Walking On Bombshells, the new Second City Toronto sketch comedy show, turns shameful inner monologues into hilarious comic projections of what we really want to say out loud (if it weren’t utterly inappropriate). Walking On Bombshells plays with the experience of “walking on eggshells,” for instance, the potential for offense when discussing sensitive news or expressing a POV. Modern life dictates we be extremely cautious about our words and actions – if you’re sick and tired of minding your mouth then Walking On Bombshells is for you!
Bombs vs. Eggs
The show immediately creates common ground for Torontonians in the audience with an amusing sketch despairing subway hygiene. The stage design is a realistic mock-up of the Osgoode subway platform and a slew of TTC vignettes are littered throughout the show. This is one of the many things that make the whole show very relatable.
Walking On Bombshells addresses things about everyday life people can relate to, such as: taking your phone to the bathroom; ugly vaginas; love/hating Gmail’s Smart Compose; and overturning a marijuana conviction – okay, maybe that last one is not for everyone.
The first half of Walking On Bombshells is fast-paced and plays well with the inappropriate appropriate dichotomy. The second half slows down a bit but raises the stakes for being inappropriate. Act two opens with a provocative song that tackles the shame of secretly liking things we shouldn’t, like The Cosby Show, plastic straws and Joe Fresh clothing. A sketch about a white woman referencing a black man as her “black friend” tackles the comic lines drawn around racism, clearly pointing out what is inappropriate, yet still allowing people to laugh at the sketch.
Bombshells Will Crack Open Your Conscious
The comedy in this revue gives permission to chuckle at things we aren’t supposed to laugh at in polite company, it also has a lesson to share on how far is too far. I like how the show sometimes calls on the audience to empathize – not be indifferent. I appreciate the subtlety at work in this show.
Walking On Bombshells has lots of fun songs, over-the-top physical comedy and miming (the Toronto-centric bike date and the aggressive dad sketch both had excellent mime work). Bombshells provides a temporary refuge from overbearing civility yet it also demonstrates, with humour, when being indifferent and unintentionally hurtful is out of line. Additionally, I appreciated a time-out from jokes about Trump and grim political satire. A terrific, smart show that I highly recommend. I will forever be haunted by the words “lemon chicken.”
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Walking On Bombshells – The Second City Toronto’s 82nd Revue
Runs Tuesday through Sunday evenings throughout the spring and summer of 2019. https://www.secondcity.com/shows/toronto/walking-on-bombshells
Show tickets starting at $27. Student prices available.
Dinner & Show packages starting at $57.
Improv & sketch comedy theatre and bar with nightly shows, located at 51 Mercer St, Toronto.
Walking On Bombshells is directed by Second City veteran Chris Earle (Sixteen Scandals, The Second City Guide to the Symphony), who received a Dora and Chalmers Award. This revue stars Nadine Djoury (Newborn Moms), Stacey McGunnigle (Stacey Helps), Sharjil Rasool (MANTOWN), Allana Reoch (The Beaverton), and Chris Wilson (Royal Canadian Air Farce). And the newest cast member is Juno Award-nominated frontman of funk ensemble God Made Me Funky, PHATT al.
For The Second City Toronto shows & tickets please visit: http://www.secondcity.com/toronto/
About The Second City
The Second City, a 100% Canadian-owned company, is the world’s premier improv and sketch comedy theatre company, with resident stages in Toronto and Chicago, Training Centres in Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well as touring companies performing throughout the world.
