TOSketchFestBlog
During the annual Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, you can fill your calendar with shows by top notch comedy talent from across North America. But don’t take our word for it. You need legit insider recommendations for your Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival experience, and we knew just who to ask. Some TOsketchfest favourites and die-hard fans share what they’re most excited about seeing at TOsketchfest25. Grab a pass. Book some tix. Have some laughs.
Srutika Sabu
Catch Srutika on March 5th & 12th at The Theatre Centre as Santosh Santosh her drag king clown show about a troubled tech bro, also fresh off Toronto Fringe and WTFestival.
At my first TOsketchfest in 2022, I witnessed a giant bat with tiny hands steal the show with nothing but eyebrow raises, dramatic wing flaps and meeps. It was so funny, I laughed all the way to Sweet Action theatre and joined a clown cult. Since then, watching clown at TOsketchfest (especially Sweet Action Sweeties!) has been a highlight. As a certified Emily Jeffers stan, I highly recommend Bitty-Bat! and her new character, the Mathemagician. Having seen her develop this scholar at Sweet Action, you are in for a treat. Fresh off their award-winning Toronto Fringe run, Shreya and Sachin of Two 2 Mango teach colonial history in Colonial Circus—with nothing but head nods, gibberish, and impeccable timing. If you too want to join a clown cult (but only for a few hours), check out the Brunch! A Clown Workshop by Ken Hall, Isaac Kessler, and Gordon Neill. These three directed most of the nonsense in our shows, so come bottle the nonsense from the source. Chase and Kenneth are sure to continue infusing cartoonish clown sensibilities to their sketch once again in West 2 West 3: Return of the 2.
For non-clown shows, I highly recommend Amanda Xeller and Comedy Dance Chicago. Amanda plays messy (literally and figuratively) characters, and I love it every time. I’ve seen her perform in three cities so I’ll be taking her character workshop. Comedy Dance Chicago blends comedy and dance into ridiculous but beautiful physical comedy using amazing choreography. Every sketch is pure joy.
Amanda Xeller
Catch NYC’s own Amanda Xeller on stage at Comedy Bar March 7th and 8th and in her workshop “Character Creation in Context” on March 9th.
Amanda Xeller here! I’m honored to be returning to The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival to perform and celebrate their 20th Anniversary! Congratulations on this incredible milestone! Here are a few of my not-to-miss-picks for the fest – Toronto Edition:
The Tita Collective – Beyond talented. Expertly curated. AND THEY CAN SING. If you’re looking for top tier ensemble work, see The Tita Collective. They blend unified performances with their individual talents making their shows consistently stand out. Also, fun fact, they are some of the most supportive and kind people there are.
The Templeton Philharmonic – I’ve had the privilege of watching Gwynne and Briana own the stage for over a decade. The Templeton Philharmonic blends history, performance art, and sharp wit to craft sketch comedy with a powerful feminist perspective. They’re brilliant.
Jon Blair – I’d be hellishly mistaken to not shout out my fellow and long-time solo sketch brother, Jon Blair. His accolades speak for themselves (Best of the Fest at numerous festivals). His work is consistently fresh, innovative, and he always, ALWAYS, commits. I’m stoked AF to see what he has in store this year.
Cam Wyllie – If there’s one person who lives and breathes sketch comedy, it’s Cam Wyllie. You can feel the love and dedication he pours into every performance. Every Cam Wyllie show is a proclamation of deep respect for sketch comedy.
Tallboyz: One City World Tour – Absolute Masters of The Craft. Smart, creative, & ridiculously funny. Skip the gym and get your ab workout in at a Tallboyz show. If you haven’t seen them you need to and if you’ve seen them I already know you have your tickets bought.
More recs:
My fellow New Yorkers: Ghost Girl (Magnet Theater represent!), Big Apartment, Jackie & Allison Into The Multiverse, & Woody Fu (yeah yeah he’s in LA now. We miss you Woody!)
And of course Joy Provision, Tony Ho, Carson & Taylor, Tom Hearn, Bad Medicine, and The Seth K Thomas Show. PS: Seth is an incredible person, incredible teacher, and has an incredible show. See his show and take his workshop!
Pat Gourdeau
Pat Gourdeau is an actor, writer and performer showcasing his solo show Gaylulu at Comedy Bar on March 6th.
Oooh, I love Sketchfest. It’s always a fun opportunity to see a ton of hilarious shows from dear friends and mortal enemies who are still very funny, even though they have wronged me. I wanted to include 20 shows, but I was told by a Sketchfest team member to limit my list to 5, which is rude. Sounds like I have another mortal enemy to add to my list…
1. Please name your baby Dave Barclay – Dave is the best! He is a master writer and his characters always kill. Bonus: he has not wronged me… yet.
2. Cheap Wine – Three big sweeties who always bring the laughs. Warning: I am biased, as troupe members Jess and Jack both go the same gym I do.
3. Carson and Taylor – These two weirdos do a mix of magic and comedy that somehow works amazingly well. Warning: Carson ALSO goes to my gym, so take my recommendation with a grain of protein powder.
4. Janelle McGuinness and Big Chick Energy – Janelle is a master TikToker who actually has a nice voice, and I’m not saying that in a ‘nice voice for someone who does comedy’ way. Bonus: She’s paired with Big Chick Energy, who are great as well. Warning: None of these women go to my gym, so proceed with caution.
5. Tallboyz – Hot take: award-winning and CBC-show-having sketch troupe Tallboyz is funny. I know, I’m really taking a risk with this one. But any Tallboyz show is a can’t-miss event, so… get thee to the venue they’re performing at. Stat.
Oh, and come see my show Gaylulu! March 6th! Comedy Bar! I’ll be the guy wearing wigs on stage. See you there!
Robert Knox
Rob is performing with The Understudies on March 5th and 9th at The Theatre Centre.
The Understudies are excited for our 8th time at TOsketchfest! Looking at the lineup, Sketchfest’s 20th year might be its best ever. Sketch took longer than stand-up or improv to fully recover post-pandemic, but it’s back big time. Tough to pick only 5 recos, but here goes…
1. Carson & Taylor. Straight up: their TOsketchfest show last year was the funniest sketch show I’ve seen in the past three years. If you can get a ticket, do it immediately, and then come back and read the rest of this article. Plus, they’re with Comedy Dance Chicago!
2. Vivek Srikanthan. His solo show in Fall 2024 was fresh and hilarious, occasionally veering into the territory of important. Vivek will cringe at that, but I’m not wrong. Biographically inspired yet universally relevant, his scenes float from sweet to raw to idiotic and always funny; Plus, they’re with Woody Foo!
3. Summer Dad. Every sketch troupe at some point comes up with a great idea for a sketch buuut it would require like 8-9 people on stage at once, so they have to nix it; Summer Dad gets to do it. So many members yet so tight and in sync. They put in a lot of reps at Fringe and are better than ever. Plus, I love The Mathemagician!
4. Legally Brown. I love a troupe that is clearly having a lot of fun together on stage. Their writing is smart, fresh and funny, and the performances are compelling. Plus, they’re with Amanda Xeller!
5. Sketch to the Death. Don’t be fooled by the vague and lame show description , this is gonna be a good one. We competed in Sketch to the Death (STTD) this year, and were blown away with how deep with talent in the Toronto scene is right now. This show features hot sets from other STTD competitors who are some of the best new acts in town. [Editor’s note: the Sketch to the Death show description will be updated any day now with more detail]
Honourable shout-outs to Colonial Circus by Two2Mango, BDB Comedy and We’re All In This Forever. And you can’t go wrong with TOsketchfest mainstays like Cam Wyllie, Dave Barclay, Cheap Wine, Vest of Friends, Jon Blair, Big Chick Energy, TallBoyz, and Tony Ho.
See you at TOsketchfest
Got all that?! That’s a full dancecard. And we can’t argue with these picks. Crazy thing is … here are some links to Insiders’ Guide Part One, Insiders’ Guide Part Two, Insiders’ Guide Part Three and Insiders’ Guide Part Four.
We hope you enjoyed the first installment of our TOsketchfest Insiders’ Guide. Stay tuned for Part Two, featuring tips from more TOsketchfest artists and insiders.
Now go get your TOsketchfest Festival Pass and get ready for 12 days of the best live comedy on earth!
Comedians’ recommendations may have been edited for length and clarity.
