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Opinion

The main thing Tim Gray wants you to know about Winnipeg's newest sketch-comedy troupe, H.U.N.K.S., is that its members aren't kidding around when it comes to being funny.

"As silly as we all are, and as much fun as we like to have, we're all taking this very seriously," says the 28-year-old comedian and actor, who will join his five castmates to present the second edition of the H.U.N.K.S. Sketch Comedy series, with special guests Outside Joke, tonight at 8 at the Park Theatre (admission is $10). "We don't want to waste anybody's time; we don't want to waste our own time. This is what we want to do, so we're trying very hard to make it happen for ourselves."

H.U.N.K.S. is a six-member sketch troupe (featuring Gray, Quinn Greene, Sam McLean, Matt Nightingale, Dana Smith and Rory Fallis) that was formed last year after its members -- most of whom are alumni of the long-running cable-TV comedy show Week Thus Far -- perceived that there's room in Winnipeg's fast-growing comedy community for a group that focuses on sketch-driven humour.

"We all come from different worlds -- standup comedy, filmmaking, TV production or whatever -- but the one thing we all have in common is a love for sketch comedy," Gray says. "And aside from the amazing Hot Thespian Action, there's just not a lot of it happening in Winnipeg right now. So we started meeting to discuss what we wanted to do and who we wanted to be, and we found some great similarities in our senses of humour. And once we got started, we were blown away by the sketch product that we're able to create."

The H.U.N.K.S. cast -- the troupe's name, by the way, isn't an acronym for anything in particular ("We just wanted something strong, but very vague," says Gray) -- spent several months writing and rehearsing before making its stage debut at the Park last month.

The plan is to do a new show each month (except for a brief summer break to participate in the Winnipeg Fringe Festival) at the Osborne Street venue until at least the end of the year.

"Our focus for this year is to do eight shows, including a Fringe show, and to create as much buzz as possible about who we are," says Gray. "We really want to establish ourselves in Winnipeg this year, and then next year we're hoping to spread our wings a little further and maybe break into some other markets and festivals and stuff like that."

In terms of inspiration for their amusing adventure, Gray says he and his comedy cohorts look to the Kids in the Hall as the standard to which all sketch troupes must aspire.

"They took all the risks; they did stuff that was so weird, not with a disregard for their audiences but in an effort to challenge them," he says. "Five of the six of us took a workshop with Kevin McDonald this year, just before the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and we were able to do some sketches in the festival that we created with him. And that workshop has really inspired us in terms of our writing style."

When asked to describe the H.U.N.K.S.' brand of comedy, Gray's first choice of adjectives is "diverse."

"It's definitely very, very silly, and most importantly, it's fun," he offers. "We have fun doing it, and the audience has fun watching it; we want it to be an immersive experience, so every show has an audience element where we break the fourth wall and go outside the usual confines of sketch comedy."

In launching the H.U.N.K.S. series as a monthly event, Gray says the Park Theatre was the only venue they considered.

"The Park has been an incredible supporter of the Winnipeg comedy scene in the past couple of years," he says. "They're bringing in a lot of big-name comics (including New York-based standup Todd Barry on tomorrow), and they're really helping to define Winnipeg standup comedy with their quarterly showcase shows. They're selling out the venue for shows with all local talent, and the local comics are rising to the occasion.

"It just made the most sense to do our shows there. They've been so supportive of Winnipeg comedy; we wanted to do this in their venue."

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @BradOswald