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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, December 21, 2011 · 16 Artscene Oakville k ll h high h school h l grad's d' YouTube b forays f lead l d to TV success By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF What happens when your funny YouTube video gets 24 million views? In the case of Oakville's Kyle Dooley, you end up on television. The Oakville Trafalgar High School graduate and his seven buddies became big hits in the online world with numerous comic videos. Catching the attention of TV executives, the team of eight has its own show titled Picnicface e -- the first season is currently airing on The Comedy Network. It all started with a sketch-comedy night in a bar. "We started producing videos, just for the live show," the 26-year-old Dooley said. "One of them really caught on and all of a sudden all of our other videos, which had 1,000 or 2,000 hits, were skyrocketing, getting up to... 50,000 and then it took off." The video, found on www.youtube.com, is called Powerthirst and received 24 million hits. Even comedian Will Ferrell took notice. Dooley grew up in Oakville and after graduating high school, moved to Halifax, N.S. to attend Dalhousie University where he earned a degree in theatre studies and psychology. With an interest in improvisational (improv) comedy, Dooley took some workshops, where he met fellow Picnicface e member Mark Little. "There's an improv camp that exists in Regina that I went to," said Dooley, "and a festival, with a series of classes and performances, in Vancouver. Mark and I met on the circuit. When he moved to Halifax, we started doing shows together." The problem with improv shows in Halifax is that there is not much of an audience for it, Dooley said. "People weren't really showing up," he said. "Anybody in town doing comedy that was different and interesting, sort of gravitated towards this sketch comedy night that three or four of us started in a bar in Halifax." This group of comedians and its live show grew as it began travelling to various bars. During the show's run, members came and went, until the current eight remained. Then they produced videos, posted them on the internet, and the rest was history. The team includes Dooley, as well as members from Toronto, Vancouver, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland. "We all ended up in Halifax at the same time so it was fortunate, really," Dooley said. Picnicface e is a sketch-comedy show with executive directors Mark McKinney, known for his role in Kids in the Hall l, and Garry Campbell, former writer on Kids in the Hall l and MADtv. "People compare us to Kids in the Hall l sometimes," Dooley admits. "It's kind of weird and very flattering. I think the similarities in our groups are that we're both Canadian and our similar style of humour. We don't do political satire; we rarely do a full-on parody. It's removed from reference and pop culture. It's more comedy for the sake of comedy." Moving to network television, however, didn't mean the group had to sacrifice its creativity. "The people at Comedy, our network executives, are wonderful. They insist on telling us we're our own bosses, which is the best," Dooley said. "Some of the stuff we do is pretty weird. It's subversive. It's hard to expect everybody would get everything, especially when it's just words on a page. A lot of it comes (out) in the shooting, the costumes and the music." Picnicface e airs on the Comedy Network Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. It can also be watched at www.thecomedynetwork.ca. SUBMITTED PHOTO Holiday li season ea style tips that work from office to evening (NC)--'Tis the season to shine. Whether you're going to the office party, meeting friends for a casual get-together, attending a cocktail party or a New Year's Eve bash, Sears Wish Book catalogue has everything you need to look your best. 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