Looking at a night of cheering and chuckles on Baker Street
The Guelph Comedy Festival (GCF) once again filled the streets of downtown with chuckles and guffaws during the annual event that ran from Oct. 20 to 22. The festival, which held performances throughout downtown Guelph at the Joint Café, the Cornerstone, and The Making-Box, entertained audiences throughout the weekend. The GCF had plenty of variety this year, with stand-up, improv, sketch, spoken word, a live comedy podcast, and even a rap battle.
With the comedy festival spanning downtown, there was too much comedy on display to watch everything, so I chose to stick around The Making-Box, which hosted a massive variety of performances on the Saturday night.
The evening began with the sketch duo The Templeton Philharmonic, who delighted their audience with a mix of absurd and literary comedy. Composed of comedians Gwynne Philips and Briana Templeton, The Templeton Philharmonic brought a mixture of clever word play and surreal physicality to their performance. Their set began with a Victorian era reading of a poem all about the wonders of fall, delivered with a haughty posh accent by both Templeton and Philips. The duo’s character work was one of the standouts of their performance, whether it was as Maria and one of the Von Trapp children for a clever reimagining of the seminal “My Favourite Things” from The Sound Of Music, or two mothers-to-be, one of who was about to birth the antichrist. The Templeton Philharmonic’s ability to deftly balance the surreal with the relatable made their performance a joy to watch, and their clever writing left a lasting impression long after they took their final bow.
“The Templeton Philharmonic’s ability to deftly balance the surreal with the relatable made their performance a joy to watch…”
The night shifted gears as the rest of the evening was full of stand-up. Spencer Dunn acted as the host of the event, charming the audience with his self-deprecating humour and riotous anecdotes. The first comedian up was Preeti Torul, who kept the comedy personal by talking about her life growing up in Toronto.
Gavin Stephens followed, and won the crowd over with his material commenting on today’s young people, and the differences between performing in Guelph and Hamilton. Never losing the audience for a second, Stephens shared his views on the recent clown spotting around university campuses and the feel-good spirit of the Guelph comedy scene.
The final stand-up set for the night was Mark Little, making his return to Guelph after his appearance at the Guelph Comedy Festival last year. Little’s blend of hyperactive comedy and phenomenal crowd work left the audience cheering for him, as well as his chosen audience member Jared.
“Little’s blend of hyperactive comedy and phenomenal crowd work left the audience cheering…”
While it was late in the night, audiences were having such a great time that they stuck around for the Rock and Roll Improv Show featuring The Hot Karls, Coco and Daphney, and the Making-Box Brigade.
In an interview with The Ontarion, Making-Box Brigade member Kate Ethier spoke about her own experiences with comedy. Ethier had performed improv in Peterborough with the improv group The Citiots before moving to Guelph.
“Improv is genuinely 100 per cent responsible for the best, and most intimate, friendships and relationships of my life,” Ethier said.
The festival, once again, celebrated the flourishing comedy scene in the Guelph community, and across Ontario.
Photo by Mariah Bridgeman.