Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. In her review of his set at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, Mary-Margaret said “Until seeing Jon Blair at Sketchfest, I was unaware that there was a void in my life. I now question if you […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2017 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Julia Haist’s site-specific solo show at the 2017 Toronto Fringe Festival transported the audience straight back to high school, complete with assignments I was unprepared for and photocopied handouts about a book I hadn’t […]
Good Morning, Viet Mom “I can’t talk about my mom without talking about my dad. I can’t talk about my dad without talking about the divorce. I can’t talk about the divorce without talking about family. And I can’t talk about family without talking about my grandma.” And just so, playwright and comedian Franco Nguyen […]
The antechamber shows are short, 30 mins pieces, and some of my favourite Next Stage offerings. This year brought two high-energy clown pieces. Leila Live A self-described “real life Persian Princess,” Leila Live (pronounced with a short /i/), offers a 30 min clown/drag cabaret, with singing, puppetry, original song writing, rapping, and of course, lots of laughs. A […]
The Harold Experience This Assembly Improv show invokes the Harold Technique of audience participation to get suggestions from the crowd on which the theme of the show is based. The night I went, actors came down and bantered with the crowd, asking questions and making fast and funny connections between audience members until finally one […]
Jonno Another topical Next Stage piece, Jonno, offers a fictional account of a powerful, well-known radio host sexually assault women in Toronto. Most Canadians will recongnize the play as a thinly veiled fictional reworking of Jian Ghomeshi’s ‘alleged’ of sexual assault and hassment. In the first few moments, actor Jason Deline, playing the title character, starts his […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews About Time (A-) The Templeton Philharmonic always deliver creative, hilarious, insightful work. This excellent sketch show that glimpses moments in time from the very start to the hypothetical future is no exception. Highlights include an Oracle of Delphi who speaks exclusively in cliché and […]
Be sure to check out our Full List of Fringe Reviews Butt Kapinski (A) Deanna Fleysher’s one-person show is a parody of both the figure of the private eye and film noir. She has crafted a comedic mystery that is built on her excellent characterization, audience improvisation, and a choose-your-own-adventure type structure to the plot, […]