I didn't much care for Soulless, the Aaron Bushkowky play currently running in Toronto, but don't take that to mean that I'm on the side of bad urban planning. As I noted in my review, Toronto has lost too many small performance venues to short-sighted development.
In recent years, the city has bid farewell to the Poor Alex and Artword, which has relocated to reportedly bustling Hamilton. The Diesel Playhouse and the Great Hall, home to The Theatre Centre, have also been on the chopping block for a while now, though a cooling market may keep them around for a little while longer.
Lately, things have been looking up in Toronto, with new small venues popping up here and there. The recent arrival of the Lower Ossington Theatre is welcome, as was last weekend's grand opening of The Comedy Bar, the longtime dream of local comedian Gary Rideout Jr.
The basement venue was bustling on Sunday night for the long-awaited return of Gary's troupe, The Sketchersons, and their regular show, Sunday Night Live (which used to take place at the Poor Alex). The 112-seat theatre was packed, as was the adjoining bar, which seems like the kind of place you'd want to hang out in even if you weren't catching a show. (Why don't more "legit" theatre spaces in Toronto have their own bars/restaurants?)
As for Sunday Night Live itself, it was a decent show, but the house was packed with so many friends and fans that it felt a bit of an insider event. The cast got the giggles almost as much as the audience, something that always turns me off - it's me you're supposed to be entertaining. (Cole Osborne, I'm looking at you.) Hopefully, that was just grand opening thing.
Guest host Sandy Jobin-Bevans's opening monologue about Barack Obama was a flop, an attempt at some Sarah Silverman-esque humour that he lacked the persona to sell. But the Second City alumnus (and most famous Flin Flonner since Bobby Clarke) thoroughly redeemed himself later as an uncle performing awkward stand-up in a brilliant sketch written by Norm Souza, who was a reliably humorous presence throughout the night.
Pat Thornton had several stand-out moments as the troupe's resident funny fat man, while proprietor Gary remains a reliable straight man.
I've never really been a big fan of Saturday Night Live's format, which Sunday Night Live essentially copies but with fewer resources. As lovely as guest musician Sean Pinchin's songs were, I don't personally see how an introspective singer-songwriter fits into a night of comedy. And if you're not razor-sharp about current events like The Daily Show's writer, why do a fake news segment? (I liked Thornton's commentary on the election, however.)
Anyway, nice to see Sunday Night Live return, with its young following intact and many new cast members on board.
My one complaint about the Comedy Bar - and I guess this is a fairly big one - is that the seating area isn't raked, so even from the fifth row, where I was sitting, you had to do the head bob any time if the characters on stage sat down. How that's going to be remedied in a basement venue with lowish ceiling, I don't know, but for the time being I'd recommend sitting as close to the front as possible or in the stool area halfway back.
