The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival

This is Toronto's Comedy Festival.

Be part of an incredible comedy community that has been gathering every March in Toronto for 17 years! Connect with other comedy creators and showcase your work to TOsketchfest's audience of comedy lovers from across North America.

TOSketchFest22 plans to return March 9-20, 2022 with LIVE, in person performances IN ADDITION to an online presentation of livestream and on-demand digital work.

TOsketchfest22 will feature a varied programme of short-form live and online comedy events including: in-person performances from Toronto stages; a curated series of comedy short presentations; and live-streamed performances from visiting stages around the world.

The Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival is committed to creating a safe, welcoming and anti-racist space where all people are treated with respect and dignity. We strive for an atmosphere of respectful creative exchange, and positive personal and professional growth. We will not accept submissions that contain racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or hateful language, imagery, or actions.

WHAT CAN I SUBMIT?

You can submit:
1) your solo act or sketch troupe for live festival performance and/or 2) digital comedy shorts for online presentation. Jurors will watch up to 10 minutes of every submission.

Live Category (Canada Only)

We are on the lookout for the best, live scripted comedy in Canada. Emerging and established sketch comedy ensembles (no stand-up sets or improv scenes/formats please) from Canada are invited to submit for the chance to perform live sets (20 - 75 minutes in length) as part of TOsketchfest22, with live performances also streamed online.

Due to the precariousness of COVID-19 travel restrictions, TOSketchFest can only accept live submissions from Canadian sketch performers for the 2022 Festival.

Online Category (Worldwide)

We are on the lookout for new digital sketch comedy shorts for curated online programmes. We are looking for a wide variety of comedy shorts, musical comedy videos, animated shorts, web series spotlights - as long as the content was created after January 1, 2021.

We are happy to accept digital submissions from anywhere in the world!

Do you have a show that's outside the box? Not sure if your work is a good fit? Reach out to us to discuss before completing your application with any questions or ideas. Email us at info@torontosketchfest.com

WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?

TOsketchfest will return 100% of ticket sales/streaming revenue to the content creators by way of a shared revenue pool. This applies to all pieces that are submitted here and selected for screening during the Digital Festival. In March of 2021 TOsketchfest21 - Screen Time Edition generated $15,000 in payments to content creators.

PLUS – TOsketchfest offers creators access to a free/low-cost professional development/learning series, including hands-on workshops, panels and networking events with in-person and online options for comedy enthusiasts.

Our Awards program includes a Best of the Fest Award, Audience Choice Awards, Producers' Pick Award, and Outstanding Comedy Short (for digital shorts/short films).

More info:
https://www.torontosketchfest.com/the-festival/awards/

**APPLICATION DEADLINE** – Submissions must be completed December 1. Submissions will be juried by the Festival producers and an advisory panel of industry professionals. Artists will be notified of programming decisions by email before February 2022.

**APPLICATION FEE** – The processing fee for all applications is $25 (CAD and includes HST). The submission fee is non-refundable.

**ACCESSIBILITY** – Closer to the Festival dates, all selected entrants will be required to provide accessibility information about their content, for uses such as sensory descriptions and captioning.

TOSketchfest is committed to increasing accessibility at every level of the Festival. If you require any accommodations for this submission process or would like to discuss accessibility further, please reach out to Damien Nelson, Associate Producer, at damien@torontosketchfest.com.

**COPYRIGHT / INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY**
The work you submit to the Festival may not violate or infringe any copyright, patent, privacy right, publicity right, trademark, service mark or any other personal or property right of any person or entity. By submitting an application to TOsketchfest you agree that you have paid and/or will pay in full all license fees, clearance fees, and other obligations, of any kind, arising from the exhibition of the Film in connection with the Festival.

**SUBMISSION GUIDELINES**
This festival is rooted in the traditions of sketch comedy. The content you submit must be scripted, and it must be comedic. Ensemble work, solo work, music, animation, digital shorts... these are all eligible as long as they are scripted. We will not accept improv or stand-up sets. If you have content that is outside the box (i.e. podcast or other audio, panel shows, partially-scripted/interactive) please contact us by email before submitting and application (info@torontosketchfest.com)

We accept applications from new, emerging, and established troupes, but your TOsketchfest submission should not be your first piece of work. You must have some history of live or online performance or digital content creation. We are actively seeking work from creators from equity-deserving groups. If you require accommodations or assistance in order to complete your application, please contact us by email (info@torontosketchfest.com)

If you are a comedic content creator with a history of presentation at TOsketchfest and you are planning to create new content that cannot be submitted before the deadline, please contact us by email to discuss (info@torontosketchfest.com)*
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If you have any questions about submitting to TOsketchfest22, please feel free to reach out to Damien Nelson, Producer, at damien@torontosketchfest.com

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Heather Hawthorn Doyle

This is an absolutely fantastic festival that I can highly recommend! They embraced our micro short "I Don't Want Him Either" giving us publicity during the festival and we were so honoured to be on their opening night. And then the best thing? Today I came home to a cheque from them because they revenue share! Love this festival!

May 2022

Helpful
Lisa Cheong

Great festival! While it was online due to the pandemic, it was still really well organized and well run!

May 2021

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Kaili Turner

Thank you so much Toronto Sketch Festival for hosting my sketch and having me on the pre-show IG. It gave me a chance to have a great time, talk a little about the impetus for my sketch, and meet some other badass women comedy makers.

April 2021

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Matt Levy

The Toronto Sketch Comedy Fest had it all. An amazing lineup, well produced shows, fantastic communication from the organizers (they sent us every participant's social media handles- that was amazing for networking!) and most importantly professionalism. I'll be raving about this one for awhile. Can't wait for an in-person edition in the future.

April 2021

Helpful
Mike Mildon

An amazing festival that showcases all the hilarious and up and coming comedians/filmmakers in Toronto (and Canada!). The staff and organizers are also incredible humans and super helpful throughout the festival.

April 2021

Helpful