Toronto Fringe Review: 2076 A Sketch Comedy Show

Imagine the Kids in the Hall mucking around with Back to the Future and other content on the SyFy channel, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of the absurd fun provided by this clever time-travelling sketch show. 

When a group of friends in 2076 discovers a time-travel device in the shape of a duck, they travel to various years, uncovering a bizarre plot about a $10 million dollar hot-dog eating contest, extreme dictatorships and a universe ruled by a mechanized Lin Manuel-Miranda.  

This structure allows the troupe Solo Act to run free with some brilliant premises.

In one, dogs who can push buttons to speak (we’ve all seen those amusing reels) decide whether they want to kill their boss, who’s exploiting them. 

In another, scientists during an extreme energy crisis explain how they can harness the power of the suppressed rage of suburban dads to provide power.

And in yet another, dating apps allow users to match with people throughout history, allowing a guy to date Helen of Troy, with disastrous results.

Directors Josh Davis and Ryan Williams use audio and video sparingly but effectively — the sound cues for the “speaking dogs” bit, which is revisited in another sketch, have to be perfectly timed. 

While not every sketch works, there’s always something — a line, a performance, a callback — that lands. The cast (Williams, Johnny McGroarty, Julia Lobo, Cameron Whittle, Anya Banning and Tristan Lipton) works together effortlessly, making each other shine. 

My favourite sketch is a riff on Minority Report, in which a precog predicts a murder at the theatre. I don’t want to spoil where this goes, but it’s especially relevant for a festival like the Fringe. 

Highly recommended.

2076: A Sketch Comedy Show is on now until July 11 at the Toronto Fringe. Show times and tickets