Toronto Fringe Review: Try-Racial A Sketch Comedy Experience

Structured around a fictional TV show called “The Try-Racial Zone” (parodying The Twilight Zone), and its accompanying commercials, local troupe Try-Racial bring their sketch show to Fringe. The revue lampoons contemporary reflections on race with the troupe’s friendship as a backdrop. 

Try-Racial (Derek Kalala, John Taylor, Vivek Srikanthan) satirize several phenomena like racial stereotyping, code switching, family dynamics among different cultures, white people being obtuse about racism, etc. 

I think one of the strongest elements of this show is that it effectively conveys how BIPOC experience racism differently across cultures and ethnicities. Specifically, a few of the sketches demonstrate the differences between diasporic Black and South Asian people. These sketches chip away at the assumption that BIPOC are a monolith. 

I also appreciated some of the Toronto-based references in the commercial breaks. 

I think this show has great potential, but generally feels half-baked. Some of the strongest sketches were the “black out” ones that relied on a simple premise and singular joke. I found that the longer sketches often overused a premise. 

I’m not familiar with the three individual comedians’ work, but based on the performance I saw, I believe they all have room to improve with additional acting training. I would have loved to see them commit to their characters with greater sincerity. I did see the opening show, so their remaining shows may feel more polished. 

I believe the bigger topics they explored are important, but many of the actual jokes felt a bit tired. Of note, there were one or two jokes making light of sexual violence that were enough to make me feel turned off.  

Nevertheless, I still appreciate Try-Racial’s vision and remain interested to see their future shows. 

Try-Racial A Sketch Comedy Experience is on now until July 15 as part of Toronto Fringe. Tickets and show times here.