Our in-house sketch comedy production Churn adds second monthly show

We're pleased to announce that, as of this weekend, our in-house sketch comedy production CHURN will be doubling in scope and getting a featured weekend every month at the theatre.

Leading the charge, house sketch teams Kid Detective and Lucky Dip will be debuting their brand new shows this Saturday at 7pm, and performing an encore this Sunday at 6pm.

Most writers and performers associated with Churn are alumni of the theatre's sketch comedy workshops program – to encourage more interested folks to get involved, we're running a regular Sunday 5pm info session ahead of our 6pm encore performances. Signing up for the info session gets you a 50% discount on your tickets to the show.

What is Churn?

Churn is a show that asks our community's top sketch comedy talent to get in the habit of churning through exciting, brand new material.

Actors and writers audition to be a part of house-managed teams, and every month two teams write, rehearse and perform a brand new sketch comedy show, and then chuck it in the bin immediately after.

What do the changes mean for our talent?

With the addition of the second monthly show, our teams finally get the ability to refine their material between performances – learning from the Saturday debut's laughs and lulls to tweak things to make the Sunday encore pop even more.

It also means that twice as many people can get eyes and ears on their amazing work!

What do the changes mean for you – the audience?

If you're someone with a tight schedule, you now have two opportunities to catch each show before it disappears.

If the Saturday show sells out, there's now a second chance to grab tickets, whereas previously you'd be shut out entirely.

If you're a super-fan, you can now catch both – hopefully appreciating the tweaks and improvements that come with the Sunday encore performances.

And if you're someone who's been curious about how to get started with sketch comedy, our monthly info sessions are now the perfect lead-in to the Sunday performance.

What do the changes mean for the theatre?

Adding a encore performance of an already-built sketch comedy show goes a long way towards us keeping Churn's finances sustainable, while still letting it retain its signature "catch it this weekend, or never see it at all" charm.

We're primarily an improv theatre, and creating fresh new sketch comedy content is a far more expensive effort than creating fresh improv performances.

Our not-for-profit pays to support our teams' monthly shows via:

• Writing session coaches

• Rehearsal and show directors

• Lighting and sound technicians

With only one performance, it was virtually impossible for us to break even each month through ticket sales, even if the session sold out. With two, it's much more likely!