For comedians Alastair Knowles and Aaron Malkin, who play the British comedy duo James and Jamesy in O Christmas Tea: A British Comedy, there is no better time to pretend to be British than the holidays.
“We’re British Columbian,” says Knowles with a laugh. “The show has been described as ‘walking out of a Monty Python film into a Dr. Seuss book,’ and it’s a celebration of imagination and friendship that spills from the stage into the audience.”
The show—during which Knowles and Malkin interact with the audience—is a perfect vehicle to encompass the Christmas sprit, says Knowles.
“Everyone is able to get on board with the idea of Santa Claus, and the sort of mystical magical nature of Christmas,” he says. “Our shows are facilitators of that experience.”
Although they are Canadian born, the pair put on British accents for the show, and even sometimes slip back into them in their personal lives when they are talking to each other offstage.
“We’re British about eight months of the year,” says Malkin. “We love promoting in character and we even teach workshops in character. Off the stage, we’re frequently in our British personas and it makes the persona on stage just very natural.
Knowles says it makes for a fun time offstage when the two begin conversing in British English.
“In addition to our public Britishness, often in private when Aaron and I are chatting into the night we’ll find ourselves slipping into British accents and staying there for a long time,” he says. “We swing back and forth between British and Canadian accents. It’s one of the ways we have fun together.”
The inception of the characters in O Christmas Tea—James and Jamesy—came when Knowles and Malkin were working on getting material ready for a cabaret show they were producing with other comedians. During an improvisation session, a fellow comedian wanted to see the characters put in a show.
“The audience response was unlike any we’ve ever experienced,” says Malkin, adding that a mentor told the pair, “You’ve struck gold. If you want, you can mine this.”
O Christmas Tea: A British comedy
7:30 pm Monday, December 19 and 5 pm Tuesday, December 20
$19.50 (student rate), McPherson Playhouse
rmts.bc.ca