Grindstone Theatre's political satire videos gaining popularity online

Edmonton theatre group parodies Alberta politics The Grindstone theatre is getting tens of thousands of views on its parody videos poking fun at provincial press conferences.

EDMONTON — A theatre in Edmonton is getting a lot of attention online for its politics – or, rather, its lampooning of politicians.

The Grindstone Theatre is getting tens of thousands of views of its parody videos poking fun at the press conferences being held by Premier Jason Kenney.

The videos are written by Derek Johnson who says recent political events such as MLAs travelling over the holidays inspired him to make the videos

"It’s been interesting to kind of just see a couple things unravel, so we have to jump on what’s hot right now," said Johnson.

The videos posted on the Grindstone Theatre's YouTube page and TikTok account have over 100,000 views.

"It’s starting to take off a little bit," says Johnson.

Donovan Workun, who plays Kenney in the videos, says the time is ripe for political satire.

"When people get outraged or people are really happy that's when it's the easiest to lampoon some things."

Workun says it was tough to do an impression of Kenney at first.

"I think the key to the Jason Kenney impersonation is not knowing what you're going to say until you're actually saying it."

Johnson says having politicians keep talking is all he needs to keep writing scripts for the comedy videos.

"Sometimes there's a couple of people who say things and you're like, I don't think you know what you're saying but we're definitely going to be pulling on that."

The videos keep pulling in so many viewers that they intend to keep making more and Workun says he hopes they catch the attention of the premier.

"I would love to hear from him. I would love to do Jason Kenney for Jason Kenney," said Workun.

But Johnson says Kenney might not be the only politician getting satirized in their videos.

“Everyone is fair game, you might say.”