What: Sex, Religion and Other Hang-ups
Where: St. Anns 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: Im actually doing this show because Im looking for love.
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 lets-lose-our-virginity-on-prom-night comedy flick, due in significant part to the fact the Gangl doesnt rely heavily on gross-out humour to score cheap laughs. Hes too gifted at physical comedy, storytelling and using the occasional improv bit to require them.
It doesnt 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 snagging him a sweetheart is anybodys 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.
