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/