With COVID-19 in our midst, we’re living in some intense, uncertain, life-altering times right now—and, frankly, we could probably all use a good laugh. Here’s a little smile: a throwback to my first stand-up performance with Dawn Whitwell’s Comedy Girl Level One class at Comedy Bar in Toronto. With thanks to my sis Colleen McKimContinue reading “A smile during wearying, uncertain times”
Category Archives: Comedy
NSTF: Family, community, music & lots of love in the entertaining, heartwarming Tita Jokes
Alia Rasul, Ellie Posadas, Isabel Kanaan, Maricris Rivera, Ann Paula Bautista & Belinda Corpuz. Photo by Martin Nicolas. Cathleen Jayne Calica, stylist. The Tita Collective invites us into Filipin* kitchens, living rooms and lives with its Next Stage Theatre Festival production of its hilariously entertaining sold-out Toronto Fringe 2019 hit Tita Jokes. Created andContinue reading “NSTF: Family, community, music & lots of love in the entertaining, heartwarming Tita Jokes”
FireWorks Festival: Real-life fame, fortune & fall in the entertaining, heart-felt Belle Darling Klondike Queen
Alumnae Theatre Company (ATC) opens its annual FireWorks Festival of new works with Natalie Frijia’s Belle Darling Klondike Queen, directed by Lori Delorme, with music direction by Anita Beaty—running upstairs in the Studio. Part cabaret, part vaudeville, all heart—this highly entertaining and engaging piece of musical storytelling takes us on vaudeville star Klondike Kate’s (bornContinue reading “FireWorks Festival: Real-life fame, fortune & fall in the entertaining, heart-felt Belle Darling Klondike Queen”
Toronto Fringe: Into the mouth of the sea lion with the absurd surreal sketch comedy of Swallowed Whole
Carly Telford, Chris O’Bray & Raechel Fisher. Photo by Laura-Kate Dymond. Irrelephant Productions takes us into the mouth of the sea lion for 55 minutes of absurd sketch comedy, peppered with drag performance and social satire in the wacky, surreal Swallowed Whole, written and directed by Rachel Perry, and running at the Helen GardinerContinue reading “Toronto Fringe: Into the mouth of the sea lion with the absurd surreal sketch comedy of Swallowed Whole”
Toronto Fringe: Exorcising inner demons in the part self-help, part stand-up, all heart Personal Demon Hunter
Velvet Duke. Photo by Tyra Sweet. The Velvet Duke faces off with our inner demons in Velvet Wells’ Personal Demon Hunter, running in the back room on the main floor at the Imperial Pub. Part self-help workshop, part stand-up and all heart, personal storytelling, improv and music combine to create a casual, open-minded spaceContinue reading “Toronto Fringe: Exorcising inner demons in the part self-help, part stand-up, all heart Personal Demon Hunter”
Toronto Fringe: Summer camp like you’ve never seen before in the wacky fun, sex-positive, feminist Pack Animals
S.E. Grummett & Holly M. Brinkman. Photo by Brynne Carra Photography. Scantily Glad Theatre presents summer camp like you’ve never seen before in its Toronto premiere of the wacky fun, sex-positive, feminist Pack Animals, created and performed by Holly M. Brinkman and S.E. Grummett, and running at the Randolph Theatre. When a wilderness-wise WoodpeckerContinue reading “Toronto Fringe: Summer camp like you’ve never seen before in the wacky fun, sex-positive, feminist Pack Animals”
Three tales of crime, corruption & twisting schemes in Sex T-Rex’s hilarious, immersive Crime After Crime (After Crime)
Julian Frid, Kaitlin Morrow, Seann Murray & Conor Bradbury. Photo by Connor Low, with graphic design by Jon Blair. Sex T-Rex presents the Toronto premiere of the hilarious immersive comedy Crime After Crime (After Crime), in partnership with West Neighbourhood House, as they take us into the underground world of a warehouse speakeasy forContinue reading “Three tales of crime, corruption & twisting schemes in Sex T-Rex’s hilarious, immersive Crime After Crime (After Crime)”
Outrageously fun, horrific good times in Space Opera Zero!
Clockwise, from top left: Eric Woolfe, Lisa Norton & Mairi Babb. Set & costume design by Melanie McNeill, assisted by Emily Butters. Lighting design by Michael Brunet. Photo by producer Adrianna Prosser. Eldritch Theatre returns with more outrageously fun, horrific good times with Space Opera Zero, written by Eric Woolfe and directed by DylanContinue reading “Outrageously fun, horrific good times in Space Opera Zero!”
Sharply funny, moving, candid looks at LGBTQ lives in 7th annual Gay Play Day
Gay Play Day—an annual festival of short, new plays written by LGBTQ playwrights and their allies—returns to the Alumnae Theatre Studio for two days only. This is the 7th year of the fest for founding AD Darren Stewart-Jones and the GPD team, which this year includes technical director Johnny Salib and Henry Keeler on frontContinue reading “Sharply funny, moving, candid looks at LGBTQ lives in 7th annual Gay Play Day”
SummerWorks: Pitching vulnerability in the frank, darkly funny, insightful …And You’ll Never Believe What Happens Next
Graham Isador. Photo by Jillian Welsh. How do the stories we tell about ourselves reflect on us? And how do the stories we read shape how we see the world? Pressgang Theatre explores these questions, combining journalism and theatre together as playwright/performer Graham Isador takes us on a journey of personal story pitches toContinue reading “SummerWorks: Pitching vulnerability in the frank, darkly funny, insightful …And You’ll Never Believe What Happens Next”