“This is Toronto’s comedy festival,” crows the website for Sketchfest, and the festival, now in its 11th year, can certainly make that claim. The grassroots shindig has slowly but surely grown to 70 shows over 10 days and five stages, running this year from March 3 to 13.
With only a few exceptions, the festival is nothing but sketch, sketch and more sketch, illuminating a remarkable depth of talent in the city.
As the world’s biggest standup comedy fan, one might think I have no appreciation for sketch comedy, but that’s not true. I’m picky, to be sure, but when sketch works for me, it’s a home run.
I got my first comedy job as the stage manager for the notorious sketch duo La Troupe Grotesque, way back in 1977. And Yuk Yuk’s has been a home to other unique sketch entities over the years.
Most of the action takes place at Comedy Bar or the Theatre Centre. If you’re a real sketch comedy keener, you can get an all-access pass to every show for only $75, but if you don’t have that kind of time, choices must be made.
Let’s begin with the three headlining shows. There’s a tribute to the 10-year anniversary of Laugh Sabbath, a monthly touchstone of indie comedy. It’s a loose collective of like-minded spirits whose quirky and eccentric take on humour veers from sketch and character comedy to experimental and short films.
The alumni include Nathan Fielder, currently riding the third year of his Comedy Central phenomenon Nathan for You; Levi McDougall, now writing on Conan; and Katie Crown, from Bob’s Burgers, among others.
Then there’s This Is That, CBC Radio’s prime comedy jewel. The genius of Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring’s show is that it sounds like a CBC Radio program while mocking the format. The duo is incredibly popular; the festival had to add a second show to keep up with the demand.
But it’s the third show that really piqued my interest: Hello! Thunder Bay! It’s not a sketch show but “an evening of musical comedy and hilarious rock n’ roll road stories.”
Dave Bidini, of the Rheostatics, hosts Alex Lifeson (Rush), Tom Wilson, Seán Cullen, Jessica Holmes and more talking about hilarious hijinks on the rock ’n’ roll road. It’s a PG show, though. I’d like to see a more adult version, but maybe I’ve been watching too many episodes of Vinyl.
As for the smaller shows, none of them are household names, and I have to confess I solicited the opinion of some of my younger staffers. But I’ve always enjoyed the Doo Wops, a musical confection by two Italian Torontonians: John Catucci and David Mesiano. They’ve got a high energy act that also stands on its own musically.
And if we’re on the subject of comedy duos, don’t miss Peter n’ Chris, winners of multiple Canadian Comedy Awards. The clever writing is almost eclipsed by their brilliant physicality. One of their most powerful sketches is done without words, but don’t worry: this is no mime show.
Lastly, the great classic sketch tradition is represented by Falcon Powder, a supertroupe made up of three comedians with credits including Second City, Mr. D and The Ron James Show.
Jim Annan, Scott Montgomery and Kurt Smeaton are at the top of the sketch food chain, not too weird or alternative, but offering solid, clever and mature work.
