Fringe 2008 - Day 8 - First Day Fringing Without Mom - What Will I See Thursday Night?

5:30pm
“The Bronze Bitch Flies At Noon” and “Dog Tag” - Magicword Theater - Rarig Arena

I know I just saw it at 10pm last night, but I’m looking forward to it anyway. I’m learning a lot from the actors and audience about what works in my writing, and what could work better. Come instruct me. The guys are all doing great work and I like to get them a decent crowd any way I can. Show page here, video clip here, write-ups here, here and here.

7pm
Mortem Capiendum - Four Humors - Rarig Thrust

Another returning favorite. Yes, “Shift” was probably already enough to give me an inferiority complex where Nick Ryan’s concerned. Sure, I’m a glutton for punishment. I’m trying to think of it instead as a kick in the butt to do better. Mom’s friend David saw the show last night and raved about it. Not that I’m at all surprised. Looking forward to another smartly written and acted piece of work from the Four Humors crew. Show page here.

8:30pm
The Boyshow - Youth Performance Company - Rarig Proscenium

One of this year’s top ten. I know zip about the show other than Youth Performance Company’s doing it. YPC is enough to sell me on pretty much anything. They do solid work. Should be a nice change of pace. Show page here.

10pm
All Rights Reserved: A Libertarian Rage - Maximum Verbosity - Minneapolis Theater Garage

Another returning favorite. Among Mom’s big regrets (not being able to see some shows twice), perhaps the biggest is that we couldn’t get Phillip Andrew Bennett Low’s show to fit on our schedule while she was in town. Thankfully, I have the second half of the Fringe left for myself to correct the error.

There are moments you start to wonder if your artist friends have gone too far and are headed for a big crash and burn. I have to admit, the strident publicity for this show and the crucifixion imagery, if I didn’t know the artist, would have turned me off. But then the hilarious Fringe-For-All preview hit, and the reviews from the out of town Fringes they visited started rolling in, and I realized my worries were unfounded. Just as brazen as ever, but still plenty of humor to make the political rants go down smoothly. Maximum Verbosity puts on another Fringe show completely different than the ones that came before it, and it looks like they’ve got another winner on their hands. Can’t wait to see the whole thing for myself. Seems like a fitting end to the first day without Mom around to accompany me. She’ll be there in spirit, though she’s physically now staying with friends in Indiana for a couple of days on her leisurely driving tour back home. Show page here, video clip here.

I’ll be going the rest of the Fringe alone, folks, so if you see me out and about and want to join me, don’t be shy. I like the company and theater is always better shared.

Right now, I’m typing this waiting for a new tire to be put on my car. After checking Mom out of the hotel and shifting my stuff from her car to mine, we noticed the right front tire was mighty low. Put in some air, and as I crossed around to the driver’s side, the tire blew out. Better in a parking lot than the open road, I guess. It’s been a vicious trip for tires this Fringe. Mom blew a tire in Wisconsin, and we came out after a 10pm show at the Rarig earlier this week to discover a different tire on her car had gone flat. So, as she leaves town, she passes the tire kharma on to me, just to keep things consistent. One of these mornings, I’m actually going to get right to the blogging first thing. This morning clearly isn’t it.