BlueSky post: MN Fringe show #23: I Have Griefances - solid recommendation from friends on this one; Wells Farnham delivers a very funny solo show that is oddly sweet despite all the profanity, in tribute to the multiple members of his family that keep coming down with various strains of cancer - 5 stars
Two years ago, Wells Farnham, after years ending up languishing on the Minnesota Fringe wait list year after year, got into the 2023 Fringe at the last minute, titling his show “Wells Is Third On The Wait List.” While I appreciated the underdog origin of the show, the preview and the show materials on the website didn’t scream at me, “This is a show that you must see.” I had a similar response when Wells again slotted into the Fringe this year, up off the wait list yet again at the last minute. But then my friend Victoria, chatting between shows one day on opening weekend, asked me if I’d seen Wells’ last show. I had to admit I hadn’t, at which point she raved about it, as well as the new show “I Have Griefances,” which she’d recently seen as well. Based on his first show, she said she was going to keep showing up for whatever he did next, and she wasn’t disappointed this time either. Well, with a recommendation like that, I had to check it out. She did forewarn me, of course, that grief is in the title for a reason, but as long as I was OK with gallows humor about illness and death that some others might think inappropriate, I’d probably enjoy myself.
“I don’t like the phrase ‘reasonably optimistic’ anymore.”
As with so many things, Victoria was, of course, correct. Adding to Wells’ Fringe travails this time is the front-loaded nature of his run on the schedule. He’s one of those rare shows that’s front-loaded into opening weekend rather than spread across the whole schedule. So I caught his fourth performance on Monday, and tonight, Wednesday, he closes. Not a lot of time to get the word out and build his audiences. So I’ll do my bit to seed the ground for the inevitable upcoming year when, yet again near the top of the wait list, he skates onto the schedule at the last minute again, after my initial research. But this time, I’ll know better.
“Are you going to tell the story about the lampshade?”
Because Wells Farnham’s “I Have Griefances” is a skilled piece of comedic storytelling. Last time, it was taking the stuffing out of the kids cartoon “Paw Patrol” and the “Fast and the Furious” movie franchise in a larger discussion of creativity. This time, he finally gets to do the show he wanted, talking sh*t about his family. Why didn’t he do it last time? Well, his father, then his sister, then his cousin Tommy, then his Uncle Tom (his dad’s brother), all got diagnosed with some form of cancer, one right after the other (dad got it twice). And Wells freely admits that while the percentages on survival rates for different kinds of cancer are cautiously optimistic to hopeful, the survival rate for a Fringe show where you say bad things about family members battling cancer is absolute zero. Wells was no dummy, so Paw Patrol and Fast and Furious were the order of the day in 2023.
“In order for the apology to make any damn sense, I’d have to say the bad word again.”
Now, however, we’re two years on, and events have progressed, and with one storytelling show under his belt, it was time for Wells to tackle this initial topic, with the additional material of the various cancer journeys, some more successful than others, for his loved ones. Just to give us an idea of the show that might have been, pre-cancer, Wells offers an excerpt of material from that show that might have been, regaling us with family stories and introducing us to his cast of characters and his sometimes fractious (but still loving) relationships with them.
“My dad opted to go with the butt robot.”
Uncle Tom gets felled by pneumonia while fighting leukemia. Cousin Tommy fares better fighting oral cancer. Dad not only survives prostate cancer, but then proceeds to also elude stage 4 lung cancer, albeit after the removal of one of his lungs. Wells’ sister seems to have the easiest case to beat, with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (better than the non-Hodgkins variety), but then some of the cancer spreads to her brain stem, which the doctors don’t dare mess with. This family goes so many rounds with so much cancer in so short a timeframe that Wells openly wonders, “Who did we piss off?”
“We talk about the stuff my sister thought was funny, and we’d laugh. Then we’d talk about the things that would make her mad, and we’d laugh even harder.”
Watching your family suffer is hard. Helping your family try and get through a health crisis is hard. Thankfully Wells and his family meet the challenge, and life in general, with a mischievous sense of humor and a fair amount of swearing. Farnham’s presentation is basic by Fringe standards, a music stand with the script on it for him to refer to, like a lot of storytellers and spoken word artists use. This gives him the foundation to let loose while still always keeping the story on track. And Farnham is a very engaging storyteller, letting the human moments many of us will recognize have a chance to breath, but still always having a joke at the ready to lighten the load as we follow him through the twists and turns of his tale. It is also really hard sometimes to unpack an inside joke of the family, but Farnham also handles that with skill, giving us a window into his family of oddballs.
“Our two favorite shared activities were doing absolutely nothing, or driving each other insane.”
By the time you read this, it might be too late to catch Wells Farnham’s final performance of “I Have Griefances” at 8:30pm Wednesday, August 6th, but make a note in your Fringe journal for later. Because Wells Farnham is a determined artist, who will keep coming back to the Fringe (wait list or no), as long as he has stories to tell. And I’m sure he’s just getting started. So if you don’t manage to catch him this time, keep an eye out for him next time around, and make him part of your Fringe scheduling plans. And if you’re a producer-type, maybe reach out and lend the guy a hand. He could use some assistance in getting the word out. The good storytelling is already there - people just need to find it.
5 stars - Very Highly Recommended
Here’s some handy links to coverage of 5 Star and 4.5 Star Shows I've Seen (VERY Highly Recommend), 4 Star and 3.5 Star Shows I've Seen (Highly Recommended), Other Shows I've Seen (3 Stars or Less), as well as my Fringe Top 10, Top 11 to 20 and Returning Favorites lists for this year, and all the coverage of this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival.
As I’m sure many artists are, I find myself struggling with the idea of
just “taking time off” (what a luxury) and submerging myself in a whole
lot of theater for 11 days while the world is on fire so… I’m going to
put some phrases and links down here (and at the end of each post going
forward) and if you find yourself compelled to explore one or more of
them, so much the better. There’s a lot going on, and it can be easy to
get overwhelmed and tune out, but as Congresswoman Sarah McBride
recently said, “If everybody shows a little courage, nobody needs to be a
hero.” I freely admit this list and these links are hardly
exhaustive. It's just something to get started. Do what you can, where
you can, however you can. Let’s help one another get through this.
Contacting your elected officials about the issues that matter to you (and protesting as necessary)
Starvation in the Gaza Strip
Immigration raids around the United States
Ukraine fighting off invasion by Russia
Trans rights
Climate change action
Housing shortage and the unhoused
Reproductive Rights
Voting rights, and running for office
The courts, from the Supreme Court on down to the local level
Don’t forget to laugh - even gallows humor is still humor
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