All posts by Mike Anderson

Mike was that kid who walked into the high school stage crew booth, saw the lighting board, and went ooooooooooooh. Now that he’s (mostly) all grown up, Mike keeps his foot in the door as a community-theatre producer, stage manager and administrator. In the audience, he’s a tremendous sucker for satire and parody, for improvisational and sketch-driven comedy, for farce and pantomime, and for cabaret of all types. His happiest Toronto theatrical memory is (re) Birth: E. E. Cummings in Song.

The Commandment (Simple Truth Theatre) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

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Phil Rickaby in "The Commandment"

In The Commandment (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival), God’s unhappiest prophet (Phil Rickaby) breaks into Open Mic Night to explain how he got into this situation, and bequeath unto us the latest and greatest word of the Lord. The result is somewhere along the Adams-Gaiman-Gorey spectrum, exploring what it even means to be a prophet in the modern era — and the unique duties it imposes upon an atheist.

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Sidney Needs A Kidney (Little Fish Productions) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Poster image for "Sidney Needs A Kidney"

In Sidney Needs a Kidney (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival), a nice young suburban couple have come to the end of the road. The spoiler’s in the title: Sidney needs a kidney, and so far they’re coming up dry. But they have a plan involving a dinner party, her sister’s boyfriend, and an unconventional method of persuasion.

Remember, it’s all for a good cause, so they’re good people. No matter what.

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Great Lakes 5 (Low Fidelity Productions) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Scott Goldman, Andrew Haggith, Bridget Cann, Matt Nadeau, Laura Ramoso in Great Lakes 5 by Paul Aihoshi

Great Lakes 5 (running at the Toronto Fringe Festival) is an improv show set in the heist universe: the ringleader’s fresh out of jail, and he’s getting the old gang back together for one final job. The people, target and objective, are all up to you, so come ready: the fate of the greater Golden Horseshoe area is in the audience’s hands!

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Pack Animals (Scantily Glad Theatre) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Pack AnimalsIn Pack Animals (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival),  an unlikely pair of scouts get cut off from Camp Oyster Bay, and have to rely on each other (and the magic of the forest!) to make it out alive. But it’s not as dark as it sounds: sit by the campfire, eat some snacks, sing some songs, and put those merit badges to good use.

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Dom Mackie’s Poor Life Choices (Dom Mackie) 2019 Toronto Fringe Review

Photo of Dom Mackie in Dom Mackie's Poor Life Choices

Dom Mackie’s Poor Life Choices (playing at the Toronto Fringe Festival) mines a well-established comedy coalface. Mackie talks us through some of his most humiliating, vulnerable and revelatory experiences, and we cringe and laugh along with him. For such a young man, he’s got a wealth of stories, and he’s also got the performance instincts of someone who’s paid his dues dodging bottles at open-mic nights.

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