The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival

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Video of the Day – War Stories: The New Guys

Posted on: November 10th, 2011 by brie No Comments

November 11th: a day to remember the history and to honour Canada’s men and women in uniform.

Watch this clip, one of a series put out by the CBC, to share in the stories that Canadians find most palatable.

You can catch The Majors live at TOsketchfest on Friday November 11th 2011 at Comedy Bar at 7pm.

Troupe of the Day – National Theatre of the World

Posted on: November 8th, 2011 by brie No Comments

Each day leading up to the 2011 Festival, the TOsketchfest Blog will feature one of our 40+ awesome comedy troupes.

Today’s troupe of the day is the National Theatre of the World

Impromptu Splendor, The Soaps & The Carnegie Hall Show – three of the most outstanding theatrical improv shows you will see in Toronto, or anywhere for that matter; all performed by the extremely talented members of the National Theatre of the World company. Now what would you say if we told you they were going to be performing sketch comedy for the first time as NTOW at TOsketchfest? “That makes sense, this IS a sketch comedy festival,” you’d probably say… but we can’t wait to see how their genius transcribes to pre-planned, rehearsed and scripted material! This improv troupe is hilariously calling their TOsketchfest show “A Study in Memorization.”

Individually, these folks aren’t new to the sketch scene though, let’s be clear about that. Naomi Snieckus and Matt Baram alumni of the legendary Second City, Toronto and their director, Ron Pederson performed for three years on MadTV. Combined, their background and credits are so impressive, they’ll knock your comedy socks right off!

FUN FACT: Wondering about the best way to get your troupe’s juices flowing, creatively? Why not share a car/apartment together? That’s what NTOW did. Ask them how they get the windows down in their 2008 Chevy Cobalt!

Check out their troupe profile to find out when they are playing, and to grab your tickets.

Troupe of the Day – LaughDraft

Posted on: November 6th, 2011 by brie No Comments

Each day leading up to the 2011 Festival, the TOsketchfest Blog will feature one of our 40+ awesome comedy troupes.

Today’s troupe of the day is the LaughDraft

The LaughDraft Comedy Team is formed of young comics brought together by the Humber College School of Creative and Performing Arts Comedy Writing & Performance program. Each member has a different background and a distinctive appreciation for comedy. Together, they are a talented team of writers, performers, producers and technical experts.

Since the inaugural web-site launch show in June at the Kapisanan Philippine Centre for Arts & Culture, LaughDraft have been producing regular monthly variety performances and posting comic videos online; including sketches, articles, musical pieces by our very own PrankGang, and regular up-to-date news updates with our LaughDraft News team.

This is LaughDraft’s first time performing at TOsketchfest and they’re super grateful both to the organizers of the festival as well as to Andrew Clark, the program coordinator of the Humber Comedy program, for letting us out off-campus after-hours.

FUN FACT: I’m in this troupe. This post is blatant self-promotion and I’m totally OK with that.

Check out their troupe profile to find out when they are playing, and to grab your tickets.

Video of the Day – Zumba

Posted on: November 5th, 2011 by brie No Comments

The TMS gang wants to help you have fun and get fit with Zumba!

Check out Touch My Stereotype’s troupe profile and catch them live at TOsketchfest November 8, 2011 — 7:00pm at Comedy Bar.

Troupe of the Day – Queer Comedy Collective

Posted on: November 4th, 2011 by brie No Comments

Each day leading up to the 2011 Festival, the TOsketchfest Blog will feature one of our 40+ awesome comedy troupes.

Today’s troupe of the day is the Queer Comedy Collective

What can you expect from Canada’s first and only queer sketch troupe? They promise to be a breath of fresh air on Toronto’s sketch-comedy scene. That means no homophobic jokes but all the internalized homophobia a Queer could want! The Queer Comedy Collective is a high-calibre collection of Canadian acting and comedy talent.

QCC is composed of Darryl Dinn, Andrya Duff, Susan Fischer, Robert Keller and Lindy Zucker, all of whom have very impressive backgrounds in the performing arts scene here in Toronto, including regular performances around town and a special run at this year’s Pride Festival.

FUN FACT: QCC member Susan Fischer is the creator of the inimitable Evelyn Reese character, a fave at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and Darryl Dinn is the guy in the sponge towel costume in that ad. You know the one.

Check out their troupe profile to find out when they are playing, and to grab your tickets.