comedy is art 2026
One Stage, Three Nights, 40+ of Toronto’s Best Comics!
Year seven of Comedy is Art has arrived! Three nights of can’t-miss comedy with over 40 comics from across Toronto and beyond.
This year Comedy is Art doubles down on its curatorial mission to present excellent shows that punch unapologetically up, through poignant and witty observations about the world, and a commitment to making you laugh. The festival’s show program is curated by comedian, writer, and storyteller liza paul, with programming support from Tim Blair (TallBoyz) and Ellie Posadas (Tita Collective).
Headlined by legendary Canadian comic Debra DiGiovanni, this year’s festival features a wealth of Canada’s best artists working in stand-up, sketch, and improv. Shows include Sketchy Business, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Laughing), Improv (and a lil sketch) Magic, A Night with Debra DiGiovanni, and Bright Lights, a special evening to raise funds for The Theatre Centre hosted by Hisham Kelati with a stellar lineup of stand-up comedians!
Thursday, October 22
*Tickets for Bright Lights, a special Comedy is Art event to raise funds to support The Theatre Centre, are $75 and include a partial tax receipt.
Come for the comedy. Stay for the party. BRIGHT LIGHTS is an opening-night celebration featuring stand-up comedy—and a special evening to raise funds for The Theatre Centre.
Featuring Rasha Elfeky, Franco Nguyen, Sam Sferrazza, and Martha Chaves, expect big laughs, sharp comedy, and absolutely no shortage of reasons to raise a glass. Each ticket includes an exclusive pre-show reception, a complimentary drink, a night of live comedy, prizes, surprises, and other delights, and a partial tax receipt.
OPENING NIGHT BASHMENT
8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Everyone (artists, audiences, community members, friends, enemies, lovers–everyone!) is invited to bruk out – Comedy is Art style. Join us in the cafe/bar for an opening-night celebration with stiff drinks, bumpin music, and excellent company.
Friday, October 23
Some of the best artists in the sketch biz, all bundled up in one tidy package for your viewing and belly-laughing pleasure. Featuring Imogen Quest, Sarah Conway, Small Friend Tall Friend (Becky Ablack and Zoe Marín), Anders Yates, and Tiyawnda. Hosted by Anasimone the big head behind the very shows you love to see across Toronto.
A lineup of hilarious stand-up comics who will make you laugh so hard that you’ll be glad you left your house. Featuring Faith With The Jokes, Lukas Brennan, Jesse Singh, and Ashwyn Singh.
Hosted by Janelle Niles of Got Land Comedy.
Saturday, October 24
Featuring performances from three of the city’s best and brightest troupes—Meet Cute, N***A PROV, and RATS! Another Musical?—this one is for the improv connoisseurs (plus a lil sketch thrown in for good measure). Hosted by Maricris Rivera of the Tita Collective.
Meet Cute is Toronto’s newest and gayest sketch duo featuring award-winning comedians A.C. Birch and Stevey Hunter.
N-PROV is an all-Black improv comedy troupe based in Toronto, made up of comedians, actors, writers, and multidisciplinary performers including Tamara Shevon, Daphney Joseph, Phatt Al, Ngozi Paul, Sashka DC, and Clif Knight.
RATS! Another Musical? is a musical improv troupe based in Toronto performing high-energy, narrative-driven, fully improvised musicals. Each performance is created live in the moment with spontaneous songs, bold characters and occasional cartoonish combat.
SCREAMY TODD: An Improvised Revenge Musical will feature nitinrhymeswithkitten (Nitin Anand), Kara Austria, Kristi Boulton, Sean Cage, Kyle Claeys, Elanja Corosky, Daniel Fishbayn, Robbie Grant, Katie Mills, and Arielle Zamora. Musical Director: Rory Grant. Director: Carly Heffernan.
Headliner!
Legendary Canadian comic Debra DiGiovanni graces The Theatre Centre stage for the first time with her signature brand of fast-paced, can’t-get-ahead-of-it comedy. Featuring sketch comedy duo Hackett & Langdon (Brandon Hackett and Jonathan Langdon) and hosted by liza paul, artistic director of Comedy is Art.
2026 selection committee
This year’s week of excellent comedy and good vibes will be curated by comedian and storyteller 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.
liza paul is a writer, curator, artistic leader, director and producer who loves laughter, life, music, family, stories, all things bashment, impromptu dancehall-flavoured a cappella street jams, and pum-related non sequiturs. she has trained at the second city’s improv conservatory and was selected to join their 2017 bob curry fellowship program. she has worked extensively in theatre and radio with ciut 89.5 fm, soulpepper theatre company, anitafrika! dub theatre, bcurrent, the watah theatre, and the theatre centre. liza writes for television (from ontario, with love (tvo); big brother canada (global)); directed sketch comedy show don valley girls for the 2022 riser festival; and wrote the 2025 dora mavor moore awards show. liza is also the co-chair of the Junos Comedy Advisory Committee.
Tim Blair is a comedian and founding member of the acclaimed comedy troupe, TallBoyz II Men. Together with Bruce McCulloch from Kids In The Hall, they created the multiple Canadian Screen Award-winning sketch show, TallBoyz. A seasoned live performer, Tim excels in stand-up, sketch, and improv. He’s an alumnus of Second City’s House Co. and has showcased his talent at festivals like Just for Laughs Toronto and the NBC Breakout Festival in Chicago.
Ellie Posadas is a Queer Filipinx-Canadian, multidisciplinary artist from Scarborough, Ontario. Ellie was featured in the 2021 TIFF for the world premiere of ‘Scarborough’, based on the award winning novel by Catherine Hernandez, and was a Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Canadian Film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2021, for her role as ‘Edna’. She is a co-creator, writer, and performer of the award winning, all Filipina comedy theatre group, Tita Collective. She is an alumni of Randolph Academy’s Triple Threat College Program.
Comedy is Art.
Comedy is Art Festival features some of the best comedians in Toronto and sends a clear message: comedy should be taken seriously!
Comedy is Art Festival is generously supported by:
A special thank you to Chris Hatley in memory of Lindy Cowan, and our community of Comedy is Art donors.
Additional thanks to:
October 22 – 24, 2026
Single show tickets for Sketchy Business, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop (Laughing), Improv (and a lil sketch) Magic, and A Night with Debra DiGiovanni are $26 (inclusive of tax and fees!).
Opening night tickets for Bright Lights, a Comedy is Art event to raise funds to support The Theatre Centre, are $75 and include a partial tax receipt.
Please note: Comedy is Art shows feature mature content (age recommendation 18+), and alcohol will be sold on site.
Our Café/Bar
The Theatre Centre Café/Bar will stay open late all throughout the festival, serving Lost Craft drinks and speciality cocktails. A select menu of delicious baked goods and treats will also be available.
Accessibility
Please note that the second floor spaces at The Theatre Centre will be temporarily accessible via stairs only. Our building is being renovated to support a new accessible lift. This update will help us improve wheelchair access for the building in the long term.
For Media Requests related to Comedy is Art:
Katie Saunoris, KSPR [email protected]
Connect and Share: @thetheatrecentre
The Theatre Centre is a nationally recognized live-arts incubator and community hub. Our mission is to offer a home for creative, cultural and social interactions to invent the future.
We make work that spans disciplines and genres; work that pushes the boundaries of what is considered “art”. Our programming and our role as a community space are inextricably linked. Art is not made in a silo: it is connected to the world around it.