Spotlight at The Second City: September Review

September’s Spotlight at The Second City, a monthly showcase of “the best in Toronto sketch comedy” hosted by Taylor Hreljac and Gabe Meacher, featured sketch ensembles Brain Frogs and The Midnight Snacks. 

I’m not sure who’s in charge of the pre-show music at The Second City, but it might have been me in high school. I heard Mariana’s Trench, Cage the Elephant, and Panic! At the Disco. Not to mention, the hosts had made EDM remixes and had the audience vote on which one should be the theme song for Spotlight. One of them was a remix of Rebecca Black’s Friday.

Nostalgia sufficiently boosted, the show opened with Brain Frogs, the smaller of the two groups, comprising of Pov Minhas, Maddy Atamanchuk, and Jim Temple. They started the show by encouraging the audience to vote for one of them for sketch “valedictorian”, though I think the results were perhaps predetermined for the sake of the bit. Nevertheless, their campaign videos played during the interstitials between sketches, with bright graphics and playfully misaligned text.

The performers had the chemistry of a trio of close friends, and many of their sketches made use of each of their unique personalities and attributes. The first sketch featured a classic noir scene where Temple played a white detective whose thoughts have an Indian accent, voiced by Minhas, due to his love of Bollywood movies. Atamanchuk told the horrifying story of a Menstrual Fairy. Probably the most memorable example was the sketch where Temple, who has ginger hair, wore a shirt with big holes cut out of the chest, because Canada Dry “milks” him for the ginger they use in their ginger ale.

Brain Frogs’ sketches were absurd, silly, and played skillfully with expectations. They toed the line between funny and awkward expertly.

The Midnight Snacks had a whole slew of performers, which created great variety in their sketches. The way they embodied their different characters was really strong and compelling; no two sketches felt the same. They had great energy and pacing as well, some sketches only needing seconds to land their joke and move on. Other sketches were longer and more involved, like the one about a Rogers call centre representative (Jazmine Campanale) trying to hide from the caller that she is currently driving to pick up her kid from school.

The bigger group also allowed them to fill out the stage more than you usually see in sketch comedy. For example, during the sketch about a couple on a first date at a jazz club, they had the other performers sitting at the other tables in the club. The crowd added both realism and comedy with their reactions to the couple.

They also used the lighting to great effect, particularly in the sketch about a woman recounting her traumatic trip to Costco to her partner, with a spotlight narrowing in on her as the rest of the stage grows red, underscoring her “war flashback” style narration of throwing down a tub of sour cream to great destruction.

The Midnight Snacks’ sketches were expertly honed, making great use of the stage, the tech, and the actors. Their impeccable timing kept the laughs rolling throughout the show. 

While there were certain references that I think particularly suited the Millennial/Gen-Z cusp audience, Spotlight at The Second City was a great showcase for lovers of sketch comedy of all ages to discover their new favourite troupe (except for children. Do not bring your children. Or do, I’m not their parent).

Spotlight at The Second City returns October 2 and 3, 2026.