ned petrie & brian macquarrie
There were tons of laughs this evening at Ned Petrie’s The Panel Show Strikes Back, which returns to Halifax from Toronto and plays at the Bus Stop Theatre as part of the Atlantic Fringe Festival.
Part game show, part comedy show, the premise is that Petrie is joined by three local comedians who compete against one another answering trivia-style questions about current events amid hilarious banter and whoever has the most correct answers wins a cheque for a million dollars.*
This evening’s panel was Paul Doucette (of Flag on the Play), Geordie Miller (of the most beautifully literary and self aware teenage sexual frustration journal fame) and Brian MacQuarrie (the next Lex Luthor) and they brought with them a captivating dynamic of laid back and friendly fun and jokes, most of which addressed some aspect of the human experience in contemporary society. The news stories that Petrie chose to highlight provided not only an array of possible punch lines, but also stood on their own as being strange, absurd and horrifying in their own ways. We discussed the Cronut debacle, the legitimizing of “twerking” and “srsly” by the Oxford dictionary, the swallowing of famous toes and, most delightful of all, Capn’-gate.
Petrie is both suave and kind as the host, encouraging his guests to work together toward building the comedic aspects of the show. The result is an engaging, fun, spirited and often informative evening at the theatre. Each show is made up of different comedians on the panel and since the questions are always different and the answers are always improvised, it is a show that you can return to over and over throughout the Festival. It’s an especially great way to cap off your evening to ensure that you go home laughing.
TWISI Rating:
The Panel Show Strikes Back plays at the Bus Stop Theatre (2203 Gottingen Street) at the following times:
Thu, Sep 5 @11:15pm (w/ Paul Warford, Andy Bulman, & MORE!)
Sat, Sep 7 @9:30pm (w/ Bill Wood, & MORE!)
Sun, Sep 8 @4:30pm (w/ Panel TBA)
Tickets are $10.00 and are available in advance online at this website or 30 minutes before each show at the venue on the day of the performance. All tickets bought in person must be purchased with either cash or credit. For more information please visit this website or call 902.422.7604 between 10:00am and 5:00pm.
*winner does not actually receive a million dollars
