The Theatre Centre Will Host 2024 Comedy is Art Festival

The Theatre Centre has announced its biggest-yet Comedy is Art festival, with five nights of can't-miss comedy with over 50 comics from across Toronto and beyond, including Andrew Phung, Hannan Younis and Rakhee Morzaria, Brandon Hackett and Jonathan Langdon, Bougie B Bougé, Clif Knight, Daphney Joseph, Darren Leo, and Small Friend Tall Friend, plus the multi-Dora Award-nominated show Holiday! An Improvised Musical from Bad Dog Theatre Company, and so many more.

This year's week of excellent comedy and good vibes has been curated by comedian, storyteller and The Theatre Centre's Associate Artistic Director liza paul, with programming support from Tim Blair (TallBoyz) and Ellie Posadas (Tita Collective). The mission: program a festival full of artists who take the work seriously and whose bits will crack you up.

"We are now five years into creating space for comedy, and while the declaration that comedy is art remains top of mind, the 'how' continues to evolve. This year we have put even more emphasis on programming artists who take unconventional approaches, who work hard, who aim high, who are thoughtful about the material they deliver, who polish the writing and rehearse the bits and, most importantly, don't punch down. It's all about handling everything with care. It's no joke making people laugh - but when those jokes land, it is magic for everyone in the room. We make it clear that we expect artists to bring their very best to the table, and audiences who love to laugh know that they can trust this festival to deliver." - festival curator liza paul

This year's festival is part of The Theatre Centre's yearlong 10 for 10 celebration: ten unique offerings to mark ten years in its forever home on 1115 Queen Street West.

Early bird festival passes and single tickets are now on sale with details available at TheatreCentre.org. All shows run at The Theatre Centre from October 22 to 26 (1115 Queen St. W, Toronto). Single show tickets are $20. Special edition passes are $50 and include three shows of your choice and fun perks. New this year, Comedy is Art programming will include free industry panels and an improv class, details to come.

Confirmed Artists for Comedy is Art 2024*

Andrew Phung and Friends: A Night of Improv

Bougie B Bougé

Clif Knight

Daphney Joseph

Darren Leo

Hackett & Langdon (Brandon Hackett and Jonathan Langdon)

Hannan Younis and Rakhee Morzaria

Holiday! - An Improvised Musical from Bad Dog Theatre Company

(AP Bautista, Brandon Hackett, Sam Hancock, Kyah Green, Nadine Djoury, Stephanie Malek and Scott Christian)

PLUS

Alia Rasul

All-Inclusive Comedy - Improv Comedy Duo (Tony Babcock and Wilding)

Anto Chan

Bad Bunnies (Monica Garrido Huerta and Patricia Taborda)

Ben Sosa-Wright

Bita Joudaki

Bitty-Bat (Emily Jeffers)

Danish Anwar

Diaspora Darlings (Guled Abdi, Kadi Diop, Portia K & Sara Meleika)

Faiza Kulle

Foad HP

Gender? I Hardly Know Them (Elena Belyea, Syd Campbell)

Kenneth Cheung

Lou Laurence

Nathan Hare

Rae Gallimore

Rebeca Araniva

Small Friend Tall Friend: Take a Proper Gander (Becky Ablack, David Čivčić, Rayhan Jabbar, Zoe Marín)

soft hands (Austin Sherman, Liz Cyrus, Stevey Hunter, Sunny Gill)

Tim Blair

Yaw Attuah

*as of August 15, 2024, see full schedule here.

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