Campus Life

Humour is no accident with this group

Faculty of Fine Arts graduates are putting their education to work and bringing to campus a night of hilarious, mind-bending entertainment with an edgy and creative production of Happy Whackin’ Jim McCrackin by Amos Altman, presented by the Accidental Humour Co.

At the University Theatre from Sept. 12-14 at 8 p.m. nightly, poor Jim McCrackin’s tale of mistaken identity and mess of personal attachments sends him into a whirlwind of problems.

The Accidental Humour Co. hits campus Sept. 12-14 with Happy Whackin’ Jim McCracken.

Accidental Humour Co. is a collective of artists, actors, writers, designers and dreamers. Together, they create hilarious, exciting and innovative theatre productions, which blend live-action antics with high-octane video projection. This year’s production is touring Calgary, Stettler, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge.

The core members of Accidental Humour Co., all of whom have earned a BFA Dramatic Arts at the U of L, are: Kimberlee Stadelmann (’06), William Banfield (’06), Cliff Kelly (’07), Brent Felzien (’06), and Neil LeGrandeur (’06).  Fellow Alumnus Amos Altman (BA ’04, BFA ’05) wrote the play.

The company prides itself on creating completely original productions that blend live theatre and films together, which often parody different film genres.

“This year, we decided to remount our second production, Happy Whackin’ Jim McCrackin, for two major reasons,” says Stadelmann, stage manager and costume designer. “First, it is our only production that only toured two cities during its first run, and secondly, the company is already hard at work on a sequel for Jim McCrackin’ for 2014.”

Happy Whackin’ Jim McCrackin played to sold-out houses at the Edmonton Fringe Festival and received a five-star rating in a review by Jen Hoyer of See Magazine.

Tickets are available at the University Box Office, and are priced at $15 regular admission, $12 students. Tickets are also available online: uleth.ca/tickets.