Toronto Fringe Review: Gibberish

Blogging LIVE from Cagibi (the café formerly known as Esperanza) in Montreal’s Mile End.

So, Toronto Fringe. The best show I saw by far during my fast-paced, hops-laden, non-intentionally comedy-heavy Fringe weekend, was Chris Gibbs‘ “Gibberish.” Having been employed with the Toronto Fringe last summer as the volunteer coordinator, I had worked extensively with Gibbs’ wife Nicole Barnett (marketing coordinator for Le Fringe), and even shared a few office timbit moments with the Great Gibbs himself. Despite all this intimacy, I never got to see his show (heck, I was volunteer coordinator. I never saw anything.).

But I never got anything but warm vibes from Chris Gibbs, who’s almost as much a Canadian Fringe legend as TJ Dawe.

Happily, these warm vibes came across in his stellar performance.

Delivering top-notch stand-up comedy, Gibbs gave the audience his all. His humour is soft and sensitive, yet bitingly funny. He self-depricates, but not in the audience-alienating, sympathy-begging style that so often plagues a stand-up’s set. This sets him apart, and he seems to know that: ‘I actually love my wife,” he announces in his show, referring to the many comics who stand up and talk about how their relationships have gone to shite.

It’s not in good form to summarize a comic’s set - nine-tenths of comedy is delivery, not content. Suffice it to say that Gibbs isn’t a legend for nothing. He’s an awesome, awesome guy who deserves your penny. Check out Gibberish (hard G) before the Fringe is up.