Toronto Fringe Review: This Show Will Change Your Life

Feeling lost? Directionless? Then This Show Will Change Your Life from $20 Dollar Sandwich is the show for you! This entirely improvised comedy show interviews one audience member, and using the facts they learn about their career, love life, family, and hobbies, turn it into a series of improvised scenes. No show is the same, making it a good one for repeat viewings.

The comedy troupe $20 Dollar Sandwich is comprised of Brennan Asbridge, Antony Hall, Shaun Hunter, and Chase Jeffels, each a hilarious improviser in their own right. The show that I saw featured scenes about a very awkward date, Goldilocks searching for the perfect partner (not too ugly, not too attractive, juuuuust right), a shit-talking fly, literal office climate controls gone wrong, midnight speed-Christmas, and a hype man for when you need to talk to your overprotective mom. The show that you see will of course be completely different, but undoubtedly just as funny.

The show is underscored by the keyboard playing of Jake Schindler, almost fading into the background until it pops out at funny moments. The cast has impeccable timing, no scene dragging too long or cutting off too quickly. It was fun to see how they would incorporate facts about the audience member’s life in unexpected ways and expand on jokes they made during the interview process. 

Did the show change my life? I certainly learned that too much overthinking can ruin a perfectly good date, and that sometimes you need your mom to back off so you can spread your wings, and that you can’t just keep giving your friends pottery pots you made for every gift-giving occasion. Maybe I didn’t find the key to unlocking my full potential but I had an hour of fun to get my mind off things, and sometimes that’s all we really need.

This Show Will Change Your Life is on now until July 13 as part of Toronto Fringe. Schedule and Tickets.