Uncaged and on stage

Improv, stand-up, serious-ish theatre and a
silent dance party at Zoofest

GOING SOLO: Ansari

COMEDIC CYNIC: Watson

by SACHA JACKSON

Brand new this year is Just for Laughs’ fresher, edgier offshoot, Zoofest. Billed as a “groundbreaking multidisciplinary arts festival,” with bilingual performances in everything from stand-up to improv, dance to music, Zoofest has arguably been set up to fill the youthful void. With affordable tickets (prices range from $10–$25) and younger, up-and-coming performers, Zoofest looks set to steal some of its big brother’s thunder.

One of the bigger names at the fest is the Upright Citizens Brigade. If you’ve followed the career of SNL alum Amy Poehler then you’ve likely heard of the comedy troupe she founded alongside Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh. Now expanded to include theatres on both coasts, its travelling troupe (and a few stars) will be stationed at the MainLine Theatre (3997 St-Laurent) for the duration of the fest.

UCB’s Asssscat is an improvised show that feeds off audience suggestions, in which SNL alum Horatio Sanz guest-stars, July 24–25, 8:30 p.m., $15. UBC Gets You Laid! could be a recipe for disaster or awesomeness, depending on whether you’re single or not. The cast play matchmaker to audience members, and give running commentary on the backstage date. July 21 at 10 p.m., $15.

If the name Justin-Bobby means anything to you, then check out The Hills: A Staged Reading, in which comedians Chris Gethard and Lennon Parham create their own, likely more real version of the MTV reality show. July 22–23, 10 p.m., $15.

KINDA SKETCHY

Aziz Ansari, best known as a member of comedy troupe Human Giant, goes solo for his stand-up show, July 21–24 at Théâtre Ste- Catherine (264 Ste-Catherine E.). U.K. comedian and former host of the comedic musical quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks Simon Amstell explores the meaninglessness of existence in his oneman show at Musée Juste pour rire (2111 St-Laurent) to July 25, $15. Fellow Brit Mark Watson uses that good ol’ English cynicism to look at life in All the Thoughts I’ve Had Since I Was Born. July 21–23 at Musée Juste pour rire (2111 St-Laurent). See schedule for times for Ansari, Amstell and Watson.

Underplayed & In Demand has four comedians—David Heti, Faisal Butt, Chason Gordon and Asaf Gerchak—playing four comedians in a fake comedy troupe, at Musée Juste pour rire to July 26, 8:15 p.m., $10. The Sketch Show, on the other hand, brings together four very real sketch comedy troupes—Toronto’s the Imponderables, Two White Guys (U.S.), Idiots of Ants (U.K) and the Birthday Boys (U.K.)— for a sketch spectacular to July 25 at Main- Line Theatre, 11:30 p.m., $15.

LEFTFIELD LEANINGS

Picking up where the Fringe left off, there are a few left-of-centre plays at the fest. Café Café, a bilingual work and the latest in a continuing series by playwright Alain Mercieca, is about the intersection of “art, artists and artichokes” in a Montreal coffee shop with original music by Joe McLean. Until July 19 at Théâtre de l’Esquisse (1650 Marie-Anne E.), 10:15 p.m., $10. NTS grad Celia McBride looks at the neverending and never-starting relationship in her two-play show Anatomy of a Broken Love Affair/Snore at Théâtre de l’Esquisse to July 19, 6:30 p.m., $10. The original bard makes two appearances, in The King’s Conscience, about a rapping prince, at le Gymnase (4177 St-Denis) to July 26, 7 p.m., $10, and with the Improvised Shakespeare Company’s reinventing classic works with the help of you, the audience, at Théâtre Ste-Catherine to July 25, 8:30 p.m., $15.

Some works, however, take on more serious fare, which isn’t to say they’re any less funny. Four Minutes If You Bleed, a sombre look at four different but intertwining relationships by Alexandria Haber and Ned Cox, is at Théâtre de l’Esquisse to July 19, 9 p.m. $15.

Life would be more entertaining if cops continually breakdanced. That’s part of the world imagined by Metro, a dance show that mixes contemporary and street styles in a look at public transport, at Musée Juste pour rire to July 19, see schedule for show times.

The strangest show on the entire Zoofest bill, however, has to be Silent Disco, in which two people party alone with headphones. It’s at Musée Juste pour rire to July 26, 11:30 p.m., $20.