ABROAD, Season 4
Premieres Sunday May 18
A satirical sketch comedy series highlighting immigrant experiences in Canada through co-creator Isabel Kanaan’s humorous lens on how immigrants adapt to life in the country.
Stream ABROAD, Season 3
Episode 1 – Dream Big
Sketches include: Filipino Winter X-Games has competitors battling for the ultimate prize, a fast-track to Canadian citizenship, the International Space Station gets a tune-up, Filipino style.
Episode 2 – Celebrity Culture
Sketches include: Social media maven Bella Poarch stars in Celebrity Pinoy Blind Date, Manny Pacquiao’s new private healthcare clinic.
Episode 3 – Family Obligations
Sketches include- The Philippines number one love team talk showbiz on Filipino Tonight, an ailing Lolo feels much better after discovering healthcare in Canada is free.
Episode 4 – Self-acceptance
Sketches include- Ghost Perla welcomes a newly departed soul to the after world, a politician encounters a soul changing experience with a Filipino cleaning lady.
Episode 5 – Working Together
Sketches include- Black market dealer slash dance instructor Nestor shares a jail cell with his number one rival, Robo Yaya gets and A.I. upgrade.
Episode 6 – Always Be Learning
Sketches include- Thespian icon Miss Cheryl Hill teaches a class for wannabe Teleseryre actors, while picking a name for their new baby an expecting couple discover the importance of Filipino nicknames.
Stream ABROAD, Season 2
Episode 1 – Good Vs. Evil
While shopping for a ring, a customer gets pressured into spending more than they can afford; Father Brian makes a deal with Devy the devil to pump-up his parishioner participation; During an open house, a real estate agent points out all the advantages of buying a formally Filipino-owned house.
Episode 2 – Commitment
Teaching Filipino newcomers the skills needed to survive their first year in a Canadian suburb; Spaceship Captain Mabel Yanga brings her alien boyfriend to meet her parents; Yoga class for those who miss the Philippines.
Episode 3 – Toxic Culture
A family visiting an escape room needs to escape their own passive aggressive mother; TV’s hottest new show “Culture Court,” with Judge Alessa presiding over culturally sensitive cases; a Filipina fights against typecasting during an audition for a medieval fantasy film.
Episode 4 – Sense of Belonging
Manny Pacquiao bringing his talents to a basketball team; a Filipino worries how an alien invasion will affect his life in Canada; a father fearing his daughter is losing her sense of heritage, teaches her how to swing arnis sticks.
Episode 5 – Friends
During mass, a trio of parishioners compete to prove who is most god worthy; at the Pinoy Airline check-in counter, a traveller does her best to not pay for overweight luggage; a pair of potential suitors vie for nerdy Nathan’s affection.
Episode 6 – Patriotism
Detectives investigate a man missing his identity AKA Code Coconut; An immigrant can’t get enough free samples that a big box store has to offer; Manny Pacquiao launches a betting app for Filipinos.
Episode 7 – Hustle Culture
A young woman tries to find her favourite spice in the grocery store; A woman gets more than she bargained for on her first date; A mother teaches her daughter to drive using her own experiences from the Philippines.
Episode 8 – Justice
A couple try to spice up their long-distance relationship via Zoom; Robo-Yaya outlines her robotic plans for the complete submission of the human species; a Filipina and an Indigenous protestor bond over their shared trauma and pepper spray.
Meet Your Cast
Isabel Kanaan is a Filipina-Canadian actor, comedian, and writer best known for OMNI’s Abroad, CBC’s Air Farce, and TFC’s BRGY.
Isabel is a Second City and Seneca College Acting for Camera and Voice alumna. She has received rave reviews for her film performances like in “Ponytail” during the Reel Asian International Film Festival, and for her stage presence like in Factory Theatre’s “Prairie Nurse.” She has written and starred in multiple award-winning TV shows such as Air Farce, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and Tallboyz.
She co-created, produced, wrote, and starred in the Canadian Screen Award nominated “Abroad”. She was awarded the NBC Universal Bob Curry Fellowship, the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, one of NOW Toronto’s breakthrough stage artists, and was nominated for a Premier’s Award for her expeditious achievements in theatre, film, and TV.
Aldrin Bundoc is a Dora award-nominated actor, physical-theatre creator, and producer who was born in Manila, Philippines and immigrated to Canada with his family when he was five-years old. He is currently based in Toronto.
To date, Aldrin has amassed a significant body of work including Schitt’s Creek (CBC/Netflix), The Boys (Amazon Prime), Star Trek: Discovery (CBS), Coroner (CBC/Netflix), Hudson & Rex (City), Killjoys (Space), Endlings (Hulu), Flashpoint (CTV), Warehouse 13 (Syfy), Beauty and the Beast (The CW), Lost Girl (Showcase), Shadowhunters (Freeform), Private Eyes (Global), The Hot Zone: Anthrax (National Geographic), Nurses (Global), and Slasher (Netflix) to name a few. Theatre credits include Hilot Means Healer (Cahoots); Million Billion Pieces, Antigone (Young People’s Theatre); Towards Youth (Project Humanity/Crow’s Theatre), Meet Cute (Roseneath Theatre), Twelfth Night, All’s Well that Ends Well (St. Lawrence Shakespeare), and Body Politic (Buddies in Bad Times/LemonTree Creations).
Justin Santiago is a Filipina-Canadian emerging actor. She moved to Canada at the age of seven and grew up in Brampton, Ontario where she discovered her passion for all things performing arts. She is a graduate of Sheridan College having attended the Film & Television and Performing Arts Preparation program. She holds a diploma in Performing Arts from Randolph College of the Performing Arts in Toronto. Through her passion and determination, she landed leading roles in plays and musicals such as The Dispute (Alistair Newton), Sunshine Boy (Bad Hats Theatre), and The Drowsy Chaperone (Sheridan Performance Prep). Since graduating, Justin has since picked up her interest in Film and Television and has worked on sets with Go Button Media and Discovery Channel. She is currently working on expanding her skill set to the business side of the arts whilst continuing her passion in acting. She promotes a future of diversity and inclusion through her art and through the people she meets.
Nicco Lorenzo Garcia is a first generation Filipino-Canadian and Dora Award Winning actor, playwright, collective creator and dramaturge based in Toronto. He can currently be seen as Ruben on CBC Gem in the Shaftesbury series “Topline” created by Romeo Candido. He last appeared for Rogers Media in the series “Rising Suns” on OMNI. He will next be seen in Peter Berg’s much anticipated Netflix mini-series, “Painkiller” alongside Matthew Broderick. Nicco is currently in production and set to appear in the new romantic comedy series “Slip”, written and directed by Zoe Lister Jones. Other film and tv credits include: Departure (NBC); Conviction (ABC); Street Time (Showtime); Mayday (Discovery); 5000 Years of Heroes (True Legend) DeGrassi: TNG (CTV); Owning Mahowney (Alliance); and also Ang Pamana: The Inheritance and Prison Dancer – The Webseries (Digital Sweatshop) also created by Romeo Candido, based on the viral YouTube sensation “Dancing Inmates of Cebu”.
Nicco was a collective creator and playwright for “People Power”, for which he won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Performance; and “In The Shadow of Elephants” both produced by Carlos Bulosan Theatre, the first and only Filipino-Canadian theatre company in Canada.
Joy Castro is a Filipino-Canadian actress, singer and aspiring writer. She was born in Winnipeg, MB and caught the acting bug after attending a theatre production of ‘Anne of Green Gables’. She and her family then moved to Vancouver, BC when she was eleven and that is where she cultivated her love for performing through various community theatre productions. After graduating from the professional theatre training program at Studio 58, Joy has gone on to play multiple nurses in films and tv shows (not one in real life though!), as well as the odd alien or two. ABROAD is Joy’s first time working within the world of sketch television.
Catch up with the first season of Abroad
(We won’t tell if you binge watch all episodes)