Leif Oleson-Cormack

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The Disney Delusion

'It really is his rawness and willingness to reveal things very few people would ever admit out loud, never mind in front of an audience, that makes this the best thing I’ve seen so far at the Fringe.'
- The Edmonton Journal ★★★★½

"He's scrupulously fair and his account is suffused with compassion and understanding, even for the most predatory characters featured. Wryly amusing from the get-go, he keeps you hooked with the rich, morally shady detail of his story."
- The Scotsman ★★★★

“[T]he show is an unusual fusion of stand-up comedy and theatre. And it capitalizes on the particular appeals of both — the bright forward energy (and sharp-eyed comic observations) of the former, the narrative structure and momentum of the latter. Both the current and the younger Leif’s occupy the stage, in a vivid way. And they make great company for a Fringe hour.”
- 12thnight.ca

“Leif Oleson-Cormack shows us where the future of stand-up comedy should lie.”
-View Magazine

“Oleson-Cormack wore his heart on his sleeve throughout his intimate monologue...well-structured and well-written.”
- North West End UK ★★★★

“Exquisitely well written stand-up comedy...Leif Oleson-Cormack really knows what he’s doing.” 
- Butterwort ★★★★

“Leif Oleson-Cormack has a story that ought to be told. It’s rather a startling one, delivering multiple shocks along the way, as it reveals a narrative about holding onto hope of falling in love with your crush. As the comedian recounts the tale to the audience, it’s with such enthusiasm, you can’t fail to realise that he’s loving performing this, and the energy is infectious.”
- Three Weeks Edinburgh

Winner of Best Storytelling Show at the 2025 Victoria Fringe Festival

Comedian Leif Oleson-Cormack pushes confessional comedy to its limits in this show about a methodically moronic plan to double-down on unrequited love through a disastrous trip to Disneyland. Featuring criminal acts, surgically-altered sugar daddies, Sinatra impersonators, and a cynically-charged "coming out", this (unfortunately) true story is not to be missed.

   

Dead Peasants 

Purchase Online: Samuel French / Amazon

A worker dies suspiciously while cleaning augers at an animal food pellet factory, bringing two years of intricately tangled relationships to light. Davey—a naïve aspiring tattoo artist with romantic feelings for the dead man’s wife—pleads his innocence despite being the only worker present during the accident. The factory owners--a pair of estranged brothers feuding over their late father's estate--are only concerned with how this incident will interfere with their plans to sell the struggling factory. Meanwhile, the dead man’s wife, Grace, finds herself relieved to have finally escaped the tulmultuous relationship she has been trapped in for years. Moving back and forth in time to reveal how their respective stories converge, Dead Peasants is a darkly comic thriller that examines greed, dependency and culpability in a desolate prairie town.

Winner of the 2012 Samuel French Canadian Playwrights Contest

Winner of the 2011 Alberta Playwrights Network National Exchange

Meat Puppet

"Meat Puppet is a provocative play and Oleson-Cormack is clearly a gifted playwright. He has a knack for capturing the nuances of casual conversation and is adept at creating multi-layered stories." – Vue Weekly

Synopsis:
Chuck Dalmer is an investigative telejournalist with a mission. His once popular exposé series, “Red Letter”, specializes in running sophisticated sting operations to catch child predators soliciting minors online. And now Dalmer has uncovered his highest profile target yet: a disgraced film actor. “Red Letter” secretly sets up their cameras across the street and anxiously waits to nab the prey and win some rating points.

In a race to avoid being scooped by a teenage YouTube sensation, Dalmer and his producer struggle to push the show forward in time for live broadcast- no matter the cost or the lives that are affected. Truth and fiction, reality and reality TV all intertwine in this uncompromising look at today's media.

Production Details:
Meat Puppet, a Northern Light Theatre/Shadow Theatre co-production was first presented at the Varscona Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta, from January 19-February 6th, 2011. The cast was as follows:

CHUCK DALMER               John Hudson

DEB JOHNSRUDE              April Banigan

CLAY JAMESON                 Cody Ray

MARCIA JAMESON            Sharla Matkin

Directed and set designed by Trevor Schmidt, Lighting designed by Adam Tsuyoshi Turnball, Sound design by Darrin Hagen, Stage managed by Coralie Cairns, Production managed by Bobby Smale  

Andrew Iwanyk Fulfills Your Dreams

"I left the theatre with a huge smile on my face and laughter in my heart"
– ★★★★ The Edmonton Journal 

“You could go see this show for every single performance and each one would be strange, unique, and bizarre, and worth seeing.”
- ★★★★★ Ryjin V, Fringe Audience Reviews

“This show was brilliant...The energy and timing from everyone involved in the production was impeccable... Supremely weird and hilarious.”
- ★★★★★ Tegan H, Fringe Audience Reviews

Comedian and “visionary guru” Andrew Iwanyk, hailed by The New York Times for his “breathtaking weirdness” and named Best of the Fest (Just for Laughs) by The Montreal Gazette, invites audiences to step into the most unpredictable self-help seminar ever staged. In Andrew Iwanyk Fulfills Your Dreams, one lucky audience member is chosen to live an entire lifetime as their best self… in just sixty minutes.

The result? A whirlwind of makeovers, high-stakes challenges, unlikely alliances, public scandal, death and rebirth. Equal parts comedy show, motivational seminar, and surreal game show, it’s an immersive, high-wire performance where the dreamer’s journey becomes the audience’s obsession.

Written by Leif Oleson-Cormack and Andrew Iwanyk
Produced by Kamal Alaeddine
Directed by Leif Oleson-Cormack

Performed at the 2025 Edmonton Fringe Festival at the Faculty Events Center Aug 14-21

The Art of the Con

"This show is so funny you should pack another set of dry underpants.
Kamal Alaeddine masterfully makes the absurd completely relatable as he winds a wildly hilarious yarn. The quality of his performance ability is revealed during brief breaks in the onslaught of punchlines for moments of wistful reminiscence. "
– ★★★★★, Claire T, Fringe Audience Reviews

“A master storyteller..his jokes are timed well, his physical and prop comedy is on point, his fourth wall breaks and digs at his past left my sides in desperate need of stitches. Go see this show! Its a great one.”
- ★★★★★ Adam W, Fringe Theatre Reviews

From The Tonight Show to Canada’s Got Talent, comedian Kamal Alaeddine has charmed audiences around the world. Now he’s turning his most audacious real-life hustle into a wildly funny, no-holds-barred solo show: The Art of the Con.

At 20 years old, a young and lazy Kamal discovered that his ample size could be turned into a meal ticket—literally. Conning his way onto government welfare for being “fat,” he set off a chain of scams that would take him from candy factory glory to bizarre run-ins with unexpected danger, deception, and absurd self-discovery.

Packed with jaw-dropping twists, confessional storytelling, and Alaeddine’s razor-sharp wit, The Art of the Con is a masterclass in getting away with it… until you don’t. It’s a hilarious, occasionally shocking reminder that sometimes the “easy” road takes a lot more work.

Written by Kamal Alaeddine
Directed and Dramaturged by Leif Oleson-Cormack

Performed at the 2025 Edmonton Fringe Festival (Acacia Hall) Aug 14-Aug 24 2025