The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival - beating the catch-22

Dedicating one’s self to the art of sketch comedy can feel like being trapped in a Catch-22. Great sketch artists draw from both the more commercially viable world of stand-up and the artistically venerable world of theatre, and although one might think that having a foot in both these worlds would open twice as many doors, the reality is that sketch is still an underappreciated gray area.

Stand-up comics may look down on sketch for being a bloated medium or for not being pure enough, while those in theatre may look down on it for corrupting the theatrical form with fart jokes and crass humour. The reality is that when sketch is done well, it harvests the best elements from both traditions and leaves the audience artistically satisfied and with cheeks sore from fits of laughter.

Granted, some sketch groups manage to buck the trend and make a lasting and respected name for themselves. Second City stands as the Ivy League equivalent of sketch institutions and Monty Python has never waned in popularity despite the fact that their television show went off the air in the early 70s. For those not fortunate enough to have brand name reputation or the spotlight of international fame on their side, sketch festivals can be a godsend. A couple of awards here and there, some good press or word of mouth among the public and a sketch troupe can elevate themselves in status from “band of buddies goofing around” to “acclaimed performers”.

One such festival, The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival recently wrapped up after a week of performances and events at the Diesel Playhouse, the Second City, and the Comedy Bar. Patrons were treated to thirty-seven different troupes, many of which were locally based, but some from as far away as Montreal, New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Halifax and St. John’s.

The overall quality of performances was quite high, although certain troupes and sketches did impress more than others. ‘FUCT’ was as provocative as their name would suggest with impressive and sometimes painful physicality, timely satire in the form of a rhyming and musical fable about a gay buck and great interactive chemistry with the audience. The highlight of the evening was when a female audience volunteer was brought up on stage and asked to share a bad break-up story. Without missing a beat she looked to her male companion still in his seat and asked “can I tell [them about] us?” Once the laughter had died down, she sheepishly added “It’s okay, we’re still friends.”

Delivering relatively kind humour without cutting down on laughs ‘Punch Drysdale’ provided us with a loving parody of troupe member Norm Sousa’s father and his colourful cruise ship business as well as a heartwarming and homoerotic parody of Law and Order. ‘A Week of Kindness’ followed with an equally wholesome, if bizarre, set hosted by an inter-dimensional Bing Crosby. It was between sketches that Crosby would entertain the audience with yarns about his quaint town and the cabal of evil ducks that rule over it. It was a concept lost on some, but appreciated by others for its retro-nerdiness.

Local favourites, ‘The Williamson Playboys’, who claim to be the oldest living father and son Cajun music duo, belted out renditions of Zeppelin and Hendrix on the mandolin and tuba as well as a couple of original ditties, including the most offensive song about FDR ever written. They also got some of the most spontaneous laughs of the festival with their improvised between-song musings about anti-gravity microphones and other non-sequiturs.

‘Last Call Cleveland’ took on 50s nostalgia with a send up of malt-shop crooners and a bittersweet bit about male cheerleaders and the fathers that disown them. ‘Shame is Right’ elaborately set up and delivered one of the few 9/11 jokes that can be called charming, and ‘The Accidental Company’ showed off their originality with the brilliantly performed “Larry Stork’s Tips for Stealing Christmas Trees”. ‘7 Minutes in Heaven’, still on a high from winning this year’s Tim Sim’s comedy award, demonstrated why relationship experts should never use comedy (or orange juice) as an educational tool, and ‘The Understudies’ made everyone wistful that the real warning labels on cigarette packages aren’t nearly as funny as theirs.

Montreal’s ‘Uncalled For’ returned after their spectacularly successful Fringe show this past July to wow the audiences again. Although their cast was pared down to three, it didn’t stop them from delivering some of the best written and most theatrical sketches of the festival. Highlights of their set included a Kafka-esque interpretation of turning 30, a high-noon western shootout in mime, and a forensic cop show parody with snappy dialogue worthy of Dashiell Hammett. Apparently the judges were also wowed because they chose ‘Uncalled For’ as the winner of the Second City Best of the Fest award.

One of the most useful but under-publicised components of the festival was the series of professional panel discussions (many of which were open to the public) that addressed questions such as how to break into the big leagues, how to make the transition from sketch to television, how to get an agent, how to get voice acting work and how to market yourself. The most compelling discussion was titled “Women are Funny, Right?” which happened to come on the heels of an article in Vanity Fair, written by the often controversial and always pompous Christopher Hitchens, arguing that women are not as funny as men. The panel discussion touched on several significant issues such as why there aren’t as many women as men in comedy, why ‘bimbo comedy’ is still popular, the existence of systematic segregation in the form of ‘female comics night’ at the clubs, and even the dreaded casting couch - or in this case, improv scenes with awkward sexual overtones initiated by male partners. Surprisingly dense and topical material for a festival dedicated to humour.

Admittedly, the culture of sketch still has some ways to go. Although there are many who live and breathe the medium with passion and dedication, there are still those “bands of buddies goofing around” who will never grow and mature beyond that state. If nothing else, an event like the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival gives those at the top of their form a means and opportunity to break away from the ‘flak’ and shine for a week. It may not put sketch on par with opera, but it’s a start.