Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Tom Reed

Erotica for Houseplants - Tom Reed

A comedic collage of erotica by, for and about plants (read aloud by a human). Steamy succulents. Lonely redwoods. Corn-ographic tales of crop pollination. A silly botanical f*ckfest. Houseplants get in free!

Here’s another entry in the category of “I don’t really have to tell anyone to go see this person, do !?  They’re already going, right?”  In fact Tom Reed himself reminds you that I’ve already told you to see his show by throwing a couple of words from some previous coverage of mine onto his More Information section on the Fringe site:

"Guaranteed laughs" - Matthew Everett

Which does sum up the bulk of my reviews of Tom Reed’s work over the years.  He’s best known, of course, for his musical takedowns of franchises like Harry Potter, Twilight, the Hunger Games, Stranger Things, Disney Princesses and Game of Thrones.  But he mixes things up by going the improv comedy route with his Lounge-asaurus Rex character (and his work in the improv duo Rampleseed back in 2008 was how he originally ended up in the #1 spot on my pre-Fringe Top Ten back in the early days of this blog).  He’s also a damn good playwright, as Gun Play in 2018 proved.  Did he really grow up on an organic garlic farm?  (It’s so hard for me to know when people are kidding, which sometimes makes me a bad audience member at a comedy show, I take everything way too seriously)  Are there such things as erotic slam poetry championships?  (The world right now doesn’t seem like it would allow something fun like that, but then again I don’t get out that much, so…)  Based on their bios on the Fringe site, I’m interested to meet his co-stars:

Anonymous Tomato - Fringe debut! Anonymous is a yellow beefsteak tomato who cannot wait to get picked! She currently lives in a large pot with a tomato cage, but sexy stories make her feel free. \

Lily - Producer/Poet/Singer/Dancer/Flower - Lily is a pink peony. Her poetry and scent have been featured in BUZZ BUZZ WE ARE BEES magazine.

Tom says, “It’s erotica for plants, but you can come too.”  (And I’ll just leave that phrasing right where it is.)

And if you were wondering about that claim in the description:

DO HOUSEPLANTS REALLY GET IN FREE? 
Yes. They get the best seats in the house (look for signs).*
*Please don’t bring a whole Christmas tree. Please DO bring your succulents.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

(Side note: Also during Fringe season, Minnesota has a primary election coming up on August 9th.  Early voting options are currently available.  You can also check out what's on your ballot ahead of time on the Minnesota Secretary of State website, as well as other voting services and information.  In Minneapolis, not only do we have the Governor and Lt. Governor on the ballot, but there's our U.S. Congressional Rep., our MN State Senator, the MN Secretary of State and MN Attorney General, as well as our County Sheriff and County Attorney, and two members of the Minneapolis School Board.  These are the people who decide what laws we live under and how they get enforced.  These are the people who decide whether or not we have voting rights.  These are the people who decide how our kids learn.  This is how we change things.  Personally, I'm alternately furious and despairing that my goddaughter and her little sister now have fewer rights over their own bodies than they did a month ago - there are things we can do, voting in the primary (and the general election) is one of them - here's a place you can go to do more.)

 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Michael Rogers

Developers - Michael Rogers

Creature Comfort Games, the renowned video game studio led by icon "Elvis" Trask, is disgraced upon the release of its latest game, "Raw Rob". Gutted, three developers go rogue to craft their first indie game. 

Not a lot of information other than that description and a cast list for this year’s show, but it’s Michael Rogers, so I’m in.  There’s a reason he was #1 on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list back in 2018.  I admired his great work with Sheep Theater, and figured if he was striking out on his own to create more work, it was bound to be good, too.  And I wasn’t disappointed.  The clever and inventive staging of the 5-star "Now You See It" (2018) had a demon pursuing a man into his own past to help his teenage self find a way to face the actual horror of childhood trauma.  2019’s Chorus was a non-musical full of music, trying to strike a balance between dialogue and song in the ensemble story of a touring vocal group.  This year it’s a story of video game programmers?  Sure, why not?  If Michael Rogers and company are back on stage with Developers, I’m back in the audience.

Addendum: they recently had a Fringe preview:

 

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

(Side note: Also during Fringe season, Minnesota has a primary election coming up on August 9th.  Early voting options are currently available.  You can also check out what's on your ballot ahead of time on the Minnesota Secretary of State website, as well as other voting services and information.  In Minneapolis, not only do we have the Governor and Lt. Governor on the ballot, but there's our U.S. Congressional Rep., our MN State Senator, the MN Secretary of State and MN Attorney General, as well as our County Sheriff and County Attorney, and two members of the Minneapolis School Board.  These are the people who decide what laws we live under and how they get enforced.  These are the people who decide whether or not we have voting rights.  These are the people who decide how our kids learn.  This is how we change things.  Personally, I'm alternately furious and despairing that my goddaughter and her little sister now have fewer rights over their own bodies than they did a month ago - there are things we can do, voting in the primary (and the general election) is one of them - here's a place you can go to do more.)

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Joshua English Scrimhaw and Levi Weinhagen (Comedy Suitcase)

Bob and Reggie Go To Bed - Comedy Suitcase

Created by Joshua English Scrimshaw & Levi Weinhagen
 
Two idiots get ready for bed. Complications arise. A live show full of physical comedy, live music, and no words.

And here’s another post that probably isn’t fully necessary.  I don’t have to say anything other than “Hey, Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen are teaming up again as Comedy Suitcase with a brand new physical comedy show” and you’re going, right?

It’s called Bob and Reggie Go To Bed - but it’s not listed in the LGBTQ+ content roster, so I guess they’re just going to bed.  It’s a kid-friendly show.

On this show’s Fringe page, I love the genre tag on the Fringe website that just says, “Non-Verbal” - as if someone at the festival said, “Whatever you do, don’t use the word MIME!”

Joshua and his brother Joseph, both together and separately, were on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list way back in 2005, but they’d already done so much Fringe content in previous years that they hardly needed a shout-out from me even back then.  Joshua’s work with the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society is also a big favorite of mine, whether they’re fighting Nazis or raising Frankenstein (and it lent itself perfectly to going virtual during the pandemic).  But watching him and Levi fall down a lot is always amusing.  I’d worry more for their physical safety if I wasn’t laughing so hard.  This’ll be a great lighthearted change of pace that will be much needed on my schedule (and yours, too).

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

(Side note: Also during Fringe season, Minnesota has a primary election coming up on August 9th.  Early voting options are currently available.  You can also check out what's on your ballot ahead of time on the Minnesota Secretary of State website, as well as other voting services and information.  In Minneapolis, not only do we have the Governor and Lt. Governor on the ballot, but there's our U.S. Congressional Rep., our MN State Senator, the MN Secretary of State and MN Attorney General, as well as our County Sheriff and County Attorney, and two members of the Minneapolis School Board.  These are the people who decide what laws we live under and how they get enforced.  These are the people who decide whether or not we have voting rights.  These are the people who decide how our kids learn.  This is how we change things.  Personally, I'm alternately furious and despairing that my goddaughter and her little sister now have fewer rights over their own bodies than they did a month ago - there are things we can do, voting in the primary (and the general election) is one of them - here's a place you can go to do more.)

 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - The Winding Sheet Outfit (Amber Bjork)

Arsgang: What You Follow Follows You - The Winding Sheet Outfit

On the dark night of the solstice, a brave soul seeking visions of the coming year must undertake a dangerous, quiet, supernatural pilgrimage through the still and snowy forest...although not truly alone....

This is another one of those “I really don’t have to sell you on these artists, do I?” posts.  Everyone enjoys a show from The Winding Sheet Outfit.

They were on my pre-Fringe Top 10 back in 2012 with their show Birds of Passage.  Since then they’ve been on a roll with great shows that were big hits with Fringe audiences like The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox (2017),  Blood Nocturne (2018), and one of my personal favorites, the whimsical and melancholy You Are Cordially Invited To the Life and Death of Edward Lear (2019). They didn’t even let the pandemic stop them.  Their virtual Fringe offerings included a video short in which Napoleon went to war with a pack of vicious bunnies (2020), and last year’s The Darger Project aka The Darger Project - a behind the scenes video that turns into an actual show about artists in isolation discovering the work of an artist in isolation.  Their work in the Fringe and the Twin Cities Horror Festival proves that they love the creepy - and this year’s Fringe will again be in that vein.  

The More Information tab on their show page says: “This year we will not be focusing on a historical person, but rather a historical practice.  Arsgang (ohrs-gohng) is a journey. A challenge. A ritual undertaken at great personal risk for the privledge to see what the future holds. There are dangers in the woods and rules to be followed. You must go alone. At midnight. On the longest day of the year.  And you must not speak, for death follows you.  Among other things.”

There’s a prequel audio play they did back in December 2020 with all the same characters called Midnight Mass of the Dead: An Arsgang Story, if you can’t wait till opening night and want to start Fringing right now.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

(Side note: Also during Fringe season, Minnesota has a primary election coming up on August 9th.  Early voting options are currently available.  You can also check out what's on your ballot ahead of time on the Minnesota Secretary of State website, as well as other voting services and information.  In Minneapolis, not only do we have the Governor and Lt. Governor on the ballot, but there's our U.S. Congressional Rep., our MN State Senator, the MN Secretary of State and MN Attorney General, as well as our County Sheriff and County Attorney, and two members of the Minneapolis School Board.  These are the people who decide what laws we live under and how they get enforced.  These are the people who decide whether or not we have voting rights.  These are the people who decide how our kids learn.  This is how we change things.  Personally, I'm alternately furious and despairing that my goddaughter and her little sister now have fewer rights over their own bodies than they did a month ago - there are things we can do, voting in the primary (and the general election) is one of them - here's a place you can go to do more.)

 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Avi Aharoni

A Play On Words – Wandering Jew Productions (Avi Aharoni)

A one-man show exploring the art of expressive spoken word.

Avi Aharoni was one half of a two-person play Mom and I really loved back in 2018, “Summers In Prague” (which was on my pre-Fringe Top 20 that year and delivered beyond all expectations).  Then in 2019, Avi wrote and performed his own popular solo show about his late father, “Operation: Immigration.”  At the time I described it as “fascinating personal work from a ridiculously charismatic actor” - if only we all could be ridiculously charismatic, but it would probably be exhausting.  And now that the Fringe is back on live stages again, Avi is, too.  Precious little detail on what exactly the show is about, other than the description above, but I’m super curious.  Also, Avi did a wonderful job on a reading of my play “Spellbound” for Threshold Theater last summer, so I want to support his writing in return.  Side note: there’s an understudy, and it’s Neal Skoy (a pre-Fringe Top 5 entry from back in 2016 for his painfully hilarious show The Disillusionist), so regardless of scheduling conflicts or new strains of COVID-19, they’re making sure the show goes on.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

(Side note: Also during Fringe season, Minnesota has a primary election coming up on August 9th.  Early voting options are currently available.  You can also check out what's on your ballot ahead of time on the Minnesota Secretary of State website, as well as other voting services and information.  In Minneapolis, not only do we have the Governor and Lt. Governor on the ballot, but there's our U.S. Congressional Rep., our MN State Senator, the MN Secretary of State and MN Attorney General, as well as our County Sheriff and County Attorney, and two members of the Minneapolis School Board.  These are the people who decide what laws we live under and how they get enforced.  These are the people who decide whether or not we have voting rights.  These are the people who decide how our kids learn.  This is how we change things.  Personally, I'm alternately furious and despairing that my goddaughter and her little sister now have fewer rights over their own bodies than they did a month ago - there are things we can do, voting in the primary (and the general election) is one of them - here's a place you can go to do more.)

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - alleged Theatre Company

3 Guys on State Who Get Hit with Hot Dogs, Snow Cones, etc. - alleged Theatre Company

Three guys are trapped on stage, forced to play humiliating games by a mysterious voice. Their punishment: getting food thrown at them. Their reward: a piece of fudge. Can they endure?

Their video trailer looks like a hostage video and that’s clearly intentional.  These folks were in my pre-Fringe Top 20 for 2019 for their equally odd offering “Which Middle Name of Philip Seymour Hoffman Are YOU?” and while I’m not in the mood for tormenting performers, even if they’re asking for it, given that I know they do good work I’m still curious enough to go and see what the heck they’re actually up to here.  There’s always something else intriguing and thought-provoking lurking beneath the absurdity of the concept of an alleged Theatre Co. production.

Addendum: They recently had a Fringe preview:

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Ariel Pinkerton/Fortune's Fool Theatre

The Hysterical Woman – Fortune’s Fool Productions (Ariel Pinkerton)

The misdiagnosis and ridicule of women in history from Cassandra to Britney Spears, told in poetry, testimony, historical documents, and noir. “Calm down, honey, you’re being hysterical.”

This one’s a two-fer - we have Ariel Pinkerton (from my pre-Fringe Top 5 back in 2015) taking the lead on a production from Fortune’s Fool (which was in the Top 20 back in 2011).  This time instead of the compelling personal storytelling Ariel regularly presents, we have a pastiche of “hysterical” women through the ages, at a time we all have good reason to be hysterical about a great many things.  The director Nicole Wilder is also at the helm of this year’s Top 20 production, My Empty Arms.  And once again Ariel has been able to entice back to Minnesota for the the festival the wonderful Katie Starks, who I still have fond memories of for putting up with a whole lot of green makeup to play a zombie back in Fringe 2013 for my play “How To Date A Werewolf.”  Bonus points for getting Linda Sue Anderson, Destiny Davison, and Andrew Troth to round out the ensemble.

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Les Kurkendaal-Barrett

 

The Real Black Swann, Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen – Kurkendaal-Barrett Presentations

Winner of The Doric Wilson Award Dublin Gay Theatre Festival . Winner of Fringe Encore , Cincy Fringe .The true story of William Dorsey Swann , former slave who became the Queen of Drag in the 1800’s

A return to our live, on-stage Fringe would feel incomplete without a new storytelling offering from Les.

Not that I’m surprised, but Les was also one of the rare artists who managed to transcend the limitations of the Fringe going virtual for a year or two.  His 2020 show online, Climbing My Family Tree, was great even on a screen.

Les is technically a touring act, but we see him so often (Thank God) that he feels like a local Fringe artist.  He was on my pre-Fringe top 10 list way back in 2007, but even then I was late to the party - Les had been sharing his storytelling gifts in the Minnesota Fringe several years before that.  I finally caught his Christmas In Bakersfield show in 2006, and when he remounted it in 2007, that’s when Mom finally got a chance to see Les in action and immediately became a fan as well.  So every summer she visited thereafter, Mom insisted that if the Fringe lottery was kind and Les had a show in the festival, it was going on our schedule.

Very much looking forward to seeing what Les has for us all this year.
 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - RE|dance Group

 

The Biggest Wail from the Bottom of My Heart – RE|dance group
 
This 8 dancer ensemble presents dance theatre with original text, athletic dancing and a series of powerful vignettes that reflect the urgency, need, and desire to reject ignorance and be a call to action.

RE|dance group was in my pre-Fringe Top 20 back in 2017, but if I’d known just how much both Mom and I were going to enjoy their 5-star show “It’s About Love Again This Year,” they would have ranked a lot higher on the list than I put them when I was just guessing and trying to establish some order in a random numbered list.

It was good to get another taste of their work on video in 2020 during the virtual Fringe (What Love Looks Like), but their ensemble dancing really needs to be experienced live so I’m really glad they’re back on a Fringe stage in Minneapolis again.  Last time they were in town, I said, “Dance this enjoyable to watch, and this emotionally available, is a rare thing, and very easy to love.”  I expect I’ll have similar feeling again this year, so I’m very much looking forward to The Biggest Wail From The Bottom of My Heart.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Denzel Belin

He-Man Is The Devil & Other Satanic Panic Tales - created and performed by Kyle B. Dekker, directed by Denzel Belin

Evangelical Christians and the general public were afraid of and went to war with a ton of things in the 1980s. What happens if you are a kid and some of those things are the books, games, and movies you love?

Kyle B. Dekker is back for this third Fringe go-round, specializing in his “high concept - low brow” brand of entertainment.  It’s his first solo show, and he’s enlisted the directing talents of my pal (and pre-Fringe Top 10 artist from 2018) Denzel Belin.  Denzel’s directed plays of mine before, and we’re currently collaborating on developing new work from LGBTQ+ playwrights at Threshold Theater company.  So of course I’m seeing what he’s up to in the Fringe as well.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - LCcreations (Lily Conforti & Co.)

I Think We Are Supposed To Be “Coming of Age” By Now… - LCcreations (Lily Conforti)

Contemporary dance collides with a live alternative/rock band in this ELECTRIC performance. Focusing on our 'Coming of Age' stories, we push against societal pressures in a way that is rebellious and honest.  There is something for everyone as we flow between head banging punk, sweeping ballroom, subtle sultry, and revival rock.

Even though LCcreations was in my pre-Fringe Top 5 back in 2019 for their show “Botanical Dancing,” I was still surprised by just how much I enjoyed it, even more than I was already expecting to.  I wrote after seeing it, “What a fun, joyous little dance party that was; dancers conveying the love of what they do directly to the audience without saying a word, just moving (and painting) with their bodies; delightful - 5 stars.” (And this was my first Fringe Festival without Mom, so joy was hard to come by that year - this group still reached me and made me forget other things for an hour, no small feat.  They probably deserved a sixth star.)

I look forward to more of the same, even though of course this show will be a bit different.  First of all, it’s a collaboration with an alt-rock band called Oister Boy.  Given that, they warn it will be loud (but ear plugs will be available for those who want them (probably me, if I want to see another show after theirs without a ringing in my ears :) And of course, some of the lyrics will have adult language.  However, they do say that folks will be invited to join the dancers onstage for part of the last song (the moment will be announced, and they encourage people to “bounce around with the performers and finish the show off on stage” with them (if you wish).

LCcreations, like other dance offerings in this returning favorites list, offer dance for people like me who always thought they didn’t like or understand dance.  Give ‘em a try.  I bet they win you over.  They did me.

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Penny Sterling

ShMILF Life – Penny: For Your Thoughts

While waiting for her date to show up, storyteller/comedian Penny Sterling discusses her transition, and how difficult it is for her to find an authentic relationship as an older transgender woman.

Penny was in my pre-Fringe Top 10 for 2017 for her first Fringe outing in Minnesota, “Spy In the House of Men: A One-Woman Show With Balls,” and she delivered a 5-star show that Mom and I thoroughly enjoyed, as did the rest of the audience who gave Penny a standing ovation.

On the Fringe show page for this new show, it says, “ShMILF Life is the third show Penny wrote, and arguably the funniest, although who wants to argue in this heat. Penny also performs standup comedy when asked, and a lot of material developed in this setting found its way into this show.”

Excerpts from her bio:
“We will say that Penny tried really hard to live her life as a man. Like, tried for half a century, but it just didn't 'take.' You may remember her talking a bit about that in her previous show at Minnesota Fringe.”
“Since doing the thing she never thought she would do (transition), she's now doing everything she always wanted to do but never could.”
“She also rode her bicycle to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire at age 52 in a previous life. She thought that was going to be the most interesting thing she ever did. She was wrong about that.”

Need a very funny, very human show to round out your schedule? ShMILF Life is your ticket.  It’ll be on my schedule, quite possibly in the very first slot of the opening night of the festival.

If you need laughs or inspiration in the meantime, her Twitter feed is pretty great, too.

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Gabriel Mata

Joteria: Our Untold Stories… - Gabriel Mata & Adrian Gaston Garcia

Joteria: Our Untold Stories... expands the voices, bodies, and notions of the Mexican American identity with movement and storytelling centered around queerness.

Like many artists on this list of returning favorites, I don’t really need to sell you on Gabriel Mata.  He was amazing in the 2017 Fringe with Out of the Shadows (when his amusing preview landed him in my top five shows to see) (I saw the show three times, which is something I don't do). He was amazing again in the 2018 Fringe with Dreaming.  He was a deserved hit in both festivals with critics and audiences alike both years.  Now he’s back with a poet and storyteller as his creative partner on this show, so we’re in for yet another inspired twist on his original combination of dance and performance, I’m sure.  I’ve caught some of Gabriel’s work online during the first two years of the pandemic, which was great, but it’s not the same as seeing him in person on stage.  I’m very much looking forward to Joteria, and then thinking about and dissecting it for days afterward.  Gabriel’s shows cast a long shadow after you leave the theater - I have fewer higher compliments than that.  See it early in the festival if you can because, like me, you’ll probably want to go back and see it again.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Returning Favorites - Mahmoud Hakima and his Three(?!) Fringe shows

 

Mahmoud Hakima, who was in my pre-Fringe Top 5 back in 2010, is really going all in on the Fringe being back live on stage this year.  He’s got himself in three different Fringe shows in three different places.  He’s performing with Legends Improv Theater at the Bryant Lake Bowl for “It’s Going Down In Uptown,” and in the musical “Happy Endings Church: A Haggardly Tale of Woe & Redemption” in the Augsburg Studio, and finally in Oncoming Productions’ “Slender Vale (an improvised terror)” at Mixed Blood.  I’m actually interested in seeing all three of those (Going Down and Happy Endings are both in the LGBTQ+ content category of shows - and no, not just because of those phrases I picked out of their titles - and the team on Slender Vale has several other Fringe regulars in it, too), so I may be seeing a lot of Mahmoud this Fringe. 

It’s Going Down in Uptown – Legends Improv Theater

Welcome to the House of Humility. L.I.T. is here to serve you bowls of random acts of dopeness! Let's get L.I.T. with the pure language of the present tense!

Happy Endings Church: A Haggardly Tale of Woe & Redemption – Toby Cryns

A comedic rock musical about a megachurch pastor's wife! It's crass and cringe-worthy - just like Ted Haggard's church services of the early 2000s! Follow the Haggards' rise and fall and resurrection!

Slender Vale (an improvised terror) - Oncoming Productions

Each performance is a spontaneous tale of terror from the haunted, cursed, infested little Northern MN town of Slender Vale. You've seen improv comedy, now come explore the darker corners of what improv can do.

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Top 20 - #11 - Bearded Company – Swords & Sorcery: The Improvised Fantasy Campaign

An improvised fantasy adventure where fate is decided by a 20-sided die. Dragons will be slain, dungeons will be explored and, nerd or not, there’s something for everyone.

This is another one that I can’t believe wasn’t already on a previous pre-Fringe Top 10 or Top 20 list.  I’ve seen this improv concept in action from the Bearded Company three times now, twice live in the Fringe in 2017 and 2019, and then again in the first virtual Fringe in 2020 during the pandemic.  I enjoyed Swords & Sorcery every single time.  So, of course, I’m going again.  They basically use the whole Fringe run of five shows to create an epic tale (no worries, they recap if you’re coming in at the middle of the run before they launch into the next improvised episode - I saw the epic conclusion one time without seeing anything prior to that and I still had a blast).  It’s just a heck of a lot of fun watching them create characters, relationships, perils and battles, and just keep building on everything that came before.  I’ve never played one of these games myself, but it’s a kick to watch them turn it into a live action comedy-adventure, completely made up on the spur of the moment, always depending on whether they get a high or a low roll of the dice to tilt the outcome in unexpected ways.

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

 

 

Fringe 2022 - Top Ten - #10 - Help Me Help You Help Yourself – Your Silent Partner (Danny Wightkin)

Winner of the 2019 Elgin Fringe Audience Choice Award and the 2022 Cincy Fringe Producer’s Award, “Help Me Help You Help Yourself” is mindless, silly fun for human beings aged 4 to 104.

There’s an amusing video trailer for this one that sold me.  Plus there’s the awards, and the promise of silly mindless fun.  This clown obviously knows what he’s doing, and I’m a little light on the clowning this Fringe, so on the list Help Me Help You Help Yourself goes.
 

 (You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

Fringe 2022 - Top 20 - #12 - Wounded Healers – Timothy Berry

Wounded Healers is an original spoken-word play and performance. It is a historical chronology of how Black bodies have used creative expression to heal from racialized trauma.

That short synopsis was enough to draw me in.  The background information posted on the More Information tab of their Fringe page sold me on attending:

"This is an excerpt performance from the full play

In America, there is a need to understand precolonial Africa. However, due to systemic racism, Black bodies have been excluded from upward mobility, victimized by dehumanization, fallen prey to biased and racist policing practices, and plagued by disparities in health and education. Such conditions have led to internalizing toxic race-based stress, causing damage to the central nervous system. Yet, against all odds, Black bodies have creatively persisted and survived. Drawing upon a conceptual framework inspired by Tupac Shakur–imagery of roses growing through concrete–this story addresses historical trauma and creative resilience. Related to the oral tradition of African/Black Djalis, this spoken-word performance play focuses on five movements/historical periods that function as a chronology of Black bodies grappling with racialized trauma in America: (1) Chattel Hands and Feet; (2) Reconstruction: My Sin is My Skin; (3) The Great Migration: Running for Our Lives; (4) Civil Rights Without Democracy; and (5) Black Body Commodities and Wounded Healing. Combining multiple disciplines including, Africana Studies, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Black History, Music Composition, and Creative Writing, this work expresses the ways in which Black bodies have suffered, transcended their own pain, and fostered healing through creativity. A post-performance discussion is offered for audience members to engage in reflection and critical discourse with the writer, and performers. Drawing upon experiential education models for reflection, this discussion aims to inform audiences about the wounded healing process by better understanding the history and connection between structural racism, body trauma, and self-healing. Ultimately, as a result of this performance, audience members can locate themselves within a structurally racist society; grapple with how complicit whiteness perpetuates suffering; and, contemplate how to engage in somatic body work by uprooting White supremacy in their own bodies, leading to personal transformation.

For information on inviting/booking the full production which includes a post-performance discussion visit https://timothy-berry.com/"

There’s a video trailer on the website for Timothy Berry if you want a sampling of what the Wounded Healers will have to offer.  I’m interested to see more after watching it.
 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

Fringe 2022 - Top Ten - #9 - Gemini, A “Magic” Show – Noah Sonie

GEMINI is an experimental one man show from the Mind of Minneapolis based Magician and Creative, Noah Sonie. Noah blends numerous passions including magic, comedy, storytelling, and his love for modern culture

There’s not a ton of information on this one but: a magic show with adult language and crude humor?  OK, let’s give Gemini a try.  Definitely helps add some variety to the schedule.  Noah does have a website with more info, including photos and video from his work, so check that out if you need more convincing.

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

Fringe 2022 - Top 20 - #13 - My Empty Arms – Broken Wing Productions (Sheree Froelich)

The story of one woman's choice to place her child for adoption, and the world designed to make that choice necessary.
 
From the "More Information" tab on their Fringe show page: "'My Empty Arms' is the story of one persons choice: Sheree Froelich. Lost in the national debate around personal choice and human rights are the people left behind by a system that punishes those with less. So often, people remember their talking points and forget that we’re talking about the lives of humans and not an alternative to a medical procedure.
 
This show is written, performed, and directed by a birth mother and two adoptees. No one can ever know how their lives would have been different had we maintained a system of kindness, support, and access to vital resources, but we envision a future world where those with uteruses are afforded all of these tools, not just a nation excited to have another social media debate.
 
For more information about some of those resources, visit Saving Our Sisters."

I find the subject matter of My Empty Arms really compelling, so that’s why it’s on the list.  Side note, the author/performer Sheree Froelich's husband Scot is doing the sound design, and he himself landed at #5 on this pre-Fringe Top 20 list back in 2013.  So now we have the whole household on the roster.

Addendum: They recently had a Fringe preview:

 

 

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.) 

Fringe 2022 - Top Ten - #8 - Desi Heart Crust – SAATH

Desi Heart Crust is a story of a Blindian (Black x Indian) couple exploring how race, culture & activism shapes their relationship. From Afrobeats to Bhangra to powerful acts, come see this Desi dance drama!

I saw some SAATH offerings during the virtual Fringe, but the main reason I’ve added this to the list is because one of the playwrights involved is Varghese “Alex” Alexander.  Alex has sat in on my writing group in recent years and I’ve always enjoyed the scripts he was working on, so if he’s involved in the project, I’m intrigued enough to put Desi Heart Crust on my schedule.  Plus there’s dance and music as well.

(You can click on the following links to see a set of links to the full Top 10 list, the Top 11-20 list, a list of returning favorites, and the full coverage of the 2022 Fringe on this blog.)