Everything about Folk Lords (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is pleasing — and I do mean everything. If you pass up this hilarious and hyperkinetic tribute to lore and literature, you’re missing one of the most interesting, compelling and viscerally thrilling pieces of theatre you’ll see this season.
Continue reading Folk Lordz (Rapid Fire Theatre) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review
I was surprised at how much joy and sparkling there is in The Real Housewives of Murder, a sketch-flavoured Fringe Festival pastiche of the genre. After a shocking and brutal accident leaves a houseboy dead, two shallow besties try desperately to cover it up and keep it together before the guests arrive for their tiki gala. It’s a tasty little show, complete with tossed drinks, stilted catch-phrases, and — for the grand finale — a teeth-and-claws catfight which sends furniture flying.
Continue reading The Real Housewives of Murder (TwoSon) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review
Happy – What You Need To Be is a love note to vaudeville. Real-life couple Jessica Di Giacomo and Daniel Torchinsky rattle through about six classic and original sketches complete with songs, dances, props and puns, interwoven with anecdotes and stories from their own relationship. But when I say this Toronto Fringe Festival show rattles, I mean it.
Continue reading Happy – What You Need To Be (Torch In Sky Productions) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review
In Jizz Sock (at the Toronto Fringe Festival), a masturbation expert learns that he has a brain tumor. When he wanks, his endorphins go crazy, leading to compulsive masturbation, endless toe-curling pleasure, and a ticking time bomb in his noggin. This news forces him to reconsider his life’s work, his relationships with family and friends, and the merits and shortcomings of his favourite single-player game.
Continue reading Jizz Sock (Beans Theatre Collective) 2015 Toronto Fringe Review
In Princess Sparkly Butt (part of the FringeKids! lineup at the Toronto Fringe Festival), the titular Princess Kimberly discovers she has the power to control time with her enormous caboose. Blessed with this ample gift, she sets off to defeat a monster, save her planet, and convince her mother that she can be more than some Space Prince’s wife.