TOSketchFestBlog
Meet the Featured Acts: Jon Blair Brings A Comedy Show At The End Of The World to TOsketchfest 2026
Show: Jon Blair’s A Comedy Show At The End Of The World
When: Friday, March 13, 8:00pm
Where: The Theatre Centre, Franco Boni Theatre
Runtime: 75 minutes
Best for: Fans of absurd humour, solo sketch comedy, and inventive theatrical storytelling
Tickets: HERE
Jon Blair is a Featured Act at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, and a foundational figure in Toronto’s solo sketch comedy scene. For nearly two decades, Jon has been a singular voice in Canadian comedy, known for sharp writing, inventive formats, and an ability to blend satire, music, and character work into fully realized shows. A two-time Best of the Fest winner at TOsketchfest, he has also written for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Because News, and is currently a member of the Second City Touring Company.
He returns to TOsketchfest with A Comedy Show At The End Of The World, a sell-out hit from the 2025 Edmonton Fringe Festival. Set in a post-apocalyptic settlement where comedy is a questionable but beloved survival skill, the show combines sketch, music, and theatrical storytelling. Equal parts absurd and thoughtful, it’s a playful examination of what comedy is for when everything else has fallen apart, delivered by one of the most inventive solo performers working today.
“It’s very silly at some points and thoughtful at others, and it’s about trying to find the purpose of art in bad times.” – Jon Blair
We asked Jon Blair about his comedy, his process, and what audiences can expect from this show. Here’s what he had to say.
For readers meeting you for the first time: who are you, and how would you describe your comedy?
I’m Jon! I’ve been doing solo sketch comedy in Toronto for almost 15 years and I’ve worked with a lot of other groups like The Sketchersons, Sex T-Rex and currently the Second City Touring Company. My comedy is very absurd and character driven with a lot of big twists and reveals.
Tell us about the show you’re bringing to TOsketchfest. How did it come together?
A Comedy Show at the End of the World is a hybrid one-man play/sketch show about a former television comedian still trying to make his way as a traveling performer after comedy inexplicably failed to prevent the apocalypse. It’s very silly at some points and thoughtful at others and deals with trying to find the purpose of art in bad times. I’d been doing solo hours of pure sketch work at festivals for a number of years before I started experimenting with giving the sketches an overarching narrative structure in my previous revue Clip Show, and this one feels like the next step in that experiment, in turning a sketch show into a more theatrical-style play.
What can audiences expect when they come to see this show?
Much like real life, audiences can expect society to collapse into a lawless wasteland of scarcity and chaos. Except once that happens there are also sketches, songs, storytelling, contests, one-man fistfights and superintelligent raccoons.
What makes this show different from your past work, or from other sketch shows audiences might have seen?
It’s a play about a sketch show, which means it spends half its time being a sketch show and half its time telling the larger story of the world it takes place in, and the person still committed to a comedian’s life after civilization has ended. I started out just writing little bits in between the sketches to tie them together and then this whole other story started jumping out of it, so now it’s that!
Why is TOsketchfest a great fit for this show?
The show is about comedy – why we do it, what it can and can’t do for us in dark times, and why it survives from one disaster to the next – and I think a festival with so many people who have comedy on the brain and one that acts as such an incubator for it is a great place for that lil exploration to happen.
Who do you think will especially love this show?
People who like absurd humour, self-examining comedy and genre parody. Fans of Mad Max, Fallout, and early 60’s pop girl groups. Roving gangs of bandits and bards. People who are over-encumbered from picking up too much useful-looking junk off the road.
What excites you most about being a Featured Act at TOsketchfest this year?
When you take a show like this to a Fringe festival or something like that, a lot of what you’re doing is trying to pitch it to the world at large and hoping that it happens to be up their alley once they get there. Doing it at Sketchfest, I’ve already got a pretty good feeling that the people checking out that festival are going to like this sort of thing; it takes a lot of the pressure off and lets me just have fun with it!
If someone is on the fence, what would you say to convince them to buy a ticket?
(raises hands to chest level, palms turned upward) cmonnnn
Why This Is a Featured Show
Jon Blair was selected as a Featured Act because his work represents a rare combination of craft, originality, and deep roots in the sketch comedy community. A Comedy Show At The End Of The World is a confident, fully formed solo piece that stretches the boundaries of sketch without losing its accessibility or sense of fun. The programming committee was drawn to the show’s inventive framing, its tight writing, and Jon’s ability to seamlessly shift between character, commentary, and theatrical play.
This show also reflects Jon’s long-standing impact on the form. As a formative presence in Toronto’s solo sketch scene, he has consistently pushed what solo comedy can be, both on stage and online. Featuring A Comedy Show At The End Of The World at TOsketchfest highlights not only an outstanding new work, but an artist whose career exemplifies experimentation, longevity, and excellence in Canadian sketch comedy.
Don’t miss your chance to see one of TOsketchfest’s standout acts.
This featured show has limited seating and is expected to sell quickly.
