Stage Door News
Stage Door News
It’s time once again for Paul Hutcheson’s PRIDE PACKAGE, an annual celebration of queer comedy! The Pride Package takes the stage June 28 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Last year’s Pride Package sold out quickly, and with a roster of hot underground comics from Toronto and New York, this year’s Pride Package is sure to be a big hit!
Paul Hutcheson has been producing comedy showcases in Greater Toronto and across North America for ten years. His most recent showcase, the Canuck Cabaret, brought dozens of performers to New York City in February 2012 and was selected as the week’s top pick by Time Out New York.
“Most of the performers are comedians I’ve met while travelling the Fringe and comedy circuits,” Hutcheson says. “You form relationships with on the road with artists you respect and want to see.”
Best known for his trilogy of raunchy autobiographical solo shows – First Things First, On Second Thought, and Third Time Lucky – which have won awards in Montreal, Orlando, San Francisco, and New York, Hutcheson is designing this show to highlight queer artists for Pride season.
While Hutcheson is known for stories about sex, relationships, and his many different jobs, lately, his comedy has taken on a more introspective tone while maintaining the biting wit and virtuosic impressions he’s famous for.
Paul is joined on stage by three special guests from New York City: comedians Mike Albo, Kristen Becker, and D’yan Forest. The rest of the roster includes six of Hutcheson’s friends from the Toronto underground comedy scene, including Susan Fischer in her stage persona Evalyn Reese, burlesque dancer Sharon Nowlan, and comedians Robert Keller, Lianne Malaudin, K Trevor Wilson, and Jillian Thomas.
Come on out and get your Pride on!
WHAT: Paul Hutcheson’s PRIDE PACKAGE: A Comedic Cabaret
WHO: Hosted by Paul Hutcheson (Twitter: @WogProductions)
Featuring: Mike Albo, Kristen Becker, D’yan Forest, Susan Fischer, Sharon Nowlan, Robert Keller, Lianne Malaudin, K Trevor Wilson, and Jillian Thomas
WHEN: Sat June 16, 9pm
WHERE: Buddies in Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander St)
TICKETS: $10-20 at Buddies Box Office
Paul Hutcheson’s Pride Package Performer Bios:
Paul Hutcheson has been performing comedy for 10 years, and his trilogy of one-man shows – First Things First, On Second Thought, and Third Time Lucky – has crossed North America winning awards in New York, San Francisco, Orlando, and Montreal. He also hosts regular alt stand-up and cabaret nights in Toronto and has been seen on OUTtv and the annual Homo Night In Canada pride show.
Mike Albo has created four critically acclaimed, sold-out solo shows: MIKE ALBO, SPRAY, PLEASE EVERYTHING BURST and MY PRICE POINT. Fast-paced, hilarious, highly emotional and punctuated with dance, his performances have been praised in The New Yorker, New York Times, Paper and Time Out. Mike also performs in a weekly sketch comedy show PUPU PLATTER and is a founding member of the legendary downtown dance troupe, THE DAZZLE DANCERS.
Kristen Becker has been performing stand-up for over ten years throughout the United States and Canada. Curve magazine named her the 8th funniest lesbian in America and the Queen City Comedy Competition proclaimed her the funniest person in Western New York. HOW COULD SHE?, Becker’s first live album drops on Valentine’s Day, 2012.
D’yan Forest, 77 years young, has been lighting up audiences as a comedian, actress, and musician for over seven decades. She plays five instruments and has performed her music in some of New York’s most famous establishments as well as venues in Europe and Israel. She’s since branched into a new career as a sexy, ukulele-playing comedian, appearing at the Gotham, Comix, Carolines Comedy Club, the Duplex, and the Metropolitan Room. Her one-woman show, I Married A Nun, has played at the Emerging Artists Theatre Festival and the New York Frigid Festival.
Robert Keller is an actor and comedian who has appeared on TV, film, and stage in Canada and the US. He performed alongside Emmy-winner Judith Light at the 2009 Williamstown Theatre Festival, and he was one of 8 performers selected from over 1,000 hopefuls from across Canada on the CBC’s The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend in 2007. He has appeared on the Logo’s Can’t Get A Date and on here!TV’s Hot Gay Comics. He's also been featured in numerous independent films, including the award-winning Green Room, a finalist at the 2009 New York Television Festival. Before following his dream of performing, Robert earned a law degree from McGill University and convinced a fancy New York law firm to hire him to do fancy lawyer stuff. (Mostly, though, he just surfed the internet.)
Lianne Malaudin has performed her comedy in shows and festivals across southern Ontario and the US. She was selected by the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund to perform in the annual Frieshmet Showcase at Second City in 2010. Lianne’s comedy has been recorded for broadcast on XM Satelite Roadio and televised on Bite TV and Rogers.
Susan Fischer has appeared on many a Toronto comedy stage as her alter ego Evelyn Reese – good-time gal/secretary/multiple divorcee. Evelyn has performed at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Second City Toronto, Girls School (Diesel Playhouse), Monkey Toast, OUTtv and with the comic cross-dressing B-Girlz, on stage and film. Their collaboration, Evelyn Reese: Near the Red Carpet premiered at Toronto’s InsideOut Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival in 2009. Susan has created two one-woman plays for Evelyn and received rave reviews at Fringes and other festivals across Canada. Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood has never been the same since Evelyn Reese’s Walking Tour paraded through the 2010 Toronto Fringe. Susan is also a producer and founding member of Canada’s top queer sketch troupe – the Queer Comedy Collective.
Jillian Thomas is the undisputed Queen of Canadian Pot Comedy. Thomas hosts HOT BOX, the longest running pot comedy show in North America. She has charmed audiences across Canada, New York & England with her high energy wit and sarcasm. Jillian has appeared on The Toronto Show, The Buzz, MTV Live, MTV Impact, OUT For Laughs (opening for Bruce Vilanch), and Much Music’s Love Court.
K. Trevor Wilson creates comedy by combining regular words to form hilarious jokes! He’s appeared on A&E’s Breakout Kings and Showcase’s Billable Hours, and is the only two-time winner of the Toronto Comedy Brawl, he recently appeared on CBC’s Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and he’s a former Men’s 18-and-Under Canadian Platform Tennis Doubles Champion. Big things continue to happen for this big man, and we’re thrilled to have him at The Comedy Nest!
Photo: Paul Hutcheson. ©2012.
2012-05-22
Toronto: Paul Hutcheson returns with “Pride Package II: A Comedic Cabaret”