What do you get when you mix hundreds of aspiring local comedians with the bloodthirsty tactics of a high-stakes match? The answer: the Toronto Comedy Brawl, an amateur stand up competition, now in it’s fourth year and founded by Toronto comedy mentor Ian Atlas.

With a box office full of remakes and, more often, regrets, it’s easy to write off the modern movie-going experience as mindless commercialism. The people behind the Canadian Film Fest, however, have big hopes for the big screen. Traditionally, it’s not everyday that a unique Canadian perspective or experience is portrayed in the typical blockbuster. While that is unlikely to ever be the case, the CCF hopes to raise the profile of indie productions, and inspire the nation’s filmmakers.

When taken separately, sweet vocals, a strong guitar, and the occasional old school back-up chorus are all familiar musical concepts. But when they are done just right, they form a wonderful structure that serves as a strong foundation for an entire album. British singer Michael Kiwanuka’s debut album, Home Again, is just such an album. At the centre is a mellow, smooth voice that is at times able to take on the gravelly, deep timbres of Bill Withers, and at other times make the listener think of the light-as-air, technically intricate vocal stylings of Sam Cooke. Luckily, Kiwanuka has a voice that cannot be directly compared to any one singer, and his guitar-playing talent gives him a leg-up over single-threat crooners.

In between midterms, essays, and anticipatory anxiety about exams, it can be tough to find time to laugh--let alone to invest hours into making other people do so. The students involved in Sketch Comedy U of T, St. Michael’s College Improv, and U of T Improv, however, find the time, inspiration, and skill to do just that.

Aries
March 21 - April 19
You’re confusing your caffeine fix with your gambling addiction, Aries. Lay off the Timmie’s and grab some Guinness.

You are probably prejudiced. But hey, so is everyone -- and we might not even know how or why. The only way to find out, according to the Living Library Project, is to “meet our prejudice” face-to-face in the form of borrowing “books” -- human books.

With the exception of a few classics, it’s easy to pigeon-hole “country” music as evoking images of broke-down pick up trucks, line-dancing and excessive consumption of cheap alcohol. What a difference an “alt-” can make. Alt-country septuplet The Strumbellas take the storytelling methods and melodies of the classic country song, and complicate it with layered harmonies, and gut-wrenching lyrics.

Toronto is not a city short on theatrical offerings, nor is the University of Toronto community wanting when it comes to the quality of college productions. But the Festival of Original Theatre (FOOT) exposes a side of artistic life on campus that is just a bit more unorthodox than classic productions of Shakespeare or Sondheim.