Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews. At the Table with Keith Brown (A) I hate to be tricked but I love hyper-specific skills that can only be mastered with good old fashioned decades of practice. So magicians often present a bit of a problem for me. What works […]
Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews. Clip Show (A-) Jon Blair is one of the most creative minds in Canadian comedy. His joyful, thoughtful, outlandish style is so uniquely his own that his solo shows have begun to take on an almost auteurish quality. Building out this latest […]
Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews. 2 Robs, 1 Cup: What Happens When You’re Done Eating Shit? (A) I was grateful for Fringe’s masking policy when I saw this atrociously named solo show from the ever-inspiring Vikki Velenosi. The true story opens with a voicemail so shocking that […]
Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews. Unmatched (A) This clever piece presents itself at first like a pretty standard storytelling show wherein a comedian regales us with true tales of their less-than-stellar dating history. Caity Smyck is a compelling performer who connects with the audience instantly so I […]
Click Here for a full list of our 2022 Toronto Fringe reviews. Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay (A-) In Gay for Pay, noted gay actors Daniel Krolik & Jonathan Wilson play less noted gay actors Blake and Clay who are teaching a seminar to straight actors aspiring to play gay roles. It’s […]
More reviews from the Toronto Fringe Festival! Featuring Sketch T-Rex,
Justin Miller’s beautiful drag clown Pearle Harbour lives simultaneously in the past and the future, a wise fool with a sharp wit and a big beautiful heart that’s too often broken. In Distant Early Warning, her new dystopian solo show at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, she’s alone and in love, totally helpless and […]
When you announce you have cancer, nobody quite knows what to say. Veteran Toronto director, writer, and performer Daniel Brooks has heard it all from would-be wellwishers whose missteps become his cautionary tales but the problem runs deeper. It’s Brooks’ problem more than anyone’s – he has a difficult story to tell and perhaps just […]
Lessons in Temperament is a film adaptation of Outside the March’s notable solo show of the same name, wherein writer and performer James Smith teaches the audience how to tune a piano while telling stories about his neurodiverse family. If you’ve admired this piece since its site-specific premiere in the 2016 Summerworks Festival, or if […]
Our last night out reviewing theatre in 2020 was spent at Comedy Bar seeing six pieces at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. The best of them was the incredible first solo effort from Anders Yates. Over the years, we’ve seen Yates perform excellent team sketch and improv, traditional scripted work, and even some stand-up comedy. […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2019 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Jake Epstein is a Toronto-born actor and singer whose work has ranged from iconic Canadian TV (Degrassi: The Next Generation) to the Broadway stage (taking over the titular role in the much-written about Spider-Man: Turn off the […]
Now the fact I was wearing a heavy sweater probably added to this, but I exited out of The Runner (Human Cargo Productions, written by Christopher Morris) just absolutely sweating. I was exhausted by this play, but I would see it again and again. Directed by Daniel Brooks and the sole role of Jacob played by […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2019 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. One of my favourite productions out of the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival was Gillian Bartolucci’s Outstanding Solo Performance-nominated one woman sketch show The Weight of it All. Beautifully constructed with a perfect blend of high-octane fun, clever […]
How to Fail As a Popstar… Is it a love letter or is it a break up song? After watching Vivek Shraya’s debut play, now playing at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Upstairs Theatre, and mulling it over for the better part of a full day, I’m still not sure. I’m also not sure it really matters. […]
We all love a David and Goliath story, and Patrick Combs’ is a good one. In 1995, he received a cheque for $95,093.35 from a junk mailing scheme. Broke in San Francisco, he thought he would try to cash it as a joke. To Combs’ astonishment, the cheque deposited, and he soon became the bank’s […]
Clowning is an art. A wise woman who has spent most of her adult life performing as a both a theatre and a circus clown once told me that clowning is an impossible art to perfect because a true clown must be able to balance wearing a variety of hats all while acting the fool. […]
There is no doubt that when Daniel MacIvor enters the stage, he does so with seasoned confidence. He appears a bit agitated while dressing the stage, a picture here, a nice scarf there, perhaps even pandering a bit to an audience that is eating it up, quick to laugh at his antics. The mood shifts […]
I was so excited to find myself in Vancouver during the Fringe Festival this fall (it’s crazy that there are still Fringe Festivals happening once it’s officially “fall”). Having covered the Toronto leg of the epic Canadian indie theatre circuit for years, I was curious to see how things compared out on the west coast. […]
I was so excited to find myself in Vancouver during the Fringe Festival this fall (it’s crazy that there are still Fringe Festivals happening once it’s officially “fall”). Having covered the Toronto leg of the epic Canadian indie theatre circuit for years, I was curious to see how things compared out on the west coast. […]
Take a look at our full list of 2019 Fringe reviews HERE. Emotional Labour (A) Written and performed by Jess Beaulieu and Luis Fernandes, this clever two-hander about the division of labour, both emotional and physical, in modern relationships is devastatingly relatable. It’s not subtle, but I fear if it were any more subtle it would […]
Take a look at our full list of 2019 Fringe reviews HERE. I, Malvolio (B+) Justin Otto’s performance in I, Malvolio is powerful. If you can take anything away from this review, let it be that. Otto demands the audience’s attention from the moment they enter the room. There is an air of chaos about Otto’s […]
Take a look at our full list of 2019 Fringe reviews HERE. Death Ray Cabaret (A-) Second City stalwarts Jordan Armstrong and Kevin Matviw bring a wonderful verve to their free-wheeling Fringe show. Partners on and off the stage, the pair have a fun and easy dynamic that lets them skip between sketches without missing a […]
Take a look at our full list of 2019 Fringe reviews HERE. The Weight of It All (A-) Gillian Bartolucci’s latest solo piece plays out more like a one-woman sketch show than a straightforward narrative. With a captivating mix of exuberant energy and relatable exhaustion, Bartolucci jumps between characters, styles, gimmicks, and perspectives as she touches […]
Award-winning comedian Ian McIntyre blends the relatable and the absurd in his new revue, The Rise and Fall of Dataman, running for two nights at The Bad Dog Theatre. In a series of sketches, directed by Kirsten Rasmussen, he recounts life as a 9-5 paper pusher with an exuberance and expressiveness that contrast sharply with […]
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual …
Before we announce the winners of the 2018 MyEntWorld Critics’ Pick Awards, we’re proud to present our annual Nominee Interview Series. Eliza Martin was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated from Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts with a Drama Specialist before attending the Theatre and Drama Studies program at both University of […]