Gracing The Stage

Tonight, at Rear View Mirror, a gaggle of very funny ladies (and a few token guys) will be celebrating two years of monthly comedy showcases.

In the local comedy scene, two years is a landmark that definitely deserves to be celebrated; like a marriage, most monthly and weekly shows hit snags at the two, five, and seven year marks. It’s even worse for a solo produced show; the workload that comes along with consistently booking quality acts, and promoting those acts, can be crippling, if not willingly shared.

Dawn Whitwell & Deborah Robinson, hosts of Dragons of Comedy.

It helps that Dragons of Comedy’s founders, Deborah Robinson and Dawn Whitwell, are genuinely likable, even-tempered, and friendly ladies.

Whitwell is an experienced stand-up, having performed at just about every venue in Toronto, from the tiniest holes in the wall, to large venues like Massey Hall for benefit fundraisers. An openly gay comic, she’s been practicing her craft for over a decade, long enough that she’s become a informal mentor to other female comics, like Mae Martin, a regular performer on the Dragons’ shows.

Robinson is a prolific producer, having collaborated on several long running shows, like the wildly popular “Wet and Sticky” late night blue revue with Darryl Dinn, and on “Brown Hair and Glasses” with “Bingo: The Show” founder Megan Fraser. Of late, Robinson, who’s a frequent guest on the Laugh Sabbath series (her husband Brian Barlow hosts “The Loner Show“), has also starred in a popular series of short comedy clips online, “Deborah Robinson’s Comic Strips“, produced in association with The Wrong Box filmmakers.

(More on tonight’s bill, including a “Deborah Robinson’s Comic Strips” video, after the jump.) Read more…

St. Agatha’s church burned to the ground in a mysterious fire. Its pastor, Reverend Winters, perished in the fire, and the church’s parish found themselves without a home or spiritual leader. In order to raise funds to rebuild the church, the reverend’s widow, Dot Winters, continues to host a regular bingo night, having moved the proceedings to the back room of Clinton’s Tavern. But alcohol and bingo mixed together brings out the worst in some of the regular bingo players and depressed parishioners…

None of this is, of course, real, right down to the powdered wig on Dot (AKA Megan Fraser). The only real thing about “Bingo: The Show” is, in fact, the bingo – and the prizes (yes, there’s prizes – I’m now the dubiously proud owner of a Ricky Martin concert DVD from the last show). But the scenario is perfect for performers, particularly improv actors and buffon clowns, to work in character and create hilarious spontaneous scenes; scenes that can happen anytime in between Dot calling out the letters and numbers from her table top ball dispenser.

From left to right - Jim Taylor, Megan Phillips, Mandy Sellers, Megan Fraser, Inessa Frantowski, Katie Crown, Chantale Renee, Kristen McGregor, & Mike Kiss, in character for Bingo: the Show's Christmas edition.

(More about the dispossessed denizens of St. Agatha’s church after the jump). Read more…

This is the first update available exclusively through the website; the Yahoo Groups site will continue to exist solely as an archive of the last 5 year’s archives. After going through the update, please do poke around the site, and peruse some of the articles; many of them mention weekly recurring shows, and shows yet to appear on the Events Calendar (though that is my next website priority).

(The full week in Toronto’s performing arts events, after the jump!) Read more…