On the hunt for Toronto’s Tina and Amy
Drunk Feminist Films and sketch duo LadyStache can give you your Fey-Poehler fix
I’m gutted that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler didn’t host a movie awards show this year. Their biting, funny, she-for-she style is #goals. Where can I find some similar ladies locally to support?
Sing it, sister. Tina and Amy’s threeyear Golden Globes hosting gig was a veritable buffet of brilliantly sly oneliners — remember their description of Gravity as “the story of how George Clooney would rather float away in space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age?” — so it is indeed a shame that they’ve packed up their gowns and made way for male hosts to resume centre stage.
Luckily, there’s no shortage of dynamic female duos (and trios and quartets) doing cool, funny stuff in Toronto, so you can get your FeyPoehler-esque cultural fix whenever the mood strikes. Start with Drunk Feminist Films, a feminist collective that knocks Hollywood gender stereotypes down a few pegs by screening blockbusters such as Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey and Love Actually, and mocking the living crap out of them. Drinking games add to the hilarity and the events always sell out, so book quickly for the Feb. 4 and 6 screenings of Bring It On.
According to T&A lore, the pair began their legendary best friendship at Second City in Chicago, so why not check out Toronto’s sketch comedy scene for our own Next Big Thing(s)? My money’s on Steph Tolev and Allison Hogg, the brains behind sketch duo LadyStache. With a dozen videos, a chart-topping full-length sketch album and countless live performances under their belts, Tolev and Hogg might just follow in Tina and Amy’s footsteps.
And since this whole love fest is basically a celebration of smart, quick-witted women, delve into Meat Locker Editions, a not-for-
There’s no shortage of dynamic female duos (and trios and quartets) doing cool stuff in Toronto to help you get over your Tina and Amy withdrawals
profit organization dedicated to publishing the works of young writers (mostly women, all of them smart). Founders Sarah Beaudin (a designer and publisher) and Madeleine Curry (a freelance editor) also run community events, including a monthly reading series and the Book Bike, a mobile lending library — literally on a bike — that circles the city from May through October. Have a question for our Culture Concierge? Email entertain@thestar.ca.