Saturday, August 08, 2020

Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus - Cirque Us - One of the Best in the Fringe - 5 stars


Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus, from @thecirqueus; fantastic, amusing ensemble piece; beautifully shot so you can be close to the action; each performer is a planet w/impressive circus and acrobatic skills; best of the circus offerings - 5 stars

Show description: Join our intrepid Astronomer and gaze into the cosmos, where we fall into orbit with nine acrobat planets, each one the center of their own private universe. Watch these celestial celebrities rocket into stardom, exploring circus through a cosmic lens. Alone in the galaxy, their talent only eclipsed by their solar flair. Come dance among the stars while they chase comets, dive through black holes, juggle moons, and defy gravity. 75 minutes

My mind still boggles thinking about some of the things that happened in Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus.

Can you imagine having the skill and control of your own body enough that you could do a handstand on someone else's shoulders, and then trust that person enough that you are willing to drop out of this position, still holding your body straight, and drop straight down the front of this other person, and trust that they will catch you by your suddenly outspread legs before your head hits the floor?

Or are you a skilled enough juggler that you can juggle those juggling pins and toss them back and forth to a person across from you, while continuing to juggle the pins in front of you?  Oh, and you're on your knees doing it.  And you're crossing the pin tossing path of two other jugglers doing the same thing who are sitting in chairs?  And you're also crossing the pin tossing path of two other jugglers who are doing the same thing while standing?

Try doing a cartwheel.  A controlled cartwheel that goes slowly.  How about multiple controlled cartwheels in a large circular pattern around the stage?

Handstand.  On one hand.  On a tiny block at the top of a pipe.  While contorting your body into a pretzel.  Along with two other people doing the same thing, in a synchronized pattern.

Now do it in character.  Because you're a planet.

Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus is all the more fun because, even though this is a recording, they took the time to film and edit it well.  So you're right in the thick of the action at all times, only backing up when a full view of the stage is needed to catch all ten of the circus performers in action together.

Nine of the ten performers are supposed to be the planets in our solar system (yes, they still count Pluto).  The tenth is an Astronomer (Sam Gurwitt) who also does time as an astronaut during the proceedings.  The ten planets are lined up chorus line style in the beginning so you get a look at the full group.

There's Mercury (Ivan Jermyn), dressed in a red sleeveless hoody and cap, a bro character specializing in breakdancing moves, tumbling and romantic comedy. There's Venus (Marieke Dailey, also the assistant director), in a black tank top, a nurturer who specializes in rope work in midair, and handstand craziness on the ground.  Earth (Doug Stewart, founder and operations director of Cirque US), is a social media influencer in a bright blue T-shirt constantly snapping selfies when he isn't in midair also doing rope work.  Mars (Rena Dimes) is a badass in a red tank top who can bully all the men out of the way in order to have exclusive use of the red silks for aerial work that is astonishing.  Jupiter (Cam Zweir) is a big dude in a red shirt who can handle tossing anyone around, and also catching them. Saturn (Delaney Bayles) is androgynously outfitted in a bright yellow suit, and likes juggling lots of rings (of course).  Uranus (Alec McGowan) is in layers of purple, doing a hell of a lot of tumbling and juggling (but they ALL do a lot of tumbling and juggling). Neptune (Justin Durham) wears multiple blue layers, is openly queer, and can do all the things - including some aerial work with enormous rubber bands that defies description, and he never met a variation on a handstand he didn't like.  Pluto (Lindsey Barrows), also a big handstand fan, is outfitted in casual grey sweats and has an amusing will they-won't they vibe with Mercury throughout the show.

They all do everything.  Some performers spend more time on certain stunts than others, but there are enormous full cast tumbling and juggling sequences scattered throughout.  The structure of the show wisely avoids a planet by planet approach, but mixes and matches all the planets with each other in a variety of scenarios, some of them just strictly skill-based, but a lot of them being comedic character sketches, some of them involved with recruiting volunteers out of the audience.  There is a moment toward the end where the ensemble is singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and they pull a little girl out of the audience and give her a pencil to conduct the singing.  They turn her around to face the audience, and she slowly moves her "conductor's baton," and the audience starts singing, and the look of wonder on that girl's face is just a delight.  You can see she's thinking, "I am controlling all these people, and it is so COOL!"

When the Astronomer becomes an astronaut and mimes taking off in a rocket, he has the audience do a countdown from five to zero.  Later, when he needs to get off an alien planet in a hurry, he has the audience do a countdown but he has them speed it up a lot.  While on the planet, he also plays an alien who he makes out with, accidentally breaking the alien's heart when he won't proclaim undying love (to himself, he's the only person in the scene, it's wild).

There are dozens and dozens of little scenes, flowing from one to the other as performers do their thing and make way for others.  There's also a camaraderie to the proceedings, with performers in character acknowledging something impressive somebody else just did as they get ready to take the stage to do something else dazzling and fun.  And there are full ensemble moments of working together, like a running bit where a faulty bulb keeps threatening to go out (taking all the other light with it), and the group creating ways of reaching the bulb, high off the ground, using each other's bodies as the building blocks.  They use something as simple as a bunch of black tumbling mats to create walls and reorganize the space, often hiding themselves from view, or channeling light upward, toward a performer in the air.  And there are little touches throughout, like the fact that all the rolling platforms and various chairs are all speckled with fluorescent dots of paint, as if they were covered in stars.

And I just have to say I'm a big fan of the way the production intermingles the genders and doesn't get hung up on questions of sexuality (or even gender, for that matter).  People just are.  And these human beings, in whatever combination, can do some truly amazing things.

Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus is not just a bunch of stunts.  It's not just a bunch of comedy bits.  It's an insanely well-crafted group performance that ends up being so much more than the sum of its parts.  Kudos to director Jesse Dryden for shaping this unusual concept show into a remarkably entertaining 75 minutes.  Also to Hannah Tymosko the stage manager for keeping all the many moving parts of this thing running smoothly.  And huge thanks to the videographers Kieran McKeon (also the editor) and Jackie Gately for documenting the piece so skillfully.  It's clearly a labor of love by all concerned.  Catch Starstuck over on the Virtual Fringe's Digital Hub and throw these artists some money.  They're one of the best things on the hub, right up there with Proximity and Paul and Erika's House Show (which you should also see and support if you haven't already).

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content



Friday, August 07, 2020

Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - The Champagne Drops: The In-Between Years - Musical Reminiscing On The Tween Years - 5 Stars


Tweet review: Thursday #mnfringe #NightlyFringe: The Champagne Drops: The In-Between Years; Emily Dussault and @lesliedvincent reminisce their middle school years w/original songs and covers; perfectly executed idea, delightful pair of performers - 5 stars

(Previous overview) (for the curious)

What a perfect little gem of a show this was.  Two talented singers, Emily Dussault & Leslie Vincent, working together as the duo known as The Champagne Drops, decided to craft a show on the theme of those awkward early teen years of middle school.  Working socially distant via video conferencing they created new songs ("13 Going On 30," and another song built from notes passed in class between friends - I didn't catch the title, but it was very sweet), as well as learning a collection of covers of music from their early years ("I Saw The Sign," "That Don't Impress Me Much," and a medley of girl anthems including tunes like "Don't Speak," "Torn," "Criminal," and "You Oughta Know.")  They recorded the duets and performed solos live for the Virtual Fringe's Nightly Fringe programming and interspersed the music with enjoyable banter on the subject at hand.

"Time stop, time go faster / Get me outa this disaster..."

They quizzed one another on topics such as "Who was your biggest crush?" "What movie did you love that you cringe about now?" "Who was your favorite singer and why?" "What was your favorite junk food?"  They also read selections from their journals written at the time.  All of this was mildly embarrassing but also delightful.  The two of them have such an easygoing chemistry with one another it's fun to listen to them talk about almost anything.  And their voices, both individually and together, are really easy on the ears.

"Why would you steal bread?"

There's honestly not a lot to say about this show.  They chose a subject that they covered from a variety of angles, musical and non-musical, and they just nailed it.  It was a tight, thoroughly enjoyable show.  I look forward to hearing them sing in person one of these days when the plague is behind us.

Even though the live event is past, the recording of the stream is still available for viewing on The Champagn Drops' Facebook page.  Enjoy!  I certainly did.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content



Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - Fallen From The Toy Box - The Fourth Wall - Whimsical Musical Shorts - 5 Stars


Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: @4thWallEnsemble's pre-recorded "Fallen From The Toy Box"; just as delightful as their popular "Fruit Flies Like A Banana" series, and it's shot really well, a cut above all the way around (we expect no less from them) - 5 stars

Show description: From the award-winning creators of "Fruit Flies Like a Banana" come tales of youth and consequences. Inspired by our discarded mementos, this musical reverie revisits fairy tales, childhood games, and the secret life of toys. FIVE STARS - CBC & Winnipeg Free Press. “So beautiful you might get a little verklempt.” 60 minutes

Half the fun of The Fourth Wall's regular visits to the Minnesota Fringe Festival with their Fruit Flies Like A Banana series of performances is the random element of the audience choosing whatever the next musical performance segment is going to be, so the multi-talented trio of Hilary Abigana, C. Neil Parsons, and Greg Jukes, have to put the show together on the fly, keeping all those moving parts in their head at all times, because they don't know what they might be called upon to do next.

It's hard to transfer that kind of excitement to a pre-recorded format (so they'll be saving that for a live Nightly Fringe outing on Saturday night).  For the Digital Hub of the Minnesota's Virtual Fringe, they're offering up a show we haven't had the pleasure of seeing here before, one where they do know what's going to happen next because they've composed the structure of the show ahead of time, called Fallen From The Toy Box.  Even though this a recording of a previous live show, it's a really good recording, one where the camera zooms in and out as needed and isn't just static for the full hour's running time.  We have the opportunity to focus in on faces and smaller moments in the way a live audience would, which makes all the difference in the enjoyment of the video.

As with Fruit Flies, the music that the trio plays, while also moving all about the stage in various configurations with their many instruments, is a combination of established music and new music written especially for them (in one case, something they themselves composed).  The show is bookended by images of Hilary Abigana as a wind-up ballerina, C. Neil Parsons as a toy soldier and Greg Jukes as... I'm not sure who he was, he just kept inserting himself and his various percussion instruments in between the two others trying to get some toy story love going.  The battles were, of course, more whimsical and comedic than deadly.  This isn't ever music from a fully stationary position.  It's music performed on the move, which just makes it that much more impressive and enjoyable.

In between the ballerinas and toy soldiers, we had playful antics with keeping balloons in the air, action which the audience had a chance to participate in.  Also some music inspired by the refrigerator art of young children, some Scott Joplin ragtime performed with an enormous set of colorful boomwhackers, a familiar ice skating dance from the Fruit Flies catalog performed on rolling stools with a rolling vibraphone, a drum solo in the dark with colored light emerging from the drum heads as the other performers engaged in shadow play with flashlights, and a haunting original piece from Middle Eastern composer Behar Royee which took its inspiration from a lullaby that Iranian parents sing to their dead children - here accompanying a performance of a young spirit finding its way in the afterlife.  Moving, beautiful stuff.

Good video documentation of performance like this, available the rest of the weekend on the Virtual Fringe's Digital Hub, is a necessary substitute, while we wait for the day when artists of The Fourth Wall can join us in person again.

5 stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content



Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - Old Time Radio, Original Works - Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society - 5 Stars


Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society's "Old Time Radio, Original Works"; new scripts in the old style; one creepy, one hilarious, both great fun, and strangely perfect for the weird Zoom theater time we're in - 5 stars

Show description: We are excited to present two original audio dramas written, performed, and produced in the style of classic radio series! The show features "Song of the Bittersweet" from the series Dead Man’s Tales by Eric Webster and"The Silence of Death" from the series Mr. & Mrs. Nighthawk by Joshua English Scrimshaw. 68 minutes

It turns out that the way The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society (Shanan Custer, Joshua English Scrimshaw, Tim Uren, Eric Webster) re-stages old radio dramas for their podcast, regular Fringe shows, and new regular gig at Park Square Theater, translates without so much as a hiccup to our new video conferencing reality right now, and is thus a perfect fit for the Virtual Fringe's Digital Hub.  Adding to the fun this time in Old Time Radio, Original Works is that, rather than simply resurrecting and re-imagining the production of a pre-existing script from the golden days of radio in the past, they've decided to create some classic radio of their own.  New scripts written and produced in an old style.  A little horror, a little detective banter, a little something for everyone.

"No reason to remain on board here.  Except to die."

The first half is Eric Webster's script "Song of the Bittersweet" created for a completely fictional series he calls Dead Men's Tales.  It's inspired by a real radio series from the early 1940s called Dark Fantasy, which drove Eric crazy because it would never stick with the interesting initial premise of their scripts but jump around to a bunch of different ideas instead.  So he took an idea he liked and followed it through to the end he always thought it should have had.  In this case, a U.S. warship in World War II is hijacked by a ghost on a mission to save her son, long dead.  And this isn't the first ship and crew she's hijacked for her doomed mission.  Deliciously creepy.

"I've been away at finishing school.  What do you think?  Do I look finished?"

The second half is Joshua English Scrimshaw channeling both the hard-boiled original Dashiell Hammett version of The Thin Man, as well as the movie antics of William Powell and Myrna Loy in the popular film series of the same name.  Screwball comedy banter on the trail of murder and mayhem in the big city in the premiere episode of Scrimshaw's own old-time radio show Mr. and Mrs. Nighthawk, called "The Silence of Death" (the running gag with future episodes looks like it's going to be every story having a title ending in "...of Death" - next up at Park Square, "Obituary of Death").  Here, a fired radio drama sound effects guy gets his revenge on the boss who fired him, but is also the unwitting pawn of a master criminal with ties to death of our plucky heroine's mother.  Great fun.

"You're too insubordinate for the military, and too well-sculpted for the police."

Here, of course, we don't have the normal Fringe fun of seeing them on stage creating the various sound effects with the strangest of ingredients, or watching them play with the microphones, distance and distortion to do crazy things with their voices.  But we do get instead a fun set of images - vintage photographs and illustrations and matte paintings from different sources - to add a visual component as we listen to the stories.  It's a nice substitution under the circumstances.

"The bodies explode and dismember before our eyes."

Given how much I've enjoyed every outing I've seen of The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society at the Fringe in recent years, I really should be listening to their podcast more regularly.  And checking out their Park Square gigs virtually, until we can actually see them in a theater again - hopefully a Fringe stage next year.  Fingers crossed.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content



Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - A Mermaid In Every Sea - Mermaid Productions - Like Hanging Out With An Old Friend - 5 Stars


Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: @Fishgirlariel's greatest hits compilation "A Mermaid In Every Sea"; stories from 4 previous Fringe outings, plus a new one; newly recorded specifically for the hub so it works great; like hanging out with an old friend - 5 stars

Show description: Storyteller Ariel Leaf presents some of her best stories from Fringe shows in 2013, 2015, 2017. Will it be the famous ferry ride to the wrong country, her trip to Narnia on LSD, her russian roulette with bathrooms in India, her postcards from abroad, or the time she almost got arrested in her own hallway? One things for sure, it's bound to be quite the journey. (Abuse/Physical violence, Adult language, Crude humor, Drug content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence) 50 minutes

The smartest decision Ariel Leaf made about this production is to record herself performing these stories anew for this Virtual Fringe experience, A Mermaid In Every Sea, rather than just cobbling together clips from old archival footage.  These new recordings, even though they're just taking place in her bedroom in a single close-up shot, have the kind of intimacy the stories do in performance.  She speaks directly to the viewer, as she would in the show itself.  She's not trying to make sure she takes in the whole audience around her.  There is only one audience, and it's you.  You have her undivided attention, and because of this, she has yours.

"Here was proof I had another life and another name in another country."

Making this recording also gives her a chance to pick her best material for this format, and also share a brand new story we haven't seen before.  So it's like hanging out with an old friend, and getting a teaser for shows yet to come.  She even does a costume change for each story, so when the recording cuts from one story to the next, we get a new look on the storyteller.  Otherwise, Leaf keeps it simple.  Because really all you need here are the stories, and the person telling them.

"I waved at all the worker mice as they made their way into their glass cages."

There's the time when she was 19 and ended up in Great Britain rather than Ireland and had to resourcefully make her way across Wales to catch a ferry to her original destination.  And the evolution in the way she interacted with LSD and other drugs.  And the way distance from a lover while on a trip in India brought unexpected clarity to the relationship.  And her return to a foreign country where she'd spent some of her childhood, discovering even after years of civil war, some things miraculously remain the same.  And a new story about the last time she thought smuggling drugs through customs seemed like a fun adventure.

"Everybody knew.  Everybody but me."

Ariel Leaf has had a very colorful and storied childhood, adolescence and early adulthood.  It's probably going to be very hard for her own daughter to get away with much of anything as she grows.  Everywhere she might go, mom has already been.  Parenting when you know what kind of trouble kids can get into, because you were that kind of kid yourself, I'm sure will provide us with all sorts of intriguing stories for years to come.

"Perhaps this was the moment I stopped being an indestructible child."

Ariel produced this Digital Hub show, in part, to help raise money for the Minnesota Fringe Festival.  She doesn't want you to give her money this time.  Give to the Fringe so we all have this resource in the future, to keep telling our stories, strange and wonderful as they are.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content



Thursday, August 06, 2020

Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - Paul and Erika's House Show - Theatre Mobile - Reaching Out Through The Screen - 5 Stars


Tweet Review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "Paul and @othererika's House Show" from Theatre Mobile; A-MA-ZING; absurd, sweet and delightful; embraces weird time we're all in theatrically; have your plate ready; so great; 1 of the best of Virtual #mnfringe - 5 stars

Show description: Waiting for Godot meets Pee-wee’s Playhouse: “A show that shows what a show is in a time of no shows,” from 15-time Best of Fest-winning Fringe touring performers. CRITIC’S PICK - CityBeat “Outstanding and barely quantifiable!” - Artswave - 36 minutes plus (depending on how far you are from your kitchen)

(Though useful as shorthand, that description does a disservice to the show - at least it does if Waiting for Godot makes you think this is going to be some sort of ponderous, existential dumbshow about the futility of life, or if Pee Wee's Playhouse makes you think it's going to be a kid's show made for adults, full of self-conscious whimsy.  First of all, the source materials (problematic as they may be) are both better than what society has reduced them to, and secondly, so is Paul and Erika's House Show - and it's very much its own thing besides.)

"Whose house is this house show in?"

Paul and Erika's House Show, better than anything I've seen (in the 25 shows I've seen so far), grapples directly with how strange it is for performers used to a live audience to try and find a way to perform without one.  It's not about applause, it's about the connection, about sharing space - something we just can't do right now.  And though there are several "false" starts, they keep trying - to reach their audience still, directly, despite the fact that this is a recording, and they actually kinda do it.  It's nuts, but it's also pretty wonderful.  If you've been missing that connection from the audience side of things, you should check out Paul and Ericka's House Show.  You just might get a taste of it again, in spite of everything.

"A 'We Don't Know How To Make A Movie But I Guess We Have To Now?' Production, from 'I Guess We're Gonna Make It With The Phone I Lose Three Times A Day?' Studios"

There must be something in the water in Covington, Kentucky, because Theatre Mobile (Paul Strickland and Erika Kate MacDonald) is the second Digital Hub act this year I've seen from that area that's really blown my mind with how good it was, and how fun it was to watch (the first being Pones' dance film project Proximity)

"I like to think of myself as a fellow who marches to the beat of his own dead horse."

Right off the bat the opening credits become a comedy bit (they rename themselves The Immobile Theatre, for instance), and remain so throughout because they keep restarting and getting a new round of credits, all equally funny and strange.  And just as the credits move from attempting a movie, to more rudimentary lettering and photography as the piece progresses, the content itself moves from trying to make a movie, to making a kind of meta commentary on the fact that they're doing theater but not really doing theater, to just trying to recapture the essence of the live show even though it isn't live.

"You don't want your house to look like Marie Condo's sunken place."

Even simple things like where Paul and Erika sit evolve - from a big comfy couch, to a couple of theater seats, to just a couple of normal chairs - to match the phases the House Show moves through.  Their co-stars shift from being an anthropomorphized spoon on screen, to a talking plate which audience members find in their own kitchens (no, seriously, go with it), to just, well, you, the viewing audience, the people they share the show with all the time, who they feel the absence of quite acutely.

"Hold your plate.  It has something to say to you."

It's something you honestly need to experience.  It's not nearly as cerebral as I'm probably making it sound.  In fact the whole point of the thing is to strip away the artifice and the self-awareness and just "be" in the moment by the end of it all, listening to a song.  Paul and Erika go from performing to side commentary to finally just looking at the camera and saying, quite earnestly, "We don't know the right way to do any of this," and admitting that even blank stares from the audience not getting a bit is better than no audience at all.  (At least blank stares is still communication, letting them know that part of the show probably needs a little more work if it's going to land.)

"The clock keeps ticking Now, Now, Now..."

Some of the offerings in the Virtual Fringe are genuinely embracing the idea that this is really film and not theater.  Some of the offerings are adapting theater to the new and different restrictions of video conferencing technology.  Some of the offerings are just documents of live theatrical experiences that happened in the past, the best of which leave you with the feeling of "I really wish I was there in person to watch that."

Paul and Erika's House Show is a production that looks through the screen and says to its audience, all sitting in front of their respective screens, "We really wish you were here in person to watch this."

And because of that sincere acknowledgement, we kinda are.

5 stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content


Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Virtual Fringe 2020 Review - Super Patriots! - Unreliable Narrator - American History via Monty Python - 5 stars


Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "Super Patriots!" from @UNarrator; hilarious, one of the funniest things I've seen at Virtual #mnfringe; half popsicle stick political puppets, half live action; satire on proud tradition of US demagogues, McCarthy, Buchanan, etc. - 5 stars

Show description: Short absurdist plays about American leaders who loved their country so much that they unleashed reigns of terror upon it. Part 1, Senator Joseph McCarthy; part 2, President James Buchanan. (Adult language, Crude humor, Gun/Weapon usage, Violence) 25 minutes

Since our current politics are bleak enough, when I saw the subtitle of Super Patriots was "tragicomic stories from America's darkest timelines" I thought, "Do I really want to subject myself to that?"  But the fact that it was two ten minute plays, one on Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s, the other on President James Buchanan in the late 1850s, made me think, I'm probably strong enough the deal with ten minutes of anything.  Turns out they should have leaned harder on the comic part of tragi-comic in the publicity because, dark though the humor often was, I was laughing loudly throughout the half hour run time. Super Patriots is sort of like if Monty Python's Flying Circus taught American history. If you feel like laughing at politics for a change, Super Patriots is your Fringe show.

"If you do nothing, nothing can be your fault."

I'd need to do some further homework to determine just how historically accurate the two shorts written by Carl Danielson were.  I'm making the assumption that the broad contours of what is depicted are largely correct, while some of the details have been distorted for comic effect.  For instance, while I'm sure that Sen. McCarthy was not a fan of fellow Senator Margaret Chase Smith and her habit of standing up to his Red Scare tactics, I don't believe McCarthy ever physically attacked or disemboweled her.  (Don't worry, she reappears later with a band-aid on, good as new.)  And I'm pretty sure McCarthy wasn't a serial killer leaving literal dead bodies in his wake all over the floors of the Capitol building.  The historical characters in the McCarthy short, Super Patriots, are nearly all voiced by unseen actors who manipulate paper cutouts of pictures of Hubert Humphrey (Brian Rust), Lyndon Johnson (Tim Hoover), Joseph McCarthy (Carl Danielson), and Margaret Chase Smith (Kitty Drexel) mounted on popsicle sticks.  The one exception is Liz Salazar who plays the lawyer Joseph Welch, who finally took on McCarthy in his televised committee hearings looking into Communist infiltration of the U.S. Army ("Have you no sense of decency, sir?").  Actress and puppet engage in an ahistorical fistfight as well, through the magic of editing.

"You mean the War of Yankee Aggression?!"
"No, I don't.  And shut the f**k up.  I'M the editor of this play."

Throughout, Humphrey keeps pleading with Johnson that they have to do something, and Johnson keeps putting him off.  "It'll burn itself out soon."  Next scene, one year later.  "He won't be around much longer."  Next scene, two years after that.  "This is the beginning of the end for Joe McCarthy."  Next scene, one more year later.  The Humphrey puppet implores Johnson, "Everyone's taking him seriously, but he's nothing but a dotty demagogue with terrible hair" (puppet aside to the audience) "You know who I'm talking about, right?"  Both plays in Super Patriots aren't shy about winking at the audience about parallels to current events, which is another part of their absurdist charm.  Lamenting over the corpse of one of McCarthy's victims that the janitors still haven't cleaned up, Humphrey steps over it and says, "Poor fellow. I suppose we'll never even know all their names.  (Which of course made me think, US death toll from COVID-19, over 157,000, but that was yesterday.)

"It seemed like we spent all our time trying NOT to stop him."

The second short, Doughface, is a live-action Zoom format costume drama, with people appearing in boxes to great comic effect.  President James Buchanan (Hoover again) tells the Northern abolitionists (Juliet Bowler) everything they want to hear, while still always managing to capitulate to anything the Southern slave-holding states (Emily Taradash) want.  In trying to do as little as possible in order to stave off the Civil War, he just ends up making it happen anyway, leaving his successor Lincoln a real mess to clean up ("Yeah, poor f**k. I hope he makes it"). The civil servant (Jenny Gutbezahl) who Buchanan also leaves behind is not impressed.

"I'm going to miss the White House.  So many memories.  Dred Scott, Bleeding Kansas, and over there is the place where I was told that though I was the most corrupt president in history, it didn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense."

U.S. History with a Monty Python aesthetic.  Hey, laughing beats crying, right?

Give yourself a half-hour laugh break with Super Patriots on the Virtual Fringe's Digital Hub.

5 stars - Very Highly Recommended


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content




Virtual Fringe 2020 - 5 Star Show Rundown


Here's a list of coverage and further links to reviews of 5 star shows I've seen in this year's Virtual Fringe

#mnfringe review: The Champagne Drops: The In-Between Years; "They chose a subject that they covered from a variety of angles, musical and non-musical, and they just nailed it." 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: Thursday #mnfringe #NightlyFringe: The Champagne Drops: The In-Between Years; Emily Dussault and @lesliedvincent reminisce their middle school years w/original songs and covers; perfectly executed idea, delightful pair of performers - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: "You'd think @leskurkendaal wouldn't have any stories left. Thank God I'm always wrong about that" See Climbing My Family Tree - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: Virtual #mnfringe 2020 for dinner: @leskurkendaal's latest solo storytelling gem "Climbing My Family Tree" on the Digital Hub, another pre-recorded home run, exploring the black, and white, side of Les' remarkable family - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: Fallen From The Toy Box, from @4thWallEnsemble; "This isn't ever music from a fully stationary position.  It's music performed on the move, which just makes it that much more impressive and enjoyable." 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: @4thWallEnsemble's pre-recorded "Fallen From The Toy Box"; just as delightful as their popular "Fruit Flies Like A Banana" series, and it's shot really well, a cut above all the way around (we expect no less from them) - 5 stars

Killjoy, Ohio
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Killjoy, Ohio, from @queencityflash; intricate puzzle box of an adventure script; just two people telling a story but so neatly executed they create a whole world together, even on separate screens; helluva ride - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: A Mermaid in Every Sea, from @Fishgirlariel; "There is only one audience, and it's you.  You have her undivided attention, and because of this, she has yours." 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: @Fishgirlariel's greatest hits compilation "A Mermaid In Every Sea"; stories from 4 previous Fringe outings, plus a new one; newly recorded specifically for the hub so it works great; like hanging out with an old friend - 5 stars
#mnfringe review: The Mystery of the Gryphon's Ears from @RevMattK - a most amusing lecture from the academic discipline of Monster Science - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #NightlyFringe outing #6 for virtual #mnfringe 2020: I realize I am super late to this party but just saw The Mystery of the Gryphon's Ears and @RevMattK is a snooty, deadpan delight; could not stop grinning, hilarious - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: Old Time Radio, Original Works, from the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society; old time radio dramas a perfect fit for Virtual Fringing "A little horror, a little detective banter, a little something for everyone" 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society's "Old Time Radio, Original Works"; new scripts in the old style; one creepy, one hilarious, both great fun, and strangely perfect for the weird Zoom theater time we're in - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: On The Concept of Irony (With No Reference to Socrates) - essential storytelling; low brow humor with high concept world-building; four tales just dark enough, just funny enough, to draw you in - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #NightlyFringe outing #8 for virtual #mnfringe 2020: On The Concept of Irony (With No Reference to Socrates); as both writer and storyteller @maxverbosity's phillip andrew bennett low is mind-boggling in all the best ways; log on and surrender - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: Paul and Erika's House Show: funny, weird valentine to the fact that theater misses you just as much as you miss theater; also a plate from your kitchen will speak to you - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "Paul and @othererika's House Show" from Theatre Mobile; A-MA-ZING; absurd, sweet and delightful; embraces weird time we're all in theatrically; have your plate ready; so great; 1 of the best of Virtual #mnfringe - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: "The nicest thing you can do for yourself right now is to take 45 minutes and sit and watch Proximity (from @PonesInc). The nicest thing you can do for other people is to tell them to watch it, too." - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: Virtual #mnfringe 2020 for lunch: Proximity from @PonesInc on Digital Hub. Said, "Wow" "Oh my God" and "This is amazing" so many times, anyone nearby would have checked to see if I was all right.  Just... watch this dance. Gorgeous! - 5 stars

Radio FEAR!
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Radio FEAR! from Conundrum Collective; another pair of old radio scripts, expertly recreated; 1 w/sentient evil dolls, the other about a lighthouse overrun by a swarm of killer rats; both creepy fun - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus, from @thecirqueus "an insanely well-crafted group performance that ends up being so much more than the sum of its parts" See this thing :) 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Starstruck: A Cosmic Circus, from @thecirqueus; fantastic, amusing ensemble piece; beautifully shot so you can be close to the action; each performer is a planet w/impressive circus and acrobatic skills; best of the circus offerings - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: "Super Patriots" from @UNarrator; 2 ten-minute plays, one on Sen. McCarthy, one on Pres. James Buchanan; half puppets, half people; U.S. history via Monty Python, totally ridiculous and great fun - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "Super Patriots!" from @UNarrator; hilarious, one of the funniest things I've seen at Virtual #mnfringe; half popsicle stick political puppets, half live action; satire on proud tradition of US demagogues, McCarthy, Buchanan, etc. - 5 stars

#mnfringe review: #txtshow (on the internet) from @BrianFeldman - come write a show with a bunch of strangers (aka, audience) in real time and watch a guy perform it as you write it (c'mon, you know you want to) - 5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: One last visit to the Digital Hub for virtual #mnfringe 2020 to round out the evening: #txtshow (on the internet); zoom audience writes performer's dialogue in real time; we were competing monkeys on keyboards; non sequiturs abounded, but quite fun; brilliant - 5 stars

And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content













Virtual Fringe 2020 - 4.5 Star Show Rundown


Here's a list of coverage and further links to reviews of 4.5 star shows I've seen in this year's Virtual Fringe

#mnfringe review - Break The Dice from @BeardedCoMpls, "a goofy, pleasant diversion" 4.5 stars (link to full review)
Tweet Review:#NightlyFringe outing #1 for virtual #mnfringe 2020: Break the Dice; clever adaptation to Twitch/socially distant format, sound out of sync on my feed, but I just pretended they were poorly dubbed and enjoyed myself enormously - 4.5 stars

A Circus Show
Tweet Review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "A Circus Show" from We Flip Entertainment; impressive acrobatic act with old timey circus feel; not really a narrative or a build to it but it was still pretty dazzling to watch them in action - 4.5 stars

The Cut-Out Bar
Tweet Review: Virtual #mnfringe #NightlyFringe Tuesday: "The Cut-Out Bar" from LandmanLand (aka @DroningEnnui); Sam, having a drink, listening to an obscure record album, commenting in league with online chat folks; simple but great fun, I may have to become a regular at this bar - 4.5 stars

Dame daDa and the Covidada Meta Show
Tweet Review: Virtual #mnfringe #NightlyFringe Tuesday: "Dame daDa and the Covidada Meta Show" from Nichole Hamilton; very genial and friendly for such a deliberately strange persona; fun accessible absurdity, fit for the times and a Virtual #mnfringe - 4.5 stars

8 Pills and Counting
Tweet review: Thursday #mnfringe #NightlyFringe: 8 Pills and Counting, from writer/director Gabriel Brosius; fearlessly tackles mental illness in queer community; super-inventive pushing the boundaries of live Zoom performance, solid acting; sometimes unintentionally confusing - 4.5 stars

The Frances Films
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: The Frances Films, from actress/filmmaker Chris Szajbert; 7 tiny, unsettling experimental Zoom films charting the exploitation of a farm girl/rising starlet, filled with toys, fingers, thwarted women, and sexual assault - 4.5 stars

Love and Other Lures
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Love and Other Lures, from Dr. Dour and Peach; deeply weird world serving as backdrop for home concert of very clever and amusing monster songs; quarantine production quality really a cut above the rest - 4.5 stars

The Opinions of Men: A Stupid History of the Protestant Reformation
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: The Opinions of Men, a Stupid History of the Protestant Reformation; a potpourri of various animation styles; actual history mixed w/lots of dumb jokes that largely work, though a few overstay their welcome; overall, good fun - 4.5 stars

Ragtag: A Circus In Stitches
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Ragtag, a Circus in Stitches, from Cirque US; sadly a static shot recording, but there's great variety, and the circus skills on display are really impressive, so it almost makes up for wishing there were some close-ups - 4.5 stars

Wash/Repeat
Tweet Review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Meg Kirchhoff's "Wash/Repeat"; less than 6 minutes long, but it's a helluva 6 minutes; impressive camera and editing work to match overlapping movement performance in what seems like the world's cleanest bathroom - 4.5 stars

And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content







Virtual Fringe 2020 - 4 Star Show Rundown


Here's a list of coverage and further links to reviews of 4 star shows I've seen in this year's Virtual Fringe

Focus Testing
Tweet review: #mnfringe Wednesday #NightlyFringe: Focus Testing; or what happens when 2 comedians have to use suggestions of cheese or a magic trombone in order to create a full movie pitch; it's a lot of fun watching them think on their feet - 4 stars

The Graveyard
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: The Graveyard, from 2nd Star Productions; 4 teens nearing high school graduation go looking for ghosts in the local cemetery, run into all their own problems instead; good acting, slightly wobbly execution - 4 stars

I'm Not Playing
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "I'm Not Playing" from @whoslouisco; tricky, multi-camera, housemates short; click around the buttons to find and follow the action; still not sure I caught everything but it's brief, and fun, so worth a revisit - 4 stars

#mnfringe review - My Kahaani, from SAATH, a good sampler of recent storytelling work that's part of their expanded mission - 4 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #NightlyFringe outing #3 for viritual #mnfringe 2020: My Kahaani from SAATH; two amusing, heartfelt stories; one friendly, energetic host; a winning combination - 4 stars

Right Now
Tweet review: #mnfringe Friday #NightlyFringe: Right Now, from Martin Dockery; in the past he's been a bit manic for my taste, however fatherhood seems to have changed him, not a lot, but maybe enough; I plugged into this story more than some others - 4 stars

So What Did I Miss? (or, Everyone Has A Voice!)
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: So What Did I Miss? (or Everyone Has a Voice!), from Visionary Theater; oddly charming, funny, symbolic meta-exploration of activism in the face of big problems, works well within the Zoom restrictions - 4 stars

#mnfringe review: timz paranoid delusionz - @TimMooneyRep's conspiracy theories, not surprisingly, set me off on my own random tangent... - 4 stars (link to full review)
Tweet review: #NightlyFringe outing #5 for virtual #mnfringe 2020: timz paranoid delusionz, from @TimMooneyRep; it was Tim, it was paranoid, and we can only hope they were delusions; he's too good at worming into the doubts we'd like to keep in the back of our minds - 4 stars

TV Tunes with Leslie Vincent
Tweet review: Monday Virtual #mnfringe #NightlyFringe outing: TV Tunes w/@lesliedvincent (and TV trivia sidekick Josh Carson); adorable as heck (as expected) (but for the love of God please sit farther apart, we want everyone here for Fringe 2021 :) - 4 stars

#mnfringe review: A Virtual Collaboration of Singing and Ice Skating (off-ice) - "a very pleasant way to pass a half an hour" - 4 stars (link to full review)

Tweet review: #NightlyFringe outing #2 for viritual #mnfringe 2020: A Virtual Collaboration of Singing and Ice Skating (off-ice); current/original songs, guitar and keyboard, skating in parking lot w/hula hoops, fire, blue smoke, and a very persistent bird; charming - 4 stars

#mnfringe review: Waiting for Hugs; good theater about bad theater people - "They mine the absurdity of the situation for all the comedy it's worth." - 4 stars (link to full review)

Tweet review: #NightlyFringe outing #7 for virtual #mnfringe 2020: Waiting for Hugs; just deeply wrong on so many levels and so, of course, very entertaining; good theater about bad theater people - 4 stars

What Love Looks Like
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: RE|Dance's "What Love Looks Like" seems just lovely and full of joy as the last show they brought here; visually pretty, but the camera location is distant, so you lose a little of the human connection; still gorgeous, though - 4 stars


And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 2 and 3 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content














Virtual Fringe 2020 - 2 and 3 Star Show Rundown


Here's a list of coverage and further links to reviews of 2 and 3 star shows I've seen in this year's Virtual Fringe:

3 Star Shows

Between... Then, Now, Next
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Between... Then, Now, Next, from Ray Terrill Dance Group; compilation of archival dance footage from 2001, 2006, 2012; media elements in 2012 overwhelmed dance, 2006 more successful, 2001 shaky cam - 3 stars

Broadstroke
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Broadstroke, from Rich Reeder, recounting the time he suffered a stroke, the journey there and back; solid cast, high production values given the social distance situation; wish the script were a bit clearer w/the story's purpose - 3 stars

The Prostate
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: The Prostate, basically Daniel Hertz telling us about a prostate exam; 4 straight men, traumatic; 4 this gay man, eyeroll, at least buy me dinner first; imagine his Southern urologist is Lindsay Graham and it's much funnier - 3 stars

3 Way Lovve
Tweet Review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: "3 Way Lovve" from Maatology Productions; positives: hard-working actors, great soundtrack, inventive ways of breaking Zoom wall between actors (props, coke, sex, violence); script, however, needs a LOT of work - 3 stars

2 Star Shows

Confessional
Tweet review: #mnfringe Friday #NightlyFringe: Confessional, from Reservoir Frogs; awkward; part technology, part execution of concept; transitions painfully prolonged; character and story handoffs didn't really ever land; improv via Zoom is hard but not impossible - 2 stars

Etched Glass Decanter
Tweet review: #mnfringe Digital Hub binge day: Etched Glass Decanter, from Evening Crane Theater; audio drama sadly lacking either drama or good audio; also currently has 4 parts posted, totaling almost 4-1/2 hours; by end of part 1, nothing was still happening so... 2 stars

Good Grief
Tweet Review: Virtual #mnfringe catchup: guitar lesson during 8pm showing last night, caught Good Grief replay this a.m. instead. Previously I posted "If it's accurate, I'll probably enjoy myself and even laugh.  If it's inaccurate, it'll piss me off." Well... - 2 stars

Oops, I F**ked My Mom and Killed My Dad and Now We're All In Hell!, or A Hellish Reunion
Tweet Review: #NightlyFringe outing #4 for virtual #mnfringe 2020: Oops, I F**ked My Mom and Killed My Dad and Now We're All In Hell!, or A Hellish Reunion; uh... oops, indeed; Feral Theatre has 4 other plays on the Digital Hub, maybe I'll click with one of those instead - 2 stars
Other Posts

Misadventures in Virtual #mnfringe 2020: Anyone out there find more than a minute and a half of "My Big Gay Debutante Ball"? Just curious.

And here's a handy set of links to the other coverage of Virtual Fringe 2020: a rundown of 5 star show coverage, 4.5 star show coverage, 4 star show coverage, and overviews of the lineups of each day's Nightly Fringe free online content