Mike Hammond is just a big, dumb circus bear. He tells jokes for money, but he's definitely not an artist. So if comedy isn't art... what is it? Mike takes you on a journey with stories ripped from his own weird life as he breaks down the divisions between humor and art, and answers the question, "why do we find the sad clown so funny?" First performed at the St. John's Short Play Festival, and now given new life thanks to Canada Council for the Arts, Arts NL, and the City of St. John's
Content Warning:
Strong lanuage, Mental illness triggers
What's a workshop production?
A workshop production is a trial run in front of an audience. It isn't the final product and there's a chance for mistakes, forgotten lines, and technical difficulties. It's still going to be great, but it's still a work in progress.
Starring: Mike Hammond
Directed by: Mallory Fisher
Written by: Mike Hammond
Stage Manager: Sheldon Downey
Technical Director: Lucas Ings-Simms
Dramaturge: Allison Kelly
Cast & crew
.jpg)
Mike Hammond is a comedian, writer, improviser, and producer based in St. John's Newfoundland. Mike has studied improvised theatre at iO Chicago, Flint Improv Co. in New Brunswick, and the Next Act Festival at the Montreal Improv. He's performed in comedy for almost 20 years and in that time has recorded for Just for Laughs Originals, was a cast member and the artistic director for Stanley Braxton Improv Co., was a cast member for the 2018 Winnipeg Improv Festival, and has performed, and has played at comedy venues all over Canada. Mike was also the producer and festival director for the Braxton Comedy Festival that ran from 2017-2019 in St. John's.
Mike Hammond
Definitely Not an Artist
Mallory Fisher is a playwright, director, actor, producer, and arts educator based in St. John’s. Mallory holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from the Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Theatre Performance Creation from York University. Their play motherskin was selected for the 2020 Women’s Work Festival, runner-up in the 2020 Wildfire National Playwriting Competition, and winner of the 2020 Arts and Letters Competition Senior Drama Category. It is scheduled for production by White Rooster Theatre in June 2022. They have taught acting at Memorial University on both the St. John’s and Grenfell campuses. They are the current Artistic Director of Shakespeare by the Sea.
Mallory Fisher
Director
Sheldon (He/They) is a technical artist from St. Johns who works in Stage Management for theatre, opera, and shadow puppetry, and as a 3rd Grip/Electric for theatre, film, and television. He holds a BFA in Technical Theater Production (MUN Grenfell Campus), and has worked with Perchance Theatre (Julius Caesar, Servant of Two Masters, Crippled), Double Sure Theatre (Her Closely), Opera on the Avalon ( As One, Dead Man Walking, Tosca), Under the Bridge Productions (Brass Button Man, The Kraken), Beyond the Overpass (The Last Five Years), and Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland (Everybody Just Calm the F*uck Down). For Film and Television, he has worked with “The Amazing Race Canada,” “Hudson & Rex,” and CBC’s “Son of A Critch”
Sheldon Downey
Stage Manager
Lucas Ings-Simms (he/him) is a designer, actor, and puppeteer based out of St. John’s, NL. Recent credits include designing ‘Making Heads or Tails’ (Night Out Productions) and ‘Lights Out’ (Theatre Perimetric) in the 2021 St. John’s Short Play Festival, and puppeteering in numerous performances of “The Kraken” and “Sideshow Absurdica” with Under the Bridge Productions (2019-present).