Reviews of productions based in Toronto – theatre includes traditional definitions of theatre, as well as dance, opera, comedy, performance art, spoken word performances, and more. Productions may be in-person, or remote productions streamed online on the Internet.
Prepare to laugh. A lot. Nose snorting, thigh slapping, stomach hurting, pee your pants laughing. What is The Carnegie Hall Show!? Very funny improv comedy. And improv piano.
Matt Baram, Naomi Snieckus, Ron Pederson, Chris Gibbs and pianist Jeff Raimondo present an hour of amazing improv. Starting with a suggestion from the audience they present a history of the greatest improvised scenes of that event or item. Of course there is no history. They just make it up. They’re very fast, sometimes so fast that they surprise each other – and make each other laugh. Or try to.
The thing about performing comedy is that audience response is a big part of the overall experience of a show. I am assuming this is as true for the performer as it is for an audience member. Tonight I went to see Wisdom: Part One, presented by Jimmy Hogg, and I found myself spending a lot of the performance marvelling at my fellow audience.
The 60-minute show features the comedy stylings of Jimmy Hogg. Hogg is best when he is being self-aware of his performance. He begins the show with a dialogue about the pitfalls of presenting comedy at the Fringe, making jokes about the possibility for small or inattentive audiences. He also describes the very real problem of telling a joke that falls flat, and then trying too hard on the next joke in order to make up for it, only to succeed in making that joke fall flat as well. Continue reading Wisdom: Part One (Jimmy Hogg) – 2010 Toronto Fringe Review→
The thing about Fringe shows is that often you find yourself picking shows to see based on short descriptions. These descriptions of course can never do justice to the intricacies and layers that are possible in a show. I have to admit that the description of Raven for a Lark, presented by quoi quoi quoi, had me picturing a very different play than the one that I experienced this afternoon.
The description of the play stated two actors are sucked into the twisted world of Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy. I have to admit I was imagining a play where two actors were physically sucked into the world of the play. Perhaps it was the use of the words darkly funny that had me picturing such a wacky scenario.
The Making Of is a fantastic play being staged at Theatre Passe Murail. It’s part of Fringe Toronto, and it hijacks the word “synergy”. It brings the word back from a garbage truck travelling west on the 401, dumping it at Queen and Bathurst. In other words, there’s a new comedy troupe in Toronto, and this is it.
This is what Saturday Night Live should be. This is what SCTV was in its prime. Seeing these six people on stage together is like licking a cool ice cream cone on a 35 degree day. All of the people onstage are caricatures of people we all know, people we all love to hate, or love to love.
Prepare to laugh. A lot. Nose snorting, thigh slapping, stomach hurting, pee your pants laughing. What is The Carnegie Hall Show!? Very funny improv comedy. And improv piano.
