TOSketchFestBlog
Looking for the top five comedy shows in Toronto this September? Sharpen your pencils, dust off your notebooks, and get ready to go back to comedy. Toronto’s comedy scene is returning from summer vacation with new shows, returning favourites, festival-ready sets, and some wonderfully weird ways to make you laugh. From sketch showcases and cabarets to clown, drag, and puppetry, September’s syllabus has a little bit of everything. Class is in session, and these are the shows we’re putting at the top of our list!
Spotlight ft. BRAIN FROGS and MIDNIGHT SNACKS
September 4th + 5th
Spotlight is back from summer vacation, and it’s returning with a prime-time Friday-and-Saturday-night home and two troupes we’re very excited to see. Brain Frogs bring their wonderfully awkward chemistry and alternative sketch sensibility, while Midnight Snacks return with a greatest-hits set fuelled by silliness, whimsy, and best-pal energy. Hosted by Taylor Hreljac and Gabe Meacher, this double-header is a great way to spend a night getting reacquainted with Toronto’s sketch scene after the summer break.
Theatre ‘73 at The Second City, Tickets & Info
Sketchfest Comedy Cabaret
Saturday September 5th + 19th
Okay, we’re a little biased about this one. Our Sketchfest Comedy Cabarets are giving Toronto comedy acts the stage, tech, and cameras to capture a tight 10-minute set packed with their top material. For audiences, that means three different lineups of six to eight acts bringing out the sketches they most want the world to see. Come for one or collect all three and get a whirlwind tour of what Toronto’s sketch scene is cooking up right now.
Sweet Action Theatre, Tickets & Info
Humour Sketchipede: Cure for Death
Thursday, September 17th
Finally, someone is tackling the small, manageable problem of death. Toronto sketch group Humour Sketchipede is setting out to discover the secret to eternal life in Cure for Death, a 60-minute journey through life, love, and the ambitious goal of stopping the clock altogether. Will they actually defeat mortality? We’re not making any promises, but we are very curious to see them try.
John Candy Box Theatre, Second City, Tickets & Info
Brain Frogs present a sketch comedy showcase!
Thursday, September 17th
Recognize Brain Frogs from our Spotlight pick earlier this month? Good news: you can get even more of them in September. This time, they’re bringing some funny friends along for a sketch comedy showcase featuring Toronto favourites Friedman & Stew and Chris Johnson, with Emily Callahan hosting the whole shebang. If one helping of Brain Frogs isn’t enough (and why should it be?), consider this your chance to go back for seconds.
SoCap Comedy, Tickets & Info
What The Festival
September 24-27th
If your comedy tastes lean a little weirder (or a lot weirder), clear your calendar for What The Festival. This four-day celebration of all things delightfully unexpected brings together clown, drag, puppetry, cabaret, workshops, panels, and plenty of wonderfully hard-to-describe live performances. Around here, “WTF” stands for What The Festival, and we can’t think of a better excuse to embrace the wild, the whimsical, and the wonderfully bizarre.
Youngplace, Tickets & Info
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Want to see more funny in the city?
Thanks for checking out TOsketchfest’s Top 5 Comedy Shows to see in Toronto in September 2026. Like our picks? Let us know!
Have a show you would like us to know about? Contact virginia@torontosketchfest.com.
