Tinder On The Toilet And Other Bad Ideas (NOTORIOUS) 2018 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Mat Mailandt, Clare McConnell, Ryan Hildebrandt, Ryan Sheedy, Phatt Al in Tinder On The Toilet And Other Bad Ideas

Tinder On The Toilet And Other Bad Ideas, produced by NOTORIOUS  and playing at Toronto Fringe is what you get when you mash together a sketch comedy show with a rap concert. The rhyming is sick, the beats are tight and the jokes are totally “off the chain” hilarious.

Our hip hop crew for the evening includes improv pro Tricia Black, beat-boxer extraordinaire Ryan Sheedy, the rhyme-titan himself Anthony Hall, and comedy rap-master Mat Mailandt.

The show opens on an impromptu sound check as Sheedy lays down some beats. Mailandt wanders onstage with a jar of sauerkraut and raps about not being ready, the rest of the crew rushes on stage throwing out improvised rap lines as Sheedy sets the sound.

The team then immediately launches into a series of wacky sketches built around original hip hop songs that are just bursting with Toronto culture references.

Everything from TTC announcements through a vocoder to tearing down Honest Ed’s to, yes… tindering on the toilet was covered.

The quartet has some mad chemistry on stage. Each member brings their own special flavour to the show. Tricia Black especially impressed with her Grease-inspired song “I’m Not One Of The Boys”. I’ve seen her in a ton of different comedy shows around the city and was floored when I found out that not only is this girl witty as hell, but she can sing too! Applause.

Ryan Sheedy also struck me as a double threat, not only beat boxing like a pro but serving up some seriously cool rhymes. “649” and “environment” made the poetry nerd in me light up for a split second.

One thing I really love about this show is the cohesive-ness of it all. We started with sauerkraut and we ended with sauerkraut to which they sang, “if you f*ck with the sour put your hands up!”

Watching Tinder On The Toilet And Other Bad Ideas feels like you got an invitation to the Cool Kids of Toronto’s secret club. If you love this city and want to see four highly skilled comedians/rappers lovingly make fun of it, check out Tinder On The Toilet And Other Bad Ideas at this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival.

Details

  • Tinder on the Toilet and Other Bad Ideas plays at the St. Vladimir Institute. (620 Spadina Ave.)
  • Tickets are $13, including a $2 service charge. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes and discounts for serious Fringers.
  • Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Festival Box Office at Scadding Court (707 Dundas St. W.), and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
  • Content Warnings: Sexual content; Audience participation; Mature language.
  • This venue is wheelchair-accessible through a secondary route. After the building’s business hours, a staff member will need to escort you through this route, so plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early for evening shows.
  • Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.

Performances

  • Thursday July 5th, 10:00 pm
  • Saturday July 7th, 7:30 pm
  • Sunday July 8th, 12:00 pm
  • Tuesday July 10th, 6:45 pm
  • Wednesday July 11th, 11:30 pm
  • Thursday July 12th, 1:45 pm
  • Saturday July 14th, 7:00 pm

Photo of Photo of Mat Mailandt, Clare McConnell, Ryan Hildebrandt, Ryan Sheedy and PHATT al by Matt McKinney