Building a Winning Culture: Tasya Teles on the Last Five Seasons of ‘Shoresy’
It’s a dichotomy how one can be both one of the boys and a strong no nonsense woman, especially in the comedic world of ‘Shoresy’ - but Teles pulls it off like a true beauty.
Let’s do some math for a second. 81. That’s how many episodes Letterkenny creators Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierny got to create for the small time Canadian show based on an even smaller time Canadian town. 30. That’s how many episodes the spinoff, ‘Shoresy’ has been able to create thus far, with more promised in 2027. 18 shortened seasons in total. Hours of entertainment, countless one liners, and even more laughs.
In short, don’t let anyone tell you there isn’t math within comedy. There’s a rhythm for sure. There’s an algorithm. It can be studied and learned, but the catch is not everyone will understand it or master those algorithms. Tasya Teles always wanted to jump into comedy following her successful tenure on ‘The 100’, but jumping into the world of Letterkenny and Shoresy as comedic successor is like being enrolled in Abstract Algebra learning Galois theory when you hadn’t even spelled Galois theory until this very moment.
That aforementioned rhythm to Shoresy can come faster than any gunfire or stunt within The 100, and Teles admits just how much work it was. “How I handled it was I just spent a lot of time studying comedy,” Teles confesses. “It’s a really specific skill to have. It's a lot about timing, so you really have to practice, and understand, and surround yourself in that as much as possible. That way you can figure out how to keep the ball in the air and to land the comedy. So I just went deep into studying with different comedians and different comedy schools.”
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Yet, as mentioned, this has been its own distinct animal ever since the original show. There isn’t a school for Shoresy. Teles, who grew up idolizing the relatively safe young adult sitcom realm of ‘Boy Meets World’ knows that Shoresy “has its own personality entirely.”
While studying might prepare you for comedy, there’s more to the success of this show, especially the comedy. There was so much that could have gone wrong with Shoresy, and yet at every turn it proves to be a little Canadian engine that could, transcending streaming services and borders and garnering cult-like audiences across North America. Coincidentally, this season, Shoresy and Teles’ character, Nat are attempting to build a new team and a ‘winning culture’ - in short, bringing together a group of people to support one another and be successful. It’s not just about actually winning, it’s about coming together as a group.
It’s not merely the fictional hockey team that sets goals. A winning culture on-set reinforces the concept of goal-setting as well, and sometimes that means making anyone attempting the breakneck comedy have to feel perfectly at ease. “The show is very cohesive,” Teles explains. “Everybody gets along really well together, and so we're really fortunate in that capacity, that we have the privilege of working together and rehearsing together. So when we actually go to set to shoot, we all know what we're doing. We are all very clear on what the work is for that day, and that makes it feel safer.”
It may be cliche because once again, Teles tells us there’s no real secret. The actor merely explains the show’s winning culture stems from “being on set, really studying the scripts and rehearsing with the boys.” Those ‘boys’ are of course, the several former professional hockey players turned comedic actors such as Terry Ryan, Jonathan-Ismaël Diaby (better known as JoDolo) and brothers Brandon and Jordan Nolan.
“It's really interesting working with the hockey players, because they bring that beautiful team mentality to a set that you don't find on many or not every show,” Teles unfolds. “They're not actors, so they're not really precious with the work in a way that you might find on other shows. There's a lot of levity, there's a lot of teamwork, there's a lot of laughs, and it's just been really great.”
This season also addressed the culture that hockey is quickly becoming known for, especially here in Canada. There are a lot of issues of misogynistic, inappropriate, even illegal behavior, certainly surrounding the men’s game, and it sadly is becoming known as a systematic concern, starting at far too young an age of hockey players across North America. The show beautifully presented an antithetical position, arguing against those accusations, saying that the culture surrounding hockey can instead be one of community, honor and support.
While Shoresy consistently presents these ideals, there is a balance that at times can lean towards… to deftly put it… the chauvinistic. While Nat and her girls Miig (Keilani Elizabeth Rose) and Ziig (Blair Lamora) are some of the toughest characters in the show, the tough question is, what is it like being a woman in what is very much a man’s world?
“I love being able to go toe-to-toe with Shoresy as Nat,” Teles grins. “He really listens to Nat and he really respects that relationship. When you see the hockey players outside the ink, you know that they're really good guys with great hearts, and they show a lot of respect to me and Miig and Ziig and that's what keeps the comedy elevated, the tension between the strong women and the strength of the boys.”
Perhaps there is more to the formula than simple numbers. Perhaps the mathematical formula to create a winning culture is something more akin to Practice + Trust + Respect = Success. It certainly has been a winning formula for Shoresy’s run, so far.