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Karin Fekko

Treats a chronic diagnosis like an awkward clerical error.

1 special · 2026

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She sits on a tall stool with a microphone and talks so softly the room has to lean in. When she brings up brain lesions or losing feeling in her limbs, she does it with the dry shrug of someone recounting an annoying commute. There is no swelling dramatic music and no eager reach for applause breaks. She sets up a grim medical reality, lets the room get tense for three seconds, and then undercuts it with a small, embarrassing detail about trying to hide a numb foot on a first date.

Stand-up specials

  • Multiple Neurosis

    Quiet, dark storytelling about hiding MS for seventeen years.

    YouTube · 60 min

On stage

She works mostly in the indie fringe circuit and black-box rooms in Toronto, sitting right on the fence where narrative solo theater meets standup. It is a space where plenty of performers tilt into self-serious therapy sessions, but Fekko protects the jokes.

Her hour, Multiple Neurosis, leans heavily on that contrast. The pacing is patient, sometimes risking a lull when she stays inside a story too long before hitting the release valve. She is not chasing rapid-fire punchlines. Instead, the laugh comes from the sheer absurdity of keeping multiple sclerosis secret for nearly two decades while dating deadbeats and trying to seem normal in office meetings.

Her training in Toronto sketch and improv keeps the stage presence relaxed, but the engine of the act is those seventeen years spent pretending nothing was wrong. By turning that denial into the joke, she avoids the trap of the sympathy show.

Turning points

  1. Debut of Solo Show Multiple Neurosis

    After concealing her multiple sclerosis for 17 years, Fekko premiered her autobiographical solo storytelling show at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, garnering critical acclaim across Canadian Fringe festivals.

  2. Independent Special Release on YouTube

    Fekko released a filmed version of Multiple Neurosis on YouTube on World MS Day to widen accessibility and manage the physical fatigue that limited her touring capacity.

At a glance

On stage
since 2023
Style
storytelling, dark comedy
Breakout
Multiple Neurosis
Influences
Mike Birbiglia, Hannah Gadsby, Maria Bamford, Andrea Martin, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara
Topics
Elsewhere
Instagram, YouTube

Fans also like

  • Mike Birbiglia

    Fekko cites Birbiglia as a primary influence whose intimate narrative solo shows and heart-centered approach mirror her own vulnerable storytelling style.

    Photo: Photographer: Brian Friedman. Copyright holder: Mike Lavoie / CC-BY-SA-3.0

  • Hannah Gadsby

    Fekko draws inspiration from Gadsby's willingness to address heavy, uncomfortable personal truths and make serious points within theatrical solo comedy.

    Photo: Bryan Berlin / CC-BY-SA-4.0

  • Maria Bamford

    Fekko is influenced by Bamford's fearless exploration of taboo personal struggles and her unique comedic vulnerability.