Avenue Q is the adult’s Sesame Street, back at Toronto’s Lower Ossington Theatre

Watching Avenue Q at the Lower Ossington Theatre was like eating a large bowl of your favourite comfort food. In my case, it was like eating my childhood favourite, spaghetti and meatballs! It hits you in all the right places and makes you yearn for more. If there was ever a show that could physically touch you and tickle you until you couldn’t stop smiling, than Avenue Q would be that show.

I generally love musicals but I was a bit wary about watching puppets and puppeteers sing and dance for a whole evening. Having not heard the music before, I admittedly was a little curious to see what all the hype was about. Why were people raving about seeing puppets?

Continue reading Review: Avenue Q (Lower Ossington Theatre) →

Some good laughs are waiting for Toronto at Empire Comedy Live’s Comedy Brawl 2013

I am wary of stand-up comedy, and I rarely seek it out, but I am very glad I caught some of Empire Comedy Live’s Comedy Brawl 2013, held at their new venue—Johnny Jackson.  The venue is intimate and, much to my relief, above ground!  I’m used to those dank and subterranean places where one usually sees stand-up. 

The menu at Johnny Jackson is standard pub fare and the service is friendly and efficient.  The air conditioner took a while to work its magic.  You may find yourself feeling a little moist.  Personally, I enjoy being in the midst of sweaty, beer-swilling hilarity.  But seriously, it does get quite warm.  Continue reading Review: Comedy Brawl 2013 Round One (Empire Comedy Live) →

“[E]ven the nicest guy has a devil living inside him…”

From press release:

Backyard Spaceship Productions is pleased to premiere it’s latest play, “Bad Guys Finish First” at the 2013 Toronto Fringe Festival. Meet Baxter Bentley. He is the most successful self-made millionaire in Canada as well as the meanest. He’s made time out of his busy schedule to lead a seminar on how to become a successful human being. Over the course of 60 minutes Baxter gives all his tips and tricks to success while simultaneously charming and insulting the audience. As the seminar progresses, Baxter reveals the difficult choices he had to make in order to achieve the power he has today. But he will surprise the audience as well as himself with just how much he is compelled to share. Bad Guys Finish First is a delightful dark comedy that will pull at your heart strings while keeping you laughing.

“I’ve always been accused of being the classic “nice guy”. But I believe that even the nicest guy has a devil living inside him. So, I wrote a show that allowed my inner devil to come out and play,” says playwright and performer Gavin Williams. Gavin is a British-born, Alberta-raised, Toronto newbie. He previously wrote and starred in “An Informative Guide on How to Mate”, which taught hapless humans on how to procreate, and “An Informative Guide on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder” – which won best play at the Alberta one-act play festival and later went on to be performed at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 2010.

Bad Guys Finish First, presented by Backyard Spaceship Productions (in association with the Toronto Fringe Festival) plays the following dates at the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace (16 Ryerson Avenue):

Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the door, or purchased in advance at fringetix.ca or by phone at 416-966-1062, extension 1. Additional fees apply to advance purchases.

Please note that latecomers are never seated at Fringe performances.

Alex Nussbaum: A Brave New Worrier

From press release:

Canadian Comedy Award Best Male Stand Up nominee Alex Nussbaum is pleased to make his fringe debut at the 2013 Toronto Fringe with, “Alex Nussbaum’s Handbook To The Future”. A 50-minute comedic exploration into our dependance on technology and the dark places it could be taking us. Using monologue, sketch, and audio-visual accompaniment, Alex examines his ambivalent relationship with the gadgets that connect us (and disconnect us). Moving from the Y2K scare and the fall of the Tower of Babel to Twitter feeds and Facebook friends. “Alex Nussbaum’s Handbook To The Future” is the guide for anyone who is a little worried about our collective fate.

Alex Nussbaum is a Toronto-based standup comedian who’s been featured on CTV’s Comedy Now and CBC’s Just for Laughs. His comedy album, “Absolutely Free!*” is played regularly on Sirius XM satellite radio and his live stand up show was chosen as Best Comedy Show of the Year in Toronto’s Now Magazine. Following the Fringe, Alex will be appearing at the Just for Laughs Festival for his second TV standup taping at the end of July.

Alex Nussbaum’s Handbook to the Future, presented by Machineman (in association with the Toronto Fringe Festival) plays the following dates at the Tarragon Extra Space (30 Bridgman Avenue):

• July 04 09:15 PM
• July 07 06:30 PM
• July 08 01:00 PM
• July 10 04:00 PM
• July 11 05:15 PM
• July 12 09:15 PM
• July 14 03:30 PM

Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the door, or purchased in advance at fringetix.ca or by phone at 416-966-1062, extension 1. Additional fees apply to advance purchases.

Please note that latecomers are never seated at Fringe performances.

Comedy and Feminist Theory at the Free Times Café

From press release:

Comedians Laura Bailey and Jess Beaulieu, hosts of the wildly popular monthly show CHICKA BOOM, bring you a hilarious all-female comedy night in the form of a late night talk show, with Toronto’s funniest female comics as guests. The night will also feature d-list celebs, joke-news, inappropriate bits, decent impersonations, lonely animal experts, failed athletes, and high-accuracy weather reports!

Laura and Jess started CHICKA BOOM to give female comics more opportunities to perform in the city and to discuss their complicated relationships with their mothers, their vaginas, and their mothers’ vaginas. Acts that have graced their stage include Luba Goy, Naomi Snieckus, Sara Hennessey, Christina Walkinshaw, Kristeen Von Hagen, Kathleen Phillips, Kayla Lorette, and Carly Heffernan!

Jess Beaulieu is a stand-up comedian and writer, who has performed at the Boston Women in Comedy Festival, the Chicago Women’s Funny Festival and was nominated for the 2012 Fresh Meat showcase at Second City. Laura Bailey is an incredibly talented improviser and sketch comedian, who has a one woman musical improv show called UNPLANNED MELODY which she has performed at Comedy Bar, The Black Swan, and the Drake.

If you like comedy, women, and serious feminist theory then this is the show for you!

The Late Night Tonight Show LIVE in the Morning with CHICKA BOOM!, presented by Chicka Boom (in association with the Toronto Fringe Festival) plays the following dates at the Free Times Café (320 College Street):

• July 05 10:30 PM
• July 06 07:00 PM
• July 09 07:00 PM
• July 10 07:00 PM
• July 12 10:30 PM
• July 13 07:00 PM

Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the door, or purchased in advance at fringetix.ca or by phone at 416-966-1062, extension 1. Additional fees apply to advance purchases.

Please note that latecomers are never seated at Fringe performances.