Labour of Luba
When something is truly unique people cannot help but take notice. In the Toronto comedy scene, or any scene anywhere, you would be hard pressed to find a show with a concept as unique as Drawn Up.
As the lights go down in the main space of Toronto’s Comedy Bar, the host is greeted with energized applause. The host takes the stage by being projected on a screen. The audience is delighted to meet their host, a charming, plucky animated robot.
Comedians are introduced by the lovable creation. As the robot gives way to a colourful ballistic projection of their name.
The influence of the animated host is so complimenting to the lineup. Each comic seems to perform their set with all the whimsical heightened energy of Mary Poppins hopping into the chalk drawing.
The stand up sets are punctuated with beyond charming animated sketches, they are like panels of a hyper coloured looking glass. Meticulously edited shapes with familiar voices of local comics are brought together in a digitally distinctive colour pallet featuring canary yellows, cobalt turquoises, and violets so vivid they bring on cravings for grape gum.
It all converges in a precious magical way to lessen the blow of truths and observations performed by the animations.
In a cartoon featuring two characters playing basketball and going through a break up, the sweet and strange sentiment is laid with gentle artistry: Even a cartoon that is completely drawn up....gets their heart broken sometimes.
Luba Magnus who produces and animates Drawn Up is a vivacious, quirky person. Emerging only at the beginning and end of the journey they have created for the audience, Magnus thanks them for coming along with a gracious smile from under a perfectly shaped quaff of red hair.
Exiting the theatre as 3-D life fades up, it’s hard to believe that Magnus was, for the most part, self taught.
“I've always been curious about making animations, but I fell into it as kind of a fluke. I never went to animation school - I took a post-grad in editing, and minored in effects, and used that effects software (Adobe After Effects) to teach myself animation. But it wasn't until I saw a short film called The Missing Scarf by Eoin Duffy that I realized how I could use the software that I knew to create linear storytelling. This is a bit technical now, but essentially it opened my eyes to the idea that shapes, colours, and simplicity can be very impactful.”
As her skills improved Magnus embraced this less is more quality to her work, resulting in a contrast of calm shapes and wild colours.
“My animation style has definitely become more minimalist, and while a great deal of that is to get each "Drawn Up" show done on time, it's also a really good challenge to put as much life into these characters as possible. My first full cartoon short was about a raindrop turning into a snowflake. There were a lot of details surrounding it, but the raindrop itself was very simple. Still, it had a full range of expression. I think I've gotten closer to fine-tuning my personal style of minimalist approach, but it's always evolving and improving!”
Magus says it felt like a very natural progression to create a concept merging stand up and animations.
“After I made that snowflake short, I remember going on a road trip to New Orleans, a very self-affirming trip. On the car ride back I was thinking about the response that cartoon got, and a kind of lightbulb went off in my head. Even though I was performing stand-up then, I just knew that if I kept making cartoons, it would be another way to get my sense of humour into the universe, and it'd be accessible in a completely different but parallel way. But, being so passionate about stand-up, I knew that I needed to find a way to benefit both. Two birds, one stone. Ultimately, I knew that if I wanted to produce a really good show, it'd have to be unique in all the best ways that are also unique to myself. "Drawn Up" uses everything I've got.
Drawn Up is a complicated process far from the regular logistics of an average standup show.
“It takes about 3 months to put a show together, using hours outside of work and stand-up. This includes scripts, voice-over recording, sound design, illustration, and animation. Any traditional animator would cringe to learn that I skip the storyboard stage. Unfortunately, I don't have time. One perk to creating it all myself is that each cartoon begins with a very strong vision in my head, and then it's good to go!”
What makes the animations in Drawn Up so compelling is the contrast of bright and vivid characters on the surface who live in the world Magnus creates for them that contains so much humanity.
“My sense of humour has always been a little surreal. Sometimes this can be my downfall, as I'm painfully aware when trying out new jokes that I need to add a bit of "meat" or explaining to make sense to anyone outside of my brain. I love wordplay and imagination, and incorporating those into comedy is the most fun. If what I'm making isn't unique, I feel I've failed. That being said, comedy needs to be relatable on some level, otherwise, it can be quite isolating. I'm a weirdo, but so are most people! So I like to bring that self-awareness into what I create. We're only human.”
This humour is best exemplified in a reoccurring animation called Rogue Wave voiced by Toronto stand up comic Meg Mackay in which a wave tired of her station in life leaves the ocean and takes on the world with a very dry wit ....especially for something made of water.
“Coming up with the concepts for Drawn Up happens so fast in such a short timeline. The Rogue Wave idea came up pretty late - if not last - in the concept of the first episode. I needed something easy to make quickly. The animation is by all accounts comically bad, but I think that's what makes it endearing. I really like anything "nautical", so I thought about a rogue wave, which is a pretty mysterious and foreboding thing! But from the wave's perspective, it's just out there doing its own thing.”
Of all her animations Magnus says the Rogue Wave would be the one she would most like to hangout with.
“I'd like to think she'd break her rules of independence and we'd be pals. We're pretty similar I think, but she's a little more brave. “
With a concept that is as original as it is dynamic. The development potential of Drawn Up is not lost on Magnus.
“I'd love to take Drawn Up on the road, hitting different cities and featuring comics from across the country... or the globe! It'd also be nice to do a Fringe show with it in some form someday. Ultimately I think Drawn Up would make an excellent television series. We could feature different animators at that point, get a large writing crew, and bring more Canadian stand-up to the air. It would benefit so many different parts of the arts industry, and truly has something for any comedic audience. Who could say no?”
Drawn Up is the type of show that no two people will experience the same way.
It has a rare purity that feels like being trusted with a sincere secret that reminds you of a forgotten truth you knew as a child.
No matter what adventures lie in store for this labour of love it remains evident. The talent of Luba Magnus and Drawn Up is so dreamy…. It is not to be slept on.
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