The Win at Life Mega Expo (Two Pack Occasion) playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival
Having money problems? Trouble with your loved one? Suffer from plethoric psoriasis? Then with a small entrance fee of $10,000 dollars (or at a special Fringe price), The Win at Life Mega Expo will take your money and run with it.
Audience members walk into Scadding Court with “The National Aerobic Championship Theme” playing down the hall. Amish Patel, Faisal Butt and Morgan O’Shea bombard and hype up the line, calling us all “winners” before entering the expo.
The Win at Life Mega Expo is basically three stand-up sets with a loose narrative tying them all together. Each con-artist has their own pillar to pitch, consisting of money, health and love. Harnessing these qualities, they overtly promise to transform the audience from “losers” to “closers”.
Various sales tactics are used to persuade audience members to sign up for further seminars, which hint at the fact that this is actually a veiled pyramid scheme. In its entirety, the expo is a scam, so it’s difficult for the lecturers to convince the audience of anything other than that.
The segments have their brief moments of humour and audience participation. Patel shares his mother’s philosophy of “seeing” poverty which shaped his desire for money, Butt has cryptic blackboard messages for help, and O’Shea gets a surprise visitor from his past love life. It’s funny at times, especially when we realize that Butt the health guru suffers from ailments himself, which hinder him from closing the sale.
Aside from these segments, the rest seem drawn out to fill the allotted time of 57 minutes. The jokes are made, but the ongoing narrative doesn’t seem to hold importance until it transitions into the next segment and the very end of the play. We know that they need to meet their sales goals, but The Win at Life Mega Expo can’t seem to find the hook, let alone the line and sinker.
Details
- The Win at Life Mega Expo plays at Scadding Court (room 4). (707 Dundas St. W.)
- Tickets are $13, including a $2 service charge. The festival also offers a range of money-saving passes and discounts for serious Fringers.
- Tickets can be purchased online, by telephone (416-966-1062), from the Festival Box Office at Scadding Court (707 Dundas St. W.), and — if any remain — from the venue’s box office starting one hour before curtain.
- The Fringe Festival considers this venue to be wheelchair-accessible.
- Be aware that Fringe performances always start exactly on time, and that latecomers are never admitted.
Performances
- Thursday July 5th, 7:00 pm
- Friday July 6th, 7:00 pm
- Monday July 9th, 7:00 pm
- Wednesday July 11th, 7:00 pm
- Thursday July 12th, 7:00 pm
- Friday July 13th, 7:00 pm
Photo of (left to right): Amish Patel & Faisal Butt