Keep the Laughs Coming

Help shape the next chapter of live sketch comedy in Toronto.

For more than two decades, the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival has brought artists and audiences together to share live, scripted sketch comedy. What started small back in 2005 has grown into a two-week festival and year-round programming that supports comedy creators across the city and beyond.

If you’ve seen the smiling face around the festival, you’ve met Rudy.

Rudy has been part of TOsketchfest from the beginning. He’s not just a logo. He represents the spirit of the festival: welcoming, joyful, a little playful, and rooted in community.

Team Rudy is the group of supporters who help keep all of this going.

What is Team Rudy?

Team Rudy is made up of:

Monthly donors who give $10 or more
Supporters who give $120 or more annually

As a registered charity, we rely on individual donations to sustain the festival and grow our programs. Ticket sales are important, but they don’t cover everything it takes to produce live shows, pay artists fairly, and offer workshops and development opportunities throughout the year.

Team Rudy gives us stability. It allows us to plan ahead. It helps us invest in artists, not just events.

Why it Matters in Our 22nd Year

Twenty-two years in, TOsketchfest is still growing. More artists are finding their way to our stages. More audiences are showing up to discover them. And our work to support sketch comedy extends beyond the festival itself.

As we head toward our 22nd annual festival, we’re thinking about what it takes to keep that momentum going.

How do we create more opportunities for artists?
How do we keep ticket prices accessible?
How do we give comedy creators more places to develop, experiment, and connect?
How do we make sure sketch comedy continues to have a strong home in Toronto?

That’s the next chapter we’re building.

When you join Team Rudy, you’re helping make that work possible. You’re supporting the artists making great comedy today, while helping us build something lasting for the artists and audiences who come next.

You’re helping us keep the laughs coming, in our 22nd year and for many more to come.

Help Us Grow The Team

Our goal is to welcome 50 new monthly donors to Team Rudy this season.

The festival is our biggest moment of the year. Five thousand people gather to celebrate live sketch comedy. Energy is high. The rooms are full. The impact is visible.

If you’ve ever laughed in one of our rooms, discovered a new favourite troupe, or felt the spark of live comedy done right, this is the moment to step forward.

Join Team Rudy.
Start a monthly gift.
Make a one-time contribution.

Let’s keep the laughs coming, and shape the next chapter together. Join us today.

Did you know?!

5,000 comedy lovers attend TOsketchfest each year. If just 1-in-5 attendees from a single season joined Team Rudy with a $10 monthly gift, TOsketchfest could count on the stable support of the folks who love it.

Imagine what we could achieve together in the next 20 years!

Will you help us shape the next chapter by making a $10 monthly gift today?

2025/26 By The Numbers

live comedy performances presented and produced, showcasing comedic creativity and bringing audiences together to share laughter.

sketch troupes, solo acts, musical comedians, drag, and clown acts were showcased, amplifying diverse comedic voices.

292

individual comedy creators graced our stages, each bringing varied perspectives and hilarious stories to life.

employment opportunities were generated for arts workers, fostering community resilience.

brand new comedy projects received funding — projects historically excluded from traditional arts funding streams.

workshops, panels, and professional networking events offered, specifically designed to foster Canadian comedy artists.

720

participants in our Learning + Fun program–artists upping their game and comedy enthusiasts at all levels experimenting with their comedic voice.

$72,000

paid in artist fees to comedy writer/performers, honouring worth, and stimulating work in an under-supported performing arts sector.

Thank You!

Team Rudy 2025-26:

The following are the very cool, ultra-hip folks who answered our call to join Team Rudy between July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026 – donating $10+ monthly (or an equivalent one-time donation). Introducing… Team Rudy:

Anonymous, Nancie Anderson, Charles Armstrong, Melody Bell, John Booth, Sharon Brown, Paul Butler, Catherine Carefoote, Gary Chan, Yolanda Cheung, Adam Cohen, John David DeGrow, Noor Dhanda, Leah Dietrich, Helen Findlay, Steven Fisher, Nate Friedman, Aaron Hagey-MacKay, Neil Halper, Sam Hancock, Janelle Hanna, Tori Hathaway, Luke Hayes, Andrew Hepburn, Mona Hersi, Peter Hill, Melanie Hunter, Francesca Imbrogno, Emily Jeffers, Michael Jones, Robert Knox, Victoria Laberge, Christopher Leveille, Christina Loeffel, Carol Loffelmann, Daniel MacKay, Megan MacKeigan, Two2Mango, Rade Markovic, Zeljka Markovic, Alanna McConnell, Michael Mildon, Andrea Miller, Chad Mitchell, Seleena Muhammad, Damien Nelson, Gavin North, Fuchsia Norwich, Kent Penaranda, Andrew Plamondon, Chris Pressey, Tom Quinn, Zoe Rabnett, Laura Salvas, Anthony Sardinha, Geoffrey Schoenberg, Craig Scorgie, Aidan Shepherd, Bob Silverberg, Tim Smyth-Bishop, Paul Snepsts, Seth K. Thomas, Karen Tsang, Karen Williams, Leslie Wolfe, Greg Woodall, Virginia Woodall, Elizabeth Woodstock, Cam Wyllie, Hillary Yaas

A special thank you to the Shmayda Family

2025-26 Donors:

This list includes individual gifts made between July 1st 2024 and June 30, 2025.

$1-$119
Anonymous, D Adade, Annette Ainsbury, Mary Ambrose, Christopher Baragar, Melanie Bell, Lucas Blakely, Zara Bottriell, Shana Bow, Danielle Brown, Derick Brown, Phoebe Brown, Murugan Camal, William Catangui, Nina Charest, Mendel Charleus, Linda Chindemi, Robin Cleland, Emily Cockerton, Sara Creaghan, Susan Crutchfield, Sydney Des Vignes, David Dixon, A Dove, Megan Drane, Sita Dubeau, Brian Edwards, Amelia Facchin, Lisa Feingold, Phil Fernandez, Sarah Fink, Lori Fisher, Tony Flash, Patty Fleming, Garnet Fraser, Cheryl Fullerton, Ruth Gamble, Natalie George, Laura Glyda, Barbara Gott, Leo Haas, Izabella Hansen, Vivek Hariharan, Isaiah Headen, Rudy Hill-Keast, Megan Hoinkes, Jennifer Holman, Megan Honey, Marcia Houston, Wien Hsa Du, Mika Imai, Rob Ito, Pam Jackson, Margie Jamieson, Jacqueline Jeffers, James Jeffers, Helen Kelson, Bryan Kerr, David Kirkwood, Evan Klim, Marina Kononenko, Natalie Kurgan, Amy Lester, Cooper Levy, Victoria Lorient-Faibish, Jennifer Lynch, Roxanne Maggiacomo, Rabiya Mansoor, Gregory Martyn, Jim McGinley, Lara McInnis, Michelle McMullen, Robert McQueen, Niki Meijer, Andrew Metz, Betsy Mills, Stephen Milton, Deanna Moffitt, Charlie Moodie, Natalie Moore, Kelly Morris, Terry Mott, Kathleen Munroe, Kamini Murthy-Korteweg, Patna Music, Josh Newman, Eren Nunez, Aye Nyein San, Gavin O’Hearn, Chinanu Okoli, Domenik Olarte, Rebeca Ortiz, enoje OzJam, Linda Peacock, Ryan Peressotti, Joelle Peters, Sammi Phung, Adam Pisarek, Lucas Porter, Chelsea Provencher, Sarah Ratschan, Shannon Rhodes, Laura Roberts, Jack Rudy, Nicole Schmidt, Ernie Schultz, Emily Shapira, Nancy Shaw, Pia Shaw, Lacey Shay, David Shore, Lisa Sibley, Stuart Simpson, Michael Stergianis, David Tangness, Criselda Tejada, Zakiyya Thurston, Seamus Tokol, Brie Watson, Zacharie Weingarten, Gayle Wilmot, Kaye Winks, Brian Wise, Marybeth Woodall, Krista Wylie, Dan Zaroski

Thank you to all of the folks who support TOsketchfest. We’re human, and make mistakes here and there. Please let us know if there is an error or omission in our list of thanks.

The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival Inc. is a provincially registered charity:
824216808 RR 0001