Review | In ‘Sex T-Rex presents SKETCH T-REX,’ a favourite local troupe makes its first hilarious foray into full-length sketch comedy

Sex T-Rex presents SKETCH T-REX

Created by the company: Conor Bradbury, Julian Frid, Kait Morrow, and Seann Murray. Factory Theatre Mainspace, 125 Bathurst St., 416-504-9971

Fringe is back, people! Feeling the amazing exchange of energy between these comedy performers and the packed Factory Theatre Mainspace crowd distilled for me what makes this time of year so special for Toronto theatre and comedy lovers.

I’m embarrassed to admit I was a Sex T-Rex virgin ’til now, and this show let me know what I’ve been missing. The four-person comedy troupe has been working together since 2008 and that experience shows in their onstage chemistry and almost-always-flawless timing.

Sex T-Rex are best known for scripted comedy shows parodying film genres, and this is their first foray into full-length sketch comedy. They expertly set up some absurdist running gags, made funnier by deadpan commentary on handwritten posters. A few of the jokes involve local humour (the Dufferin bus is skewered for its unreliability, prompting cathartic hilarity) while others riff on pop culture and films. There’s a wonderfully wacky James Bond sequence involving Kait Morrow and a stuffed kitten flying through the air; Conor Bradbury’s Frank Sinatra act grows on you; and for some reason, chairs are wolves.

Morrow’s ingenious puppets add further fun to the mix, as in a sequence involving a murderous Swedish Chef and a talking sandwich.

They get into topical, real-world commentary in a sequence about gender stereotypes in superhero movies: this feels slightly uncertain and overlong, but is clearly coming from a deeply felt place.

These local favourites bring their following with them, so you’ll want to book soon for this one.

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