North Korea's sabre-rattling got ya down? Upset that Mousasi is going to crush a can instead of Gustafsson? Buck up! We've got everyone from Grammy nominees to trailblazing femme fatales to take your mind off judgment day. And besides...there is no fate but what we make.

TUES APR 9 / UNGA BUNGA, I LIKE YOUR BRAIN / THE OSSINGTON / 61 OSSINGTON / 9PM / FREE

At the very minimum, you'll get to see Chris Locke, Kathleen Phillips, and Tom Henry. Wowzers. I could go on and on about how Kathleen is one of the best character artists in the world, or about how Chris Locke looks like he's having the time of his life on stage, or even about how Tom is the perfect comedian to complement the aforementioned acts. They're just...just catch them for free before they blow up and get swept off their feet to L.A., L.A. big city of dreams. If the talent in the above clip doesn't make your jaw drop, we can't be friends anymore.

WED APR 7 - SUN APR 14 / DANA ALEXANDER / YUK YUK'S / 224 RICHMOND W / 8PM / $11-20

Quick: name me a black female comedian from Canada.

Weird, huh? I wrote the question and still can't think of one, other than Dana, of course. She's been on the scene for a minute, and was even voted, 'Best Discoveries' by Now Magazine in 2006. Can she kick it? Well, the Halifax Comedy Festival, CTV, and Much Music's Video on Trial think so. Skip past the rhetoric to 0:28 for the goods.

FRI APR 12 / DAVID SEDARIS / SONY CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS / 1 FRONT E / 730PM / $49-66

This dude's mad talented. Like Grammy-nominated talented. Never heard of him? That's odd, given that he's been touted as the, 'rock star of writers.' In all seriousness, David's lived life the way he's wanted to, whether it's been writing essays or recording comedy albums. And it's precisely because he's narrowed in on what he loves that he's been featured by everyone from BBC, The New Yorker, and Esquire. Now, he's not your typical stand-up comedy act, but the depth of his content is utterly compelling. His act proves that if your writing is good enough, people will pay to hear your read it.

SAT APR 13 / COMEDY UNCOVERED SHOWCASE / COMEDY BAR / 945 BLOOR W / 10PM / $10 ADV $12 DOOR

One of the best producers and comedy nerds in Toronto, Taylor Erwin, brings us another banger. Performances by Mark Little & Kyle Dooley of PicnicFace, Julia Hladkowicz, host Fraser Young and headliner Steph Tolev will come together like a Jiro meal, each act building upon the next. The shows are always great because Taylor knows the scene in and out, and understands how to keep an evening consistently interesting, which is no small feat. Anyone can put together a line-up of killers, but it takes a special kind of insight to compile a cast with a varied arsenal. Join me as I lick two shots in the air for yet another independent doing his thang.

About the Author: This is Michael Jagdeo, and I refuse to write about myself in the third-person. My blog, Diary of a Stand-up Comedian, walks you through the up's and down's (they're mostly down's, really) in my quest to become a killer comic in Toronto.

Lead photo of Kathleen Phillips