Thursday, August 21st, 2025, 7PM
A unique hybrid storytelling/stand-up comedy show experience in downtown Toronto, featuring some of the city's most talented storytellers and comedians.
Every month, comedians and storytellers will take the stage to tell funny stories centered around that show's theme.
October's theme is "Break a Leg". A unique body-horror show for Halloween. 9 hilarious stories about personal injury not for the squeamish!
Thursday, October 30th, 2025. Doors at 8PM.
Free Times Cafe
320 College St, Toronto (MAP)
Comedian
Dre Pavez is a stand up comedian and producer born and raised in London, Ontario (and not ashamed to say it!!) who now lives in Toronto. Her dry sensibility is in stark contrast to the vivid storytelling and often personal nature of her comedy. Her monthly stand up show, Let’s Go Comedy, takes place on the 1st Thursday of every month at Wenona Craft Beer Lodge.
Improvisor
Emily Butcher is an HR professional who moonlights as an improvisor at The Second City Training Centre Toronto. A proud chronic over-sharer and lover of all things funny, she believes life’s toughest—and most embarrassing—moments make for the best material. Whether she’s in a boardroom or on a stage, Emily’s favourite thing is connecting with people by making them laugh (and occasionally making herself the punchline).
Comedian
Husein Panju is a “clean” comedian with a very messy life. An emerging voice in Toronto’s comedy scene, he mines his overthinking, millennial brain (and his day job as a lawyer) for material that swings from sharply highbrow to hilariously petty.
When he’s not on stage, he’s behind the drawing board — writing and illustrating his long-running webcomic series, “High Comedic Value”, which he’s showcased at comicons across Canada since 2013.
Comedian
Kalpesh Phodkar is an IT engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night — proving that debugging jokes can be as tricky as debugging code. He’s performed at Second City and brings a mix of Indian and Canadian flavors, tech humor, and proudly broken English to his storytelling.
Comedian
Mezna is a Winnipeg-raised comedian new to Toronto with an energetic, imaginative storytelling act. Making his debut at Wee Johnny’s, Mezna’s style is a blend of his biggest comedic influences — his family, city, and SpongeBob.
Comedian/Writer
Pooja Joshi is a writer, producer, and stand-up comic based in Toronto with an eclectic résumé and a suspiciously high tolerance for chaos. She’s performed for an audience of 500 at the Naked Comedy Festival and almost naked for theatre — emotionally. (The things she does for free therapy.)
A graduate of York University’s Film Program, she also studied acting in Toronto and Mumbai — proving she’s committed to making her family nervous in multiple time zones. She’s lived in wine-soaked Europe, politically spicy Africa, overstimulated India, and now calls overly polite Canada home. She’s been everywhere — only to be still asked where she’s really from.
Her work has been featured at film festivals in New York and Toronto — and her life could easily be a dark comedy called Still, Accidentally Hopeful.
Storyteller/Writer
Randall has studied improv and storytelling across Toronto, and has performed at But That’s Another Story, Tales Told Live at the Tranzac, and Replay Storytelling. He is also an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, as well as a screenwriting instructor at George Brown College. And through his company So, What’s Your Story?, he helps writers of all media explore their ideas and find their voices. Currently, Randall is an advisor to the Toronto Chinese Canadian Film Festival, where he runs the short film competition.
Storyteller
Zebulon Pike has been telling stories for over a decade. One of the producers of Replay Storytelling, he’s performed at many shows in Toronto, Montreal, Singapore and has been featured on CBC radio. In his regular life he works in children's television making kids believe that dogs, trains and furniture can talk.
Host/Comedian/Storyteller
Michael is a nerdy Italian comedian and storyteller who performs stand up comedy and storytelling around Ontario including shows at Comedy Bar, Replay Storytelling and the Rivoli. He's excited to bridge the gap between storytelling and stand-up comedy with the Comedy X Storytelling series.