TOSketchFestBlog

Tita Collective, five women dressed in Filipino regalia

Sketch Comedy at the Toronto Fringe Festival

Summer is officially here, and what better way to celebrate than diving into over 160 shows at the Toronto Fringe Festival? From July 3 -14, 2019, Toronto Fringe will present a massive array of shows from clown to dance to drama to musicals to everything in between – but of course we are very biased to the plethora of sketch comedy shows!

If you grab a copy of the Toronto Fringe Program Guide you’ll see all of the comedy shows on pages 30 – 51. It is so overwhelming, in the best way possible, so we have complied a list of the sketch comedy revues and comedic shows featuring TOsketchfest alumni.

Happy Fringing!

ANESTI DANELIS: SIX FRETS UNDER
Tranzac Club Tiki Room, 292 Brunswick Avenue
Having been surrounded by loss this past year, Anesti Danelis took refuge in his guitar and created a brand new hour of comedic music. Directed by Tricia Black (A Sketch Comedy Extravaganza Eleganza) this brand show reflects on all the fun moments in life like: identity crisis, invincible youth, inescapable rumours, stealing from work, goats? and more! 

 

CARPE INTO MY DMs
Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Avenue
In a post-apocalyptic world, only a few millennials—and their smartphones—survive. Sketch comedy troupe, We Are Sports!, is desperate to escape the destructive mistakes of the past because this time, #thoughtsandprayers won’t be enough. Directed by Alastair Forbes (The Lusty Mannequins), join these selfie-obsessed survivors for the best, and probably last, sketch comedy revue anyone will ever see.

 

CLOTHESWAP
The Textile Museum of Canada, 55 Centre Avenue
Directed by Dale Boyer, Clotheswap is a unique show featuring Amanda Barker, Cassie Cao, Ashley Comeau, Tarah Consoli, and Karen Parker. This co-production with The Textile Museum of Canada examines the seams of empathy among women, the high cost of fast fashion, and the stories our bodies tell. Audience can bring clothing to swap and donate to Sistering & Dress For Success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMEDY RECORDS presents JAY & EYTAN
Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street
Jay & Eytan are a New York based professional comedy duo, originally from Canada. They showcase a blend of sketch and stand up comedy in their one hour act – packed with energy, countless punchy premises, and just the right amount of spice.

 

DEATH RAY CABARET
The Monarch Tavern, 12 Clinton Street
Second City veterans Jordan Armstrong and Kevin Matviw are back from the Edinburgh Fringe with a quick-witted musical comedy show that explores everything from libraries to a graveyard bash.

 

EMOTIONAL LABOUR
Factory Theatre Studio, 125 Bathurst Street
Emotional Labour is a new comedy directed by Gwynne Phillips (The Templeton Philharmonic).  Women have to carry the emotional load in their relationships with men far too often. And it’s a load of exhausting, rage-inducing bullshit. So Jess Beaulieu and Luis Fernandes wrote a play to talk about it.

 

FRIENDLY FIRE: The Art and Execution of Friendship
Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street 3rd Floor
Friends are great, aren’t they? Wait, are they? They must be. Otherwise we wouldn’t try so hard to make them. Or keep them. Or avoid them. Until we can cut them out… hmm. Sketch revues are great, aren’t they? This one is!

 

HERBEAVER
Factory Theatre Studio, 125 Bathurst Street
HerBeaver – Katie Preston, Heather Gallant, and Mallory Morgan – will be taking 60 minutes of their best sketches and songs from their monthly show Bush Party to the Toronto Fringe! This show is entirely written, produced, directed, and performed by these three actor/comedian/best friends, with a fast-paced, feminist, and absurd style.

 

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE
Annex Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street
It’s Getting Hot in Here is a sketch revue about changing climates, both political and environmental. With the world going up in flames, what’s a theatre company to do?!

 

IT GIRLS: A Pop Comedy Musical
Factory Theatre Mainspace, 125 Bathurst Street
It Girls has it all: fame, friendship, forbidden romance, girl power, camp, Showgirls-esque sabotage, and a hilarious collection of original early 2000s-inspired pop songs. A comedy-musical directed by Ashley Comeau, It Girls features a hilarious cast including Emily Richardson, Aba Amuquandoh, Erica Gellert, Devon Henderson, Tom Hearn, and Marshall Lorenzo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIDDLE RAGED
Robert Gill Theatre, 214 College Street 3rd Floor
Middle Raged stars Geri Hall (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and Gary Pearson (Sunnyside), in a hilarious sketch comedy show that explores the ridiculous nature of life from 30 to 65. We were thrilled to present Middle Raged at TOsketchfest19 – and we can’t wait to see what they have in store at Toronto Fringe!

 

PEACHES ON A CHERRY TREE
Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue
Upon learning that her wife Viv has a mysterious illness, Rose decides to die by her side. But their Doctor has a different plan.
Written and directed by Colin Sharpe (The Weaker Vessels), Peaches on a Cherry Tree features Christy Bruce, Lance Byrd, Kyah Green, and Alexandra Hurley.

 

THE RESISTANCE IMPROVISED
Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street
Inspired by The Resistance board game, and directed by Maddox Campbell (Interrobang), this improv comedy will be filled with cyber-hackers, sentient traffic robots, cyborg sports-stars, and serious laughs. The cast includes Jon Blair, Antony Hall, Ryan F. Hughes (Whisky Kids), Kat Letwin (1623), Carmine Lucarelli, Anne McMaster (Not Oasis), Nkasi Ogbonnah (1623), and Carley Thorne (Uber and Klonk).

 

SKETCHY ADVENTURES IN THE ENCHANTED FOREST
Al Green Theatre, 750 Spadina Avenue
Sketch and theatre will collide in this laugh-out-loud, mystical Fringe fairy tale. Sketchy Adventures in the Enchanted Forest is a story of unexpected friendships, altered perceptions, monsters, duels, madness and finding out who you are.

 

SOME PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT 
Streetcar Crowsnest Scotiabank Studio, 345 Carlaw Avenue
Some People To Think About is a solo comedy show from Paul Blinov (Gossamer Obsessions). It’s a finely curated collection of strange fools and plausible nonsense: an all-too-honest father, an all-too-desperate screenwriter, and more.

 

SWALLOWED WHOLE
Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79A St George Street
3 actors, 20 characters, 3 bad celebrity impressions, 3 songs, 55 minutes, 1 is the loneliest number, 4+2=7. Rachel Parry brings her unique style to the stage for the first time in this collection of peculiar sketches, featuring three of Toronto’s most axolautlomatic performers!

 

TITA JOKES
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace, 30 Bridgman Avenue
Join the TOSketchFest19 Steamwhistle Producers’ Pick winners, the Tita Collective, for a musical sketch comedy spectacle to remember. They sing, they dance, and they’re going to make you snort-laugh halo-halo through your nose!

Tita Collective, five women dressed in Filipino regalia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL
Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, 16 Ryerson Avenue
Gillian Bartolucci balances the pressures of diet culture, fertility issues, and the ongoing struggle for self acceptance through full bodied comedy, characters, truths, songs, dance and fibroids. Directed by Carly Heffernan, The Weight of It All is a mission to find value and humour in the things that cannot be measured with a scale.

 

WOKE ‘N BROKE
Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79A St George Street
And lo! Jesus made the five loaves feed hundreds. And the millennials were like, “Can I get mine toasted with avocado?”

(WARNING: This comedy sketch revue may contain traces of millennials and avocados)
Directed by Anand Rajaram, Woke ‘N Broke features Carolyne Das, Neha Kohli, Nkasi Ogbonnah, Rob Michaels, Sima Sepehri, and Zohaib Khan.

PLUS! KidsFest at Toronto Fringe
All shows at George Ignatieff Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place

Boy vs Fly
Adapted from the children’s book BOY vs FLY by Daniel Beitchman, this charming comedy will delight audiences of all ages 4+. Directed by Kerry Griffin, BOY vs FLY will feature the hilarious antics of Devon Hyland, Spencer Litzinger, Simon McCamus (Northwest Passage), Josh Symonds, and Brie Watson (The Utilidors)

 

Gremlin Hour
Written by Alex Kolanko (The Sketchersons), with additional writing by Chris Leveille (Dame Judy Dench), Gremlin Hour is a non-spooky comedy for ages 6-12. All Gremlins, including you, are invited to a meeting of gremlins. The child we have to scare is asleep all the time. It’s hard to be spooky when they don’t want to be awake. We need your help! What is a Gremlin to do?!

 

Philip & Lucinda Dino-Show
Philip and Lucinda (The Grand Salto Theatre), dinosaur explorers extraordinaire, set out to understand the Paleozoic Era with song, dance and acrobatics. Philip & Lucinda Dino-Show is an acrobatic comedy with a whole lot of silly that will leave you saying: “This show is Dino-mite!” This show is suitable for ages 2-10 and anyone who loves Dinosaurs (so . . . everyone!).

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Tickets and passes are on sale now for the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival at https://fringetoronto.com/fringe/plan-your-festival/tickets-pass-info