I recently attended the Just for Laughs Toronto festival that ran from September 24th – October 3rd 2026. I attended the following shows –
1. Loud Asians at Comedy Bar Danforth
2. Alistair Ogden at Comedy Bar Bloor
3. Ashwyn Singh’s “Imperfect Ally” at Comedy Bar Bloor
4. Ray Lau at Bluma Appel Theatre
Loud Asians
Bidhur Walia opened the show. My first note from his standup set was “salmon sperm facial”. I cannot for the life of me remember where the joke went, but that gives you a glimpse of the rest of his set. He went on to talk about dating and rules of all-you-can-eat buffets , among other things. He called dating in Toronto dumpster diving, which I found quite accurate and funny. It was a good start to the show.
He was followed by Darren Leo who explored the premise “Asian Dads are decorative”. Kimchi Daddy was mentioned. The third comedian, Michelle Sui, touched on AI, Abu Ghraib, the Iran War, Lego videos, and MAID (assisted suicide). It’s always nice to have the real world reflected in art, though the uneven clarity of speech took away some of the impact.
Jordan Leung, the headliner, did a hilarious bit titled “Figure out your parent using your d*ck”. I found it original and inspired. Overall, I left feeling entertained. A wide variety of Asian perspectives were covered in the show, even as dating and parents were common themes across sets. But as an Asian myself, those are big themes that occupy a lot of our mental space, so that made sense.
Alistair Ogden
Ben Sosa-Wright opened the show. The memorable combination of words “two queer dads, not gay” was said at the beginning of his set. He went on to explore “queer people as historians” and “social anxiety at parties”, the latter of which was a story that I found weird and which did not hit the mark for me.
The second act, Abdul Osman, described his Pakistani identity as a slur used by Indian people, which I found amusing. He went on to talk about racism, battling parental expectations (colour me surprised that another Asian comedian had something to say about it!), as well as dating.
The headliner, Alistair Ogden, came with a notebook, trying new material or just keeping track of his jokes. He started with a joke about a little person and an e-bike which did not quite land. He described himself as “Princess Diana being mean”. He did look the part. His quip about being the lesbian Wayne Gretzky got a lot of laughs while I made a mental note to google this person. It’s fascinating how Toronto is a melting pot of people from all around the world, where a name which is commonplace in one culture may be completely unknown in the other.
After multiple comics who were struggling in the dating scene, here was one who had managed to get a girlfriend. And he wouldn’t shut up about it, with good results! He mentioned multiple times that he had gone viral and the audience was there because of that. I found that to be an interesting insight into how word-of-mouth works nowadays.
Overall, the audience was really there to have a good time. So even when the jokes didn’t hit the mark, the room was forgiving and friendly.
Ashwyn Singh’s “Imperfect Ally”
Jwalit Bharwani opened the show talking about a comedian’s favourite topic (as I discovered through the festival) – dating. He also touched upon mental health, specifically ADHD and dating apps as a feature of late-stage capitalism. This unique combination of words, “Google docs for suicide notes” was a part of his set.
The next comedian, Henry Sir, talked about “patriarchy as a failed experiment”. Netanyahu and genocide were mentioned.
The third act, Rahul Topiwala, did an entertaining bit about “off-whites being more racist than white-whites”. Racism is an important topic and it’s insightful to hear diverse perspectives on it.
The headliner, Ashwyn Singh, touched on a wide variety of topics—the Cornell seven (“I write essays for fun”), his sister being a transwoman, Gen Z protests, Palestine, and Epstein files. There were jokes that didn’t land for me—punching down on Macklemore (“sh**ty art, good artist”) and a joke about Pakistan Airlines to Paris, which alluded to Islamophobia and 9/11.
Overall, it was a good show. It was heartening to see the bits about Palestine get loud cheers from the audience. Being part of a socially-conscious audience always feels great.
Ray Lau
Mo Ismail opened the show. He shared that he teaches elementary school and talked about the mollycoddling of kids. That was a unique topic, coming from his lived experience. He also did a bit about lawn mowing, which looked at racial stereotypes.
The second act was an American comedian named Scotty Cav. He talked about the difference in being fat in LA vs Boston. Squats vs hemorrhoids was another topic. He also talked about dating while being a CPAP machine user. It was a vulnerable set and I quite enjoyed it. It made me think about how we are all battling so many sensitive spots while putting ourselves out there, and you never know what challenges other people may be facing. He gave me something to chew on, while being quite funny.
Ray Lau, the headliner, told the crowd he had quit his job and looked at the semantics of being unemployed vs self-employed. The crowdwork was solid and went on for a while about the best place to eat in Toronto. He played off the Canton Chilli supporter against the Planta supporter really well.
He did bits inspired by internet reels and touched on internet addiction. I found this to be very original and an obvious source of inspiration at the same time. He did extended storytelling bits around a belly dancing class and his girlfriend’s driving skills (another one with a girlfriend, so obviously he was going to talk about it!).
As I left his show, one fellow show-goer commented that even though he thoroughly enjoyed the show, it was like him telling stories to his friends, but from a stage. I thought back to stand-up classes at Second City and how challenging it is to tell a good story. This speaks to the skill of Ray Lau that he made it look effortless.