On Sept. 24, the Town Ballroom will play host to The Most RACES Show on Earth (TMRSOE), a multi-ethnic comedy festival featuring over 10 comics and live music.
TMRSOE is intended to confront racial issues through comedy, as the diverse group of talented comics riffs on stories about the lines between us from their own lives.
Recently The Spectrum caught up with the show's organizer, Neil Bansil, a graduate of the Humber School of Comedy who has been performing since 1998.
"I remember it like it was yesterday," Bansil said. "What happened was I invited some friends and I thought I did really well, but I was really nervous and I wrote some of my jokes inside my hat, and when I forgot my jokes I would look at my hat. After a little while, people caught on."
Bansil is honest and mildly self-deprecating in conversation. He views his comic career as a constant educational experience.
"I was really bad the first couple years," he said. "It takes a while to really understand what you're doing. They say it takes about 10 years, so I'm about there."
Bansil says that TMRSOE was the result of a "right place, right time" scenario.
"The show started out in Toronto," Bansil said, "because it is a very racially diverse place and I noticed that a lot of my comedian friends were of all different nationalities. And there was the opportunity there for comedians to get out there and perform in large stages."
It was also an opportunity to show a diverse group of people that a diverse group of comics could approach the issue of race fairly while providing entertainment, he said.
In this day and age, Bansil feels that racial comedy is really coming into its own.
"With ethnic minority comedy, they've always been looked at like the underdog, like the minority, but now the minority is becoming the majority. We wanted to show what the makeup of the city was," Bansil said.
When it comes to a discussion of comic boundaries, Bansil has an all-inclusive attitude.
"There are no real lines, I think," Bansil said. "I think with comedians, crossing the line is a job. Our show gives the opportunity to cross the lines. It's an opportunity to really put out what people think."
When lines are crossed skillfully, Bansil believes there is a remarkable opportunity for education, though he said the show is more about comedy than learning.
Familiarity plays a strong part of the show's good reception as well.
"I think what it is, is that people just want to see themselves on stage," Bansil said. "They want to see their culture represented. They just want to be understood."
TMRSOE is meant to present what Bansil called a "window into different cultures through comedy."
The issue of white people performing racial comedy caused Bansil to pause before answering.
"If you look at 'white comedy,' this is a hard question. For example, Jeff Foxworthy - he talks about being a redneck. There are certain things that white people can talk about that other people can't talk about," he said.
Bansil did not think that white people were at all unqualified to talk about race, though.
"I've seen white comedians onstage who talk about other cultures," Bansil said. "The theory is that you can talk about your culture only. I don't see that at all. White comedians can talk about anything they want, as long as they do it well and have a reason to do it. I say go ahead, but make sure there's substance behind it."
In spite of the highly charged material, Bansil wants people to know that he guarantees a funny show.
"I went to Humber College for comedy. I have a degree. I will say this, though, the show is not a fluffy show - people need to bring an open mind."
