What: Sex, Religion and Other Hang-ups
Where: St. Ann聮s Academy
When: Aug. 24, 25, 26, 31, Sept. 2
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
To preface his opening-night performance of Sex, Religion and Other Hang-ups, Toronto comedian James Gangl dropped the following confession: 聯I聮m actually doing this show because I聮m looking for love.聰
Touring an autobiographical one-man work about how his ardent Catholicism and needling insecurities prevented him from losing his virginity until he was 28 is hardly a conventional approach to wooing the ladies. But hey, stranger bids for affection have yielded results.
Mercifully for the audience, Sex, Religion and Other Hang-ups is more tender-hearted and thoughtful than the average let聮s-lose-our-virginity-on-prom-night comedy flick, due in significant part to the fact the Gangl doesn聮t rely heavily on gross-out humour to score cheap laughs. He聮s too gifted at physical comedy, storytelling and using the occasional improv bit to require them.
It doesn聮t hurt that the 33-year-old comes off as an extremely likable guy, one who apparently prefers his coitus served with sides of cuddling and conversation.
Whether or not the show will achieve his stated objective 聴 snagging him a sweetheart 聴 is anybody聮s guess.
But judging by the guffaws he induced on Thursday night, and the critical raves his romp has received in other cities, Gangl has already scored admirers in spades.
