How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
We’ve been performing in various venues around Chicago for the past year, and really wanted to get some experience on the road – we did some research and the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival seemed like a great place to start. Everyone we know that’s been to Toronto describes it as a nicer, cleaner Chicago, so we’ll probably just end up leasing an apartment when the trip is over.
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
Obviously we are extremely excited for ‘Two Kids, One Hall’, but we’re also looking forward to seeing fellow Chicago sketch-guys “Kerpatty“!
Why should we come to see your show?
It’s pure sketch, straight-up, no gimmicks. Does that sound arrogant? Oh, I forgot to mention, we’re also arrogant. (Only joking – my actual answer would be: “Come see our show because we are EXTREMELY not-arrogant!”)
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
We’ve never been there and literally know nothing about it, but to avoid being rude we did a Google Maps (TM) search for “Ossington Street, Toronto”. Then Google corrected it to “Ossington Avenue, Toronto”, and we street-viewed the randomly-generated “A” location to get an idea of that classic “Ossington Flavor” (TM). It seemed to be a residential area, but I have to say we are now very excited about visiting the boarded-up and possibly condemned storefront at 648 Ossington Avenue.
Toronto Sketchfest starts tomorrow, November 8 and if you are still deciding which shows to see, check out our troupe profiles to learn more about some of the performers. Another troupe you may want to check out hails from Seattle: Charles consists of two members, both aptly named Charles. You can catch them on November 11 at 10PM at Lower Ossington Theatre or the following night at 9PM at Comedy Bar. Chuck and Charlie answered our questions here:
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
Although this is our first year performing in the Toronto Sketch Festival, we have previously performed in Toronto as part of the 2010 Fringe Festival. That was a qualified success, but an unqualified great experience. When it was over, we knew that we wanted to make some major improvements to our show, and we also knew that we wanted to return. Toronto is a great comedy town, and we’re excited to see old friends and show off new material. We also just really enjoy the hassle of bringing six foot rubber snakes through customs.
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
Seeing Uncalled For‘s Hypnogogic Logic the last time we were in Toronto was a major inspiration for where we wanted our comedy to go. We had a similarly enlightening experience when we saw Peter N’ Chris at Seattle SketchFest this year. We’re obviously pumped to see those groups again, but we’re also hoping that a new Canadian sketch group will expand our ideas of what can be done on stage. The Really Good Show sounds promising.
Why should we come to see your show?
We were called “fresh-faced” by NOW Magazine. Of course that was more than a year ago, so we might be “old hat” at this point. Assuming you are the writer from NOW Magazine who wrote that, you should probably come see for yourself if it needs to be updated. In the unlikely event that you are not that writer, perhaps a description of our comedy as “hyperliterate, design-savvy…hip and dilettante in the best possible way” by CultureVultureVictoria.com will persuade you to come out. And just in case you’re wary of the dots in that quote or the dot com in its source, the last thing we will say is that we are performing with Uncalled For, so you should probably buy your tickets in advance.
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
It’s hard to say. From looking at Google Maps, there are a number of martini glass icons that look like they represent swanky lounges. We’ve always wanted to be permitted into one of those.
When you hear the phrase “British Teeth,” you probably don’t picture what you’re going to get at this year’s Toronto Sketch Fest! Filip Jeremic and Allana Reoch are the duo behind Toronto’s British Teeth, and they kindly answered our questions for this profile. You can see them perform this week at The Comedy Bar, November 9 at 7PM.
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
We’ve been hustlin’ our sketches around Toronto for about a year, and we decided it was time to get festive wit’ y’all.
What other troupes’ show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
Because WE’LL be there! And so will our friends – they’re hot and SINGLE. (We do comedy for the sex)
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
That Portuguese bakery across from the furniture store and beside the Lower Ossington Theatre. You know the one. Prosciutto sandwiches for 3 dollars, yo!
If you have not yet seen Good Game perform around the city, you have a chance at the Toronto Sketch Festival. You can catch them on November 8th at 8PM at Lower Ossington Theatre. These guys are Sketchfest veterans, and you can expect them to inject a little music into their comedy stylings. They kindly answered our questions and they definitely like hanging out in our neighborhood.
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
Toronto Sketch Fest is the one place where we can expose our material to a new audience, and bring people out to our shows that go on the rest of the year. It’s always a great opportunity for us to meet other comedians, and expand our audience. This is our second year being featured in the festival, and we couldn’t be any more excited! We all got haircuts!
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
We would love to get the chance to see Two Kids One Hall. We are all huge fans of Kids in the Hall, but then again, it’s hard to find a sketch comedy troupe that isn’t. We’re also hoping on seeing some of the new and upcoming troupes that are featured on the roster this year.
Why should we come to see your show?
We’re all really excited for the material we put together for this year’s sketch fest revue. We always aim to mix as many different types of humour into our shows as we can, and this set has a good mix of physical comedy, musical comedy, straight-dialogue humour, and theatrical sketch. As always, it wouldn’t be a Good Game show without a little touch of absurdity, but there’s really something for everyone in this show. This year we’re putting an emphasis on variety, and feel like this might be our best sketch fest set yet (that kinda rhymes).
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
Too many to choose just one… Pizzeria Libretto and Dakota Tavern are some favourites… you can often see us at The Lakeview having a few drinks or some coffee before checking out a show or event at Sketch Fest. Ossington Village is one of our favourite places to hang out during Sketch Fest events, since it’s walking distance from both the Lower Ossington Theatre and Comedy Bar.
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
Andrya, a member of our troupe, was out somewhere doing something entertaining in front of an audience or some such thing, and someone from the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival gave her his card. “It’s hard to find Queer sketch comedy troupes,” he wept. So we invited Sketch Fest to our pre-Pride show at Bread ‘n Circus in June, after which, we filled out all necessary paperwork.
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
Scott from Xtra called it ‘cheerfully deranged.’ It’s bratty but good-natured. Sarcastic and stinging but you’d still want to be its friend. It’s not the bully of sketch troupes. Oh yah, and we’re the only Queer sketch troupe in Canada.
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
Want to eat at Pizza Libretto and Campagnolo. Or, just want to walk up and down Ossington and be mistaken for cool people.
Susan from the Queer Comedy Collective sent me over lots of videos, so check one out here:
Not all of the performers at this year’s Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival are in groups. Our latest profile is of Kevin Matviw, a one-man act who goes by the name The Really Good Show. You can catch his performance at Comedy Bar on November 8 at 7PM.
Kevin’s responses to our questions follow:
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
I’m currently working on a full hour solo sketch comedy show and I wanted to raise awareness for this project by performing with the festival. I’ve been in the festival in previous years writing and performing with The Sketchersons and as one half of the now non-existent sketch duo Death Ray Cabaret.
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
I’d like to see A Classy Affair, The Templeton Philharmonic and British Teeth. Conveniently enough, British Teeth and The Really Good Show are performing on the same bill!
Why should we come to see your show?
You should come and see my show because I will be performing sketch alone, which is a feat in itself. I will be doing songs, playing multiple characters and it is all material I have been honing in front of audiences for the past year so it’s gonna be funny. If you don’t come, I don’t know what I’ll do to myself and you’ll have to live with that.
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
My favorite place is the Lower Ossington Theatre, which is a venue for the festival. It’s huge! I’ve always wanted to perform there. The bigger your troupe/act, the better chances you will be booked there when they create the sketch fest lineup. This year, I’m performing at Comedy Bar in the broom closet behind the water heater.
Vancouverites “Peter ‘n Chris” are coming to Toronto again to perform for us as part of the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. Based on their responses to our profile questions, they seem like two funny guys, so check them out at Lower Ossington Theatre on November 12 at 10PM and/or Comedy Bar on November 13 at 7PM.
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
Peter: our Toronto comedian friends told us about it and it sounded like a fun time, and a good chance to meet other sketch comedians, so we applied.
Chris: and I was too drunk to say No
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
Chris: Im pretty excited to see Uncalled For, Picnicface, Two kids one Hall, Falcon Powder, and Charles
Peter: and hopefully there is enough time to catch Tower Heist, its a new Ben Stiller movie
Why should we come to see your show?
Peter: you’ll want to see our show because we are on before PicnicFace that night, and you are probably going to see them. So it would be polite if you showed up for us too
Chris: also, we won pick of the fringe in Vancouver, Now Magazine Critics Pick, and a Just for Laughs Best Comedy nomination, and we are on before Picnicface who you already want to see.
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
Chris: I don’t really know Ossington, but last year there was this convenience store near the Lower Ossington Theatre that I bought a Red Bull at before the show, and it definitely lived up it its name. Convenient
Peter: Yeah Chris told me about that store, it sounded pretty awesome, i hope to go there too.
Ladystache is a Toronto troupe performing in this year’s Sketchfest. They’ll be performing at the Lower Ossington Theatre on opening night of the festival, November 8 at 10PM. Allison Hogg and Stephanie Tolev are Ladystache, and they have responded to our profile questions:
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
We got involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival last year, we had done the Montreal Sketch Festival the year before as our first festival and wanted to do one in our home town, well where we live now.
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
We are excited to see Two kids one hall, Falcon Powder and Cheap Smokes, they are always fun to watch.
Why should we come to see your show?
You should come see LadyStache because we appeal to all audiences, we perform silly, non gender specific comedy that ranges from crazy characters, to ridiculous puppet sketches to the two of slapping each other as hard as we possible can. Sounds violent but it is actually very humorous even while we are doing it. We never refer to what sex were playing, even if there is a moustache involved. We have so much fun on stage and are very loose, most of our sketches have never been done the exact same way twice. If you like a high energy and silly character based sketch comedy show you will really enjoy LadyStache.
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
Some of our favourite places to hang out on Ossington are the Dakota, Sweaty Bettys and Crooked Star, just to name a few.
To prepare for next week’s show, check out some of Ladystache’s comedy right here:
Because we’re fresh off the heels from our last revue, “All Grown Up” which sold out that George Ignatieff Theatre this summer and are remounting on Nov. 11 & 12. And we’re Toronto’s premiere Asian comedy troupe, which The Toronto Star “Highly Recommend’s”, just saying..
What is your favourite place on Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
I play trivia at The Ossington, which is a nice little bar/club just north of Queen. Nice and cozy…and almost free of irony.
Kerpatty! is a duo from Chicago: Pat Dwyer and Erin Pallesen. We posted a video below so you can get a sneak preview before their shows at Comedy Bar on November 10 at 9PM and November 11 at 7PM. They obliged us by answering our profile questions:
How did you get involved with the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival?
We have been wanting to take Kerpatty! beyond the U.S. borders for a while, so we jumped on the chance to apply for the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. We feel exceptionally lucky to be able to take part in such a great Festival.
What other troupe’s show at this year’s Festival do you most want to see?
We’ve been looking forward to seeing the Haircut and Imponderables‘ shows. We haven’t seen Haircut since their last participation in the Chicago Sketchfest, and we haven’t seen the Imponderables perform since we all did the TBS Just for Laughs Festival together.
Why should come to see your show?
Besides the fact that we are one of the only groups at this year’s Festival that hail from Chicago, we’re really nice people. Our show is a fun mix of playful and irreverent. If you’re lucky, you may even walk out with a high five.
What is your favorite place in Ossington? If you haven’t been to Ossington, where do you most want to go?
We’ve never been to Ossington before, but we just Googled the crap out of it. Dakota’s is going to be a must stop. The bar stools are barrels. YOU GET TO SIT IN BARRELS!!!!
When you hear the phrase “British Teeth,” you probably don’t picture what you’re going to get at this year’s 
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As part of our continuing series of questions and answers for the troupes performing in the 
