“How do I describe myself in the world of theatre? I guess (as) a professional amateur.”

Mitch Krohn is a sketch comedian and improvisor whose passion for acting began in high school and continued as he studied theatre at the University of Winnipeg (U of W).

While at the U of W, Krohn’s love for acting prompted him to seek any opportunity to get on stage and “go for it.”

It was by an unexpected turn of events that Krohn got involved with improv and comedy in the first place. In terms of how it happened, Krohn says “blame Tim.”

Tim Webster, one of the founding members of the Crosseyed Rascals improv comedy troupe, invited Krohn to join 17 years ago.

Krohn says one of the best parts of performing with the Rascals was the community that formed offstage.

“When we had hard times, we supported each other. When we had good times, we celebrated with each other.”

During a particularly difficult time in Krohn’s life, when he was hospitalized after having a stroke, comedy became a form of catharsis.

While in the hospital, Krohn and Dianna Rasing, who also had a stroke two weeks before he did, decided to form a comedy troupe based on their experiences. Together, they founded Strokes of Genius sketch comedy.

Krohn says “instead of getting really frustrated and yelling at somebody, get really frustrated and write a comedy sketch about it.

“There’s dark times, obviously, but it’s better to laugh about it than cry about it.”

Krohn currently resides with his spouse, Megan, who lives and laughs alongside him in their home of 14 years.

1) Meet Buffy

Mitch: “She has a few faces. She has the ‘I’m pissed off at you’ face (and) the extremely curious face.”

2) A screwdriver, except it’s a little more sonic

Mitch: “We’re Whovians.”

3) Pretty window frame

Mitch: “When we redid our windows, we took the old windows out of the inside, so that we could still have the (frame).”

4) Cozy fireplace

Mitch: “We were an individual house that lost power. So it wasn’t like our neighbourhood lost power. Our house was the only house on the street that lost power.”

Megan: “That fireplace was a lifesaver.”

Mitch: “We didn’t have an oven, so we boiled water, and we heated food on there.”

5) Prop room: a hat tree

Megan: “It’s just costumes, costumes, costumes.”

6) A very special poster

Megan: “So this poster here is from the show (when) Mitch proposed to me. It was actually in a show that we got engaged … I should let him tell the story.”

Mitch: “It was during the improv show, and there’s the game ‘questions,’ where you can only ask questions. In that particular game, we asked all of our loving volunteers – and Megan was actually one of our volunteers at that show – to come up and join on stage … so as we were playing the game, in one scene, I got down on one knee … and I was in a Southern drawl.”

Megan: “It was awful.”

Mitch: “And I kept the Southern drawl when I asked her ‘will you marry me?’ And she just looks at me and goes ‘are you crazy?’”

Published in Volume 74, Number 16 of The Uniter (January 30, 2020)