Punch Up, Paperback

Duncan has always been a pretty boring guy, leading a simple life while working at a bread factory. Then he stumbles upon Brenda, a sad young woman who's about to end her life. Convinced he's fallen in love, Duncan strikes up a desperate deal: if he can get her to laugh, she'll give life another shot, but if she doesn't even giggle, he'll help her go through with her plan. There's just one catch: Duncan isn't funny. At all. So he borrows Pat, his second-favourite comedian, to help him come up with the perfect routine. But Pat is having a hard time mustering his sense of humour after a bad break-up, and the last thing he wants to do is teach a lonely loser the difference between knock-knock jokes and schadenfreude while chained to a typewriter. A tragicomedy of three misfits, Punch Up navigates a hostage situation and a life-or-death comedy lesson to show just how far we'll go for a laugh.

Kat Sandler is a prolific playwright, actor, and director. She is the artistic director of Theatre Brouhaha, which was founded in 2010 and strives to create dark and funny entertainment. She has written several plays, including Retreat and Mustard, which was nominated for six Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Best New Play. Kat was part of Tarragon Theatre's Playwrights Unit from 2014-2015. She lives in Toronto.