The Imponderables is a Canadian sketch comedy

Sketch comedy

A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...

 troupe based in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

. They are the winners of the Canadian Comedy Award

Canadian Comedy Awards

The Canadian Comedy Awards, founded by , are an annual awards ceremony celebrating notable English speaking Canadian comedians for achievements in Live, Radio, Film, Television and Internet media over the previous year...

 for Best Sketch Troupe.

The troupe originated in Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

. Its members include Dave Brennan, Eric Toth, Jon Smith and Tony Lombardo.

The name of the group comes from the Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac

Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...

 novel, On the Road.

In March 2004, the Imponderables were the first independent comedy troupe in The Second City

The Second City

The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...

's 30-year history to headline their own show on the theatre's mainstage.

Other memorable shows include the Toronto, New York, and Chicago Sketch Festivals, New Years Eve Massey Hall

Massey Hall

Massey Hall is a venerable performing arts theatre in the Garden District of downtown Toronto. The theatre originally was designed to seat 3,500 patrons but, after extensive renovations in the 1940s, now seats up to 2,765....

 Extravaganza, Toronto Just For Laughs

Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...

 with Craig Robinson (actor), and the Chicago Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...

 Festival with Bob Odenkirk

Bob Odenkirk

Robert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr...

.

In 2006, the troupe was featured in the CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 TV special Sketch with Kevin McDonald

Kevin McDonald

Kevin Hamilton McDonald is a Canadian comedian and actor, known as a member of the Canadian sketch comedy group The Kids in the Hall.-Early life:...

.

The Imponderables are the resident sketch troupe at the Sketch Comedy Lounge at The Rivoli

The Rivoli

The Rivoli is a bar, restaurant and performance space, established in 1982, on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario. The club originally earned a reputation as one of Canada's hippest music clubs, and many major Canadian comedy and musical performers have played on its stage, including The Kids in...

 in Toronto.

The Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

 has compared the Imponderables to SCTV

Second City Television

Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...

 and Monty Python

Monty Python

Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...

: "Like SCTV, their humour springs from the broad, perfectly honed characters and, like Monty Python, their comedy has an obtuse point of view punctuated by manic physicality."

In 2008 The Imponderables raised money for Child's Play (charity)

Child's Play (charity)

Child's Play is a charitable organization founded by the authors of the popular computer and video games-based webcomic Penny Arcade that organizes worldwide toy drives to children's hospitals. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins founded Child's Play in 2003 to improve the lives of sick children by...

 and SickKids children's hospital by hosting an on-line telethon on ustream.tv. For as long as money was being raised, they confined themselves to a small couch and stayed awake entertaining viewers with sketches, guests, and special give-a-ways. The Couch-A-Thon lasted for 29 straight hours garnering press in the L.A. Times.

In 2008 their videos were featured in Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

 magazine as their choice for Web Obsession of the Week.

In 2009 The Imponderables are scheduled to perform at the Montreal Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs

Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...

 Festival.

In 2010 The Imponderables were listed in Variety Magazine as one of the Top 10 Comics to Watch, and shot a sketch comedy pilot with MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, the troupe won their 3rd Canadian Comedy award for best sketch troupe in Canada.