John Leguizamo, or "Legz" as he's known around the online world, was in Toronto last week as part of the Just For Laughs Festival. He was previewing his new one-man show, testing out material and audience reaction as part of a continent-wide tour.

I had the awesome good fortune to meet and speak with "Legz". I've been a fan of his for years, and remember how moved I was when I saw his one-man show Freak on Broadway years ago. I had been so impressed with his turn as Tybalt in Romeo + Juliet too. Even in Spawn, in a puffy costume and heaps of makeup, his mix of manic and classical, profane and profound, was notable.

In-person, Legz was funny, charming, and chatty. He's really smart, disarmingly honest, and is very passionate about theatre. In fact, he made no bones about his new show being a play proper, and found it interesting to be part of a comedy festival for the first time in his career.

Perhaps the best memory I have from our twenty minute conversation is exchanging theatre recommendations in our respective cities; I recommended he catch Loot (by Joe Orton), while he said I should see Ruined (by Lynn Nottage). Ha. Nice.

You can find the feature here.

Enjoy!