Review: Do You Believe in Goats? (Touch My Stereotype)

Touch My Stereotype presents their sketch comedy show Do You Believe in Goats? at Toronto’s Unit 102 Theatre

GoatsIn this vast world of ours, there are so many things that logic and science alone can’t explain. But just because we don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it can’t be used as comedic fodder. Well, at least that’s what the cast of Do You Believe in Goats? would have you believe.

Taking aim at all things occult and pop culture, this Touch My Stereotype production is a one-hour mixed-media sketch revue that demonstrates that nothing – not even the realm of ghouls and goblins – is safe from ridicule.

If there’s one thing that should be said about the cast of this production, is that they definitely don’t take themselves too seriously. And perhaps, that’s why this play was so enjoyably light-hearted. Sure, much of the humour was crass and sometimes off-beat, but it was also fresh and took no prisoners – no tired stereotypes here.

Whether it was parodying the late ’90s teen/tween youth cult classic Are You Afraid of the Dark? or a heated debate on the merits of pickles versus cucumbers, Do You Believe in Goats? was an hour-long trek through a slew of pop culture references.

Each skit would run anywhere from between 30 seconds to about 10 minutes or so. And as with many fast-paced sketch revues, the quality of the skits was very hit-or-miss.

There were definitely many memorable moments during the production – including an ad lib shadow puppet police lineup and a dig at the ridiculousness of upbeat marketing jingles. But there were also quite a few skits that just fell flat and just seemed to drag on. One example was a skit where a customer wanted to buy a dog for her daughter but the shop owner only offered outdated Tamagotchi’s (electronic pets popular in the early ’90s) as alternatives. The entire bit kept making the same joke – an apparent lack of communication in that, no, a Tamagotchi is not in fact a real dog. After about the third repetition, I just zoned out.

But because each skit never really lasted too long, you would only have to wait a short while before something more to your liking came along.

The real strength of this production was in its acting.

Indeed, Amanda McQueen, Russell McLeod, Chloe Sullivan, Robert Murphy, Bee Raskob, Eitan Shalmon, Padraigh MacDonald and Chantale Renee (with special guest Ross Hull of Are You Afraid of the Dark? fame performing in the Wednesday and Thursday performances) each added very unique and distinct personalities that complemented the off-beat brand of humor showcased in this production.

While there were many skits that left much to be desired, there was a much larger number of legitimately laugh-out-loud, spit-out-your-drink, fall-over-laughingly good ones as well. It’s not a perfect production, but for the few fantastic gems you’ll get to see, Do You Believe in Goats? is well worth the price of admission.

Details:

  • Do You Believe in Goats? Plays through Saturday, September 13th at the Unit 102 Theatre Space (376 Dufferin Street).
  • Advance tickets are $12 and are available online. You can also purchase tickets directly from the box office for $15, starting one hour prior to the show’s start time.
  • Show run nightly starting at 9:00 PM and run for approximately one hour.

Photo by Catherine Vidal