Runnin' at the Mouth's Aisha Brown, Marito Lopez and Keith Pedro Get Familiar at the Comedy Records/Exclaim! Standup Showcase

BY Vish KhannaPublished May 1, 2017

We're back and this time we're bringing a collective.
 
Exclaim! and Canada's only exclusive standup and sketch comedy label, Comedy Records present the Comedy Records Showcase, which takes place on the first Thursday of every month at Wenona Lodge (1069 Bloor St. W) in Toronto. Showtimes are at 9 pm sharp!
 
Our May 4 edition features Aisha Brown, Marito Lopez and Keith Pedro, who are members of the Toronto comedy/hip-hop collective Runnin' at the Mouth.
 
While it's important to mention the troupe's other members — Kyle Hickey, Big Norm Alconcel, Mark James Heath, Jhanelle Dennis, Nicholas Reynoldson, Pino Russo, Warren Rollox, and Paul Thompson — we asked Brown, Lopez, and Pedro to try and tell us about each other.
 
"Cooking for Keith would be my absolute definition of a nightmare," Brown says. "He's one of the best roasters I've ever seen. Nobody in the world can find an insecurity and exploit it for laughs better than Keith Pedro."
 
I don't know Aisha. Keith seems to have your back.
 
"What I love about Aisha is she's great at everything," Pedro says. "What I hate about Aisha is she's great at everything."
 
"I'm not a confident cook; I don't need him riffing on my lasagne," Brown argues. "I'd probably just buy jerk chicken from Eglinton West, and make sure to have an ample supply of oxtail gravy."
 
This crew certainly know Keith Pedro's taste buds.
 
"If Keith came over to my crib for dinner, I would serve that man jerk chicken with oxtail gravy, adobo chicken with rice, and of course, sizzurp to wash it down with," Lopez says. "I would say more Filipino foods but I don't know how to spell them, unfortunately.
 
Lopez and Brown also seem to have an almost familial telepathy and tenderness running between them.
 
"I love how Eesh can rap," Lopez adds, "Although she claims she's not a huge hip-hop head, she spits like she grew up in the Bronx during the golden age of hip-hop. She's also super quick at writing rhymes — it's scary. I'll come up with an idea for a song and she'll have a verse and hook ready the next day.
 
"Super talented, beautiful, and funny," he says. "Talent aside, she is a loving friend and team member. The only thing I don't like about her is that she reminds me of my big sister, which means she knows how to push my buttons!"
 
Indeed, Brown seems to have an incisive read on what makes Lopez tick and his current fixations.
 
"He has a sincere big-eyed interest in everything, and for sure some undiagnosed ADHD," she says. "Based on our last conversations I'm gonna go with hip-hop, Latin American art, ice cream, Nina Simone, secret Hookah spots, foreskin, tall women, hardo bread, tea, and any men's apparel store that sells little fashions."
 
"Marito loves making music," Pedro adds. "He sings all the time. He'll call me at 4 a.m. pitching song ideas and singing hooks about his belly button stinking and giraffe's necks. He should make his own app."
 
Come on down to our comedy showcase and feel the love and sick burns between Runnin' at the Mouth.
 
A ten-dollar ticket includes one pint of Steamwhistle; you can buy tickets in advance here.

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