Results tagged “comedybar”

The latest installment of the Sleeman Premium Weekend series at the Comedy Bar brings seasoned stand-up and comic actor Todd Barry back to Toronto for three headlining shows. Barry is no stranger to Hogtown comedy clubs. "Toronto’s one of the first cities where I headlined, if not the first," he says. "It was at a place called The Laugh Resort…that was ten or twelve years ago. But the last time I performed here was five years ago at Yuk Yuk’s."

You know the old saying: laughter is the best philanthropy. Earlier this month, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, in an effort to further fund its community-driven education and action programs in AIDS-ravaged Africa, launched the A Dare to Remember program—individuals take on dares (no wiener truths) and get cash sponsorship for seeing it through. Local actor and comedian Pat Thornton was recently challenged to participate, and came up with an idea that was, in hindsight, possibly on the overachiever's side of dares. "I was walking by a canvasser on the street and he recognized me because he was an editor on a show I was on. He said I would be great for their Dare to Remember program, so I talked to some friends and came up with the idea of doing stand-up comedy for twenty-four hours. I don't know why I said twenty-four hours...I think people would have been impressed if I said six."

Over a year ago, Gary Rideout, Jr. of the Sketchersons bought a former Eritrean restaurant and pool hall at Bloor and Ossington and transformed it into the Comedy Bar. And his timing couldn't have been better. With venues like the Diesel Playhouse shuttering and big standup chains acting cool to so-called "alternative" comedy, Rideout's spot provided a haven for purveyors of standup, sketch, improv ,and acts that don't fit neatly into a category.

       

How do you run a massively successful improv festival that brings together a bunch of non-local talent with a tiny budget? That's easy: improvise! "Mark Little from Picnicface is sleeping on my couch right now," laughs Julie Dumais, artistic director of the COMBUSTIONfestival, over the phone this morning. "We were able to pay everyone a small honorarium, but everyone's just kind of crashing at each other's houses."

FILM: The Toronto Jewish Film Festival will kick off its seventeenth year this evening at the Bloor Cinema, with a screening of María Victoria Menis's 2008 Argentinian romance film La cámara oscura. Check out the festival's official website for further information on the wide range of interesting films being shown and how to buy tickets. Due to the large expected number of patrons, tickets for tonight's event will only be sold at the Bloor Cinema box office, so make sure you get there early to avoid the walk of shame. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 8:30 p.m., $20.

KIDS: Script Superheroes, a six-week writing workshop for seven- to ten-year-olds, starts today at the Comedy Bar. The afternoon workshops will teach your child how to write a powerful script, and how to impress an audience. At the end of the program, professional actors will step in to present a live reading of all the kids' plays. Script Superheroes is taught by character comedian Kristen McGregor and artist/writer/former Torontoist editor Alison Broverman. The Comedy Bar (945 Bloor Street West), 2:30–3:45 p.m., $100/6 sessions.

According to our highly unscientific, entirely unreliable survey, about 87% of us would have voted for Obama given the chance. In fact, we love him so much that we've taking to dancing in the streets. Even our animals are getting in on the action. January 20 is inauguration day; to accompany this epic moment is an epic amount of coverage and an epic round of parties. Share the joy, the happy tears, the drunkenness, and the sheer unmitigated relief by checking out one or all of Toronto's inauguration events. Our guide to everything Obama is after the fold.