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Adam Weinrib and his group, Garlic Jackson, will be performing at the 10th Annual Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival on March 14 and 15. Kate McKinnon of "Saturday Night Live" headlines the festival.
A comedy fanatic who obsesses over "Saturday Night Live," Weinrib got his start performing in Croton.
Weinrib spent his summers performing with the Croton Children's Theater and then joined the Destination Imagination Program in middle school, where he was on an improv team.
"I was scared of the time commitment," Weinrib, whose favorite SNL castmember is Jimmy Fallon, said. "I had a lot of interests. So they put me on the improv team."
On the improv team, Weinrib excelled in coming up with one liners.
"If I didn't have three to four one liners, it was a bad practice," Weinrib said. "I felt like I let the team down."
Weinrib's team finished second and third in global tournaments. Following that, he joined another sketch troupe run by two of his friends' parents, performing improv and skits from "SNL."
"It was very exciting," Weinrib said. "I got to be Will Ferrell."
At Brown University, Weinrib was rejected by the sketch and improv teams freshman year, but made it on the sketch team the following year, where he discovered he liked doing skits rather than improv.
Moving to New York after graduation, Weinrib and his friends wrote sketches, filmed videos and even worked as production assistants on other comedy videos -- anything to get into the comedy world.
"We felt we were ready to do a show," Weinrib said. "So we booked a slot a month ahead of time to really motivate us."
Garlic Jackson eventually formed, featuring eight talented comics. Weinrib likes to write pop culture skits and has become well known for his musical impressions.
Weinrib said he is excited to be performing in Toronto but hopes to one day bring his show closer to home.
"I want to do a show in Croton," Weinrib said. "I've brought it up. I think my group would be down."
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