In this (pseudo-) interview, solo sketch comedian Dave Barclay explains the process he used to create his new show “Please Name your baby Dave Barclay.” It has been condensed for time because it used to be too long, and dealt with arcane knowledge that should not be shared.
Q: Hello, I’m here with Dave Barclay, who is on the cusp of the launch of his second Toronto Sketchfest solo show, Please Name Your Baby Dave Barclay.
A: That’s right. Hi everyone, I’m Dave Barclay. Please name your baby after me.
Q: So this is a sketch show?
A: Yes, it’s a collection of short scenes — hopefully funny – that I’ve been developing over the last year.
Q: I could probably write that in a day or two. Why did it take you a whole year?
A: Well, it takes me a long time to develop a sketch. It starts off as a premise that I’ve hastily written on my phone while I’m walking my children to school. I then take some time at home to see where the premise takes me, while keeping the initial inspiration burning hot in my mind and laughing at my own jokes. This leads to my wife asking me, “What are you laughing at?” And then I have to bashfully tell her I was just laughing at the gross things I was imagining an employee of a theme park might say to people as they were getting on a roller coaster . . .
Q: All of your sketches are about roller coasters?
A: Actually, a surprising amount of my sketches are set in Canada’s Wonderland. Our family recently got a season’s pass, which leaves me with a lot of time to stand around in lineups for rides, thinking of sketch premises. Anyway, once I have the beats for a sketch, I usually try the sketch out at various venues around the city, seeing which jokes work, and adding things that I riff on the spot, until it gets consistent laughs.
Q: You are a teacher of Sketch Writing at Bad Dog Theatre Company, so you must vigorously plot out your sketches according the Rules of Sketch Comedy. Is that correct?
A: I am a teacher of Sketch Writing, and also a sketch director (I direct Vivek Srikanthan, who is also at this festival! Check him out!) I started teaching and directing in the last couple of years, and have enjoyed them even more than I thought I would. Over the course of my very long history of doing Sketch Comedy, I have usually just followed the mad vision I have in my head, which has led to some pretty weird stuff in the past. I don’t want to let go of that, but making my students rigorously adhere to a premise and have some structure to their sketches has persuaded me to do this with my own work. To its benefit, I think.
Q: *checking TikTok on their phone* So is everything in this show about babies, or what?
A: There’s definitely stuff about baby names! I have a sketch about this podcaster who loves taking lister-submitted baby names and making fun of them – which was half the inspiration for calling the show “Please Name Your Baby Dave Barclay”. The other half is this problem I’ve had recently with someone called the Countess, who cast a spell on me…
Here’s the part where we condensed the article for ease of reading – Ed.
…so my life’s been a bit of a living hell for the last little bit, but the show must go on, as they say.
Q: Great! So when can we see the show?
A: Check it out at the BMO Incubator Space at the Theatre Centre, Wednesday March 12th at 9pm! One night only, so get your tickets now! You can get them at torontosketchfest.com. It’s a double bill with Lou Laurence, who plays guitar and is from Montreal, and whom I absolutely love.
Q: Dave, thanks so much for joining us, I really enjoyed this, with the exception of the 40 minutes you spent talking about the Countess, which was somehow terrifying and boring at the same time.
A: It’s been a pleasure.
Please Name Your Baby Dave Barclay
Wednesday, March 12 at 9pm
The Theatre Centre – 1115 Queen St. W.
As part of Toronto Sketchfest’s 20th anniversary
© Dave Barclay, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2025
