Girl Brain launches YouTube channel to deliver their comedy during quarantine

Sketch troupe moving performances online Local sketch comedy group Girl Brain is releasing weekly videos from home to entertain audiences during the pandemic.

EDMONTON — A popular Edmonton sketch comedy troupe has put their heads together to come up with a new way to deliver their comedy.

Girl Brain, which has a big following for their live performances, has now started making videos for digital audiences. The three female performers have started their own YouTube channel.

“That’s our response to no longer being able to do what we do on stage,” says Ellie Heath.

The trio has relied on observational comedy as the basis for their live sketches and they say it’s no different now. Heath says watching her mother take part in a Zoom party inspired their first video.

“There’s not a lot of things to talk about in this quarantine so they’d often talk about happy hour and wine and drinking wine. They were rowdy and raucous and funny,” she says.

Alyson Dicey’s crush on the prime minister turned into a three-minute music video called I Couldn’t Say No, (Not to Trudeau).

“I wanted to write a love letter to him,” says Dicey. “I was thinking about him a lot. He’s so dreamy.”

But shooting videos showing the women on screen together was a nightmare to produce, according to filmmaker Frederick Kroetsch who assisted Girl Brain in making their online content.

“I don’t think anyone had anticipated the technical complexity of this thing. At the beginning it really hurt my brain,” says Kroetsch.

But Girl Brain, who regularly preforms for sold out crowds at theatres across Canada, says the extra effort has been worth it because it lets them continue their creativity while live performances are on hold.

“It’s been a great challenge and it’s been a great kick in the butt too, to get the YouTube channel up and create sketches in a different way,” says Caley Sulia.

And they say they’re excited to have the videos they are posting weekly reach an audience around the world online.

“More people can get on the Girl Brain train. The future is female and – we can take over,” laughs Heath.