Two Weird Ladies is a female sketch duo comprised of Mandy Sellers (2011 Canadian Comedy Award nominee) and Laura Salvas (Toronto Comedy Brawl Finalist). The Ladies joined forces in November, 2010, after gaining mutual comedic respect for each other whilst studying with The Second City Conservatory Program (Citizen Vain; Kerry Griffin). Since then, Two Weird Ladies has performed as part of various shows and venues, including Comedy Bar, Mantown, The Rivoli, Hard Times at the Hard Luck, Naked Fridays, The Black Swan and Sketch Com-Ageddon. They performed to a sold-out crowd at the 2011 Boston Improv Festival and their first full-length sketch revue, Two Weird Ladies Bomb The Fringe, debuted at the Toronto and Hamilton Fringe Festivals in July, 2012, to four-star reviews and glowing recommendations from theatre bloggers. They have since been nominated for Fresh Meat 2012, an annual showcase of up-and-coming comedic talent, presented by the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund at The Second City.

Meet the Ladies:

Laura Salvas, prettier than Mandy.

Laura Salvas is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program (Citizen Vain, Kerry Griffin), which is where she met her lovely sketch partner, Mandy.  Pre-Two Weird Ladies, Laura was part of sketch troupe Warm Summer Hotness, which played the 2010 Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival and produced politically charged revues such as PROROGUED! and Rob Ford Unappreciation Night. As a standup comedian, Laura was a finalist and semifinalist in the 2009 and 2010 Toronto Comedy Brawls respectively, and those same years played fundraiser galas for Gilda’s Club of Toronto as part of the Standup Sisters.  Laura performs regularly as part of her improv troupe Jenkins Syndrome (Del Close Marathon 2010 & 2011) and is a former cast member of Kingston’s The Improv Show and Saturday Night at The Improv. She was part of the Canadian Improv Games for more than a decade as a player, trainer and judge, and ran the improv society at Ryerson University where she earned her journalism degree. Laura has trained in Chicago with The Annoyance Theatre and at home with The Second City, Bad Dog Theatre and Impatient Theatre Co. When not trying desperately to be funny, Laura enjoys travelling to foreign lands, referencing episodes of Saved By the Bell and being spiteful. Laura lives with her cat, Sketchy, in a dumpy walk-up in Toronto, where she continues to be totally awesome. And by “she” I mean “I” because I am writing this bio in third person. Thank my $40,000.00 journalism degree for the impeccable grammar.

Mandy Sellers, getting prettier, but still uglier than Laura.

Mandy Sellers is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory (Citizen Vain; Kerry Griffin) where she met her lovely sketch partner, Laura.  She loves redundancies.  Mandy has been performing improv and sketch comedy for over seven years in Toronto and across North America.  She started improvising in Toronto in 2005 and co-founded the troupes Rock Awesome and The Kinkonauts when she lived in Calgary from 2006-2008.  She is a former member of The Second City National Touring Company, and currently performs with the globetrotting trio We’re From Here, duos Mañez and Steak Dinner, and was a member of the all-female juggernaut troupe WDWMKR.  Recent credits with The Second City include The Best of The Second City, The Second City Goes BOOM!, Miracle on Mercer Street and the anti-bullying puppet show Stop Punching, Judy!  Mandy is one of four founding members of Revel Theatre Collective, and co-produces Revel Theatre’s Monthly Barn Burner, a showcase of Toronto’s best improv talent.  In 2011, she was nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Female Improviser.  She rubs this in Laura’s face whenever she can, given that Laura’s most notable accomplishment to date is living beside a gas station.

Meet the Two Weird Ladies Bomb The Fringe crew!

Kirsten Gallagher, Professional Director

Professional director Kirsten Gallagher brings a wealth of experience in improv, sketch comedy and dance to “Two Weird Ladies Bomb the Fringe”. Kirsten is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory program and was a featured writer and performer in Naked Fridays this year. As part of Revel Theatre Collective, she produces a weekly improv showcase, Piece of Garbage Sex Dungeon: A Night of Sophisticated Comedy (returning Sundays after a summer hiatus). Working against her natural attention-seeking only child tendencies, “Two Weird Ladies Bomb the Fringe” is her first foray into directing. She’s pleased as punch to be working with two friends who she greatly admires and trust her enough to put their writing in her tiny hands. In addition to being a Professional Director, Kirsten runs a pug-sitting business as a sideline, marrying her love of pugs with her love of making money doing things that are easy for her. If you have a pug and are planning a vacation, let Kirsten know.

Meg Maguire, beautiful Stage Manager

Meg Maguire‘s selected credits include member of the lighting team for The Second City’s Facebook of Revelations and Tazed and Confused, Stage Manager and Technical Director for 2009 Canadian Comedy Award winner One Woman Show and Assistant Stage Manager for Twist of Fate, The Globe and Mail’s Most Heartfelt Dance Award winner, 2009. In 2010, Meg ran away and found herself in New Zealand, where she was given the amazing opportunity to work as Stage Manager for Ben Hur, an Epic, Best Comedy winner at the 2010 New Zealand International Fringe Festival. Lots of other things happened on that trip, but she will not mention them in this program for fear of her mum finding out (and there is nothing more embarrassing than being in your late twenties and having your mum ground you). Meg also spent many wonderful years as Stage Manager for The Second City’s EdCo. As a side note, Meg likes to rub it in Mandy’s face that she is a Canadian Comedy Award Winner wherever the opportunity presents itself. And she thinks that Laura should try harder.

Jesse Morrison, handsome Stage Manager

Jesse Morrison works at The Second City as the National Touring Company’s Stage Manager, as a Technical Director at Comedy Bar and for The Bad Dog Theatre Company. He started his lighting and sound career at age 15 at small venues in the Grimsby/Lincoln area as a part time job. After moving to Toronto for school and to pursue his comedy and music habits, Jesse happened upon the possibility of doing tech for comedy shows and loved it. Now producing “Adult Contemporary,” a monthly show at Comedy Bar, and performing as much as possible Jesse is very excited to be a part of Fringe.