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Toronto Fringe Festival announces lineup

TORONTO FRINGE FESTIVAL July 1 to 12. Various venues. $10 (at door), $12 (advance). Passes (on sale June 1): 5 Play Pass ($45), 10 Play Pass ($85). 416-966-1062, fringetoronto.com


Sure, gimme a bunch of flyers, pass me the tip jar and tell me over a pint of Steam Whistle (see below) how your show will make me laugh and/or cry. Yes, folks, the Toronto Fringe Festival lineup has been announced!

There are 148 shows in 29 venues, featuring 1,200 artists. Massive. Here are some names and shows to look for.

Great to see Fringe veterans like Peter n’ Chris, Sex T-Rex, Shari Hollett and Sam S. Mullins mounting Peter N’ Chris Present: Here Lies Chris, SwordPlay: A Play Of Swords, Everyone Loves Marineland and The Untitled Sam Mullins Project.

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Count on Everyone Loves Marineland to make a big splash at the Fringe.

And if you loved Toronto’s favourite sibling clown duo satirize corporate culture in 9-5, don’t miss their earlier Morro And Jasp Do Puberty, one of their best.

And the always reliable Shakespeare BASH’d, presents the Bard’s The Merry Wives Of Windsor at their usual venue (be sure to buy early, their shows always sell out!), the Victory Café. Look for real-life couple Lynne Griffin and Sean Sullivan in the cast, the latter as Falstaff.

I’m over the moon that last year’s Fringe breakthrough artist, Rebecca Perry (Confessions Of A Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl) is back with a new show, Adventures Of A Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl.

I’m also thrilled to see Vanessa Smythe’s In Case We Disappear appear. I saw an earlier version at the East End Performance Crawl in 2014. It’s poetic, honest and haunting.

And if you like musicals, don’t miss Starry Notions, Ryan G. Hinds’s new cabaret show (with musical direction by Mark Selby) that mixes everything from Disney villains to Kander & Ebb showstoppers, with lots of great anecdotes.

I can’t remember the last time Gavin Crawford did the Fringe, but he and director/co-writer Kyle Tingley are presenting Gavin Crawford: “Friend” “Like” #Me, about living through social media. I don’t need to see it to know I’ll “like” it. Please RT that.

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Gavin Crawford shows you how easy it is to book tickets to see his show.

There’s an especially good lineup of comic performers.

The testosterone-heavy trio that forms Falcon Powder is putting on God’s Beard! (The Only Sketch Show That Has Ever Happened), and troupe member Jim Annan is doing double duty, directing I Love You, Judy Merril, about the local sci-fi legend Judith Merril. The Weaker Vessels mount their latest sketch show, Public Displays Of Narcissism, and female stand-ups representing include Zabrina Chevannes (A Nurse’s Worst Nightmare) and Rhiannon Archer (Life Records).

Look for two-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee Darryl Pring take an honest look at his background with OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Darryl. And Graham Clark’s Graham Clark Reads The Phone Book has played here before, but the Vancouver-based comic is so present and funny, and the show is different each time, that it’s worth another look.

Megan Phillips and Peter Cavell’s new musical is called People Suck, but its cast sure doesn’t. It features Phillips, Arthur Wright and three of the best Second City alumni in recent memory: Ashley Comeau, Connor Thompson and Allie Price. Four, if you include director Kerry Griffin.

Speaking of Second City, there’s an added incentive for funny folks. The comedy institution is sponsoring an “outstanding new comedy award.” The winner receives $1,000 cash and their play will be put on at the Second City’s John Candy Box Theatre. Being funny just got a bit more serious.

Of course, one of the biggest joys of Fringing is discovering new artists, so keep refreshing nowtoronto.com/stage for the latest news, reviews and features.

The ticket prices remain the same: $10 at the door and $12 in advance. Passes go on sale June 1 (and now you can use passes to book advance tickets at an additional cost of $2 per ticket). There are 15 site specific productions, FringeKids! is bigger than ever – and is now at the George Ignatieff, not the Palmerston Library. Tent Talks continues to inform and entertain.

One of the biggest changes this year is the festival beer sponsor, which has changed from McAuslan-St. Ambroise to Steam Whistle. I’ll always associate the former’s Apricot Wheat beer with late nights at the Fringe tent. But I’m looking forward to making some new theatre memories thanks to the fest’s great artists, shows and that refreshing pilsner.

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