WHAT IS FRESH: NEW COMEDIANS SHOWCASE?

FRESH is my way of paying it forward to the new generation of comedians. When I first started comedy 15 years ago in Alberta, I was fortunate enough to get loads of mentorship as I was learning the craft of standup comedy. Being a smaller town, I had the opportunity to host headliners who came through and performed at the local clubs, showing them around town and spending time with them at meals. I was able to pick their brains and gain knowledge from their valuable industry experience. (Special shoutout to now-deceased Canadian legend Mike McDonald AKA King of Canadian Comedy who really encouraged me early in my career and inspired me to start this show.)

Since moving to Toronto I’ve found that new comedians aren’t getting the same type of mentorship as the city is just too large and performer schedules too busy for the connections to be made between headliners and newbies. Things I was taught early on aren’t at all common knowledge with new comedians here unfortunately at no fault of their own.

So I started FRESH: New Comedians showcase as a way to give newcomers a chance to meet headliners from Toronto and across North America and have an opportunity to ask them questions about their careers and the industry.

Additionally I wanted to use FRESH to give new comedians a chance to perform at iconic venues for the first time such as Cameron House, Rivoli, and of course the AMAZING CBC Glenn Gould Studio (only best of the best FRESH comedians are selected for the once-a-year Best of Fresh gala show at a theatre). Press coverage for the shows also gave FRESH comedians an opportunity to learn about how to market themselves and conduct interviews with news media in Canada. Past FRESH comedians have been featured on CBC’s The National, NOW Magazine, CBC One Radio, CTV’s The Social, National Post, CBC Comedy and more!

I truly believe that the stronger the pipeline of new talent coming up, the better for everyone in the industry.

FRESH SEASON 5 ANNOUNCEMENT – TAKING PLACE WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 10PM AT RIVOLI!

Toronto’s newest comedians make their big-stage debut, now taking place at the iconic Rivoli for the first time ever! Show takes places on Wednesday, July 27, at 10:00 PM immediately following What Up! What Up! Toronto, which will take place earlier in the night.

FRESH show closes with a professional headliner, who will stay after the show for a Q&A session to answer questions about their experiences as a professional comedian. Prominent producers will also be invited to perform and answer questions during the Q&A about how shows are booked and produced.

Season 5 will be recorded using a 5-camera, 7-microphone setup and will be edited in post-production to look like TV series. Footage of the performances are later released as a web series on YouTube including Watch Parties for all episode premieres! Check out footage from previous seasons below. (Season 1 and 2 only used one camera. Season 3 and 4 also uses 5 cameras and you’ll be able to see what that footage looks like once the webisodes release.)

Stage time is limited to 3-to-4 minute sets. Although this may seem short, trust me I was just in Hollywood and all showcases were 3 minutes. In New York City, showcases are 2 minutes. As a new comedian it’s important to get your best material into a condensed period of time that’s as cohesive and sharp as possible before expanding to longer sets.

BEST OF FRESH

At the end of each year, the best of the best performers from FRESH: New Comedians Showcase will be invited for a special gala performance and recording at a proper theatre venue! See footage below of the Fresh Rice special gala performance recorded live at CBC Glenn Gould Studio!

COMEDY MENTORS!

This season’s featured guest headliner Casey Corbin! He’s actually one of my original comedy mentors from when I first started standup comedy and he’s one of the inspirations for starting the FRESH program in the first place!

Your featured guest producer Steven Mann, owner of Mann Casting, one of the biggest casting agencies in Toronto. Definitely someone whose brain you can pick about the television and film industry and who has a wealth of knowledge to share.

Per the submission guidelines below please look them up on their official websites and social media channels and let me know what questions you’d like them to answer during the Q&A as part of your submission. You can also choose to direct your questions about the comedy industry to me.

The quality of the questions will be taken into account when selecting comedians for the show, as we want to help comedians who are thirsting for knowledge about the industry! Questions should be specific to the guest professional comedians as we don’t want to waste their time with generic questions that anyone could answer. Please pay attention to this section of the submission as the Q&A questions are heavily weighted when considering who will make it on to the show.

CASEY CORBIN LINKS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4JpVVVqZVI&ab_channel=WETalentGroup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59l2SytmLEw&ab_channel=CassiusMorrisShow
https://www.instagram.com/caseycorbincomedian/
https://twitter.com/CaseyCorbin
http://funnybusiness.ca/comedians.php?standup=casey-corbin

STEVEN MANN LINKS
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/steven-mann-535b292a
https://www.instagram.com/manncasting/
https://twitter.com/manncasting

MARKETING AND SHOW INVITATIONS

FRESH is NOT a bringer show and there are no minimum tickets sold required. When I moved to Toronto for comedy I had no friends or family here so I would never add bringers as a requirement to get on this show. All I ask is that you try your best to get as many people to come support you as possible.

That said, for a new comedians show realistically the only people who are going to come to see you are your friends and family. For sure I can sell out a show with professional comedians but a general audience is just not going to purchase tickets to see unproven comedians. Additionally, I do not make any profit from this show, as all proceeds go to toward the video production of the multi-camera production (both live event capture and post-production). Generally we need to sell about 80 tickets to break even on the production as most of the equipment is my own and the video crew are volunteers and I understand I will take a loss if we don’t meet this sales target but am willing to invest in the future of comedy.

VOLUNTEERING COMPONENT

All FRESH comedians are required to volunteer at the professional show taking place at Rivoli at 745PM prior to the FRESH showcase. In this month’s case, the professional show is What Up! What Up! Toronto, which is an urban comedy showcase.

The volunteering is meant to be a learning opportunity to understand what goes into the production of a professional show and should also serve as an aspirational showcase of where you should aim to go with your careers in the future. If you do not see the value in this portion of the mentorship then please do not submit. Believe me I can easily find volunteers for my shows given the ticket price there’s enough volunteers just from the pool of people who wanna come to the show at no cost by volunteering.

So the volunteering itself really is a critical component of the learning process of how to become a professional comedian. During FRESH you will transition from volunteer to performers and there will be a new set of volunteers who will come in to take care of your show. Having volunteered earlier in the night will also allow you to understand what roles the new volunteers play in the overall production.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING FRESH COMEDIANS

Multiple criteria are taken into account when deciding who makes it on to the FRESH stage. In rough order of priority here are some of the criteria I’m using to finalize the lineup. Hopefully this will guide you as through the submission process to understand what to focus on.

• Volunteering for Previous Vong Show Production (highest priority for inclusion in this show)
• Quality of the Q&A Question Submitted (very important criteria, specificity of question is important)
• Previously Submitted Unsuccessfully (multiple submissions prioritized over first-time submissions)
• Quality of the Submission (improperly filled out fields or lazily filled out applications de-prioritized)
• Amount of Time Since First Performance (newer comedians are prioritized)

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN THURSDAY, JUNE 30TH

First Name *

Last Name *

Stage Name

How Long Have You Been Performing Standup Comedy? *Fewer Than 3 MonthsFewer Than 6 MonthsLess Than 1 YearLess Than 2 YearsLess Than 3 YearsLess Than 4 YearsLess Than 5 YearsGreater Than 5+ YearsPlease be truthful. Do NOT subtract two years for the pandemic.

Comedy Bio *

Headshot *

Choose FileNo file chosenDelete uploaded file

Performance VideoNot required. I understand you may not have a video yet as a new comedian. But if you have one then provide a link.

Email Address *

Phone Number *

City *

State/Province *

Website

YouTube Channel

Instagram *

Twitter

TikTok

Facebook Page

Selection Criteria

Previous Submissions *This Is My First Time Submitting for FRESHI Have Previously Unsuccessfully Submitted 1xI Have Previously Unsuccessfully Submitted 2xI Have Previously Unsuccessfully Submitted 3xI Have Previously Unsuccessfully Submitted 4xI Have Previously Unsuccessfully Submitted 5xI Have Previously Submitted Successfully and Appeared on FRESH but Would Like to Return to Perform New Material, Especially Because My Show Didn't Include Multi-Cam Taping!Multiple Failed Submissions Prioritized Over First-Time Submissions

Volunteering *I Have Volunteered At A Previous Vong Show Production! You Promised Me I'd Be On The Next Show. Don't Be A Hypocrite Vong! (Please Note Volunteering Gives You Priority But Not Necessarily Will You Be On The Next Show... Sometimes It Takes A Couple Shows To Get You On)I Have Not Volunteered At Your Show Previously But If I'm Not Selected I'd Be Willing To Volunteer This Month To Get Priority For Next Month's ShowI Have Not Volunteered At Your Show Previously And If I'm Not Selected I Unfortunately Would Not Be Available to Volunteer For This Month's ShowThis Is Bullshit! Why Should I Have To Volunteer to Get On Your Dumb Show!

Question for Professional Headliner & Producer *

Content Ownership *

I own rights to all content I'll be performing or I'll provide written statements from my record label (or other third parties with ownership/distribution rights) authorizing full release to perform this material and distribution of its recorded versions across all applicable platforms including but not limited to YouTube

YouTube Release *

I understand the content recorded at FRESH will be released as a web series on YouTube and that I am giving my permission to release the performance on that platform

Time Required on Show Day *

I understand I am expected to be at the Rivoli venue for 6PM volunteers meeting and understand the show and Q&A sometimes don't end until 1AM and I pledge by submitting that I am available for the entirety of the show

Marketing and Show Invitations *

I understand that although this show is not a bringer and has no minimum invitees that I will try my best to get people to come to the show because I know that a general audience will not pay to see unproven comedians and realistically only friends and family will make up the majority of the audience

Submit

PURCHASE TICKETS FOR FRESH SEASON 4

NEW COMEDIANS LINEUP ANNOUNCED! Sidney Cummings, Bryan Johnston, Sarah Boston, Justin Subryan, Ruth Miller, Mickey Dykeman, Gerald Yeung, Louis Brady, Tavis Aikman, Shaharah Gaznabbi, Michael Carnevale, Kenzie Nelligan!

WHAT IS FRESH: NEW COMEDIANS SHOWCASE?

FRESH is my way of paying it forward to the new generation of comedians. When I first started comedy 15 years ago in Alberta, I was fortunate enough to get loads of mentorship as I was learning the craft of standup comedy. Being a smaller town, I had the opportunity to host headliners who came through and performed at the local clubs, showing them around town and spending time with them at meals. I was able to pick their brains and gain knowledge from their valuable industry experience. (Special shoutout to now-deceased Canadian legend Mike McDonald AKA King of Canadian Comedy who really encouraged me early in my career and inspired me to start this show.)

Since moving to Toronto I’ve found that new comedians aren’t getting the same type of mentorship as the city is just too large and performer schedules too busy for the connections to be made between headliners and newbies. Things I was taught early on aren’t at all common knowledge with new comedians here unfortunately at no fault of their own.

So I started FRESH: New Comedians showcase as a way to give newcomers a chance to meet headliners from Toronto and across North America and have an opportunity to ask them questions about their careers and the industry.

Additionally I wanted to use FRESH to give new comedians a chance to perform at iconic venues for the first time such as Cameron House, Rivoli, and of course the AMAZING CBC Glenn Gould Studio (only best of the best FRESH comedians are selected for the once-a-year Best of Fresh gala show at a theatre). Press coverage for the shows also gave FRESH comedians an opportunity to learn about how to market themselves and conduct interviews with news media in Canada. Past FRESH comedians have been featured on CBC’s The National, NOW Magazine, CBC One Radio, CTV’s The Social, National Post, CBC Comedy and more!

I truly believe that the stronger the pipeline of new talent coming up, the better for everyone in the industry.

FRESH SEASON 4 ANNOUNCEMENT – TAKING PLACE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 10PM AT RIVOLI!

Toronto’s newest comedians make their big-stage debut, now taking place at the iconic Rivoli for the first time ever! Show takes places on Wednesday, June 22, at 10:00 PM immediately following FRUIT: Queer Comedy Showcase which will take place earlier in the night.

FRESH show closes with a professional headliner, who will stay after the show for a Q&A session to answer questions about their experiences as a professional comedian. Prominent producers will also be invited to perform and answer questions during the Q&A about how shows are booked and produced.

Season 4 will be recorded using a 5-camera, 7-microphone setup and will be edited in post-production to look like TV series. Footage of the performances are later released as a web series on YouTube including Watch Parties for all episode premieres! Check out footage from previous seasons below. (Season 1 and 2 only used one camera. Season 3 also uses 5 cameras and you’ll be able to see what that footage looks like once the webisodes release.)

Stage time is limited to 3-to-4 minute sets. Although this may seem short, trust me I was just in Hollywood and all showcases were 3 minutes. In New York City, showcases are 2 minutes. As a new comedian it’s important to get your best material into a condensed period of time that’s as cohesive and sharp as possible before expanding to longer sets.

BEST OF FRESH

At the end of each year, the best of the best performers from FRESH: New Comedians Showcase will be invited for a special gala performance and recording at a proper theatre venue! See footage below of the Fresh Rice special gala performance recorded live at CBC Glenn Gould Studio!

COMEDY MENTORS!

This season’s featured guest headliner is the one and only Martha Chaves, who is someone I greatly look up to and a great mentor for young comedians!

Your featured guest producer is Canadian Comedy Award winner Robert Watson, creator of the hugely successful Gay AF series of comedy shows at various venues around Toronto including Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Comedy Bar, and the historic Campbell House Museum!

Per the submission guidelines below please look them up on their official websites and social media channels and let me know what questions you’d like them to answer during the Q&A as part of your submission. You can also choose to direct your questions about the comedy industry to me.

The quality of the questions will be taken into account when selecting comedians for the show, as we want to help comedians who are thirsting for knowledge about the industry! Questions should be specific to the guest professional comedians as we don’t want to waste their time with generic questions that anyone could answer. Please pay attention to this section of the submission as the Q&A questions are heavily weighted when considering who will make it on to the show.

MARTHA CHAVES VIDEO LINKS
https://vimeo.com/446235765/47122bb3e4?fbclid=IwAR1c46Ge3pemNq7QZYrEGDTsWsgVBfuq3TINxKeiT0cvmi_lI5BgHdOk_ug
https://vimeo.com/307379407/553e0413fb?fbclid=IwAR0rH3dwJrDlwKDpl8QLNd8k0d55gNZQQ08_DChgmMzINc34Mbnsw7uxEsU
https://vimeo.com/446235766/72c868ecc0?fbclid=IwAR1wdzQzh0zAwYVrsKFZyJTODj5gL6WwVUwuDsGvuiaKSSOlP8JhIAHkMFM

ROBERT WATSON VIDEO LINK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJ9T2ENSYo&t=7s&ab_channel=FRUIT%3AQueerComedyShowcase

MARKETING AND SHOW INVITATIONS

FRESH is NOT a bringer show and there are no minimum tickets sold required. When I moved to Toronto for comedy I had no friends or family here so I would never add bringers as a requirement to get on this show. All I ask is that you try your best to get as many people to come support you as possible.

That said, for a new comedians show realistically the only people who are going to come to see you are your friends and family. For sure I can sell out a show with professional comedians but a general audience is just not going to purchase tickets to see unproven comedians. Additionally, I do not make any profit from this show, as all proceeds go to toward the video production of the multi-camera production (both live event capture and post-production). Generally we need to sell about 80 tickets to break even on the production as most of the equipment is my own and the video crew are volunteers and I understand I will take a loss if we don’t meet this sales target but am willing to invest in the future of comedy.

VOLUNTEERING COMPONENT

All FRESH comedians are required to volunteer at the professional show taking place at Rivoli at 745PM prior to the FRESH showcase. In this month’s case, the professional show is FRUIT: Queer Comedy Showcase.

The volunteering is meant to be a learning opportunity to understand what goes into the production of a professional show and should also serve as an aspirational showcase of where you should aim to go with your careers in the future. If you do not see the value in this portion of the mentorship then please do not submit. Believe me I can easily find volunteers for my shows given the ticket price there’s enough volunteers just from the pool of people who wanna come to the show at no cost by volunteering.

So the volunteering itself really is a critical component of the learning process of how to become a professional comedian. During FRESH you will transition from volunteer to performers and there will be a new set of volunteers who will come in to take care of your show. Having volunteered earlier in the night will also allow you to understand what roles the new volunteers play in the overall production.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING FRESH COMEDIANS

Multiple criteria are taken into account when deciding who makes it on to the FRESH stage. In rough order of priority here are some of the criteria I’m using to finalize the lineup. Hopefully this will guide you as through the submission process to understand what to focus on.

• Volunteering for Previous Vong Show Production (highest priority for inclusion in this show)
• Quality of the Q&A Question Submitted (very important criteria, specificity of question is important)
• Previously Submitted Unsuccessfully (multiple submissions prioritized over first-time submissions)
• Quality of the Submission (improperly filled out fields or lazily filled out applications de-prioritized)
• Amount of Time Since First Performance (newer comedians are prioritized)

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN UNTIL SUNDAY, JUNE 5 (NOW CLOSED)

Submissions for FRESH: New Comedians Showcase Season 4 are now closed. Stay tuned for more information regarding submissions for next month’s show.

ANNOUNCING NEW COMEDIANS LINEUP!

FRESH: New Comedians Showcase returns for Season 3 with a whole new crop of comedians: Abhi Pamnani, Amy Smith, Amy Yu, Emilie Wilkinson, Katie Chin, Matthew Ardill, Moira LePage, Sahil Israni, Sebastian Fazio, Simon Capobianco.

For the first time ever, FRESH takes place at the iconic Rivoli! All performances will be filmed with a multi-cam and microphone setup! Best performances will be selected to take part in Best of Fresh filming later in 2022 at Paradise Theatre!

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!

WHAT IS FRESH: NEW COMEDIANS SHOWCASE?

FRESH is my way of paying it forward to the new generation of comedians. When I first started comedy 15 years ago in Alberta, I was fortunate enough to get loads of mentorship as I was learning the craft of standup comedy. Being a smaller town, I had the opportunity to host headliners who came through and performed at the local clubs, showing them around town and spending time with them at meals. I was able to pick their brains and gain knowledge from their valuable industry experience. (Special shoutout to now-deceased Canadian legend Mike McDonald AKA King of Canadian Comedy who really encouraged me early in my career and inspired me to start this show.)

Since moving to Toronto I’ve found that new comedians aren’t getting the same type of mentorship as the city is just too large and performer schedules too busy for the connections to be made between headliners and newbies. Things I was taught early on aren’t at all common knowledge with new comedians here unfortunately at no fault of their own.

So I started FRESH: New Comedians showcase as a way to give newcomers a chance to meet headliners from Toronto and across North America and have an opportunity to ask them questions about their careers and the industry.

Additionally I wanted to use FRESH to give new comedians a chance to perform at iconic venues for the first time such as Cameron House, Rivoli, and of course the AMAZING CBC Glenn Gould Studio (only best of the best FRESH comedians are selected for the once-a-year Best of Fresh gala show at a theatre). Press coverage for the shows also gave FRESH comedians an opportunity to learn about how to market themselves and conduct interviews with news media in Canada. Past FRESH comedians have been featured on CBC’s The National, NOW Magazine, CBC One Radio, CTV’s The Social, National Post, CBC Comedy and more!

I truly believe that the stronger the pipeline of new talent coming up, the better for everyone in the industry.

FRESH SEASON 3 ANNOUNCEMENT – TAKING PLACE WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 10PM AT RIVOLI!

Toronto’s newest comedians make their big-stage debut, now taking place at the iconic Rivoli for the first time ever! Show takes places on Wednesday, May 25, at 10:00 PM immediately following RICE: Asian Comedy Showcase which will take place earlier in the night.

FRESH show closes with a professional headliner, who will stay after the show for a Q&A session to answer questions about their experiences as a professional comedian. Prominent producers will also be invited to perform and answer questions during the Q&A about how shows are booked and produced.

Footage of the performances are later released as a web series on YouTube including Watch Parties for all episode premieres! Check out footage from previous seasons below. New to Season 3 we will now be using a multi-camera setup and the top comedians’ footage will be edited to look more like a TV special.

BEST OF FRESH

At the end of each year, the best of the best performers from FRESH: New Comedians Showcase will be invited for a special gala performance and recording at a proper theatre venue! See footage below of the Fresh Rice special gala performance recorded live at CBC Glenn Gould Studio!

FEATURED COMEDIANS

This season’s featured professional comedian is Angela Kimmel who is flying all the way from Atlanta PLUS special guest Ricky Sim from New York City! Per the submission guidelines below please look them up on their official websites and social media channels listed below and let me know what questions you’d like them to answer during the Q&A as part of your submission. You can also choose to direct your questions to me. The quality of the questions will be taken into account when selecting comedians for the show, as we want to help comedians who are thirsting for knowledge about the industry!

ANGELA’S LINKS
https://www.instagram.com/angelathecomic/
https://www.facebook.com/AngelaTheComic/
https://twitter.com/angelathecomic

RICKY SIM’S LINKS
https://www.rickysim.com/
https://twitter.com/rickysim7
https://www.instagram.com/rickysimnyc/