Five Solo Sketch Shows You Do Not Want To Miss
(Top) Corin Wells, D.J. Mausner (Bottom) Sarah Smallwood Parsons, Donald Chang, Craig Scorgie
There are many aspects of social culture that we’re all missing right now, and the experience I’m missing most involves dozens of good-hearted misfits watching their weirdest friends don homemade costumes and venture onstage alone to show what the inside of their brain truly looks like . . . otherwise known as indie solo sketch comedy.
Sure, there’s tons of polished comedy content available, but what my heart aches for is that grungy D.I.Y. spirit and the unwavering, slightly manic audience support at 11pm on a Tuesday. Luckily, there is an abundance of live recordings available on YouTube to help tide us over, until we can all cheers our domestic tall cans in basement theatres once more.
Sarah Smallwood Parsons - “Woman With a Tit Out”
The Characters Welcome showcase at the recently shuttered UCB New York is a goldmine for hilarious solo sketch comedy, (hence why it makes many appearances on this list) and its director, Sarah Smallwood Parsons, is one of its most prolific stars. Her solo material is daring, sharp as a tack, and funny as hell. Though she has no shortage of hits, Woman With a Tit Out is a particularly divine blend of light, dark, smart, dumb, high status and bouffon.
Corin Wells - “The Valedictorian from a Slasher Movie”
Corin Wells is a master of creating hilarious premises, and then heightening them way further than one could anticipate. This is why I can tell you that The Valedictorian from a Slasher Movie is about a mediocre student becoming Valedictorian purely due to the rest of her classmates being massacred by the killer from a teen horror flick, and I still haven’t “ruined” anything because that is simply where the sketch begins, before escalating into delightfully macabre madness.
Craig Scorgie is a Growing Boy
In his first solo show, Toronto sketch darling Craig Scorgie manages to take seemingly non-sequitur sketches, and turn them into a cohesive half-hour that resonates throughout with the relatable theme of yearning to be accepted, injecting his characters with so much heart that you can’t help but root for them. The show is a pleasure to watch in its entirety, but if you’re strapped for time, don’t miss ABC Foods Commercial (03:52) or The Sandman (14:42).
Donald Chang - “What Your Reflection Thinks”
Actor/writer/comedian and host of the monthly variety show Asian AF, Donald Chang is an undeniably charming presence on the UCB NY stage. In What Your Reflection Thinks, Chang masterfully wields his likeability as a tool to take the audience right to the very edge of their comfort zone in a sketch that masterfully walks the tightrope between comedy and drama, and gets darker than many comedians would have the courage to attempt, let alone to successfully pull off.
D.J. Mausner - “Lil Orphan Annie”
Thank goodness for D.J. Mausner, the beloved comedic powerhouse of the Canadian sketch and stand up scene. She can be found writing for Baroness Von Sketch, collecting accolades and publicly demanding accountability from major comedy institutions in handling sexual harassment claims. (successfully, I might add- read her bio!) But when she has a spare moment, she’s shedding light on the likely reality of how Orphan Annie survived in the orphanage.
