Even in its 25th year, a lot of us still take Wikipedia for granted—a reminder that comes in the form of sporadic pop-ups imploring readers to make a donation. Since 2020, content creator Annie Rauwerda has been scouring the site for its quirkiest entries and sharing her findings on her popular Instagram account, Depths of Wikipedia. Now, she’s taking her strange pursuit on the road, presenting a live show that promises “a journey through Wikipedia’s most interesting corners.” Here, she presents some of her favourite CanCon-related Wikipedia entries. March 28, Randolph College for the Performing Arts
“Tucked in the entry on eccentricity, beneath photos of a Swiss vagrant and Turkmenistan’s zaniest dictator, appears a shot of several traffic cones on Dovercourt, each topped with a cabbage leaf like a little cap.”
“Most McDonald’s locations are not interesting enough to warrant a dedicated Wikipedia entry, but the Rideau Street franchise in Ottawa, operating from 1985 to 2023, earned the title of World’s Worst McDonald’s after a spate of criminal activity—including the time a man pulled a baby raccoon out of his sweater during a fist fight.”
“Despite exhaustive debate on whether the Recursion article may reference itself (absolutely not), editors seem to unanimously tolerate the photo of a satirical Heritage Toronto plaque commemorating the Toronto Recursive History Project of Toronto’s Recursive History.”
“In an act of collective quarantine-era whimsy, neighbours tore down the fence from a construction site and declared the dry gravel pit ‘Bloordale Beach,’ outfitted with tropical signage and all beachy essentials—besides a body of water.”
“In 2015, a mysterious and suspiciously elaborate tunnel in North York prompted far-fetched theories about tunnelling terrorists—but the culprit was soon revealed to be soft-spoken Elton McDonald, whose only explanation was that he had a subterranean spirit: ‘I loved it so much. I don’t know why I loved it.’”
Edward Lander is a Toronto-based writer who is currently Toronto Life’s editorial intern. He’s passionate about features and creative non-fiction. He studies journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he also edits features for the campus newspaper.
The July issue of Toronto Life features the monster cottages of Muskoka versus the resistance. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.
