Returning Favorites - Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, and Tim Uren

One person, connected to five Fringe shows:

Not Fair, My Lady - Colleen Somerville Productions - Mixed Blood Theater

Not Fair, My Lady! is an all-woman, company-created musical theatre parody review! It's 2018 and misogyny is alive and well on Broadway. And in the world. Everywhere. Let's...sing about it! Shit.

The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society vs. the Nazis - Rarig Thrust

 Join the Society for two classic World War II era thrillers from the golden age of radio, performed in the style of an old-time radio broadcast, including original announcements, commercials and sound effects.

Our Best Life - Custer and Schmidt - Rarig Thrust

Despite global and personal chaos, Shanan & Emily are living their best lives! I mean, really trying! Do you believe them yet?! Through delightfully funny sketches, they prove everything's fine. (Nothing's fine.)

Right, Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical - Backyard to Broadway Productions - Mixed Blood

Right, Wrong or Bomb! A Dating Musical is a musical comedy that celebrates the trials, tribulations and joys of online dating. The story follows three gal pals, one mother and those they meet along the way.

Couple Fight: The Musical - Weggel-Reed Productions - Rarig Thrust

Real couples reenacting their real fights as a fully-fledged musical review. Enjoy new couples and returning favorites perform never-before-seen fights made palatable by clever writing and inspiring music. (I'll touch on that one in another post, as it's tied to another returning favorite.)

and by extension, also

The Screaming Skull - Ghoulish Delights - Rarig Thrust

In this one-man adaptation of F. Marion Crawford's classic ghost story, a sailor spends a stormy night descending into drink and madness, haunted by the cries of a woman he may have inadvertently helped murder.

Speaking of merry bands of co-conspirators, and artists who regularly crank out quality Fringe entertainment, I have the usual multi-show overlap I do every year when discussing Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, and Tim Uren.  Shanan’s involved in (unless I missed one) at least five Fringe shows this year.  She directed the dating musical Right, Wrong or Bomb (video of their Fringe preview here); she’s performing in the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society vs. the Nazis, Couple Fight: The Musical, and Our Best Life; and she was also writer on Our Best Life, and Not Fair, My Lady.  (How is she still standing?  I'm tired just typing all that.)  Tim Uren and Joshua English Scrimshaw are also part of The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society vs. the Nazis; and Tim is also the brains behind Ghoulish Delights’ horror offering The Screaming Skull.  (oh, and Joshua and his artistic collaborator Levi Weinhagen got pulled up off the wait list at the last minute for another offering from their physical comedy duo Comedy Suitcase, called...)

Slapdash Panic: Comedy Suitcase Ended Up In The Fringe Festival With 3 Weeks Notice and No Show! - at Strike Theater

On July 10th, a last minute spot opened up. Suddenly Comedy Suitcase was in the Fringe! Now, Levi and Joshua give audiences a peak behind the curtain and show them how they build a show from nothing to finished.

Not Fair, My Lady had one of the best Fringe previews - great singing, great attitude, with bonus swearing, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing that one.  I think Mom’ll be on board, too. (Oh, and their official show trailer is also scathing and hilarious, too.  Check that out.)

I loved the first Fringe iteration of the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society last year.  It was like stepping back in time into a classic radio broadcast.  That one was a horror story.  WWII radio broadcast recreations should be just as fun, because Nazis are firmly in the rearview mirror for our society and not at all relevant to the present day.  Ah, nostalgia.

Comedy Suitcase always does great work, so that'll be worth seeing for a laugh - whatever they come up with :) 

I’m not much for horror, personally, but I do like the smart, often mischievous way that Tim Uren serves it up through his company Ghoulish Delights, so I’ll probably steel my spine and see The Screaming Skull, too.

Here's some handy links to the full Top 10, Top 11-20 and Returning Favorites lists.