Toronto Fringe Review: David Lynch's Seinfeld

Imagine an episode of Seinfeld. Now imagine that there is a freakishly tall, faceless man called the Tall Man, watching Jerry do stand-up from the audience. That’s how David Lynch’s Seinfeld by Goop2 begins. An entirely original episode of Seinfeld with a Lynchian twist, David Lynch’s Seinfeld is the crossover you didn’t know you needed. Even as someone less familiar with both Seinfeld and the works of David Lynch, I thoroughly enjoyed both the silly sitcom plotlines and the surrealist horror invading them.

The cast of the show was a delight. Edward Choi (Jerry), Matthew Nadeau (George), Chelsea Larkin (Elaine), and Andy Assaf (Kramer) play the main Seinfeld cast, each delivering excellent, instantly recognizable impersonations of their respective characters.

Nicole Passmore played the particularly hilarious character of Vanya Tikhonov, a Russian author with very strong opinions about food, who Elaine is trying to win over on behalf of her publishing company. Tikhonov later starts showing up in Jerry’s dream sequences along with Tall Man (played by Paul Aihoshi).

The pacing and balance of Seinfeld versus Lynch was carefully crafted by writers and directors Paul Aihoshi, Guy Bradford (who also plays Mr. Lippman), and Colin Sharpe (Rod Novak). Just when you thought they had forgotten about Tall Man, there he is again, bathed in red light and performing Jerry’s stand-up set. The horror aspect ramped up more towards the end, though the unsettling undercurrent was present throughout most of the show. Even when the Tall Man was not on stage, I was always anticipating when he would return.

The ending ties everything together in a way that is satisfying, strange, and still pretty funny. The run of David Lynch’s Seinfeld at the Toronto Fringe Festival is sold out at the time of this review, but it would be a good one to consider trying for rush tickets if you’re a fan of sitcoms, surrealist horror-comedy, or just plain comedy.

David Lynch’s Seinfeld is on now until July 13 as part of Toronto Fringe. Tickets and Schedule.