Accidental Humour is bringing back Jim McCrackin for the third and final time.
The Edmonton based theatre company, created by University of Lethbridge Fine Arts program graduates, will bring “Release the McCrackin,” their parody of the action movie genre, to University Theatre, Sept. 18 and 19 at 8 p.m. each night.
The last time we saw Accidental Humour’s beloved hitman, Jim McCrackin, he had a bullet in his head just after deciding to give up the business for the sake of his son, but he’s back to figure out who he is and try to regain his lost memories, with the help of some mysterious monks who help save him.
“It’s a parody of action films and they typically come in trilogies,” said Willie Banfield, who has played McCrackin in all three productions.
“People liked the character and responded to him, so we figured, what the heck, let’s bring him back,” Banfield said.
The four member cast play a variety of different characters in the multi-media production incorporating three projectors, which follows McCrackin as he awakes from a coma and tries to remember his past.
“The play has four actors who play multiple characters,” Banfield said.
“ I play Jim McCrackin. It's the only character I play, unfortunately that means I have to be on stage 99 per cent of the time,” he said, adding you don’t have to have seen the prequels to get the humour of the play.
“It’s a stand-alone program, but there are references to the others, which are a bonus if you’ve seen the others.
“ Jim was a professional hitman, but he decided to get out of the game when he had his son. Unfortunately he got a bullet in the head at the end of the last play,” he said.
The play was a hit once again at the Edmonton Fringe Festival this year and will be performed in Lethbridge plus Stettler, Edson, Calgary and Medicine Hat on this tour. The five core members are Brent Felzien, Willie Banfield, Clifford Kelly, Kimberlee Stadelmann and Neil LeGrandeur.
This play is the sixth original play Accidental Humour has performed since the old friends reunited while living in Edmonton around 2008. They have performed “For the Love of a Zombie,” “ Son of a Dwarf,” “ Cowboy a Cowboy Story,” “ Happy Whackin’ Jim McCrackin
“The last one was one of the five out of 210 productions at the Edmonton Fringe last year to be held over. And this one was well received too,” he said.
But this will be it for Jim McCrackin, who will be put to rest after this tour.
“We have a couple of other ideas we want to explore,” Banfield said.
“Number one we feel we’ve told his story and two we have other film genres we want to parody,” he continued, noting they haven’t decided whether their next project will either be exploring the time travel/ science fiction genre or the superhero genre.
“Superheroes are really popular now. We’re going over some scripts. But we also want to revisit Cowboy: A Cowboy Story, a take off on westerns,” he said.
Tickets cost $14.50 plus GST in advance or $17.50 plus GST at the door at the University Box Office.
