Ed. Note - Given Sunday was Mother’s Day, we thought we’d get one of our mothers to write a review of the May 12 show. Luckily, Lauren Ash’s mom, Laurel DeHaan, agreed to do it. Here’s what she had to say: 

I’m embarrassed to admit it, but Saturday, May 12th was my first visit to Monkey Toast.
Why I waited until now I don’t know. What I do know is that I have undoubtedly missed some of the smartest and funniest comedy that Toronto has to offer. 

The format of the show lends itself cleverly to the creation of some of the best improv I have seen. (And over the last ten years, believe me, I have seen a lot!)

The host of Monkey Toast, along with the Monkey Toast Players, are all seasoned professionals, whom you will have seen performing in many venues over the years including stage, television and the big screen. These are great actors who have worked together in the past and that familiarity makes for terrific chemistry and intuitive dialogue. 

The Host of Monkey Toast kept the pace going throughout and I enjoyed the segments with the guests, which changed the tone of the show nicely to provide a good balance of comedy, sarcasm and yes, education. I learned a great deal about members of our community in an interesting and fun way. These interviews were interspersed with such great improv that I caught myself howling with laughter and unable to catch my breath! 

I don’t want to give much away, so I’ll just say this: 
Don’t do what I did and put off seeing Monkey Toast! The Players change from time to time giving a fresh feel to each and every performance, so you need to keep going back! Go now! Go often! Take a date! Take your roommate, your sibling or just go by yourself. You will unabashedly laugh yourself out of your seat! I guarantee it!

Laurel DeHaan
Toronto, ON

Written by guest blogger, Michael Jagdeo.
Photos by Carey Ann Photography 

I don’t watch late night talk shows. 

I find the jokes dull, the interviews mechanic, and the sketches haphazard.  Luckily, Monkey Toast has done away with the idea that you need a pantheon of writers to make a show work.

The program consists of three guests interviewed by host Ron Tite, who’s done everything from crafting advertising campaigns for Kraft to writing childrens books.  For comedic variety, improvised sketches are injected in between the interviews, drawing their inspiration from the topics discussed.

Yes, you read that correctly:  the sketch players have to craft a scene based on the interview they’ve just listened to. 

Wowzers.  How’s that even possible? 

The Lights Dim

A live pianist playfully introduces Ron, who kicks off the show with a monologue that’s nothing short of a casual storytelling work of art.  He weaves punchlines into the plot so seamlessly that the comedian in me wants to start taking notes, but I can’t.  I’m too busy enjoying the moment to divide my attention.

It’s at this point that I notice Monkey Toast has built a very loyal following, as audience members feel comfortable participating vocally during the monologue.  This evening, the cast are among friends.

Mark De Angelis

Tonight’s first guest is Mark De Angelis, an accomplished writer and actor. 

A genuinely funny guy, he and Ron playfully banter back and forth.  This is how talk shows were meant to be:  two people actually having an interesting conversation with each other. 

It’s a refreshing change from the typical late night show where rehearsed questions are followed by even more rehearsed answers ad nausea. Mark talks about his new show, Bill & Sons Towing.  Ron then pauses their interview and signals the players to strike up.

Go, Play, Boy [and Girl], Play - Part I

It’s magical from the very beginning.  I’m amazed at the chemistry and trust the players have with one another.  The sketch is hilarious, and just when I think I know where the scene is going a new player swoops in, bringing me further down the rabbit hole.  They’re able to do all of this with only seconds to prepare.

But that’s not entirely true.  These improvisers have been preparing, per se, for decades.  What I’m seeing is the product of years of practice and dedication.

Erica Ehm

I’m distracted by a rude lady who’s tweeting on her brightly shining cell phone beside me.  C’mon, show some respect, will ya?

The next guest, Erica Ehm, is announced.  The lady who was using her cell phone gets up, walks to the stage, and takes a seat beside Ron.  Oh…that’s Erica Ehm.  Whoops.

This time, things don’t go as smoothly for the host and his guest.  Erica is talking at the crowd rather than conversing with Ron.  I’m wincing with discomfort.  She’s talking about how she got started in the business, the fact that Fashion Television was her idea, and her website, www.YummyMummyClub.ca.

But hey, that’s the nature of the beast.  You can’t always expect a love connection, right?

Go, Play, Boy [and Girl], Play - Part II

Now fully warmed up, the players are having more and more fun.  They’re purposefully putting each other in tough situations to make things interesting, which makes for even greater laughs as they flex their creative muscles.

Wilf Dinnick

By far, the most compelling guest of the night is Wilf Dinnick, a former CNN correspondent stationed in Afghanistan.  You’d think that interviewing Wilf comedically would be a tall order, but it isn’t.  Wilf’s honesty is endearing, whether he’s talking about having Timbits in Kandahar or poking jabs SunTV and the Toronto Star.

Go, Play, Boy [and Girl], Play - Part III

I notice that the players have mixed up their seating arrangement, probably to promote fresh ideas and new pairings.  Lisa Merchant and Jan Caruana lead the final sketch of the night, feeding off of each other’s quips like old friends.

Exeunt

As the show ends, I can’t help but marvel at the talent I’ve seen tonight.  I mean, how many people in the world can comedically improvise entire scenes on a moment’s notice?  It’s mind boggling when you stop to think about it.

The next show is Saturday, May 12 at 8pm.  See you at the back.

As the weather in Toronto gets warmer - the brude of grumpy Torontonians turn nicer, patios start to open and the brude finds themselves looking to do something different on a Saturday night.

This past Saturday was no different, walking out of the apartment with a light coat on, my boyfriend and I headed to Comedy Bar, an underground (literally) comedy club on Bloor Street West, for Monkey Toast.

Now assuming that you don’t know me, I am not that funny and I only really laugh at crude humour. After reading a few reviews online, I knew that Monkey Toast was the place for me to spend my Saturday night.

The night started off in full swing, opening the show was host and comedian himself, Ron Tite. Tite is beyond engaging, and really likes to include the audience for what it’s worth - he singled out a kid sitting in the front row, who must have been celebrating his nineteenth birthday (editor’s note.. I think he was 12), and didn’t look old enough to drink - the night always came full circle to Nicholas, the poor guy - the opening dialogue singling him out was only the beginning. 

Again assuming you may not have (yet) been to Monkey Toast, the concept is very interesting. Three guests are invited to a staggered thirty minute interview on stage with Tite, and after a somewhat funny or interesting section of the interview, Tite shouts “Lets break for some comedy!” and the “Monkey Toast Players” aka comedians sitting patiently ready to (rip) and act out scenes inspired by the interview for the audience.

The first guest on stage was the Food Network’s / Doo Wops’ John Catucci, Host of “You Gotta Eat Here!” The two bonded over their Italian heritage, crude humour, Toronto, bunk beds, and being famous in Toronto. Catucci doesn’t take himself too seriously, and his quick wit was a great pair with Tite - and the Monkies had their way with him - literally.

The second was City Councillor, Mike Layton, son of the late NDP leader Jack Layton.

This interview could have gone either way - incredibly funny or incredibly stale - luckily, it was the former - and the Monkey Toast Players did a fantastic job circumventing from Mike’s past experiences. One of note was the monkeys reenacting a day in the life of Mike and his Fiance, bird watching. Enough said.

To kick off the second half, show regular Evelyn Reese stopped by to give some hosting tips. She described herself as a “semi-professional”. Check out the lipstick.

Lastly was Marnie McBean, three time Olympic gold medalist and Athlete Mentor for the Canadian Olympic Team - or “sheep herder” as she likes to say. McBean was ready for all of the action the Monkey Toast Players were about to throw her way. A lot of credit is due to her, being an olympic champion and all - but also regarding the mere fact that she is a funny woman who knows how to have a laugh at her own circumstances. You could tell right from the beginning of the interview - the dynamic was hilarious and the setup for jokes was flawless.

Monkey Toast ended the night reenacting “Rowing Moms” - like hardcore New Jersey styled Soccer Moms or worse - Pageant Mom’s - screaming at their children to do better with the simple sentiment that “doing your best isn’t good enough!” This  ended with McBean watching wide eyed and hysterically laughing, as if she had honestly witnessed these reenactments in real life. Rowing is not for everyone.

By the time the show ended, at least three beers were had by each individual in the crowd, the underground comedy club was in full laughter the entire night, and the closing remarks did not disappoint.

If you’re looking to shake things up on a Saturday night, I highly encourage you to visit Monkey Toast - I promise you a night of full laughter, and it will not disappoint. At the end of the show, you are filtered past the second bar, and the atmosphere is electric with more beer guzzling and rubbing shoulders with the comedians who are thirsty from the night they just gave you - and if you’re lucky enough - you will end the night in a tipsy docile flip cup competition. Hurray!

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Second City Mainstage alumnus and two-time Canadian Comedy Award winner, David Shore, has recently relocated to the UK.  David will perform The One-Man Harold over two nights in London.  The shows will take place at The Hen & Chickens Theatre on Tuesday 5 July (7:30pm) and Monday 18 July (9:30pm). Tickets are £7.

Developed by Del Close at the I.O. Theatre in Chicago, The Harold is the most commonly known type of long-form improvisation.  From an audience suggestion, a Harold team consisting of five to ten people performs an opening that inspires a series of scenes and group games.  As The Harold progresses, characters from different scenes begin to interact and story lines start to come together.

The Harold was designed to be performed by a minimum of five people.  David Shore will perform it completely alone.  He will play every character in every scene and group game.  David was the first person to perform The One-Man Harold in Canada, and will be the first to perform it in the UK.

The One-Man Harold

Starring David Shore

Directed by Rich Fulcher

Music by Christopher Ash & Dylan Emery

The Hen & Chicken Theatre

109 St. Pauls Road, London, N1 2NA

Tuesday, 5 July (7:30pm) & Monday, 18 July (9:30pm)

£7 plus £1.50 membership fee

For advanced tickets click here.

Monkey Toast returns to the Comedy Bar for one night only, on April 16th, 2011.  We’ll be joined by special guests, musical comedian, Mae Martin, from CTV’s Dan For Mayor, Paul Bates, and from Maclean’s Magazine, Andrew Coyne!!

This show’s improvisers: Lisa Merchant, Jan Caruana, Paul Constable, Sandy Jobin-Bevans, Jennifer Goodhue and Kerry Girffin.
Music by Jamie Lamb.
Hosted by David Shore.
Saturday, April 16th.
Doors: 7:30pm
Show: 8pm
$10
The Comedy Bar
945 Bloor Street West
www.monkeytoast.com

For advanced tickets call 647-898-5324 or click here.

Hope to see you there!!

Also, Monkey Toast Players’ Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus were nominated for Best Male and Female Improviser respectively, from their show, The Carnegie Hall Show, which was also nominated for Best Improv Troupe.  Paul Bates was nominated for Best Performance by an Ensemble (Television) for Dan For Mayor, and Sandy Jobin-Bevans was nominated in the same category for his role on Hotbox.  And lastly, but not leastly, Colin Mochrie is nominated for Canadian Comedy Person of the Year.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

The Comedy Bar was packed and there was a feeling that tonight would be special.  Unlike regular Monkey Toast shows, tonight’s shows had only one guest booked for each (Comedians Andy Boorman, and Nathan Macintosh), the rest of the night’s guests would be randomly drawn from the audience and The Monkey Toast Players.

Many in the crowd bought tickets for both shows and they would not be disappointed.  The first show’s cast was Paul Constable, Naomi Snieckus, Scott Montgomery, Jennifer Goodhue, Albert Howel and Jim Annan.  Music Director, Jamie Lamb, who started the show with me seven years ago, was the accompanist for both shows.

Comedian Andy Boorman got things going, and he was quickly followed our first randomly drawn guest from the audience… Whose name I can’t remember, but I do remember that he’s originally from Gananoque, and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember or correctly pronounce the town’s name on the show.  I believe I even called it Bangkok at one point.

Our next guest was Monkey Toast Player, Aurora Browne, who was eight months pregnant and thus unable to perform.

Our next random guest from the audience provided the first surprise of the night, as the lucky audience member was none other than former CTV weatherman, and star of the 1970’s classic, Canadian sci-fi series, The Starlost, Robin Ward!  Albert Howell and I both freaked out, because we’re old sci-fi nerds and watched the show as children.

Robin Ward was a gracious guest and told us about all the problems they had in the making in The Starlost.  I was taken aback by the fact that I used to watch this man on TV when I was eight years old and he now looks younger than I do!  The interview lead to a hilarious and very accurate scene about The Starlost, that most of the audience didn’t get, as they weren’t geeks like Albert and me.

Below is a cast photo from The Starlost.  See if you can figure out which one is Robin.  Here’s a hint, he’s the one that looks like Robin.

The crowd went nuts as our next guest was Monkey Toast Player, Jan Caruana.

We talked about Jan’s Maltese background which lead to a Maltese Falconesque scene where Albert Howell’s character kept spitting when he spoke.

Next up was a cancer doctor/researcher who was originally from Boston.

After the interview, I was puzzled by the scene that Albert and Scott were doing as it made no sense.  But then our next big surprise of the night happened…

 …as Toronto Mayor David Miller, lept onto the stage.  I was in complete shock!

OK, this photo was from earlier in the show, but I had no idea the Mayor would be showing up let alone jumping out from  backstage.  I had been trying for weeks to get the Mayor back as a guest for one of our final shows, but was told that he was all booked up.  Special thanks to Don Wanagas in the Mayor’s office, and Lisa Merchant for making this happen.  The Mayor, as always, was a good sport and sat down for an interview after gracing the stage.

The first show was over, and we’d only run about 45 minutes long (maybe an hour).  I only cried about three times and it was now time to get ready for the LAST MONKEY TOAST.

What a crazy last night at the Gladstone!  Comedian Ron Sparks began the night by bending time.  Given only 5 minutes for his 7 minutes of new material, Ron forced it all to fit into only 9 minutes!

Next up, professional mascot, Markwell Ottolino-Perry, who is the mascot of a certain baseball team in town (but we’re not allowed to say which) refused to reveal the mascot secret of which part of the costume they actually see out of.

This led to the discovery that Monkey Toast Player, Matt Baram, has quick-change pants, which he made good use of by revealing his bare bottom to the audience.  Not to be outdone, Paul Bates, revealed his aqua-marine underwear.  There’s proof to it all somewhere on Facebook.

Lastly but not leastly (is that even a word?), friend of the show Dave Bidini told us how he’s going to the upcoming Vancouver Olympics to check out the party, not the sports.  That lead to a scene with Matt and Aurora Browne as broadcasters from the Olympics.  Due to a problem with the stage, Matt’s chair, fell into the stage as he sat down.  Luckily he wasn’t hurt, but Aurora laughed so hard that she almost gave birth (literally, she’s like 5 months pregnant).

All and all, a very memorable show to end our time at the Gladstone Hotel.  Hope to see you all at our new home, the Comedy Bar.