a lot of improv and sketch, but your, your
training is in uh, musicals as well.
MICHAEL (14:08):
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (14:08):
Do you have a favorite musical?
MICHAEL (14:11):
It's probably Assassins.
That was one that I, I have the greatpleasure to do while I was at MacEwan at
the end of my first year, and I just...
Something about it.
It, it just, anytime I could go backand re-listen to it or I'm immediately
sucked back into it and it, the musicjust lives in my brain rent free.
. ANDRÉS: Yeah.
What character did you play?
(14:31):
I was Sam Byck.
Despite having trained in musicals,that was almost a long running
gag is that I often get cast inthe speaking roles in a musical.
(Laughs)
As a fellow speaker.
I hear you.
ANDRÉS (14:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
A lot of the times I remember it wouldbe like, Oh yeah, you're just, you're
just really good at the acting part.
And I'm like, "Okay, great, wasthat say about the singing?"
MICHAEL (14:53):
Yeah.
Am I not so good at that?
I, I'm hoping it's not a dichotomy there.
ANDRÉS (14:57):
Right.
Should I be working on this?
MICHAEL (15:01):
I guess I got the part, but, Okay...
ANDRÉS (15:04):
and now following up, is there one that you've always wanted to do
that you haven't had a chance to yet?
MICHAEL (15:10):
I think a dream one would be to work on Something Rotten.
ANDRÉS (15:14):
Oh, yes.
MICHAEL (15:15):
That show is just so zany full.
Like, it, it's, it's one ofthose ones that lands like a, a,
a joke a second kind of thing.
It's everything.
There's always something goingon with it that is hilarious.
And it does have its moments whereit finds like tenderness and strong
emotional weight, but just overall,it's, it's such a riot to, to see
(15:35):
or I to be in it would be a dream
. ANDRÉS: I love the the prophecy about musicals.
Mm-hmm.
, ANDRÉS: that whole song is just perfection.
Ooh, it's so, it's, it's definitely one of those ones for us,
people in the industry who is like, Ohyeah, I get, Those are the references.
Yep, you're doing 'em.
ANDRÉS (15:51):
All of them
MICHAEL (15:51):
you are doing them, they are wonderful the way you're doing them.
AD: (16:03):
The "In Process" podcast is brought to you by the Canada Council
for the Arts and Azimuth Theatre'sTraversing, the Azimuth multimedia branch.
It is our aim to continue to introduceand deepen the relationships between
our community and the artists within it.
To keep this podcast going, go toAzimuththeatre.com/donate to help
with the continuation of this podcast.
ANDRÉS (16:28):
Can you talk to us as somebody who works a lot in comedy, what
the power of comedy is, or I guesswhat it affords you as a performer?
MICHAEL (16:36):
Yeah.
Um, I think there's something inherentin comedy where it allows you to
bring the audience on your side.
Even if like in a, a comedic setup, ifyou are sort of the naysayer, if you're
playing the straight man in somethingand you're like, even if you seem like an
unlikable person, you can bring the peopleon site if you're making them laugh.
ANDRÉS (16:56):
And how has that kind of, because like a lot of what you're,
you're kind of hinting on is like the,the relationship and connection between
the audience and the performers, andobviously with everything that's been
going on in the last, what, year anda half, two years, I don't even know
how long anymore how has that kind ofshifted and how do you find ways to still
connect to audiences in different mediums?
MICHAEL (17:19):
It's certainly harder.
Because that's with the shift of sortof coming outta the physical space and
moving into a lot more digital, everythingonline, there's just so much content
out there that even if you are, if it'sreaching people and people are seeing
your stuff, there's not a guarantee.
You'll get the engagement back in like,Oh, people will comment on something
(17:42):
or, or they'll be like, Wow, this reallymade me laugh or made me feel something.
I'm going to share it on to someone else.
It almost feels like adigital marketplace in a way.
Like you, you kind of have to sellyourself a little more, which can
sometimes be like, Ugh, am I doing thiscuz it's the thing I want to create?
Or am I doing this because it'ssomething that will be shared that
we'll get the hits right kind of thing.
(18:04):
And it, it rides a difficult lineof like, I suppose, staying true to
the integrity of what you want tocreate, but whether or not it will
make a big hit or if it'll just beyou, you put something out, I guess.
But yeah, in some ways you justkinda have to hope that if you are
doing the, at least it's out there.
At least I'm doing something.
It's keeping you going to be ableto come back once we can have
(18:25):
more in, in the meat space again.
ANDRÉS (18:28):
Yeah.
In "The Meat Space".
MICHAEL (18:30):
Sorry.
That was terrible.
Ugh,
. ANDRÉS: Now we're gonna get t-shirts made
are we sure that's not the podcast name or is that-
ANDRÉS (18:37):
rebranding?
We're doing it now.
. Now you also got to work on Hardboiled a little bit.
MICHAEL (18:42):
Mm-hmm.
,ANDRÉS: which is a podcast almost like a radio play in a way.
Yeah,
ANDRÉS (18:46):
Yeah.
MICHAEL (18:46):
It was, I guess they pitched it.
Queer filmnoir radio play was,
Maybe the tagline
ANDRÉS (18:52):
It's still doing well.
It's still, it's still thrivingon the, on the charts, what
was your favorite part of that?
MICHAEL (18:57):
Ooh.
I think similarly to getting to dothis, it was, it was a chance to.
Jump in and do voice work stuff.
It was, it's, it's actually, I've, I'vebeen able to do a few different sort of
little radio play things over the courseof, of pandemic and it, it's been , this,
it's weird to say it, but I've alwayssort of felt that performatively my voice
(19:22):
has been sort of my strongest asset.
Mm-hmm.
maybe much more so thanwhat I can do physically or.
How, how I can projectand do stuff that way.
So getting a chance to try and do stuffin these audio specific mediums has
been really, really rewarding to seelike, oh, I do have a huge range that
I can bring to bear, even if I'm justsitting in a, the cramped back of my
(19:44):
room behind some sweaters to record it.
ANDRÉS (19:46):
Yeah, that's how you recorded it, hey (Laughs)
MICHAEL (19:49):
Yeah, moved a rack of sweaters, threw a blanket over top.
Oh,
, ANDRÉS: You probably had the same kind of similar experience when the
pandemic started, you started tosee all of like these colleagues
and friends that you know, were justlike, Oh, I'm in my closet recording.
Or like, Here we are onanother Zoom show in my house.
And it was just like, it was A) like,obviously, Theater over Zoom is like
(20:12):
its own thing, but watching everyonekind of galvanize and go like, No,
no, no, we're gonna make this due.
Mm.
Like it was, So for me it wasinspiring cuz it was like,
okay, you're not giving up.
I'm not giving up.
And like together.
I feel like the community kindof was like, Okay, continue.
Yeah.
There were so much sharingof just like, what are tips?
How does what, what stuff would you use?
(20:32):
How can I make this work offof the limited stuff that
I have with no prep time?
? ANDRÉS: Yeah, exactly.
And I think as artists is something wehave to really fall back on on those
moments where like, you know, maybethere's no gigs, but you're like, okay,
I'm still, I'm still doing the thing.
I'm still gonna sit down and write,or I'm still gonna just like explore
what I can make and what I can create.
(20:53):
Mm-hmm.
Where does that itch tocreate, come from, for you?
There are moments where even just in every day I want to do something, I
always feel like I've, I've just got thisenergy to do stuff, whether it's little
bits or gags or with, with friends or, orjust like setting stuff up and like, it's
that general just desirethere really pushes me to find
(21:18):
places to output it, I guess.
It, It's not to say that something isninvalid without the audience there, but
it, there's such an exchange of energythat you don't get many other places.
I think it's, it's is really thedrive to, to, to find that and
build that kind of connection that.
Drives me, I guess,
(21:40):
. ANDRÉS: That's great.
you've mentioned to us that you work a loton sketch comedy and improv, and that's
kind of like how you work as an artist.
But what else occupies your time?
Nowadays?
Something that I've dumped into a little more over pandemic
is, is doing some like digitaldrawing and, and video editing stuff.
That's something as, as partof the, the podcast that I
(22:02):
work on with my sketch group.
We do little audiogram promo pieces thatgo out and I've, I've learned some new.
Premier video skills in,in, in entering to that.
And that's actually been somethingthat's become very fulfilling is, okay,
what can, what can I make on this, onthis tablet that I've got here at home?
And it's, it sort of become verytherapeutic to just, Oh, I'm just
(22:24):
gonna sketch something and listen toother podcasts or music or something.
And that's, that's a way thatI spend my time when I can.
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (22:32):
Do you have a favorite podcast that you'd like to go to?
MICHAEL (22:35):
So lately I've been listening to A More Civilized Age, which is a
Star Wars, the Clone Wars podcast.
. ANDRÉS: (Laughs) That's awesome.
That's that's, that's who I am, I guess.
ANDRÉS (22:48):
I like the pause you took.
Cause I feel like you were like, DoI say this or do I say the other?
(Laughs),
MICHAEL (22:54):
is this really where I'm going?
Yeah, that's where I'm going.
. , ANDRÉS: what else do you watch for tv?
I, I love, I love a good, a good anime
. ANDRÉS: Yeah?
Uh, It's another thing where it's just getting to see different
styles of animation and how voice workcomes into that is, is super inspiring.
And especially in that industry foranime dub, you can , you can see so many
(23:18):
of the same voices or the same people.
But crop up with different charactersand it's, it's, it, it helps to
inspire, "Okay, what could I, whatwould I do with different characters
in that sort of a range in some ways?"
Not that I always go into it, like, I'mgonna take notes while I go through this
episode of Demon Slayer, but like, Yeah.
ANDRÉS (23:37):
And you can't help but pick up things as you listen.
I also have been delving a little bitinto the anime just started a little
recently, but uh, there's one thatI love called Land of the Lustrous.
I don't know if you've heard of it.
MICHAEL (23:47):
Oh, I have not.
ANDRÉS (23:48):
It's like these gem people.
And then there's like this weird alienthat's coming in to try to collect them.
Oh.
Cause they're all different gemsand each it's, it's super beautiful.
I think like for me, like what Ilove about anime specifically is
like the beauty of the visuals.
MICHAEL (24:02):
Mm-hmm.
, they're so crisp.
Right?
ANDRÉS (24:05):
Yeah.
Especially even like, I knowthis is like kind of that line,
but like Studio Ghibli films.
MICHAEL (24:10):
Mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (24:11):
you can pause that movie and look at the background.
And it is just,
MICHAEL (24:14):
it's every cell is a painting.
ANDRÉS (24:16):
Right?!
MICHAEL (24:17):
In such a beautiful way.
ANDRÉS (24:18):
Oh, I love it.
I've always felt so connected tocartoons in a way, growing up . I just
feel like it's, it's a form of, I don'tknow, maybe it's the visuals aspect
of it, but I find that it's a formof consumption that I really enjoy.
Hmm.
You know, when something has some nicevisuals and is, like, kind of chill and
you can just like lay back and watch.
MICHAEL (24:36):
There's something also in cartoons where the, the rules
of physics and things don't apply.
You can get so, so expressive witha character when they're drawn.
Yeah.
That like whether like, The, theextent that something can stretch
or, or form in, in, in a huge shape.
And then how that contrasts tojust the stillness of other things.
(24:57):
Mm-hmm.
, like, it's, it's such a wider range than,than the human body can typically do.
ANDRÉS (25:03):
Yeah.
And I love, when the shiftcomes, like on a dime.
So obviously theater has a longhistory, a long trajectory, and it's,
it's very traditional in some ofthe ways that it's made still today.
But I find that over thepandemic, there has been kind
of new air brought into theater.
What do you see this new aircoming into theater being?
MICHAEL (25:22):
there's been a lot of experimentation with media and
I'm, I'd be interested to see howmuch more like cross media occurs.
Even thinking back a few years priorand stuff, there had definitely
been like streamed things or stuffthat was sort of set up in like,
the medium of the performance issomething is being filmed and, and
but just a broadcast live in a sense.
(25:43):
And it's, it'd be interesting to seehow much more experimentation with that
can come in into the physical space evenlike where does as you almost mentioned
before, with a screen acting as anothercharacter, what can that, using that sort
of perspective or lens add to something?
I think it'd be interesting.
Uh, I think there's also been, in shiftingto online, the, the onus has really come
(26:10):
out to individual performers and creatorsto put more stuff out, and I feel like
there's been a lot more opportunityfor more indie groups and stuff to, to
do things and in that sort of space.
And I wonder if that as a trend couldcontinue to, like, once people have, have
used this opportunity to sort of breakout there and bring new voices into the
(26:31):
fold, where will they go from there?
ANDRÉS (26:35):
Yeah, totally.
And I feel like right nowit's such an important time
to listen to those new voices.
MICHAEL (26:40):
Mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (26:40):
Do you have a dream project in your mind that you're like, really
excited to maybe one day explore?
MICHAEL (26:46):
Ooh.
There is a script that my sketchgroup has written that we were
originally going to do as aproduction for Fringe a few years ago.
And then everything got canceled.
And it's been kind of the one thateven when there were opportunities to
do things like say last year's fringewhich was, which kind of occurred
in, in a bit of a smaller way, butstill a very beautiful little way.
ANDRÉS (27:08):
Mm-hmm.
MICHAEL (27:08):
uh, It didn't feel like the right moment to bring out this thing
that we had worked so hard on and hada vision of like, Okay, we're going to
be able to do this in, in full, in, inlike the big way that we want it to be.
And it, it was the first sort of,project that we had collaborated
on as a group that was more ofa longer form narrative piece.
And it, I, I'm just so excited tosee what we as, as The Debutantes
(27:33):
can bring forward with that kindof an arc in a narrative sense.
Cuz I, I, I adore all of them.
They're, what, what they bringcreatively in terms of like the
short form pieces that we do.
And like everyone's so good at that,but to see them grow and push themselves
and like, okay, how can we think ofsomething that has more longevity that
I, I just, I really long for the daythat we actually get to put on that show.
ANDRÉS (27:57):
Yeah.
Now you mentioned The Debutantes andyou've also mentioned, Sorry, not sorry.
Productions.
MICHAEL (28:02):
Yes.
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (28:03):
So are both of those kind of collectives like artists collectives, or
do they work as like a company or like,kind of just, can you talk a little bit
about the structure of how they work?
MICHAEL (28:11):
Sorry, not sorry.
I guess worked for, as a company Okay.
Got like board and, and in positionsthat are set up and there's different
pay structures that we've workedwith over, over the years for,
ANDRÉS (28:24):
Right.
MICHAEL (28:24):
Once spaces are booked, how, how we can do shows.
A lot of that's had to sortof shift based on are we just,
are we just streaming things?
Are we actually putting stuff on?
Do we have a space where wecan do our weekly performances
or are we more limited?
But then I guess The Debutantes landsmore on sort of the collective side
where we just kind of get together and do(Laughs) . Sometimes people have roles,
(28:47):
sometimes they shift around a lot, but.
Yeah, we, we just kind of bring stuffto the table where we can on that one.
ANDRÉS (28:54):
Can you tell me what a little bit of like, how that works
and the benefits that come fromworking as a collective as opposed
to like as a company with structures?
MICHAEL (29:02):
I think in some ways it, it almost sort of evens the playing field.
Okay.
Everyone kind of, there will certainlybe people who might have some more
leadership positions or differentthings, but at least with the way
that we've sort of approached it,there isn't one specific person.
Bringing stuff to the table.
It definitely feels like everyone hasequal footing to contribute or, or
(29:26):
to offer changes or voice opinions.
And it, it becomes a very openworking space in that sense.
ANDRÉS (29:32):
Mm-hmm.
. and do you find that the productsare similar to what you would get
working in a structured approach like atheater company with, Sorry, Not Sorry.
And then working at a collective approach,which is more what The Debutantes do.
Do you find that the, both the productskind of end up in the same place?
MICHAEL (29:50):
I, I guess they, they do sort of land in this in similar places.
It's just the journey there is different.
Okay.
Within the collective on TheDebutantes, we don't often don't have
quite as much long term or like theplanning is more fluid, I suppose.
ANDRÉS (30:05):
Right.
MICHAEL (30:06):
Whereas things through, through Sorry, Not Sorry the company,
there's they've gotta produce schedules.
They've gotta figure thatstuff out ahead of time.
And then it comes with a lot of, okay,we'll be generating ideas for formats
to do, and then it'll be a while untilwe see them, cuz we have to sort of
plan down the line when can we getthis particular group together to
do that or, or things of that sort.
Whereas even as I said with The Debutantesbefore we came up with an idea and
(30:29):
produced a thing in like a week, so
ANDRÉS (30:30):
Right.
MICHAEL (30:31):
It can be very on the fly for that cuz we just, wherever we happen
to have time, if there's, there'ssome other filming projects we've
been working on as The Debutantes,thats like, okay this will have to
wait a while just because schedulesdon't line up for it and we're okay.
We can fill the time withsomething else in the meantime.
But it's, it's a lot moreinflux and sometimes timelines
(30:52):
are looser in that sense.
ANDRÉS (30:53):
I feel like it would allow like that freedom you need to be able
to tap into your creative side, right?
Mm-hmm.
because you're not worried abouttimelines as much as you're
worried about just like working.
MICHAEL (31:02):
Yeah.
They're, The deadlinesoften aren't as hard.
It can just be, okay, we have an idea.
We'll see if it does evolveinto a full sketch or not.
And we, we've got the time to, tolet something sit or put it away
and try and pick it up later.
Yeah.
It's not always, Oh, we have tohave the thing ready for when
we've booked the space now.
ANDRÉS (31:22):
Right.
Yeah.
Well, and especially nowadays, likewith, with the spaces being digital,
it's easier to shift dates, you know?
MICHAEL (31:29):
Yes, absolutely.
ANDRÉS (31:30):
Alright, so One more question that I'm gonna ask
you, and this is a deeper one,
Okay.
But the idea of moving forward inour industry and kind of creating
a safer ecology and kind of a,a more well-rounded industry for
artists to be able to work in.
Is there anything that you kindof would love to see develop
over the next couple of years?
MICHAEL (31:50):
I think a lot is being done in a very good way of, of developing
policies and stuff that will helppeople be safe when they, when they're
coming together to work and things.
I just, I think a lot ofindividual accountability and
onus also needs to develop.
And a lot of that, like as things sort ofnormalize on this, the, this, the overall
(32:11):
scale, it'll become a more inherentthing for individuals to all have mm-hmm.
But I think as, as things changeand develop, it just needs to grow
as a culture as well, in a way.
ANDRÉS (32:25):
Thank you for that.
I know it's a bigger question, andagain, we all have aspirations,
but that was beautiful.
Thank you,
All right.
Now I'm gonna ask you some I'm stealingthis from Brene Brown's podcast, Dare
to Lead, where one of my favorite partsof it is, The last like five minutes or
so are just rapid, rapid fire questions.
MICHAEL (32:43):
Okay.
ANDRÉS (32:44):
And they're not as deep.
As some of the other onesI've been asking you.
All right.
Ready?
MICHAEL (32:49):
Yes.
Okay.
Oh gosh.
Wait.
ANDRÉS (32:50):
Take your time.
.MICHAEL: Shoot.
I, I tried to sneakily, get water,and then I messed up my mask...
Okay.
Ready to go.
All right, so what's your favorite snack?
MICHAEL (33:02):
A banana.
I love a good banana.
ANDRÉS (33:04):
A banana
MICHAEL (33:05):
Simple.
You can have it on the go.
I love it,
. ANDRÉS: All right.
Favorite cartoon?
Currently Gravity Falls, I think.
ANDRÉS (33:13):
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good one.
Do you have a song that you'relike really into right now?
MICHAEL (33:18):
Song?
Oh, uh, a band, I'm a big fan of, Ghostreleased a single that went along with the
most recent Halloween movie called HuntersMoon, and I've been listening to that one
ANDRÉS (33:28):
a lot.
Nice.
Are you a fan of horror movies?
MICHAEL (33:31):
Not particularly (Laughs) uh, is I, it was one that I came across more
through the band than through the film,but it happened to come out for the film.
. ANDRÉS: So what, what's something you do to relax?
I play video games.
I, I, I play a lot of video games.
Yeah.
Sometimes they can be a littlestressful, but overall the, the
process of it ends up being relaxing.
(33:51):
, do you have a favorite one?
Any of the Legend of Zelda series.
Those are always go-tos that I willcome back to again and again and again.
ANDRÉS (33:57):
I still haven't played Zelda.
I want to check it out on the switch.
Ooh, yeah.
I've heard it's beautiful.
What is something you will do whenyou need to turn off your brain?
MICHAEL (34:03):
I'll just listen to some music Often, like in the similar
vein, I often have some very goodplaylists of video game music.
Mm-hmm.
and I can find that.
Just lets me mellow outand go, go somewhere else.
ANDRÉS (34:17):
Nice.
Yeah.
All right.
Final one, this is an important one.
What is your favorite flavor of ice?
MICHAEL (34:24):
Vanilla . I am, I am.
, I've got basic tastes in that way.
Vanilla is my go-to.
I love it.
. ANDRÉS: Oh, Michael, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
Thanks for chatting with me.
Thank you for having we've knowneach other for so long, but like it's
really nice to like actually chat andget to know you a little bit more.
So thank you for this.
(34:44):
in case anyone's looking foryou, where can people find you?
Oh most of the stuff that I end up doing the bigger stuff
will be through The Debutantes.
So, as mentioned before, Debutantes.cathe podcast that we produce
is called Quantum Kick Flip.
That's from a, a game that was developedby a local Edmonton artist and writer.
So go check out Quantum Kick Flipfor some fun sci-fi adventure time.
ANDRÉS (35:04):
Thank you again for y'all listening and thank you again to
Selena Painchaud for being our amazingtech, for listening to us for hours
and for just being part of the team.
Thank you all.
Michael, Any last words before we go?
Say goodbye?
No pressure, no.
MICHAEL (35:19):
Geez uh, keep goodness keep laughing,
ANDRÉS (35:22):
Keep laughing,
MICHAEL (35:24):
be open and be able to laugh.
ANDRÉS (35:25):
Beautiful.
Thank you so much.
Thank you to everyone andwe'll see you next time.
AD: (35:33):
Hey, Pal!
Enjoying the conversation?
Traversing the Azimuth is a brandnew branch of Azimuth Theatre aimed
at connecting artists with awider community, deepening mutual
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If you would like to continue hearingthese amazing stories, you can help out
by going to AzimuthTheatre.com/sponsorshipand sponsor Traversing the Azimuth.
(35:57):
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AzimuthTheatre.com/traversing.
Woo.
Oh I'm gonna trust the whole damn process for the record
till we are breaking records.
Reminisce about the past days,now we rise and fly, journeys to
the sky, Azimuth inside my grip.
Always know the way now!
Beauty feel my days now.
Take it day by day sound couldn'tbe prouder cuz y'know we alive!
ANDRÉS (00:24):
Welcome to today.
We have a special guesttoday Michael Vetch.
Michael Vetch, right?
MICHAEL (00:29):
Yeah.
That's the one, you got it
ANDRÉS (00:30):
Good!
Like, I've been calling you Michael Vetchthis whole time, so hopefully it's right.
MICHAEL (00:33):
It's one of those ones where people typically
say the first and last name.
I don't know why, but it'salways kind of been...
ANDRÉS (00:38):
I think Vetch is a fun name to say, you know, it's,
MICHAEL (00:42):
it's got a- it's nice.
Strong single syllable.
Yeah,
ANDRÉS (00:44):
Exactly.
It's great, welcome Michael Vetch.
Welcome to In Processthank you for being here.
MICHAEL (00:50):
Thank you for having me
ANDRÉS (00:50):
Im excited to chat with you and get to know more about you and
your process as well as an artist.
I'm gonna start with the questionthat I always start with.
Mm-hmm.
. Can you tell us a little bitabout your journey into the arts?
Like what brought you in andand where you're at right now!
MICHAEL (01:03):
I think one of the biggest things, I didn't really
start doing much theater orcreation stuff until high school.
But growing up I always loved beingable to make my friends laugh.
Mm.
That was always one of thebiggest things is like, what?
What can I do to crack a joke?
What can I...
act as I, I wouldn't say that Iwas like a class clown, cuz growing
(01:23):
up very shy, incredibly shy.
But in among my friends it was always,I, I'm kind of the one who, who's got
the quick wit and that sort of led meinto taking drama classes and going
from there into actually working onproductions and things and that was
like, oh, this is a place where, whereyou can really do a lot of that and
start picking up things like improv andstuff where it's like this, like it, it
(01:46):
all kind of came together and clickedas this is where I can really shine
and make a lot of people laugh at once.
ANDRÉS (01:51):
Yeah.
And being a class clown is a lot of work.
Like you're on all the time.
MICHAEL (01:55):
Yeah.
Not.
Not for me.
I need my breaks.
, ANDRÉS: Right?
Yeah,
ANDRÉS (01:59):
(Laughs) and so you started in high school and then from
there you progressed to MacEwan?
Or did you, do you havea pit stop between?
MICHAEL (02:06):
Yeah, no, I right outta high school I had to go to MacEwan and I
guess we were, we were a year apart?
ANDRÉS (02:11):
We were a year apart.
Yeah.
You were the year above.
MICHAEL (02:13):
And you, you came there after, was it RDC that you were
ANDRÉS (02:16):
I did, yeah.
I, I went to RDC first and thenI took a year off, and then I was
like, I wanna learn how to tap dance.
MICHAEL (02:22):
Nice.
That's-
ANDRÉS (02:22):
That's literally why I, that's literally why I went to MacEwan (Laughs)
MICHAEL (02:25):
it's all about the tap
ANDRÉS (02:27):
It's always about the tap . But what about since MacEwan?
MICHAEL (02:30):
Yeah.
After that, I just took some time,started auditioning for shows and things.
Really the biggest thing sort of comingout of that I made some friends working
on a, a production of Rocky Horrorone time, and they got me to audition
for an improv company Sorry, Not SorryProductions and I have been with them
ever since, like six or seven years now.
ANDRÉS (02:47):
Dang, that's a long time.
MICHAEL (02:48):
Yeah, it's time is weird.
. ANDRÉS: Yeah.
I mean-
It's hard to think that they, it's been that long, but yeah, I,
it's just a great group and they'veall become, Close friends to me and
really an artistic family in a way.
And it's, yeah, that's, it's probablybeen one of the bigger focuses and that
has spun off into other types of comedy,like sketch comedy and things like that.
ANDRÉS (03:09):
And can you tell us a little bit about what's the difference
between like, sketch comedy andimprov as opposed to like a theater
piece or like a, a stage production.
MICHAEL (03:18):
Gotcha.
Yeah.
, this is one of the things of like gettingto know this quite well for doing hand
billing at Fringe and being like, Ohyes, my poster says sketch comedy.
Do you know SNL?
Do you know Monte Python, Kids InThe Hall if you're really, really
Canadian about your content.
But essentially sketch comedy.
Sort of short form written pieces.
Oftentimes, if you're doing a show,you might just have a selection
(03:38):
of, of different little vignettes.
They don't all have to connecttogether, but other times they're
often like sketch comedy movies,which have a loose narrative that
kind of strings things along.
But yeah, just pre-written comedy,you can really sort of perfect
the, the bits and escalations.
And then a flip side of that improv justbeing on the spot, you might have a few
prepared things or you might be drawinginspiration from the audience, but it's,
(04:01):
it's very much just you and whoever elseis on stage throwing what you can down
and seeing if it builds up to something.
ANDRÉS (04:08):
And do you have a favorite between Sketch and improv?
MICHAEL (04:12):
I think probably improv it's where I definitely have the most
experience Sketch I, the, the sketchgroup, The Debutantes ,that I've
been a part of for a few years now.
My connection through that wasall entirely just other people.
Who are also in the improv company?
. Yeah.
And especially in creating stuffwith Sketch, I find I'm such
a, sort of flash idea person.
ANDRÉS (04:33):
Mm-hmm.
, MICHAEL: I can, I can pitch something or I can throw a line in, but to
sit down and fully write out anentire sketch takes me a while.
Sometimes , it either takes awhile or I know it in an instant,
and it, it's done in half an hour.
Right?
Yeah.
I feel that, I feel like sometimesthat can be funny off the cuff, but
if someone's like, write a funnyscript, I'm like, I, I don't know.
I don't know.
MICHAEL (04:54):
Is this, is any of this- have I ever been funny?
ANDRÉS (04:57):
Right?!
(Laughs) Well, and there's thislike weird line of, like, for
me, funny is like spontaneous.
. And so the idea of like plannedfunny is just, it's, it's a new
thing I'm wrapping my brain around,
MICHAEL (05:08):
That's definitely one where I find the, the improv and sketch
almost lend themselves to each other.
Mm-hmm.
, because if you just sit, if you havethe pitch idea, you can just sit down
with other people and riff off it fora while and essentially improvise a
little scene and then go back and lookand say, Okay, what worked in this was
this, did this made no sense at all?
Let's take that out.
What, what can we put in there thatmakes more sense with the overall
(05:30):
arc of what we were building here?
Comedically.
ANDRÉS (05:32):
Right.
And so do you have a lot of experiencenow writing like sketches or are you
more of like the, the worker, likethe collaborator and then someone
else is kind of writing as you go?
MICHAEL (05:41):
I've written a few.
Well, I guess more than a few.
A few.
Sounds like I've done, likenothing for this company, . No.
I'm, there's definitely people withinour group that are more suited to
being the writers and they, theygenerate a lot of sketches overall.
I, I kind of fall more into like pitchesand ideas especially within this last
little while in, in pandemic it's beenharder to find reasons to create stuff,
(06:04):
like without having the ability to goout and put on a show or, or feature in a
sketch collective or anything like that.
So we've shifted to doing morevideo content where we can mm-hmm.
and a lot of that just to come upwith ideas is like, Okay, what's
a, what's a holiday coming up?
Or something like that.
And we'll sit and try and figureout, okay, what's something
we can pitch off of that?
(06:24):
Recently we were actually justtrying to figure out a sketch
for Groundhog Day to do a video.
And people were like, Ah,do we even try anything?
And I just threw an idea out.
That's what we wentwith, and we ran with it.
And now it's, it's actually, wefully made a thing within like a week
. ANDRÉS: That's awesome.
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (06:39):
Where are these video contents being released?
MICHAEL (06:41):
Just through The Debutantes social media, we, we put stuff up
on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram,just kind of uploaded everywhere.
Most of them should be @debssketch,D- E- B- S-S- K- E- T- C- H.
That was way too hard to spell for me.
ANDRÉS (06:56):
Sunday morning.
You did great.
. MICHAEL: Oh boy.
But yeah, looking up Debssketchor The Debutantes YEG, even going
to thedebutantes.ca we've got allour stuff up there speaking of
through that we actually also inthe course of pandemic, have started
up doing a podcast of our own.
That's awesome!
Yeah.
I feel like a lot of companies have hadto do that bit of a shift of like medium.
(07:18):
How are we still storytellingin the pandemic, right?
Which actually is what brought us togetherto work again, cuz like we mentioned,
we knew each other back in the day.
We're not gonna say when(Laughs) a year ago.
Yeah.
MICHAEL (07:30):
Lose recently.
Quite recently.
ANDRÉS (07:31):
Right.
But yeah.
Now you're working for Azimuth as welluh, we get to do a podcast with you,
but we also get to do a little animatedshort And getting to work with you.
It's been so cool to like, see howyour arsenal is so full of different
voices you can pull out at any point.
Can you tell us like where thatkind of comes from, like where
that, where that impetus or thatkind of skill was harnessed?
MICHAEL (07:51):
Honestly, it's been one of like my long running dreams to do more
voice acting, voice work, . (Laughs) Sogetting asked to work on this project
was really a dream come true in someways to, to finally bust that out.
But at linking back to the idea of what,what could I do to make my friends laugh?
Most common things was like,do a voice, create a character,
build a thing like that.
(08:12):
So I've, I've been doing it as longas I can remember, different accents
and funny voices, things like that.
, ANDRÉS: do you have a favorite that you go to?
Oh gosh.
, it's sometimes my brain just drifts and(In different voice) I kind of fall into
doing different things just off the cuff.
I don't really think about it.
And then before I know it, I'vebeen talking like this for an hour
(08:32):
and then whoever I'm with is like,Michael is, is, are you okay?
ANDRÉS (08:38):
You're like, Right, this is not my voice.
MICHAEL (08:40):
Yeah.
There's a long stint where a groupof friends and I just did weird
like pirate-y kind of talk andit's like it, once you sink into
something, it just kind of sticksaround and you don't think about it.
ANDRÉS (08:49):
Yeah.
(Laughs) I'm glad you kindof like, give us an example.
Cause I was gonna be like,Can you give us some voices...
MICHAEL (08:56):
I'm, I'm open for business on that front, whatever you need.
ANDRÉS (09:01):
do you take inspiration from cartoons or is it just kind of like
you, you just start going and thenyou find a rhythm that makes sense?
MICHAEL (09:08):
I think.
It's sort of ingrained now, but a lotof it would come from cartoons that I
watched growing up, things like that.
I was always such a big fanof, of classic Looney Tunes.
SpongeBob was also a big one that likejust the, the process in which they
recorded where everyone was in the sameroom and was able to play off each other.
Various sort of radio show styleproduction is, is like, ugh, it, it sparks
(09:32):
so much inspiration in, in what you can dowith other people, even just with voice.
ANDRÉS (09:36):
Totally.
Yeah.
I I'm so excited for the day wherewe can actually have more than like
two people in the recording studio
MICHAEL (09:43):
mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (09:43):
to do something like that.
Cause I think an improvd oneand a cartooning around that
would be so much fun to do.
MICHAEL (09:48):
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (09:48):
Right.
Now can you tell us a littlebit about like where you draw
inspiration for some of your sketches?
MICHAEL (09:57):
So a lot of the ones that I produce, it's just little things
that I come across in the day to day.
. One of the more recent ones I wrotewas a very silly sketch about Big Macs.
Loose premise.
They're just like, What?
What if someone very devoutly fought theidea that it was called a Mick Big Mac?
And just, it's, it's very silly.
It's absolutely silly.
But I was outside walking around onenight and I happened to stroll through
(10:21):
a parking lot that had a McDonalds.
The idea popped in my head.
This is one of those ones that waslike, I had it done in an hour.
I just sat down once Igot home and it was there.
It was a full sketch that we havefilmed and performed multiple times now,
. ANDRÉS: I like that the Mick Big Mac was waiting for you was like (Laughs)
Somewhere down the years.
In the past.
I had already thought about it.
I'm sure.
(10:42):
Why, who can say, I don'tunderstand how my brain works?
ANDRÉS (10:45):
Who can say right?
(Laughs) now going back to like your,your, your start as an artist and
you kind of start as this career,like, do you have anything that like
you wish you kind of would've known?
Or like any wisdom you've pickedup that you're like, Oh, this
is something I should pass on.
MICHAEL (11:02):
Oh, that's a deep one.
ANDRÉS (11:04):
I know (Laughs)
MICHAEL (11:06):
I guess in something like, not everything always has to be perfect.
Mm-hmm.
, a lot of, especially like rightfrom the get go in, in the creation
process of something, it doesn't,nothing has to, not everything has
to fall perfectly in place and therewas always something growing up that.
I was a bit of a perfectionist inthings with schoolwork, stuff like that.
(11:27):
Working to get good gradesand things like that.
But like, creation can be messy andthat's sometimes a lot of where like
something going awry will be a newidea or a new thing that you wouldn't
even have considered as an option.
So like, being open and almostcraving the, the failures that come
along is, is really so key to seeingwhat potential there is out there.
(11:50):
Mm-hmm.
, because your brain willalways have an idea of...
this is my initialinstinct of where to go.
And sometimes those instincts are superstrong and you can find great stuff
following that, but it'll often also closeoff doors if you immediately go through
the one that opens right in front of you.
ANDRÉS (12:05):
And so do you find that in those situations, like collaboration is
where you really get to tear it apartand find the nugget of gold there?
MICHAEL (12:11):
Mm-hmm!
Yeah, that's definitely.
One of the hugest things is beingable to work with other people.
Like every, everyone's brains aredifferent everyone will have a different
perspective and different past thingsthat they can bring to the table
that you just like it, It's not, it'sno one's fault that you don't have
that, but you just don't sometimes.
ANDRÉS (12:26):
when you're collaborating on a script and you're, let's say
there's two rivaling jokes thatcould go in, how do you, how do
you kind of decide where to go?
MICHAEL (12:37):
Honestly, a lot of it comes down to just what gets the
biggest reaction out of other people.
Like it.
It'll often sort of go up to committee,in those moments where it's just,
what, what does everyone think overall?
And oftentimes if, if a script is beingsort of written by one particular person,
they kind of have the final say to vetoon that, usually everyone is like,
(12:58):
I love the people that I work with.
They're always so open to being like, Oh,you know, . I liked what I wrote, but your
thing is perfect for what we needed here.
It it sets something upin, in a, a good pattern.,
ANDRÉS (13:08):
that reminds me so much of like a lot of the great collaborations
that I've had in the past
MICHAEL (13:13):
mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (13:13):
where it's that selflessness of like, it we're working on something.
It's not about my ego, likemy joke being in there.
And that's what I love about likecollaborating when you really let go and
you really just work on like the piece.
Kinda like therapists talk about how likeyou should always look at the leg of the
stool that is the problem and not theleg of the stool that is you, you know?
MICHAEL (13:32):
Oh, okay.
ANDRÉS (13:33):
So I still will have three, three prongs.
Yeah.
One will be you, one will be yourcircumstances, and one, one will be
the problem that you're trying to fix.
So if you don't focus on the problem,you're gonna be like trying to fix
yourself or your circumstances.
MICHAEL (13:44):
Mm-hmm.
,ANDRÉS: where if you use yourself and your circumstances to fix the problem.
Those aren't the ones that are out of whack.
That's really interesting.
ANDRÉS (13:50):
Exactly.
I like to remind myself of thata lot when I collaborate, cuz I
also grow kind of perfectionist.
Hmm.
And so it's that idea of like,"Just let go and let god" (Laughs)
MICHAEL (13:59):
Totally.
ANDRÉS (14:02):
You mentioned you're doing a lot of improv and sketch, but your, your
training is in uh, musicals as well.
MICHAEL (14:08):
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (14:08):
Do you have a favorite musical?
MICHAEL (14:11):
It's probably Assassins.
That was one that I, I have the greatpleasure to do while I was at MacEwan at
the end of my first year, and I just...
Something about it.
It, it just, anytime I could go backand re-listen to it or I'm immediately
sucked back into it and it, the musicjust lives in my brain rent free.
. ANDRÉS: Yeah.
What character did you play?
(14:31):
I was Sam Byck.
Despite having trained in musicals,that was almost a long running
gag is that I often get cast inthe speaking roles in a musical.
(Laughs)
As a fellow speaker.
I hear you.
ANDRÉS (14:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
A lot of the times I remember it wouldbe like, Oh yeah, you're just, you're
just really good at the acting part.
And I'm like, "Okay, great, wasthat say about the singing?"
MICHAEL (14:53):
Yeah.
Am I not so good at that?
I, I'm hoping it's not a dichotomy there.
ANDRÉS (14:57):
Right.
Should I be working on this?
MICHAEL (15:01):
I guess I got the part, but, Okay...
ANDRÉS (15:04):
and now following up, is there one that you've always wanted to do
that you haven't had a chance to yet?
MICHAEL (15:10):
I think a dream one would be to work on Something Rotten.
ANDRÉS (15:14):
Oh, yes.
MICHAEL (15:15):
That show is just so zany full.
Like, it, it's, it's one ofthose ones that lands like a, a,
a joke a second kind of thing.
It's everything.
There's always something goingon with it that is hilarious.
And it does have its moments whereit finds like tenderness and strong
emotional weight, but just overall,it's, it's such a riot to, to see
(15:35):
or I to be in it would be a dream
. ANDRÉS: I love the the prophecy about musicals.
Mm-hmm.
, ANDRÉS: that whole song is just perfection.
Ooh, it's so, it's, it's definitely one of those ones for us,
people in the industry who is like, Ohyeah, I get, Those are the references.
Yep, you're doing 'em.
ANDRÉS (15:51):
All of them
MICHAEL (15:51):
you are doing them, they are wonderful the way you're doing them.
AD: (16:03):
The "In Process" podcast is brought to you by the Canada Council
for the Arts and Azimuth Theatre'sTraversing, the Azimuth multimedia branch.
It is our aim to continue to introduceand deepen the relationships between
our community and the artists within it.
To keep this podcast going, go toAzimuththeatre.com/donate to help
with the continuation of this podcast.
ANDRÉS (16:28):
Can you talk to us as somebody who works a lot in comedy, what
the power of comedy is, or I guesswhat it affords you as a performer?
MICHAEL (16:36):
Yeah.
Um, I think there's something inherentin comedy where it allows you to
bring the audience on your side.
Even if like in a, a comedic setup, ifyou are sort of the naysayer, if you're
playing the straight man in somethingand you're like, even if you seem like an
unlikable person, you can bring the peopleon site if you're making them laugh.
ANDRÉS (16:56):
And how has that kind of, because like a lot of what you're,
you're kind of hinting on is like the,the relationship and connection between
the audience and the performers, andobviously with everything that's been
going on in the last, what, year anda half, two years, I don't even know
how long anymore how has that kind ofshifted and how do you find ways to still
connect to audiences in different mediums?
MICHAEL (17:19):
It's certainly harder.
Because that's with the shift of sortof coming outta the physical space and
moving into a lot more digital, everythingonline, there's just so much content
out there that even if you are, if it'sreaching people and people are seeing
your stuff, there's not a guarantee.
You'll get the engagement back in like,Oh, people will comment on something
(17:42):
or, or they'll be like, Wow, this reallymade me laugh or made me feel something.
I'm going to share it on to someone else.
It almost feels like adigital marketplace in a way.
Like you, you kind of have to sellyourself a little more, which can
sometimes be like, Ugh, am I doing thiscuz it's the thing I want to create?
Or am I doing this because it'ssomething that will be shared that
we'll get the hits right kind of thing.
(18:04):
And it, it rides a difficult lineof like, I suppose, staying true to
the integrity of what you want tocreate, but whether or not it will
make a big hit or if it'll just beyou, you put something out, I guess.
But yeah, in some ways you justkinda have to hope that if you are
doing the, at least it's out there.
At least I'm doing something.
It's keeping you going to be ableto come back once we can have
(18:25):
more in, in the meat space again.
ANDRÉS (18:28):
Yeah.
In "The Meat Space".
MICHAEL (18:30):
Sorry.
That was terrible.
Ugh,
. ANDRÉS: Now we're gonna get t-shirts made
are we sure that's not the podcast name or is that-
ANDRÉS (18:37):
rebranding?
We're doing it now.
. Now you also got to work on Hardboiled a little bit.
MICHAEL (18:42):
Mm-hmm.
,ANDRÉS: which is a podcast almost like a radio play in a way.
Yeah,
ANDRÉS (18:46):
Yeah.
MICHAEL (18:46):
It was, I guess they pitched it.
Queer filmnoir radio play was,
Maybe the tagline
ANDRÉS (18:52):
It's still doing well.
It's still, it's still thrivingon the, on the charts, what
was your favorite part of that?
MICHAEL (18:57):
Ooh.
I think similarly to getting to dothis, it was, it was a chance to.
Jump in and do voice work stuff.
It was, it's, it's actually, I've, I'vebeen able to do a few different sort of
little radio play things over the courseof, of pandemic and it, it's been , this,
it's weird to say it, but I've alwayssort of felt that performatively my voice
(19:22):
has been sort of my strongest asset.
Mm-hmm.
maybe much more so thanwhat I can do physically or.
How, how I can projectand do stuff that way.
So getting a chance to try and do stuffin these audio specific mediums has
been really, really rewarding to seelike, oh, I do have a huge range that
I can bring to bear, even if I'm justsitting in a, the cramped back of my
(19:44):
room behind some sweaters to record it.
ANDRÉS (19:46):
Yeah, that's how you recorded it, hey (Laughs)
MICHAEL (19:49):
Yeah, moved a rack of sweaters, threw a blanket over top.
Oh,
, ANDRÉS: You probably had the same kind of similar experience when the
pandemic started, you started tosee all of like these colleagues
and friends that you know, were justlike, Oh, I'm in my closet recording.
Or like, Here we are onanother Zoom show in my house.
And it was just like, it was A) like,obviously, Theater over Zoom is like
(20:12):
its own thing, but watching everyonekind of galvanize and go like, No,
no, no, we're gonna make this due.
Mm.
Like it was, So for me it wasinspiring cuz it was like,
okay, you're not giving up.
I'm not giving up.
And like together.
I feel like the community kindof was like, Okay, continue.
Yeah.
There were so much sharingof just like, what are tips?
How does what, what stuff would you use?
(20:32):
How can I make this work offof the limited stuff that
I have with no prep time?
? ANDRÉS: Yeah, exactly.
And I think as artists is something wehave to really fall back on on those
moments where like, you know, maybethere's no gigs, but you're like, okay,
I'm still, I'm still doing the thing.
I'm still gonna sit down and write,or I'm still gonna just like explore
what I can make and what I can create.
(20:53):
Mm-hmm.
Where does that itch tocreate, come from, for you?
There are moments where even just in every day I want to do something, I
always feel like I've, I've just got thisenergy to do stuff, whether it's little
bits or gags or with, with friends or, orjust like setting stuff up and like, it's
that general just desirethere really pushes me to find
(21:18):
places to output it, I guess.
It, It's not to say that something isninvalid without the audience there, but
it, there's such an exchange of energythat you don't get many other places.
I think it's, it's is really thedrive to, to, to find that and
build that kind of connection that.
Drives me, I guess,
(21:40):
. ANDRÉS: That's great.
you've mentioned to us that you work a loton sketch comedy and improv, and that's
kind of like how you work as an artist.
But what else occupies your time?
Nowadays?
Something that I've dumped into a little more over pandemic
is, is doing some like digitaldrawing and, and video editing stuff.
That's something as, as partof the, the podcast that I
(22:02):
work on with my sketch group.
We do little audiogram promo pieces thatgo out and I've, I've learned some new.
Premier video skills in,in, in entering to that.
And that's actually been somethingthat's become very fulfilling is, okay,
what can, what can I make on this, onthis tablet that I've got here at home?
And it's, it sort of become verytherapeutic to just, Oh, I'm just
(22:24):
gonna sketch something and listen toother podcasts or music or something.
And that's, that's a way thatI spend my time when I can.
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (22:32):
Do you have a favorite podcast that you'd like to go to?
MICHAEL (22:35):
So lately I've been listening to A More Civilized Age, which is a
Star Wars, the Clone Wars podcast.
. ANDRÉS: (Laughs) That's awesome.
That's that's, that's who I am, I guess.
ANDRÉS (22:48):
I like the pause you took.
Cause I feel like you were like, DoI say this or do I say the other?
(Laughs),
MICHAEL (22:54):
is this really where I'm going?
Yeah, that's where I'm going.
. , ANDRÉS: what else do you watch for tv?
I, I love, I love a good, a good anime
. ANDRÉS: Yeah?
Uh, It's another thing where it's just getting to see different
styles of animation and how voice workcomes into that is, is super inspiring.
And especially in that industry foranime dub, you can , you can see so many
(23:18):
of the same voices or the same people.
But crop up with different charactersand it's, it's, it, it helps to
inspire, "Okay, what could I, whatwould I do with different characters
in that sort of a range in some ways?"
Not that I always go into it, like, I'mgonna take notes while I go through this
episode of Demon Slayer, but like, Yeah.
ANDRÉS (23:37):
And you can't help but pick up things as you listen.
I also have been delving a little bitinto the anime just started a little
recently, but uh, there's one thatI love called Land of the Lustrous.
I don't know if you've heard of it.
MICHAEL (23:47):
Oh, I have not.
ANDRÉS (23:48):
It's like these gem people.
And then there's like this weird alienthat's coming in to try to collect them.
Oh.
Cause they're all different gemsand each it's, it's super beautiful.
I think like for me, like what Ilove about anime specifically is
like the beauty of the visuals.
MICHAEL (24:02):
Mm-hmm.
, they're so crisp.
Right?
ANDRÉS (24:05):
Yeah.
Especially even like, I knowthis is like kind of that line,
but like Studio Ghibli films.
MICHAEL (24:10):
Mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (24:11):
you can pause that movie and look at the background.
And it is just,
MICHAEL (24:14):
it's every cell is a painting.
ANDRÉS (24:16):
Right?!
MICHAEL (24:17):
In such a beautiful way.
ANDRÉS (24:18):
Oh, I love it.
I've always felt so connected tocartoons in a way, growing up . I just
feel like it's, it's a form of, I don'tknow, maybe it's the visuals aspect
of it, but I find that it's a formof consumption that I really enjoy.
Hmm.
You know, when something has some nicevisuals and is, like, kind of chill and
you can just like lay back and watch.
MICHAEL (24:36):
There's something also in cartoons where the, the rules
of physics and things don't apply.
You can get so, so expressive witha character when they're drawn.
Yeah.
That like whether like, The, theextent that something can stretch
or, or form in, in, in a huge shape.
And then how that contrasts tojust the stillness of other things.
(24:57):
Mm-hmm.
, like, it's, it's such a wider range than,than the human body can typically do.
ANDRÉS (25:03):
Yeah.
And I love, when the shiftcomes, like on a dime.
So obviously theater has a longhistory, a long trajectory, and it's,
it's very traditional in some ofthe ways that it's made still today.
But I find that over thepandemic, there has been kind
of new air brought into theater.
What do you see this new aircoming into theater being?
MICHAEL (25:22):
there's been a lot of experimentation with media and
I'm, I'd be interested to see howmuch more like cross media occurs.
Even thinking back a few years priorand stuff, there had definitely
been like streamed things or stuffthat was sort of set up in like,
the medium of the performance issomething is being filmed and, and
but just a broadcast live in a sense.
(25:43):
And it's, it'd be interesting to seehow much more experimentation with that
can come in into the physical space evenlike where does as you almost mentioned
before, with a screen acting as anothercharacter, what can that, using that sort
of perspective or lens add to something?
I think it'd be interesting.
Uh, I think there's also been, in shiftingto online, the, the onus has really come
(26:10):
out to individual performers and creatorsto put more stuff out, and I feel like
there's been a lot more opportunityfor more indie groups and stuff to, to
do things and in that sort of space.
And I wonder if that as a trend couldcontinue to, like, once people have, have
used this opportunity to sort of breakout there and bring new voices into the
(26:31):
fold, where will they go from there?
ANDRÉS (26:35):
Yeah, totally.
And I feel like right nowit's such an important time
to listen to those new voices.
MICHAEL (26:40):
Mm-hmm.
ANDRÉS (26:40):
Do you have a dream project in your mind that you're like, really
excited to maybe one day explore?
MICHAEL (26:46):
Ooh.
There is a script that my sketchgroup has written that we were
originally going to do as aproduction for Fringe a few years ago.
And then everything got canceled.
And it's been kind of the one thateven when there were opportunities to
do things like say last year's fringewhich was, which kind of occurred
in, in a bit of a smaller way, butstill a very beautiful little way.
ANDRÉS (27:08):
Mm-hmm.
MICHAEL (27:08):
uh, It didn't feel like the right moment to bring out this thing
that we had worked so hard on and hada vision of like, Okay, we're going to
be able to do this in, in full, in, inlike the big way that we want it to be.
And it, it was the first sort of,project that we had collaborated
on as a group that was more ofa longer form narrative piece.
And it, I, I'm just so excited tosee what we as, as The Debutantes
(27:33):
can bring forward with that kindof an arc in a narrative sense.
Cuz I, I, I adore all of them.
They're, what, what they bringcreatively in terms of like the
short form pieces that we do.
And like everyone's so good at that,but to see them grow and push themselves
and like, okay, how can we think ofsomething that has more longevity that
I, I just, I really long for the daythat we actually get to put on that show.
ANDRÉS (27:57):
Yeah.
Now you mentioned The Debutantes andyou've also mentioned, Sorry, not sorry.
Productions.
MICHAEL (28:02):
Yes.
Yeah.
ANDRÉS (28:03):
So are both of those kind of collectives like artists collectives, or
do they work as like a company or like,kind of just, can you talk a little bit
about the structure of how they work?
MICHAEL (28:11):
Sorry, not sorry.
I guess worked for, as a company Okay.
Got like board and, and in positionsthat are set up and there's different
pay structures that we've workedwith over, over the years for,
ANDRÉS (28:24):
Right.
MICHAEL (28:24):
Once spaces are booked, how, how we can do shows.
A lot of that's had to sortof shift based on are we just,
are we just streaming things?
Are we actually putting stuff on?
Do we have a space where wecan do our weekly performances
or are we more limited?
But then I guess The Debutantes landsmore on sort of the collective side
where we just kind of get together and do(Laughs) . Sometimes people have roles,
(28:47):
sometimes they shift around a lot, but.
Yeah, we, we just kind of bring stuffto the table where we can on that one.
ANDRÉS (28:54):
Can you tell me what a little bit of like, how that works
and the benefits that come fromworking as a collective as opposed
to like as a company with structures?
MICHAEL (29:02):
I think in some ways it, it almost sort of evens the playing field.
Okay.
Everyone kind of, there will certainlybe people who might have some more
leadership positions or differentthings, but at least with the way
that we've sort of approached it,there isn't one specific person.
Bringing stuff to the table.
It definitely feels like everyone hasequal footing to contribute or, or
(29:26):
to offer changes or voice opinions.
And it, it becomes a very openworking space in that sense.
ANDRÉS (29:32):
Mm-hmm.
. and do you find that the productsare similar to what you would get
working in a structured approach like atheater company with, Sorry, Not Sorry.
And then working at a collective approach,which is more what The Debutantes do.
Do you find that the, both the productskind of end up in the same place?
MICHAEL (29:50):
I, I guess they, they do sort of land in this in similar places.
It's just the journey there is different.
Okay.
Within the collective on TheDebutantes, we don't often don't have
quite as much long term or like theplanning is more fluid, I suppose.
ANDRÉS (30:05):
Right.
MICHAEL (30:06):
Whereas things through, through Sorry, Not Sorry the company,
there's they've gotta produce schedules.
They've gotta figure thatstuff out ahead of time.
And then it comes with a lot of, okay,we'll be generating ideas for formats
to do, and then it'll be a while untilwe see them, cuz we have to sort of
plan down the line when can we getthis particular group together to
do that or, or things of that sort.
Whereas even as I said with The Debutantesbefore we came up with an idea and
(30:29):
produced a thing in like a week, so
ANDRÉS (30:30):
Right.
MICHAEL (30:31):
It can be very on the fly for that cuz we just, wherever we happen
to have time, if there's, there'ssome other filming projects we've
been working on as The Debutantes,thats like, okay this will have to
wait a while just because schedulesdon't line up for it and we're okay.
We can fill the time withsomething else in the meantime.
But it's, it's a lot moreinflux and sometimes timelines
(30:52):
are looser in that sense.
ANDRÉS (30:53):
I feel like it would allow like that freedom you need to be able
to tap into your creative side, right?
Mm-hmm.
because you're not worried abouttimelines as much as you're
worried about just like working.
MICHAEL (31:02):
Yeah.
They're, The deadlinesoften aren't as hard.
It can just be, okay, we have an idea.
We'll see if it does evolveinto a full sketch or not.
And we, we've got the time to, tolet something sit or put it away
and try and pick it up later.
Yeah.
It's not always, Oh, we have tohave the thing ready for when
we've booked the space now.
ANDRÉS (31:22):
Right.
Yeah.
Well, and especially nowadays, likewith, with the spaces being digital,
it's easier to shift dates, you know?
MICHAEL (31:29):
Yes, absolutely.
ANDRÉS (31:30):
Alright, so One more question that I'm gonna ask
you, and this is a deeper one,
Okay.
But the idea of moving forward inour industry and kind of creating
a safer ecology and kind of a,a more well-rounded industry for
artists to be able to work in.
Is there anything that you kindof would love to see develop
over the next couple of years?
MICHAEL (31:50):
I think a lot is being done in a very good way of, of developing
policies and stuff that will helppeople be safe when they, when they're
coming together to work and things.
I just, I think a lot ofindividual accountability and
onus also needs to develop.
And a lot of that, like as things sort ofnormalize on this, the, this, the overall
(32:11):
scale, it'll become a more inherentthing for individuals to all have mm-hmm.
But I think as, as things changeand develop, it just needs to grow
as a culture as well, in a way.
ANDRÉS (32:25):
Thank you for that.
I know it's a bigger question, andagain, we all have aspirations,
but that was beautiful.
Thank you,
All right.
Now I'm gonna ask you some I'm stealingthis from Brene Brown's podcast, Dare
to Lead, where one of my favorite partsof it is, The last like five minutes or
so are just rapid, rapid fire questions.
MICHAEL (32:43):
Okay.
ANDRÉS (32:44):
And they're not as deep.
As some of the other onesI've been asking you.
All right.
Ready?
MICHAEL (32:49):
Yes.
Okay.
Oh gosh.
Wait.
ANDRÉS (32:50):
Take your time.
.MICHAEL: Shoot.
I, I tried to sneakily, get water,and then I messed up my mask...
Okay.
Ready to go.
All right, so what's your favorite snack?
MICHAEL (33:02):
A banana.
I love a good banana.
ANDRÉS (33:04):
A banana
MICHAEL (33:05):
Simple.
You can have it on the go.
I love it,
. ANDRÉS: All right.
Favorite cartoon?
Currently Gravity Falls, I think.
ANDRÉS (33:13):
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good one.
Do you have a song that you'relike really into right now?
MICHAEL (33:18):
Song?
Oh, uh, a band, I'm a big fan of, Ghostreleased a single that went along with the
most recent Halloween movie called HuntersMoon, and I've been listening to that one
ANDRÉS (33:28):
a lot.
Nice.
Are you a fan of horror movies?
MICHAEL (33:31):
Not particularly (Laughs) uh, is I, it was one that I came across more
through the band than through the film,but it happened to come out for the film.
. ANDRÉS: So what, what's something you do to relax?
I play video games.
I, I, I play a lot of video games.
Yeah.
Sometimes they can be a littlestressful, but overall the, the
process of it ends up being relaxing.
(33:51):
, do you have a favorite one?
Any of the Legend of Zelda series.
Those are always go-tos that I willcome back to again and again and again.
ANDRÉS (33:57):
I still haven't played Zelda.
I want to check it out on the switch.
Ooh, yeah.
I've heard it's beautiful.
What is something you will do whenyou need to turn off your brain?
MICHAEL (34:03):
I'll just listen to some music Often, like in the similar
vein, I often have some very goodplaylists of video game music.
Mm-hmm.
and I can find that.
Just lets me mellow outand go, go somewhere else.
ANDRÉS (34:17):
Nice.
Yeah.
All right.
Final one, this is an important one.
What is your favorite flavor of ice?
MICHAEL (34:24):
Vanilla . I am, I am.
, I've got basic tastes in that way.
Vanilla is my go-to.
I love it.
. ANDRÉS: Oh, Michael, thank you so much for being on the podcast today.
Thanks for chatting with me.
Thank you for having we've knowneach other for so long, but like it's
really nice to like actually chat andget to know you a little bit more.
So thank you for this.
(34:44):
in case anyone's looking foryou, where can people find you?
Oh most of the stuff that I end up doing the bigger stuff
will be through The Debutantes.
So, as mentioned before, Debutantes.cathe podcast that we produce
is called Quantum Kick Flip.
That's from a, a game that was developedby a local Edmonton artist and writer.
So go check out Quantum Kick Flipfor some fun sci-fi adventure time.
ANDRÉS (35:04):
Thank you again for y'all listening and thank you again to
Selena Painchaud for being our amazingtech, for listening to us for hours
and for just being part of the team.
Thank you all.
Michael, Any last words before we go?
Say goodbye?
No pressure, no.
MICHAEL (35:19):
Geez uh, keep goodness keep laughing,
ANDRÉS (35:22):
Keep laughing,
MICHAEL (35:24):
be open and be able to laugh.
ANDRÉS (35:25):
Beautiful.
Thank you so much.
Thank you to everyone andwe'll see you next time.
AD: (35:33):
Hey, Pal!
Enjoying the conversation?
Traversing the Azimuth is a brandnew branch of Azimuth Theatre aimed
at connecting artists with awider community, deepening mutual
understanding, and getting to shareeach artist's process and journey.
If you would like to continue hearingthese amazing stories, you can help out
by going to AzimuthTheatre.com/sponsorshipand sponsor Traversing the Azimuth.
(35:57):
Your sponsorship will go straightinto paying more artists to
come and share what it means forthem to be "proudly in process."
We would also like to take thismoment to thank Canada Council
for the Arts for their supportin the pilot of this project.
For more information onTraversing, the Azimuth go to
AzimuthTheatre.com/traversing.
Woo.
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