S. Bear Bergman has great faith in the power of theatre to make change, and has been putting his money where his mouth is on that one for some time. A writer, performer, and lecturer, Bear works full time as an artist and cultural worker and loves to see as much live performance as possible – making this a fantastic gig for him.
The ladies take over Bad Dog Theatre Company for a night of stand up magic in YAS KWEEN
An ongoing problem in the comedy scene, basically everywhere, is jokes that “punch down”: that is, comedy that gets its laugh by taking shots at people with less cultural power, relying on stereotypes for a lazy punch line. How refreshing, then, to settle in at Bad Dog Comedy Theatre‘s YAS KWEEN, a monthly comedy show curated by Nelu Handa and featuring all women of color comedians and hear a lot of very funny women.
I’ll be honest: I love a Fringe musical. They’re stripped down little items, and I find the raw edges of them somehow very appealing. BFFs, a new two-hander musical at the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival from Greg McLeod and David Poon is charming in its concept, though I found it somewhat uneven in the delivery.
Despite the melodramatic nonsense title, The Ashes of Forgotten Rain at the 2019 Toronto Fringe is a comedy — a theatrical comedy. As in, it’s a comedy about working in theatre, full of in jokes and meta-references and pleasingly-headshaking “ah, the theatah.” For this kind of show to work at all, it needs actors that can commit fully to a high level of nonsense and then ride it through the grave and back to life. To the benefit of my funny bone, to say nothing of my spirits, this exceptionally well stage-managed play had them.
A few years ago, I saw Jon Bennet’s Fire In The Meth Lab and quite liked it, so when I saw his name again in the 2019 Toronto Fringe program, I clicked on My Dad’s Deaths: A Comedy. I expected tenderness, nuance, hilarity and a few of the kind of cheap jokes where you know it’s not kind to laugh but it’s still really funny. Though this is billed as a comedy, I was ultimately underwhelmed.
The ladies take over Bad Dog Theatre Company for a night of stand up magic in YAS KWEEN
The correct time to see a comedic action-adventure solo show set in a strip club is 10:30 on a Saturday night at the
A few years ago, I saw Jon Bennet’s