Two Toronto police officers, along with three correctional officers and a real estate agent among others, were arrested yesterday for producing and distributing marijuana during a takedown of 63 grow ops across the GTA. Torontoist has made a principled decision not to make jokes about police malfeasance, mainly because our real names are printed at the bottom of each post. Remember that time you were shopping and had to go to the bathroom really......

They could be the next big thing, if only they could get a gig. This humorous online series follows Matt and Jay—Nirvana the Band—and their ongoing efforts to break into Toronto's music scene. Five episodes and various extras are currently online, with a sixth episode presumably in the works. First the Rivoli, then the world! Illustration by Kevin McBride.......

Do you know what this is? This is one of those articles in which a member of the media tells the public to catch the "next big thing" before they start selling out large venues. In this case, it’s a comedian by the name of Jeff McEnery. Like all other Canadian comics, you probably recognize McEnery from the plethora of commercials he has done and the obligatory stint on Video on Trial. He hasn’t had......

Apparently laughing is the new Atkins, so if you're looking for a way to get that bikini bod in shape check out The Second City That Never Sleeps 24 hour comedy marathon this weekend at the city's premier chuckle club. The third annual presentation of this event features twenty-four continuous hours of improv comedy with a core group of actors from the troupe; this year it's Matt Baram, Lisa Brooke, Christy Bruce, Paul Constable,......

For family fun, you can't beat the sheer adorableness of kids wise-cracking from an open mic. That'll be just one of the activities happening this weekend for kids in the latest edition of the always amazing Bunch Family Salon. Adam Growe, a headlining comedian and father of three, will be on hand to mentor the aspiring comics, in keeping with the annual event's goal of bringing major players from the local arts community—last year's special......

Award-winning Canadian comedy troupe The Imponderables are at it again. In this spoof of the movie The Bourne Ultimatum, the famous red-and-white striped bespectacled Waldo must piece together clues of his half-remembered past. Bourne Parody on FunnyOrDie.com Just like one of the classic children's books, see how many familiar Toronto landmarks you can spot in the video. You can catch The Imponderables live at the Rivoli this Tuesday, March 11th, at 9 p.m. Also make......

Photo by Arieh Singer from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. The hearts-and-kisses holiday isn't just for cute couples and kindergarten kids, no siree—or, uh, madam-ee! After the hop, skip and jump, Torontoist has Valentine's Day (or night) suggestions for every romantic situation.......

Hello, and welcome to another installment of everyone’s favourite film column in which the writer makes up their opinions on the weeks films largely based on what trailers they’ve seen on TV. This week we didn’t watch much (busy watching our IT Crowd Series 2 and Metalocalypse DVDs) so the only one which managed to break our consciousness was the three seconds or so we caught of a trailer for In Bruges, a Belgium-set......

Remember Diamond Shreddies? Last summer, Post Cereals launched a new angle on their classic "Good good whole-wheat Shreddies." This year, one local comedy hero is reshaping the way we look at product testing. Toronto talent and four-time Canadian Comedy award-winner Kerry Griffin has recently appointed himself as head of Shreddies Market Research. Known for his work with improv troupe Slap Happy, Griffin spoon-feeds a series of test questions to consumers in three freshly-released clips,......

A couple of weeks ago, The Daily Show upgraded their website, adding a free and fully-searchable video database of the past eight years of programs from the Jon Stewart era. For fans of the show, it was heaven. Imagine being able to instantly watch one of those old “Even Stevphen” segments with Carell and Colbert, before their bloated comic egos whisked them away to greener pastures and/or the studio down the block. Or how......

The headline doesn't lie, folks. The self-professed "angriest man in America" and The Daily Show regular Lewis Black will be wagging his infamous finger in Toronto as a part of the first annual Just For Laughs Toronto Festival. Black is taking the place of George Lopez, who was originally slated to host the July 27th Gala at Massey Hall. Because of scheduling conflicts, Lopez had to back out of the event. Alongside Black, the......

Tomorrow night, experience the best and brightest of the Toronto Alternative Comedy scene. Graham Wagner (Iron Cobra, Catch 23) and Mike Balazo are holding an event called Mouth Party at the Victory Cafe. Says Balazo, "We host the show as two bitter, washed-up, stuffy CBC radio types who disparage the current state of broadcasting." It's also a rare chance to catch these comics—Balazo has been performing in the UK for the past three months and......

Members of comedy group Asiansploitation will stare at you until you come to their show: (left to right) Brian Lee, James Cheng, Sandy Chen, Max Minagawa, Glenn Gabriel, and Gary Chan. Photo by Sushant Verman. Asian Heritage Month is almost over. If you feel a little guilty because you didn't even know there was Asian Heritage Month until you read these words, the comedy troupe Asiansploitation will ease your conscience and make you bust......

Torontoist officially can’t wait for the first home renovation programme to have its interior designer kick open a door to an empty room and scream "This…Is…SPARTAN!" referencing this week’s biggest release, 300. On the topic of 300, we link you to the best review ever featured on the otherwise not-particularly-good Ain’t It Cool News. Neill Cumpston enthuses, "If you watch this movie and go into a Taco Bell, and say to the cashier, 'I......

If you’ve seen the movie The Aristocrats, you know disgusting can be smart. But while most stand up nights have more than their share of jokes involving penises, poo, breasts and masturbation, by the end of the night, what was once mirthful becomes meh. It’s partially because most comics reserve their most fecund fecal matter material for friends and fellow comedians. Few truly delve into scatological onstage. Comedians Deborah Robinson (Fresh Meat 2006, Much......

Tonight is the debut of a new super-secret short film directed by Toronto indie-filmaker Sara St. Onge (who, by the way, has the absolute best URL -- "awesomology.com"). It's her first flick, and so secret that they're not even telling us the title -- but since she's been responsible for videos by Final Fantasy, The Diableros, and Gentleman Reg, we know it will be good. (BTW, you can see those videos on her web site.)......

You probably heard that Andy Samberg (the cute guy who does the funny videos on Saturday Night Live) was discovered online. As a member of the comedy group Lonely Island, Samberg and his cohorts were regulars at the video show-slash-website Channel 101, which eventually caught the attention of SNL’s Lorne Michaels. The rest is comedy history. Anyone can make a digital short and then use the interweb to distribute it around the world. It......

At least 6 billion comedians opened for Terry Clement at Yuk Yuk's showcase of "The Psychedelic Comedy Tour" last night and believe it or not, they were all really damn funny. Clement, looking a little bit like Ben Folds, acted as his own road crew while he set up his elaborate show. When he picked up the guitar, you couldn't help but expect an unoriginal Adam Sandler type tune or a song about a breakup......

Torontonians were once again woefully unprepared for the first major snowfall of the season. 500 traffic accidents in one day, people. Do we really want everybody else making fun of us again, like that time Mel Lastman called in the Army to help out after a snowfall? It's winter. It comes every year. Just because we've had a freakishly warm winter thus far is no excuse for complacency! At the Golden Globes, Dreamgirls becomes......

Ah, convergence. It's a word fraught with different meanings, competing motives, and opinions up the proverbial wazoo. To some, convergence is a paradise of synergy, cross-promotion, and massive profits. To others, it's confirmation that more and more information is being disseminated by less and less people. Wherever you stand, however, the world of Toronto media overlords might be on the verge of becoming a whole lot smaller, as Alliance Atlantis confirmed today that one......

Torontonians are, to say the least, an opinionated bunch. So instead of a simple "Best Of" list to cap 2006 off, the Torontoist staffers have racked their brains about everything (books, songs, restaurants, people, places, stores, newspapers, politicians, musicians, and a lot more) to bring you their choices for the very best and the very worst of our city this past year. It's Torontoist Love/Hate 2006, and you can find a new one every......

If you're one of those people who doesn't hit the snooze button until five minutes before you actually have to leave for work, you might have caught an interesting announcement this morning on that venerable Canadian news/pap institution known as Canada AM: CTV News has chosen its top ten news stories of 2006. Yes, an "esteemed panel of Canadian journalists," which apparently is CTV's euphemism for their own senior staff, chose ten stories from throughout......

Every Sunday at The Rivoli, Laugh Sabbath presents a show featuring comedians from the city's alternative comedy scene. This week's show, "Comedy and The Last Christmas Ever," features Levi MacDougall, Knock Knock. (Who's There?) Comedy!, Bob Wiseman, and Scott Thompson (returning to the same stage where The Kids in the Hall performed 20+ years ago). Sundays at Laugh Sabbath guarantee a night of hilarity, and are highly recommended. Look for a Levi MacDougall video after......

This week’s listings come at you one day late but better than ever. Ok, maybe not better than ever. More like as adequate as before. The Super Pen Pals Secret Reading Society gathers tonight at the Victory Café – 581 Markham – but it’s not a secret anymore as I’ve just told you it’s happening. I might get in trouble for spilling the beans but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. There are some......

This week Torontoist presents extended literary event listings – you get till Sunday the 27th at no additional cost – as I’m out of town until the end of August. Tonight, Jerry Schaefer presents The Flash Fiction Comedy Jam, which is apparently flash fiction read by a bunch of Toronto comics. Intriguing. Additionally, there’ll be a “live writing contest” and an appearance by storyteller Mark Jenkins. It takes place at Bad Dog Theatre – 138......

Good news, everyone! As Professor Hubert Farnsworth would invariably begin each episode of Futurama, before regaling some terrible news. Which is why, although this is some great news, we almost want to yell 'Terrible news, everyone!' Just to be contrary. And no, we're not talking about new episodes of Futurama on Comedy Central. This good news is far better than that - the Royal is going to continue being a theatre. Bought up for $2.3......

Well, it’s interesting to note in this week of HotDocs that our favourite film released this week in theatres is also a documentary – The Devil and Daniel Johnston. We happened to catch it at TIFF2005, and noted “The Devil and Daniel Johnston is a powerful documentary with no easy answers. While fans of his music will enjoy it more than those who have never heard of him, anyone who has ever felt life......

It's been nearly a week since the Oscars, so the question is, have you supported those poor souls in Hollywood by going to the cinema yet? Don't you understand that by watching a DVD you're probably supporting terrorism, or something, and just not getting the film experience you deserve? Yes, you'd be a right idiot to watch films on anything but the big screen. Which might beg the question why they now rush DVDs out......

The big film this week is Terence Malik’s The New World, and by big, of course, we mean big (and by that we mean epic). Though, the full theatrical release does shed 15 minutes from it’s previous limited release for Oscar consideration. The majority of the publicity centres on 15 year old Q’Orianka Kilcher, who plays Pocahontas in the feature, because Terence Malik is a legendary recluse, and neither of the male stars (Colin......

Tonight's edition of the Drake Underground's occasional Notes From the Underground series features Golden Age, an old-timey-style radio play about fear of old age and death. Also horseracing. Joe Cobden, an award-winning Montreal actor, will be performing the show, which he wrote with a little help from Torontoist's own J.Kelly (who also has some info about the evening, but no explanation why the J is missing from the poster). Also on tap for the evening......