Hello! We are S.E Grummett (Grumms) and Sam Kruger (Sam). We are a couple (both in life and in art) living in Toronto, Ontario, and perform under the name Creepy Boys. We make queer theatre in the overlapping genres of comedy/theatre/performance art. We mention this because - and we cannot stress enough - this is in no way a joke.

We are being wrongfully evicted because we fart too much.

Really.

This is not a joke.

We wish we were joking.

We are currently being evicted for “personal use” but we believe this is retribution for us enforcing our tenants rights, as well as, our landlords belief that the poor air quality readings in her unit are from us smoking.

When in fact, the air quality monitor is reading our farts.

Again, this is not a joke.

For context, we currently live in Toronto, in the main floor and basement of a converted duplex.

Our landlord lives above us and for the first year of our tenancy, we felt we had found a gem (a quirky gem) of an apartment. Prior to this apartment, we lived out of our suitcases for nearly five years. Hopping from gig to gig, one airbnb or sublet to another. Slowly accumulating things for our future home, where we might one day live. Five years of living in other people's spaces. We cannot tell you how many times we would talk late into the night about what our future apartment (let alone our future home) might look like. What we wanted it to feel like.

When we moved into our current home we felt we finally had found a homebase. Somewhere to start laying down roots.

That was until 10 months ago...

In December 2025, our landlord informed us that she was investigating the air quality of her unit and as we share an air duct system felt she wanted to involve us in some findings. As she had been recently diagnosed with a chronic lung condition she was very concerned with the level of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) the monitor was periodically showing. This alarmed us, and so for the next few months we gave her access to our unit and assisted in trying to test and isolate the source of these VOCs. She bought us our own air quality for our unit.

We tested everything. We stopped cooking for days to see if it was the stove. We showered at the gym instead of at home to see if it was the waterheater. We tried walking into our unit without turning on any lights, or using any appliance or device. But no matter what we did, the VOC level would periodically spike. Especially overnight.

Our landlord asked if we were smoking. We assured her, we weren't. Neither of us are smokers. Grumms would sometimes smoke a joint outside once a month (which is legal in Canada, god we love Canada), but never inside our apartment. Further the readings on the monitor show spikes in VOVs 6/7 times a day, often at 3 or 4 am.

We asked our landlord to bring in an air quality specialist, as we felt we had exhausted our abilities to determine the source of the VOCs. She denied this request citing the cost, unless we agreed to pay for whatever testing needed to be done if we turned out to be the source.

It was then we began to read more into VOCs and stumbled onto this FAQ from the air quality manufacturer’s website. “We often receive the question from users "Why do VOC levels increase in my bedroom at night?" and the answer is likely that the VOC sensor is naturally reacting to the build-up of breath and results of other bodily functions in the room during the night.”

We contacted a Public Health Specialist from the City of Toronto who confirmed as much. Stating, “People drive themselves crazy looking for a source, when the source is in fact them.”

Farts.

It's farts.

It has to be farts.

We informed our landlord that while we would still welcome an air quality specialist if she so desired to keep investigating the matter, we felt we had a sufficient answer for ourselves.

She asked us again if we’re smoking inside. We told her (again) we do not smoke inside.

It’s also worth mentioning here that our landlord does not have a sense of smell.

And it’s also worth mentioning that anyone who’s lived with someone who smokes inside (hi Mum!) - YOU CAN TELL.

At the end of May 2026 we got an email accusing us of smoking cannabis in the unit. From here we contacted pro-bono legal aid as we feared our landlord would be moving to evict us. Our landlord scheduled an inspection accompanied by “someone with olfactory sense” , as well as various improvements on the house. During this inspection, we raised a series of longstanding issues with the unit.

Shortly after this inspection, we got an email from her accusing us of using a wax diffuser.

This is the object in question.

It is in fact, not a wax diffuser, but a ceramic candle holder in the shape of a clown, which Sam lovingly calls “his son”.

Neither candles or wax diffusers are banned in our lease, but we offer to refrain from using them for her comfort

Then, 3 weeks later, we are served an N12 notice for eviction by the lawyer she has hired to evict us. In the notice we are told that our landlord is evicting us for personal use. It says that our landlord needs to move into our unit and wishes to return the unit to a single family home.

We believe this to be in bad faith.

In Ontario, such evictions have to be heard by the Landlord Tenant Board.

So, we are going to court.

WEEEEEEEEEE!

Currently, this eviction hearing is scheduled for next week - 9am EST on October 13th 2026. On that day, we will be performing our show SLUGS at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in Australia. And, given the time change, the hearing will occur at midnight, directly after our show.

We will look like this.

We will have no time to change out of our costumes, or take off make-up. We will be sweaty and tired. We will then clear the stage of our set and props, run to somewhere with decent wifi, and then try to plead our case.

We have asked the landlord to agree to move the hearing. They have denied this request.

(BUUUTT - YOU CAN WATCH OUR HEARING! FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! The hearing is free to watch by the public, and we would encourage you to do so! We’ll post more details in the coming weeks but YOU ARE INVITED. We’d love to have your love and support there during this quite stressful and bizarre time.)

We have hired a lawyer to help us fight this eviction, and are looking for help from our friends, family and community to afford this unforeseen cost while we’re finishing up our 3-month tour.

We are a self produced theatre/comedy/performance duo, and if you couldn't tell from that highly unconventional multi-hyphenate description, we work in a fairly niche artistic field. Carving out a living as two full-time artists is incredibly difficult and financially tenuous. We have been incredibly lucky that in the last two years that we both have been able fully focus on our work as artists, but this has been in large part tethered to our very affordable housing situation.

Having this apartment has been a lifeline, and moving out will realistically increase our costs by $800 - $1000 a month for a similar level of space and storage of our various props/puppets and 2-person horse costume.

All funds raised here will be used to pay for the lawyer we have hired to fight this eviction. This lawyer specializes in representing tenants in similar situations as us. He will help us navigate this tricky situation, represent us at the LTB hearing (so we don’t have to fight for our housing while wearing plastic tube-tops made of blow-up chairs), and fight for us to stay in our home.

So, if you have a spare $5 or $10, please consider donating to help us stand up for our tenant rights. Donations over $100 and we’ll send you either a double pass to our show at the Melbourne Fringe OR some kooky snail mail we cook up.

And please join us at the LTB hearing on Oct 13th - 9am EST / Midnight Melbourne time (on Zoom, full details to follow).