The Brothers Dangus Vol. 2: The People v. Dango (A Court-Mandated Parable)
The Brothers Dangus are compelled by law to delve into the seedy underworld of the designer drug, the Dango. Explore a noir-ishly absurd contemplation of crime, punishment, and conspiratorial nationalism.
Venue: Rarig Center Thrust
Tagged for: Comedy
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Blood, Crude Humor, Drug Content, Flashing Lights, Gun/Weapon Usage, Loud noises, Mental Illness, Nudity, Sexual Content, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm, Violence, Other Divisive Content
I can’t pretend The Brothers Dangus weren’t in my pre-Fringe Top 20 list last year.
I also can’t pretend they didn’t warn me the show wouldn’t be good:
The creators of the Brothers Dangus definitely saw my post about their show because A.J. Sass responded:
"Apparently people have not been heeding our warnings. This show will not in any way be good, and people should absolutely not come to it. It is designed to be bad. We are doing a bad show. We don't know how much clearer to make this.
Matthew A. Everett: Brian Hesser, Derek Meyer, Zach Morgan, and me are concerned that you will irrevocably damage your stellar reputation by recommending our show to your many readers. We want you to thrive and prosper, and even mentioning a passing interest in our show will bring inconceivable misfortune to your livelihood when readers question your judgement and indeed, sanity, for pointing them towards the abject nightmare that is our offering to the 2022 MN Fringe Festival.
Definitely do not check out The Brothers Dangus Vol. 1: The Liturgy of the Big Yellow Ghost at the Rarig Thrust during the 2022 Minnesota Fringe Festival, and definitely don't visit their user-friendly website for more information on our show. DO visit their website for shows that are NOT ours."
I also can’t pretend they weren’t wrong:
Tweet review: #mnfringe The Brothers Dangus: well…they warned us it wasn’t good. Created a literal waste of time, actively resisting all meaning or redeeming value. Not meta, repelling that label, too. For sheer unwavering commitment to the bit for 50 minutes, 1 star (don’t go, not kidding)
Now, all that said, some people really were enjoying the heck out of themselves at this very weird purposefully bad show when I saw it last year.
So though it definitely wasn’t my thing, it might well be yours.
Also, apparently they somehow convinced Charles Numrich to participate this year, as himself.
Hopefully he doesn’t end up getting shot in the head at the end of the play like everyone in the cast did last year (no, that’s not a spoiler, that show is a year old now.)
But once again, they are warning us. This is the posting from the “More Information” tab on their show page about their creative process for this year’s Fringe:
“July 6th 2023: Here we go again, another Brothers Dangus romp. You thought last year was bad? Wait til you see this shit. We actually tried with this one.
July 11th 2023: Putting the final touches on what we consider to be a "script." It's just a bunch of dumb words.
July 11th 2023 (addendum): Words are for nerds.
July 17th, 2023: poo poo pee pee”
And of course, all their fictionalized biographies are extremely odd as well.
Strangely enough, all that said, I think the Brothers Dangus show is still going to be better executed and less offensive than a certain other Fringe show this year that shall not be named.
Yes, I saw the show page. I figure in the marketplace of ideas, the best thing to do, perhaps the kindest thing to do, is not to mention it or talk about it at all. And also, of course, just not to go to that one, and go to one of the many, many other better shows instead. Much better use of my time and all of yours as well.
Rather than dwell on any bad Fringe show or artists that aren’t my thing for whatever reason, there are dozens and dozens and dozens of good shows I’m actually excited to get a chance to see and tell other people to go see. So I’m going to focus my limited time and energy on positive things. And educate myself whenever possible. Almost anything can be a learning experience.
Update, their Fringe preview:
Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10, and Top 11-20 Lists, plus the full list of all returning favorites at this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.
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