MTL SKETCHFEST WITH CARMINA BERBARI DAOU (MONTREAL), ISAAC KESSLER (MONTREAL), BURNT TOAST (NYC), & ANDERS YATES (TORONTO)

Anders Yates is a solo sketch comedian originally from Montreal who now lives in Toronto but simply can’t stop coming back to Montreal every single chance he can get. Winner of the Montreal Sketchfest’s Best of the Fest Award, Anders has been hailed as “One of Toronto’s very best comedy performers, […] Yates is as surefire as it comes!” (My Entertainment World). His comedy career stretches all the way back to the early 2000s as a co-founder of the legendary improv and sketch comedy troupe Uncalled For, and later as an original member of the wildly successful comedy/dance troupe Dance Animal. Anders has since been a cast member in the Second City’s National Touring Company and was a frequent contributor to the satirical newspaper The Beaverton. His performance in the horror/comedy short Bath Bomb garnered numerous award nominations across the festival circuit, and he can (briefly) be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. This year, Anders brings a collection of his favourite sketches from across his catalogue, a mix of old and new. He promises that no matter what, the show will be very stupid and very gay.

CARMINA BERBARI DAOU (MONTREAL)

Carmina Berbari Daou (she/her) is a Lebanese comedian based in Montreal and Toronto. She co-founded @montreal.indie.comedy (former home of Cult Mtl’s #1 comedy show The Poly Mic) and joined the @ladyfestmtl production team this fall for their 10th anniversary.

Carmina is known for being “your favourite comedian’s favourite comedian” (literally, ask them), her love of producing Late Night inspired shows and most importantly being Gen-Z. She’s deadpan, she’s pansexual and she’s horrible at puns (not a punsexual) but somehow came 2nd place at New York Comedy Fest’s pun competition.

You’ve seen her at Just for Laughs, New York Comedy Fest, Vermont Comedy Fest, Haha Harvest, Montreal Sketchfest, Montreal Fringe, Montreal Commicon, Winterlewd, Hysterire, Minifest and The Gong Show.

ISAAC KESSLER (MONTREAL)

Le Petit Juif: An Isaac Kessler W.I.P.

My father once told me that Life is but a walking shadow and/or a Work In Progress.

I took this to heart; and so, mon ami, I invite you to join me as I strut and fret my 10 minutes upon the stage until I am heard no more – or until the host comes back out.

I will regale you with tales told by an idiot, full of sound (effects) and fury, and probably also try out some bouffon bits.

As the Bard once said: “Watch me W.I.P. Now watch me. Nay, nay!”

Isaac Kessler has been “in” comedy for 20 years. He’s a 4-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee, and one half of the award-winning 2-MAN NO-SHOW alongside Ken Hall. He directed five award-winning Clown/Bouffon shows. His solo show 1-MAN NO-SHOW, directed by Gordon Neill, has won awards too: Artists’ Pick – Edmonton Fringe / Artists’ Encore – Cincinnati Fringe / Best of Fest & Best Specialty Solo Show – 2025 Orlando Fringe.

Check out 1-MAN NO-SHOW at this year’s Montreal Fringe Festival at Petit Campus!

“You can’t make Art without #awards.” – Oscar Wilde

BURNT TOAST (NYC)

Burnt Toast Sketch Show is a high-octane, fourth-wall breaking, absurdist take on sketch comedy, specializing in high-energy scenes that commit to the bit. We’re talking props, we’re talking sound effects, we’re talking fake blood capsules and covering a woman in actual grocery-store sushi. And we ALWAYS have a musical number. Our act tends to hit you hard and fast, so our hour-long shows usually have between 20-30 sketches in them (but we’ve done nearly 40). That’s damn near a sketch a minute! We also like to get the audience in on the fun by having them read the title of each sketch out loud. Sometimes, the titles are the best part! Behind the scenes, we start our writing process by doing improv, and then we take the best, weirdest, most out-of-the-box ideas from our jams and refine them until they are fully-written sketches. We do topical, we do timeless, we do clownish nonsense — we do it all!