The Second City Training Centre in Toronto expands their facilities for more classes and students
Since its doors opened in 1973, The Second City has been a mainstay of the comedy and performance landscape of Toronto. It’s hard to take transit at all in the city without seeing at least one poster for the organization’s Mainstage shows and it seems at times that every other comedian or improviser in the city has taken at least one class from the organization. That’s not just a sweeping statement mind you, it’s also playing the odds.
The current Second City Training Centre has over 1100 people coming in at least once a week for classes, a number that has doubled over the past five years. It’s been an impressive growth for the company and now they’re looking to grow even more, with an expansion of not only their class options but also a physical expansion of their training facility.
This one-man show is a “fine debut” for Moose + Moa, a new Toronto-based theatre company.
We all have to deal with loneliness at some point in our lives. For some it’s merely a road bump that we work through and move on from, but we’ve all known that crushing bout of isolation that leaves us curled up in bed listening to the same song over and over again in a twisted spiral of depression and romanticism.
In The Art of Being Alone, Moose + Moa Theatre Company explores this experience in a solid 50 minutes that’s equal parts poignant and hilarious.
Over the past 10 years the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival has been a staple of the Toronto comedy calendar, showcasing up and coming acts and veterans troupes alike for ever increasing audiences. Since its humble beginnings as the brainchild of Julianne Baragar and Paul Snepsts with 15 troupes at the Gladstone Hotel, the festival has grown by leaps and bounds, to the point where last year the Kids in the Hall performed a live stage reading of their cult film Brain Candy to a massive audience. With this year being their 10th Anniversary, Sketchfest has set up a killer lineup of headliners and possibly even more exciting for sketch comedy aficionados, the Sketchrospective series showcasing festival favourites from the past ten years, some of whom are reforming for the festival.
Kicking off the Headliner Series of this year’s Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival is the Pajama Men at the Theatre Centre. Bringing their pioneering style of scripted comedy blended seamlessly with improvised links and an anarchic energy, there’s been a lot of buzz for this Albuquerque based duo, especially from Festival Producer and Executive Director Paul Snepsts who made the effort to introduce the show to a packed theatre.
The Empty Room explores melancholy through a quirky play at Toronto’s Collective Space
There’s something strangely comforting about the state of melancholy. It’s like a warm blanket that you know you really should just shrug off and get on with your day. But, no matter how much you rationally argue it, you continue to stay curled up in a big ball of slightly sad contemplation of the world around you. The Empty Room’s Melancholy Play makes a strong effort to explore the experience of this strange emotion from its manic highs to its crushing lows, all in a uniquely designed and performed package.
There’s something strangely comforting about the state of melancholy. It’s like a warm blanket that you know you really should just shrug off and get on with your day. But, no matter how much you rationally argue it, you continue to stay curled up in a big ball of slightly sad contemplation of the world around you. The Empty Room’s