Inspired by the listed breakdown of Law Follies 2023, we’re back with a fresh roundup of thoughts on this year’s show. Law Follies is the annual sketch comedy and musical revue written, produced, and performed by U of T Law students. It’s equal parts satire, chaos, and inside jokes—and a highlight of the student experience.
When I walked into the Scotiabank Theatre, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What I got wasn’t what I expected either, it was better. And now, after watching Follies 2025, I think we can all agree: like “Professors Niblett and Essert” portrayed in the Wicked sketch, we’ve been changed “for good.”
Here are 10 of my favorite follies moments (in no particular order).
1. The student support group sketch hit a little too close to home. Every overworked, underslept 1L in the room felt seen. But just when I thought we were safely in “gentle satire” territory, it took a sharp left turn with the iconic “admission”: “Niblett called me a fat b—.” I’ve never heard a crowd laugh and gasp so simultaneously.
2. The Borrowzzz bit was genius, reimagining Professor John Borrows’ famously soft-spoken voice as a sleep-inducing audiobook service was both deeply respectful and deeply hilarious. The best part was him reading off his own resume in that soothing monotone… “Canada Research Chair… Officer of the Order of Canada…”
3. I was blown away by the student acting in Challengers, a scorching-hot legal drama inspired by the film Challengers, featuring two rival litigators (and former lovers, obviously) facing off in court while exchanging dangerously seductive glances and aggressively eating churros. The sexual tension? Off the charts. The legal arguments? Impeccable. The churro crumbs? Everywhere.
4. A highlight of the night was the way Follies took aim at law’s more exclusive and self-serious corners. The Runnymede Society sketch nailed the posh, genteel stereotype of the club, complete with a deadpan joke about its total absence of women. That vibe found its reckoning in a later sketch reimagining a young Rosalie Abella as an absolutely ruthless judge, (think—The Devil Wears Robes), who obliterated her clerks with withering criticism and impossible expectations.
5. The musical numbers were a chaotic delight. The Wicked parody featuring student portrayals of Professors Niblett and Essert, singing “For Good,” was oddly moving in all the right ways. A highlight: the impressively committed Niblett impression, complete with an exaggerated Australian accent. Never thought I’d get choked up watching Niblett and Essert (well, their stand-ins) harmonize about changing each other’s lives, but here we are. And the Hamilton parody? Elite. A show-stopping number and perfectly delivered jab at how the school might drain your bank account, but at least you’re leaving with a job.
6. The Clerkship Club sketch was a crowd favorite, skewering the cult-like intensity of students obsessed with landing judicial clerkships.
7. Another standout was the sketch where professors (Follies regulars, Professors Shaffer, Phillips, and Fernandez) tried to use Gen Z slang to better appeal to students. Watching our professors drop words like “bruh,” “cheugy,” and “no cap” in earnest attempts to be relatable was equal parts hilarious and cringey.
8. One of the biggest laughs of the night came from the “David ASSper” gag, a play on the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights. The sketch featured students walking around the law school with oversized butt prosthetics.
9. One sketch hilariously skewered the OCI process with a “Tell me about yourself?” answer that simply refused to end. What started as a routine interview quickly spiraled into a never-ending monologue, with the student somehow talking themselves deeper and deeper into irrelevance. The longer it went, the funnier it got.
10. A timely recurring sketch took aim at the newly announced open-book exam policy, which restricts student access to hard drives. The sketch reappeared twice throughout the show, each time featuring an increasingly inebriated administrative representative trying (and failing) to explain the policy with a mix of buzzwords, confusion, and booze.
This year’s show was brutally honest, bitingly self-aware, and, above all, laugh-out-loud funny. The show was also impressively well-rounded, offering a sharp, self-aware tour through nearly every corner of the U of T Law ecosystem.
After the show, I sat down with Follies co-showrunners Humza Khan (2L) and Megan Corbett (3L) to both congratulate them on a job well-done and to ask them what they wished law students knew about the show. They both emphasized that Follies is for everyone. Khan admitted he was nervous to get involved at first (“I didn’t think I was funny enough”), but ended up getting involved and helping bring a whole range of sketches to life. Corbett echoed Khan’s sentiment, emphasizing that while Follies is a big commitment, it’s also a big source of fun throughout the year, less about resume-building, more about enjoying the experience.
Follies 2025 was, above all, a really enjoyable show. Smart, weird, well-executed, and full of moments that had the whole theatre laughing. It’s clear how much work went into every sketch, song, and churro. The bar has officially been raised for next year. If this year’s show is any sign, the Follies tradition is in very good hands.