JFL Toronto Review: The Lauren & Mary Show

Posted by: Andrew Lizotte  •  October 5, 2026 @ 8:45am

Filed under: Reviews, Festivals

How do you even review an improv show? What have I done? I was so happy to get these tickets and now I'm in hell.

Don't get me wrong, the show was great. It was some of my hardest laughs of the festival. Now, how do I explain this to you in any type of a context that would even be relevant should you happen to see them perform again? I'm screwed.

I know some of you might think this is insufferable, but I've been doing improv for years, and so I'm going to get into the nuts and bolts of it. I mean, if you clicked on this link, you probably like improv anyway, or there's been some kind of horrible mistake and you need to turn back now before it's too late!

I wanna start by saying something very wholesome: It's just very nice to watch two people with great chemistry. For an hour, I watched Lauren Lapkus and Mary Holland be best friends and just enjoy each other's company. It radiated through the room.

It also meant as performers that they trusted each other and they were really listening. When that happens, you can let a scene breathe and just take time to explore. In improv, that is such a beautiful luxury. It's so hard to find someone who trusts you, isn't panicking in their own head, and they're not just thinking of the next punch line. Honestly, someone should make an app that's like a dating platform, but for improv and sketch comedy partners. It's a $1 million idea and you're welcome.

The other part of the chemistry that truly benefits the audience as well, is that what we watched wasn't even a classical narrative story. There was no traditional resolution. It was just watching two people sit in impeccable character work. Don't get me wrong, we still watched characters with depth, even though there was a focus on game of the scene. No matter how eccentric, it still felt grounded.

For context, the main scene was just about two people on a plane, sitting together, one of them was obnoxious, and the other one was trying to sleep. It's a pretty classic, basic premise. So common, in fact, that most performers would just play the game, heighten it, and then end it because they've run out of ideas. Lauren and Mary made this game slowly build for the entire hour and took breaks in between to really examine the characters. Do you have any idea how hard that is.? I'll tell you, it's incredibly hard, and everyone was so engaged the entire time. They just had such relaxed energy, and it was very calming and beautiful to watch. Again, this is happening in what can often times be a very panicky, frantic form of theatre. Instead, you could really feel their hundred thousand hours on stage.

It was great, and if there are any programmers reading, please cut me in on that app development deal.

Tags: Lauren Lapkus, Mary Holland, JFL Toronto, Just for Laughs, The Lauren and Mary Show, improv

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