Carson Pinch and Taylor Davis in ‘Carson & Taylor Promise To Do A Bunch Of Flips’ at TOSketchFest
At the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, Carson & Taylor Promise To Do A Bunch Of Flips… and they did! They were not always graceful, and there were times I feared for their safety—especially after that first truly shocking one that comes right out of nowhere—but they deliver on their promise!
Their act is intensely physical, though Carson Pinch and Taylor Davis have also crafted sketches with solid narrative threads and compelling characters. An awkward encounter between a wasp and a bachelor picnicking in the park that turns suddenly violent, some dudes consistently misreading an invitation to a “Swing Party”—It’s all great stuff.
Their homage to classic silent film comedies—with precarious antics involving a ladder, giant sandwiches and a light bulb—is masterful farce. My absolute favourite, though, is a scene with a long-haired, adorably clueless guitarist frustrating a poor gig manager with his absurd audition.
Their execution is crisp and thrilling, perfectly selling the reality of any moment, no matter how extreme. And their few well-chosen running gags payoff well.