Tag Archives: Luke Lynndale

DANFORTH COMEDY FESTIVAL CLOSING NIGHT’S SHOW ROCKED THE DON ON DANFORTH THEATRE.

So that just happened….2 weekends of laughter courtesy of the first annual Danforth Comedy Festival. Five nights of humour across three venues along Toronto’s legendary Danforth Ave or Greektown as most people know it. This weekend is Taste of the Danforth food festival and many of last night’s audience arrived after enjoying tasty Greek treats…so full tummies are happy tummies and the near-capacity audience at The Don on Danforth theatre (near Main St subway) worked off the calories by laughing hard in their seats.

The show got off to an amazing start when tiny perfect MC Angelina Maiorano-Thurston (pictured below) bounced on stage. Her diminutive size disguises her BIG presence and salty sense of humour. Her high-pitched voice was perfect for delivering some pretty naughty commentary and spritzing with the audience.The first comic in the night’s line-up was Anthony Englebrecht who got to know the audience with shout outs to various people sitting in the front rows. He also shared stories of dating and romance and how well (or not) he does when chatting up the ladies, many of whom in the audience seemed to respond to him! Their dates were laughing along, obviously relating to his romance insights.Next up was Luke Lynndale, not just an accomplished stand-up comic but also the Founder and producer of the Festival. He shared his stories about how he proposed to his wife after several interrupted attempts, and his two recent colonoscopies. The audience was writhing in hysterics as well as the discomfort of the surgical procedures!Angelina then intro’d the fabulous Frank Spadone (below) who took the stage with high energy and a big cheer from the crowd – Frank must have brought his entire family! He launched into tales of his wife’s evening ablutions and how she plans for vacations and hotel bookings. He ended his set with hilarious insights into his aged Italian nona’s (grandma’s) family relationships and behaviour. Made me wish I had a nona, too!Then Angelina announced the final comedian for the night, Sean Cullen. Most Canadian comedy fans know that name – Sean is a triple Gemini & Canadian Comedy Award winner and has made multiple appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS’s The Late Late Show. He also has several TV specials including Comedy Central Presents, Comedy Now and was a finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing.So that was it…good night, go home!Congrats to Luke and his team of Festival volunteers- I’m sure he’s already planning next year’s Festival….see you then.

Follow the comedians for performance updates, and news of the 2024 Festival on Instagram:
@danforthcomedyfestival
@angelinadeepvoicemama
@anthonyenglebrecht
@lukelynndale
@frankspadone
@seancullenismyname

MORE LAUGHS at DANFORTH COMEDY FESTIVAL

Last night, Friday, Comedy Nuggets presented the 2nd last night of stand-up comedy at the DANFORTH COMEDY FESTIVAL with a line-up of engaging and entertaining comedians, hosted by Anasimone George (below) who kept the audience energized and ready to laugh.She first introduced Dimi Kolovopoulos (below) who bounded on stage and kept the audience revved up throughout his set. Having Greek heritage, Dimi was the ideal entertainer on the night – it was opening night for Taste of the Danforth down on the street. Opa!Anasimone then into’d Sai Kit whose quiet, shy on-stage persona disguised his biting commentary on his family’s immigrant experience and growing up slightly disadvantaged when relating to the ladies!Next on the bill was a Brit comedian David Green (below) who truly embraced the power of the pun. Those of you of a certain age with a UK heritage would surely recognize the machine-gun joke delivery of the late comic legend Tommy Cooper. I laughed so hard – I wanna see more of David.Canada’s Got Talent alum Cathy Boyd was up next, sharing her thoughts on parenting four kids (apparently she would have been happy with just the first 3) and trying to make Howie Mandel laugh! The audience loved her dry, slow burn delivery.Festival Founder and stand-up comic Luke Lynndale was up next and he ramped up the energy in the room with his fast-paced observational comedy, esp. his thoughts on childbirth….his delivery room experiences with his first child made for some funny material!The final comedian/headliner was Nile Seguin (below) whose killer set ended the night on a high note. An admitted “weirdo” and nerd, Nile is a veteran of the comedy fest circuit having performed across Canada and the U.S. as well as being an accomplished TV writer (he was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his writing on CBC’s “Still Standing” one of my fave Canadian shows).So there’s one more night & two shows left for the inaugural Danforth Comedy Festival. The Don on the Danforth (near the Main subway stn) plays host to both shows and there are still some tickets left. Check out info and tkts at: www.danforthcomedyfestival.com. Hope to see you there.
Follow and support these talented comedians via their social media (Instagram):
@scamasimone (your host)
@spit_bandit (Dimi)
@side_kick_comedy (Sai)
@davidgreencomic
@can_am_cathy
@comedynuggets (Luke)
@neil_seguin
@danforthcomedyfestival

DANFORTH COMEDY FESTIVAL – NIGHT 2

Saturday night and another great line-up of comedy, this time at the Comedy Bar on the Danforth, near Victoria Park. It was nearly a full house for the second night of the brand new Danforth Comedy Festival and I was thrilled to be introduced to headliner Nathan Macintosh who blew the roof off the place!

First off, MC Azfar Ali (below) warmed up the already pumped crowd, spritzing with several individuals who were very into the show. He set the tone perfectly for all the comics and maintained the high-energy in the room throughout the entire night.Azfar first intro’d Simone Holder (below) who I had seen the previous night at a different venue. She did not disappoint, unleashing a series of stories on being a “lady of a certain age”, sex and life seen thru the eyes of being single. Simone rocked it!Then Akeem Hoyte-Charles (below) took the stage – well, he actually “took” the room. His fast-fire commentary on being the best boyfriend in the world had the ladies swooning and the guys a little nervous…LOL. Imagine Kevin Hart meets Eddie Murphy and you get the idea how talented this guy is.Next up, Luke Lynndale (below) who had the crowd laughing in recognition when discussing the pro’s and con’s of supermarket self check-outs and the dilemma of shopping when there are no carts available. And his bit on socializing in the dog park, well…if you have a dog, you’ll understand completely.Then came the big guy! Nathan Macintosh knocked it out of the park. It’s been a long time since I enjoyed a stand-up’s set so much, applauding and cheering, begging for an encore. Nathan is the real thing. I ran Yuk Yuk’s Komedy Klub back in the 80s and always loved discovering brilliant comedic talents over the years, and seeing Nathan headline was like the first time watching the acerbic delivery of New Yorker Ritch Shydner (true comedy fans should recognize that name).

Tonight, Sunday Aug.6 I’m heading back to the Comedy Bar to see another cool line-up with headliner Efthimios Nasiopoulos – perfect for Greektown! Hope to see you there.

For show line-ups, dates & times, visit: www.danforthcomedyfestival.com
Follow your favourite comedians via Instagram:
@nathanmacintosh
@adventures_of_azfar
@_simonecomedy_
@akeemgramz
@lukelynndale
@comedynuggets

DANFORTH COMEDY FESTIVAL LAUNCHES WITH A GREAT NIGHT OF LAUGHS

Last night (Fri. Aug. 4) the first annual Danforth Comedy Festival (Aug 4-6 & 11-12) launched with two rockin’ shows at Socap Comedy Theatre (Danforth & Broadview) and Comedy Bar (Danforth & Main). I attended the Socap showcase featuring some of the funniest stand-up comics I’d seen in years. The fest’s first showcase “The Best Stand-up Comedy Show” was MC’d by Max Ross (pictured below) who grabbed the audience from the get-go with his observational humour, and kept the show running smoothly throughout the night.Max intro’d the first act, Vishal Ramesh (pictured below), whose understated personal reflections on the immigrant life had the crowd laughing and nodding in agreement as they recognized versions of themselves.I was looking forward to seeing Simone Holder (pictured below), who won last year’s “Prove You’re a Comic” contest. The audience loved her and it didn’t hurt that she had a slew of fans who came out to support her. Simone was a hard act to follow but Sandra Battaglini (below) proved unstoppable, the audience was almost in tears with her high-energy, quick fire comic jabs. Made me wish I was Italian, too!After Sandra, it was Glen Foster‘s turn to light a fire under the audience seats. He ignited a slow burn, taking the predominantly 20 to 30-something audience through the “wonderful world of wokeness” sharing his views on life and culture from a decidedly mature POV.Mary Kennedy (below) then took over the stage and she killed it. A professional comic for over 23 years, you may have seen her acting on tv, film or theatre, too. Originally from Boston, she just flew in from LA for the festival.MC Max kept the energy high throughout the night, introducing the final comedian with flair and a flourish – the handsome Akeem Hoyte-Charles (below) who many recognized from his appearances at Just For Laughs. Born in Montreal on Valentine’s Day, the audience gladly showed the love to Akeem as he closed out the night.And if that wasn’t a hot enough line-up, Festival founder and established stand-up Luke Lynndale himself dropped in for a killer, energy-filled set mid-show, thanking the audience for their support. Bravo, Luke, and congrats on launching the festival with a bang!So that was last night’s show…tonight I’m off to the Comedy Bar at 2800 Danforth (just E of Main) to see another great line-up featuring Nathan MacIntosh…see you there.Details of shows, tickets, directions: www.danforthcomedyfestival.com
Follow all the comedians on Instagram: @maxrosscomedy @vishalanegondyramesh @_simonecomedy_ @sandrabattaglini @fosterfunnycomedy @mkennedycomedy @akeemgramz @lukelynndale @comedynuggets @danforthcomedyfestival

MEET LUKE LYNNDALE, A REAL STAND-UP GUY & FOUNDER OF THE DANFORTH COMEDY FESTIVAL

Thanks to an introduction from “That Canadian Guy” comedian Glen Foster, I recently connected with LUKE LYNNDALE, a fellow stand-up comic and the Founder of a brand new comedy festival taking place over 2 weekends next month (Aug.) on Danforth Avenue in Toronto’s Greektown.

The Danforth Comedy Festival line-up of exciting and hilarious comedians includes many who you might have seen on Canada’s Got Talent, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Conan, Comedy Central, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as Just for Laughs, Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Halifax Comedy Festival, CTV Comedy Channel, and CBC Comedy. See full line-up, shows dates and times at www.danforthcomedyfestival.com I recently spoke with Luke to learn about his roots in the comedy scene, his Comedy Nuggets comedy agency and, of course, this inaugural laugh fest spanning two weekends in August….

What first drew you to a career in comedy? Did you start off studying to become a medical professional, accountant, stockbroker, auto mechanic? My father was a professor at McGill University in Montreal and saw a posting for a comedy competition. I went and won $50. I was hooked! In university, I studied mathematics but I didn’t have any specific direction. Later, I did lots of work as a digital product manager.

You first worked as an improviser – what propelled you into stand-up comedy? Well, actually, I started in standup. In Montreal, I did standup for two years before moving to Toronto to take courses at The Second City. Then, I did both for two years before taking a long break from comedy. I started back doing improv in 2010 and standup back in 2017.

How did you become a finalist in 2020’s Comedian of the North competition? And what is that contest all about? I first competed in the Comedian of the North competition in 2019, when I didn’t place. I went back in 2020, and finished third. The competition is in Thunder Bay, ON. It no longer runs but was produced by Incidents Comedy – Miki Hughes and Carole Cunningham.You’ve worked in the States in festival and club environments – how do US audiences differ from Canadian ones? For me, I haven’t found many differences at all. My material isn’t Canada-specific, except for one or two, so most of material works well in either country.

You created Comedy Nuggets, an agency/promoter securing gigs in clubs and corporate venues for fellow comics, and most recently founded the Danforth Comedy Festival here in Toronto that launches August 4^th and runs for 2 weekends. What drives Luke to succeed in such a capricious business? First, I want a great show for both performers and audience. I’m a performer first, so I want there to be lots of audience and good audience – those ready to laugh and looking for a good time. This inaugural Danforth Comedy Festival means lots of balls in the air…how good a juggler are you? In my corporate life, I worked at times as a project manager. So, juggling and prioritizing are strengths. I don’t get stressed. I do my best, make decisions and go with it.Who are the comedians (or shows) we should look out for at the Fest? Any improvisers or stand-ups we’ve never seen before but should? This is a loaded question because they should all be seen or else they wouldn’t be in the festival. Some of our headliners are Nathan Macintosh, who is a Canadian living in New York City, has been on late night TV. He’s a favorite in Toronto. We have two Greek headliners – Efthimios Nasiopoulos and Manolis Zantonos, both hilarious and must-see. We also have Rob Haze – one to watch. On the improv front, we have HERE: The (Improvised) Musical. They are a duo from Columbus, OH – Tara DeFrancisco Rance Rizzutto, ask the audience for suggestions and then create a 45 minute musical, all improvised.

For all details, venues and ticket information, log onto www.danforthcomedyfestival.com and follow the Fest on Instagram @danforthcomedyfestival or Facebook.com/danforthcomedyfestival