Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorites - Rev. Matt and Ariel Pinkerton

A Monster Scientist and a Tattooed Anarchist Walk Into a Bar - Mermaid Productions
Rev. Matt and Ariel Pinkerton

Two of the twin cities finest solo performers share a stage - only it's small so they have to alternate! 5 Monster Science shows! One Tattooed Anarchist in Covid Lockdown!

"Put a Needle To Me or How I Got a Full Back Tattoo During Covid Because the Government Gave Me More Money Than Any Food Service Job Ever Has" You know what's fun? Having a midlife crisis that begins with a baby and an undercut, moves onto a divorce and a job at a punk restaurant, and really CEMENTS itself during Covid Lockdown. Might as well go all out and get a full back tattoo on the Government's dime, right? Storyteller Ariel Pinkerton returns with her  tale of transformation, survival, and self revolution.
Performances: Aug 3 and 4, at 4pm, Aug 9 at 7pm, Aug 10 and 11 at 4:00pm

"Reverend Matt's Personal Best" is a series of five award-winning Reverend Matt's Monster Science comedy lectures, as selected by the Reverend - and his infectious enthusiasm for the shines through. A companion to the Fringe 2023's "Monster Science's Greatest Hits," come see shows about Medusa, Pterosaurs, Ray Harryhausen, speculative evolution, and human ancestry! Facts and jokes and Powerpoint - guaranteed!
Performances:
Friday 8/2, 7pm: Kill You As Soon As Look At You - Medusa and Pals
Saturday 8/3, 5:30pm: The Meander of Humanity - Human Evolution
Sunday 8/4, 5:30pm: Bizarrocosms - Imaginary Evolutions
Saturday 8/10, 5:30pm: Original Kaiju and Fightin’ Skeletons - The Monsters of Ray Harryhausen
Sunday 8/11, 5:30pm: Pterosaur Country - A Complete History of Pterodactyls

Venue: The Comedy Corner - Underground
Tagged For: Comedy, Solo Show, Historical Content, Spoken Word, Storytelling, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Drug Content
Ages 16 and up

Also at The Comedy Corner - Underground venue with Thy Hard is an alternating double feature of monster science lectures and solo storytelling from a pair of the Fringe’s best.

Look at the descriptions above.  Do I really need to tell you any more than that?

OK, after a couple of Fringe seasons producing and acting in wildly popular Fringe shows like The Hysterical Woman and Xena and Gabrielle Smash the Patriarchy, Ariel Pinkerton is back to share some personal storytelling (something we had a virtual taste of during the pandemic, but now we’re back live again). She’s already debuted this new storytelling show in this year Tucson Fringe, so it’s all fine-tuned and ready for Twin Cities audiences.

And Rev. Matt has a seemingly unlimited supply of Monster Science lectures, this time ranging from mythology and dinosaurs  through the monsters of old Hollywood and on to discussions of evolution, both human and imaginary.  His vast knowledge, meticulous research, and deadpan delivery are always a delight.

There are a few artists that you know, whenever you happen to walk into one of their shows, whatever they happen to be doing, you’re going to be intrigued and entertained.  These are two of those artists.  I’m so happy they’re on the West Bank among that whole cluster of other theater venues because it increases the odds that the scheduling stars will align and I’ll get to catch them once or twice during the run.

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Michael Shaeffer

Thy Hard
Michael Shaeffer

Forsooth! A poet pitches a Shakespearean adaptation of Die Hard. Sonnets and silly soliloquies at Nakatomi Plaza with appearances by Argyle, Holly, Hans Gruber and John McClane. Yippee ki-yay, muckle rucker!

Venue: The Comedy Corner - Underground
Tagged For: Comedy, Storytelling, Literary Adaptation, Shakespearian Elements
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Crude Humor, Mental Illness, Violence, Loud Noises, Gun/Weapon Usage
Ages 12-15 and up

I was very happy to see Michael Shaeffer return to the Minnesota Fringe Festival last year after a long absence, with another fun and clever 5-star show.  What a treat to have him come back again for the second year in a row.

This time, instead of being at Strike, he’s going to be at The Comedy Corner - Underground venue, between the Southern Theater and TRP at Seven Corners in the West Bank cluster.

A Shakespearian gloss on Die Hard?

Well, we do already have a Christmas holiday tradition version at the Bryant Lake Bowl with homicidal puppets each December.

And we’ve seen iambic pentameter spins on everything from Pulp Fiction to Aliens to Roadhouse here at the Fringe in the past.  Why not Die Hard?

If anyone can do it, I’m sure Michael can.  (In fact, it sounds like it was a big hit at the Kansas City Fringe last week, winning Best of Venue.  Lots of glowing reviews posted.)  Michael says it’s the third of his Shakespearian trilogy, Caddyshack and Breakfast Club being the first two classics to get the treatment, so he’s on a roll.

He’s got a video trailer to give you a taste:

 

Audience response in KC has covered all points on the spectrum, from “the funniest thing I have seen in YEARS” to the ever reliable “poignant” (because it is also a bit of a love letter to his grandmother and Bruce Willis, both suffering from mental decline due to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease - and a portion of the proceeds from the show go to support medical research.). Tim Mooney gives it five Yoricks for its impressive level of Shakespeare cred (I’m not kidding, it’s on the More Information tab with the other reviews, and you know Tim Mooney is hard to impress with the classics.). People are throwing around the words genius, masterful, inventive, amazed, incredibly entertaining, and one reviewer reassures potential audience members: “You do not have to be a Shakespearean fan to enjoy this witty fusion of pop culture with Shakespeare's prose.”

There’s also a webinar discussing frontal temporal dementia, Bruce Willis, and the premiere of Thy Hard, if you’re the kind of spectator that enjoys a different level of behind the scenes homework for your Fringe experience:



If you’re on the West Bank one day (or more) this Fringe, and he’s on the schedule, check him out!

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Jamie Brickhouse

I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies
Jamie Brickhouse

A gay, alcoholic son uncovers the truth about his martini and bikini loving conservative father in this darkly comic, intimate, enthralling show that shines new meaning on the old question: "Who’s your daddy?"

Venue: Open Eye Theatre
Tagged For: Comedy, Drama, Solo Show, Storytelling, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Crude Humor
Ages 18 and up

You don’t need me to tell you to go see Jamie Brickhouse’s new Fringe show - just listen to what playwright and drag legend Charles Busch said (yes, Psycho Beach Party, Die Mommie Die, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, that Charles Busch):

“[I Favor My Daddy] scores on so many levels: funny, touching, honest, insightful and most of all a wonderful entertainment.”

Also, Jamie has compiled some of the best one-liners from the show in a video trailer (I think my favorite turn of phrase is “nervous as a sodomite whore in church, which I am”)



If you need more convincing, it’s already won awards at the New York International Fringe Festival, San Francisco Fringe Festival and the FRIGID Festival New York, and has a slew of other complimentary quotes from reviews far and wide listed as well.

Jamie is also nice enough to quote me talking about his last Fringe show here, 2018’s Dangerous When Wet: Booze, Sex, and My Mother -

“Jamie Brickhouse weaves a tale you couldn't tell just anybody’s mother, but my Mom and I both liked it a lot; Brickhouse spares neither his mother nor himself but it’s a hell of a story.”

This is posted right under another glowing quote from John Townsend in Lavender Magazine, which was sort of a one-two punch for me because, well, the last time Jamie was here in the Twin Cities, both my Mom and John Townsend were still alive.  Weird six year gap, with a pandemic in the middle of it, which didn’t kill either of them, just hundreds of thousands of others.  (Morbid turn, apologies.)

All of which is more proof I need a good, reliable, queer hour of laughter more than usual these days, so it’s a good thing Jamie has a new show in town.

Also, check out Jamie’s website if you want to see the bottom half of the image he had photographed for his publicity.  Apparently it only fits well in portrait, not banner mode.

My work here is done.

Go see the show.  I’m planning to.

 

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorite - Victoria Pyan

IMP presents Collidescope
The Improv Movement Project

IMP’s seasoned cast of dancers, mimes, clowns, improvisers, and physical theater-makers takes an audience story and transforms it into an improvised kaleidoscope of bodies in motion - 100% physical, 0% verbal.

Venue: HUGE Improv Theater
Tagged For: Clowning, Dance, Improv, Physical Theater
Content Warnings: (none)
Ages 7-11 and up


Victoria Pyan loves creating and supporting new work in many forms, whether that be new plays through her theater company Little Lifeboats, or horror for the stage as part of Oncoming Productions, or here through improv as part of The Improv Movement Project.  It’s good to see her back on stage.  I missed IMP’s run at HUGE this spring, so I’m glad I get another chance as part of the Fringe.

Some background on IMP:

“The Improv Movement Project, founded and led by Sean Dillon and Mark Benzel, aims to expand and transform the Twin Cities improv landscape through body-centric performance, education, and collaboration. Sean and Mark were lucky enough to assemble a company of 10 amazing physically-oriented performers from a variety of backgrounds who share this vision, and together they performed their first run of wordless, physical improvisation at HUGE Theater in Spring 2024. They are thrilled to bring their work to a wider audience at MN Fringe with our signature form, Collidescope.”

[Editor’s note, part 1: Mark Benzel is also in the Transatlantic Love Affair Fringe show this year, 5x5]

[Editor’s note, part 2: One of the other folks in the ensemble is Also Bruno, also in What You Need To Do Is, and Blackout Improv Does Something, both at this year’s Fringe as well.]

[Editor’s note, part 3: As the previewing performers from the other Fringe show with a similar name said, Collidescope is not to be confused with Kaleidoscope, from Black and Foxy Co, which is ALSO at HUGE Improv Theater, just to make things interesting]

I’m very curious to see how exactly the physical, wordless improv of IMP is created.

And it’s always great to see Victoria Pyan on stage, whatever the format, whatever her role.

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

  

Fringe 2024 - Returning Favorites List

Here's a handy set of links to reach all the posts about returning favorites in this year's 2024 Minnesota Fringe, in alpha order:

Denzel Belin Presents - 5 Episodes of Minnesota Tonight; 4 Minnesota Fring3, it’s Minnesota 2Night’s 1st Time at Minnesota Fringe

Minnesota Tonight brings music, comedy, sketch, interviews, games and more to the table! Highlighting and celebrating Minnesota and the talent and excellence that is here, there are five unique shows to see!

Blackout Improv Does Something!!!
Rogues Gallery Arts

Blackout Improv, Minnesota's premiere all Black performer improv group returns to the Fringe bringing guests and our renowned approach to comedy which mixes humor, and heart with a social Justice bent.

 

I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies
Jamie Brickhouse

A gay, alcoholic son uncovers the truth about his martini and bikini loving conservative father in this darkly comic, intimate, enthralling show that shines new meaning on the old question: "Who’s your daddy?"

 

Broken Wing Productions - Sheree & Scot Froelich, Nicole Wilder - The Wind Phone

The Wind Phone is found in a quiet park, not connected to any earthly system. On it, mourners will call their loved ones passed in hopes of finding the peace to work through their pain.

 

 

Alex Church - Dutch: Made in America

A busy actor sits down for a screen test that quickly devolves into a reality-bending examination of one of the most controversial figures in American history. Portion of proceeds donated to Women Winning

 

 

 

Corpus Dance Works (formerly LC Creations) - Lily Conforti - All The Hullabaloo

In this dance show we rip through the cereal box of life looking for the prize at the bottom. Milking the nostalgia of our youth; we loop through the woes of adulthood because in the end…Trix are only for kids.

Mike Fotis Productions - The Camp Out

An Improvised One Act Play About friends in their 40s and being all alone in the woods

 

 

 

 

 

Mahmoud Hakima - Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon

A surprise hit of the 2009 MN Fringe! Seeking escape from his traumatic home life, a boy finds comfort in a "Mystery Girl." But her life begins to parallel his own, leading to a dramatic turn of events. 

 

Phantom Chorus Theatre - Show Me Your Wings
MaMa Faerie Productions - Rhiannon Fiskradatz

Show Me Your Wings is a traveling, experimental, multidisciplinary rock opera created from music by MaMa Faerie. It features a live band, projections, movement, puppetry, installations, and a visual art show!

Rev. Matt and Ariel Pinkerton - A Monster Scientist and a Tattooed Anarchist Walk Into a Bar - Mermaid Productions

Two of the twin cities finest solo performers share a stage - only it's small so they have to alternate! 5 Monster Science shows! One Tattooed Anarchist in Covid Lockdown!

"Put a Needle To Me or How I Got a Full Back Tattoo During Covid Because the Government Gave Me More Money Than Any Food Service Job Ever Has" You know what's fun? Having a midlife crisis that begins with a baby and an undercut, moves onto a divorce and a job at a punk restaurant, and really CEMENTS itself during Covid Lockdown. Might as well go all out and get a full back tattoo on the Government's dime, right? Storyteller Ariel Pinkerton returns with her  tale of transformation, survival, and self revolution.
Performances: Aug 3 and 4, at 4pm, Aug 9 at 7pm, Aug 10 and 11 at 4:00pm

"Reverend Matt's Personal Best" is a series of five award-winning Reverend Matt's Monster Science comedy lectures, as selected by the Reverend - and his infectious enthusiasm for the shines through. A companion to the Fringe 2023's "Monster Science's Greatest Hits," come see shows about Medusa, Pterosaurs, Ray Harryhausen, speculative evolution, and human ancestry! Facts and jokes and Powerpoint - guaranteed!
Performances:
Friday 8/2, 7pm: Kill You As Soon As Look At You - Medusa and Pals
Saturday 8/3, 5:30pm: The Meander of Humanity - Human Evolution
Sunday 8/4, 5:30pm: Bizarrocosms - Imaginary Evolutions
Saturday 8/10, 5:30pm: Original Kaiju and Fightin’ Skeletons - The Monsters of Ray Harryhausen
Sunday 8/11, 5:30pm: Pterosaur Country - A Complete History of Pterodactyls

 

Victoria Pyan - IMP presents Collidescope
The Improv Movement Project

IMP’s seasoned cast of dancers, mimes, clowns, improvisers, and physical theater-makers takes an audience story and transforms it into an improvised kaleidoscope of bodies in motion - 100% physical, 0% verbal.

Michael Rogers (a two-fer, see below) - The Life Robotic - Playabunga Productions - John Hilsen

A robot yearns to live a normal human life... BUT it can only say what the audience texts in on their phones. Hilarity ensues as the crowd drives the action and story, all from the comfort of their own seat.

 

 

Michael Rogers (again) - As Above, So Below

A reflection on solitude and silence. As Above, So Below is a solo show that plunges into the soul's dark waters, the truth we find within its depths, and the light that we hope waits above the surface.

 

Michael Shaeffer - Thy Hard

Forsooth! A poet pitches a Shakespearean adaptation of Die Hard. Sonnets and silly soliloquies at Nakatomi Plaza with appearances by Argyle, Holly, Hans Gruber and John McClane. Yippee ki-yay, muckle rucker!

Transatlantic Love Affair - 5x5

An anthology of five tales in a classic “tréteau” style, keeping the performers in one tiny square on the stage with no sets and no props. The biggest stories in the smallest space.

 

 

 

 

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

 

Fringe 2024 - Top 11 to 20 List

Here's a post with a handy list of links to all the entries in my pre-Fringe Top 11 to 20 list for the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival: 

11 - TransMasculine Cabaret, Starring Vulva Va-Voom

Hardships, meet hilarity. "TragiComic transgender-identifying true confessional" & "obscene, maniacal burlesque star" sound incompatible...but this gritty nightclub headliner combines stranger things onstage.

Serious topics identity… presented by an absurd comedian

12 - Take The “T” Out
Silly Miss Tilly

Lily a girl who loves to sing, but fear and excitement are the same feeling. Watch and join as her friends encourage her to go to Silly Miss Tilly's Karaoke show that will change their lifes. "YOU CAN DO THIS"

 

13 - old growth
Loom Lab

old growth draws from shapeshifting mythology and the language of the forest to present a physically virtuosic exploration of transformation, community, and self-acceptance. Dance, puppets, fights, circus!

 

 

14 - Mae West's The Drag
The Feral Theatre Company

Originally written by Mae West in 1927; The Drag follows Rolly, a closeted gay man, juggling the facades he must keep up. With drag balls, his ex-lover, and his wife, he tries to stay afloat and live his truth.

 

 

15 - every.single.one
Cherie Sampson

A one-woman multimedia performance portraying intimate personal, familial and community stories about hereditary cancer, integrative oncology and survival from a patient's perspective of modern medicine.

 

16 - Heart Ripped Out Twice And So Can You!
Linnea Bond

A sales rep clown pitches you on Existing in this (mostly) comedy about pain. Part timeshare presentation, part pity party, part existential howl. Cincy Fringe Critics’ Pick, Encore. ATL Fringe Producer's Pick.

 

17 - Juliet & Juliet: Improvised Shakespeare
Juliet & Juliet (aka, Meghan Wolff & Sami Haeli)

Juliet & Juliet improvise eloquent, oddball, feminist Shakespeare. They love language. They love murdering one another. They love traveling all over the US improvising Shakespeare.

 

 

18 - Love Lies a Bleeding
Vee Signorelli and Logan Signorelli Verdoorn

This raunchy, heartfelt Jacobean-era tragicomedy is rife with unresolved sexual tension, secret love, crossdressing, erotic stabbings, civil unrest, and an overly-involved narrator.

 

 

19 - Defibrillator
Justice Theatre Consortium (Jennie Ward)

On Jan 17, 2021, Jenny's heart tried to kill her. Defibrillator is a new comedy about the mystery of life: the true(ish) story of one community's dance with death and a stockpile of lasagna.

 

 

20 - A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies
Theatre on the Rocks - Sam Sweere

Taken from the perspective of a life not worth living, but not worth losing, a dying horse climbs through his lack of value to find purpose in the world around him before it's too late.

 

 

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list, plus the full list of all returning favorites at this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

 

 

Fringe 2024 - Fringe Top 10 List

Here's a post with a handy list of links to all the entries in my pre-Fringe Top 10 list for the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival:

 

1 - Least Likely To Succeed: Tales From a Midwestern Homeschooler - Tristan Miller

New York based comedian Tristan Miller shares their experience growing up homeschooled in Minnesota!
"Miller's Humor is unique." - The Otago Daily Times
“Captivating And Charming in equal measure" - Art Murmurs
“Surreal, Brilliant, and Highly Relatable." - TheatreReview

2 - What You Need to Do Is!
Bugalug Ink (Eric Simons & Alsa Bruno)

Silly characters, real advice—What You Need to Do Is! is an improvised, life coaching seminar. You ask REAL questions and we help your solve everything from the smallest quibbles to serious GROWN FOLK BUSINESS.

 

3 - Daddy Issues
Pretend Productions - Allison Vincent

Daddy Issues is a solo show recounting Allison Vincent's caretaking for her father while also negotiating their complicated relationship and the demise of his memory and her childhood home.

 

 

4 - Transition: A Story of Two Trans People Becoming Themselves
Emily Boyajian

Two trans people experience the joy of living authentically, face internalized transphobia, overcome their self-doubts to find happiness outside of the gender binary, and sing with music from a live orchestra!

 

5 - Dream of Me
Team Rand-McKay

Mia, grieving the loss of her husband, begs her friend Tanna to let her try an AI dream device so that she can see him again. But what starts out as romantic turns into a nightmare when the AI has other plans.

 

 

6 - They Still Make Film For That?
Dark Roast Arts - Kevin Ealain

AI got you making you feel uneasy? Tired of the digital deluge?! Then They Still Make Film For That? is for you! See a live film development demo and why printed photographs are important to our mental health!

 

7 - Teen Wolf Killed My Grandma: A Memoir
On Whee Puppet Theatre

A fuzzy look at how fiction can make reality a little more bearable. Watch a family through their matriarch's final chapter while also learning way more than you ever needed about MTV's Teen Wolf.

 

 

8 - The Light Bringer
Light Bringer Productions - Laila Lee

An Arab immigrant's true life story of family, freedom, and finding the American Dream!

An examination of the immigrant struggle between alienation and assimilation; against a backdrop of political, religious, and global issues.

 

9 - Francis Grey and the Case of His Dead Boyfriend: a One-Man Whodunnit
nayXnay productions - Nathan Tylutki

Francis Grey & the Case of His Dead Boyfriend explores family, love, and revenge. How far will Francis go to get justice? Anything could happen. Everyone is a suspect.

The play explores the concepts of family, love, justice, and revenge. Francis is at the top of his game, solving cold-case after cold-case after winning the favor of law enforcement agencies near and far. From INTERPOL to Small Town, USA, there isn’t an agency that is able to resist his charm. When calamity strikes close to home, Francis starts to unravel— is he losing his touch? Is this case too personal? How far will he go to get justice for someone he loves?

10 - Stroke of Genius: Pantomime Masturbation Throughout Performing Arts History -
Boiled Horse Productions

This professor takes "jackin' around" very seriously! Deadpan intellectual social satire meets silly Monty Python buffoonery in this polished multimedia comedy lecture. "Course materials" @ www.BoiledHorse.com.
[Editor’s note: Link totally safe for work.  Don’t worry.  You’re not clicking through to pictures of a dildo collection or anything]

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 11-20 List, plus the full list of all returning favorites at this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

Fringe 2024 Top 20 - #20 - A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies - Theatre on the Rocks (Sam Sweere)

A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies
Theatre on the Rocks - Sam Sweere

Taken from the perspective of a life not worth living, but not worth losing, a dying horse climbs through his lack of value to find purpose in the world around him before it's too late.

Venue: Phoenix Theater
Tagged For: Comedy, Drama
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Blood, Loud Noises, Gun/Weapon Usage
Ages 16 and up

This one’s on the list because of the preview.

I kept going back and forth on it because of the title.

The show art was cheeky and funny.

The synopsis promised that it might almost be uplifting?

Then the “More Information” tab sort of dashed this hope while also still being really funny to me:

A horse will walk out on stage and die. It's really all in the title. Not much of a "more information" kind of show.

Also, the thing that really drew my attention was that Hannah Steblay was the director.

Hannah was a regular with Classical Actors Ensemble back in the day.  In fact, it was ten years ago now, but she’s still the best Juliet I’ve ever seen on stage.

So, if she’s directing this project, that makes me even more curious.

Then there was the preview last week.

First of all, horse costume - 10 out of 10, no notes.

Then the performer, Sam Sweere, also the creator of the show.  Whatever that indefinable “it” is?  Stage presence?  He’s got it.  Even in a ridiculous horse costume.  Nihilism isn’t my thing but nevertheless I felt compelled to watch this very weird preview, with a horse sporting the personality of Eeyore being menaced by the red dot from an unseen sniper rifle, forced to represent the show and entice audience members, all of which hinted at the tone but not the content of the show.  And I don’t think I was alone.  It felt like the whole audience was with the hapless horse, even though they didn’t entirely know how to react.

Then the director Hannah reached out to me, to vouch for the show and encourage me to attend, saying among other things: “The talent and writing is really strong… He’s a really fierce and smart kid and his writing style is wild and funny.”

That was really the last little endorsement push I needed.  This is the kind of small, oddball show that can exist and thrive at the Fringe, but it’s also easy for it to get lost, particularly since they’re at the Phoenix and the odyssey to get through to the venue around all the street construction right now can be a bit daunting.  But this show feels like it’s worth the extra effort, so that’s how we’re rounding out the Top 20 list this year.

Side note: the Phoenix is starting to develop a reputation as the "dead horse" venue for Fringe.  Last year it was "How To Kill A Horse," this year it's "A Horse Walks Out Onto The Stage and Dies." I wouldn't have thought that was a genre, but...

 

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

  

 

Fringe 2024 Top 10 - #10 - Stroke of Genius: Pantomime Masturbation Throughout Performing Arts History - Boiled Horse Productions

Stroke of Genius: Pantomime Masturbation Throughout Performing Arts History -
Boiled Horse Productions

This professor takes "jackin' around" very seriously! Deadpan intellectual social satire meets silly Monty Python buffoonery in this polished multimedia comedy lecture. "Course materials" @ www.BoiledHorse.com.
[Editor’s note: Link totally safe for work.  Don’t worry.  You’re not clicking through to pictures of a dildo collection or anything]

Venue: Strike Theater
Tagged For: Clowning, Comedy, Solo Show, Audience Participation, Historical Content, LGBTQIA+ Content
Content Warnings: Adult Language, Sexual Content
Ages 18 and up

I know.  I know.

But here’s a weird coincidence I only just noticed in prepping for this post.

The actor in the silent movie portions of the show and video trailer is Vulva Va-Voom,

who has their own solo show at this very same Fringe across town at Mixed Blood, TransMasculine Cabaret, which I wrote about over three weeks ago, as #11 on my Top 20 list this year.  And now, by the sheer randomness with which I’ve constructed this list, two shows featuring Vulva Va-Voom’s are right next to each other on the list in slots 10 and 11.  Didn’t plan it that way, it’s just how it shook out.

Oh… sorry.

So many entendres one can trip over here.

I’ll let the show’s website do the talking, it’s safer:

“The award-winning comic multimedia “lecture” is fresh from its off-Broadway run! “Stroke” strikes an unfailingly straight-faced Monty Pythonesque balance between sharply intelligent humanities references, edgy satire of respected institutions, and– most importantly– hundreds of rapid-fire sex jokes. The world’s most eccentric academic is eager to show you his obsessively polished deck (slide “deck” with an “e”).

From the “COURSE DESCRIPTION”:

“Dr. Walter Winkworth-Pérez’s career is devoted to the preservation of a highly specialized performing arts discipline. His extensive research into sexual clowning techniques has made him the foremost expert on conventions that date back to ancient Greece.

“Attendees will learn to appreciate regional styles of Pantomimed Masturbation, complete with historical context. Following last semester's workshop, "All in the Wrist: Vaudeville Jackin’ Practicum," this syllabus provides in-depth analysis of the genius who immortalized theatrical skills on the 1920s silver screen: the legendary Spankin' Shyster.”

Last week they're at the KC Fringe Festival, this week, they’re here.

Winner of “Best Dick Joke” in 2023 from Best of the Bay Staff, and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Orlando Weekly got in on the fun by calling it "Intellectually stimulating [...] [A]n inspiring story about stiffening your resolve to pursue your solitary passion…”

The bio for Shane Mayforth, Writer and Dr. Walter Winkworth-Pérez, says he once provided “the voice of a puppet haunted by Jimmy Stewart.”

The bio for Vulva Va-Voom, Head Writer and Ira K. Goldsmith (The Spankin' Shyster), says the core theme of their work is that “High-brow culture and low-brow humor need never be contradictory.” Their work loosely falls under the category “Theatrical NeoVaudeville,” and is best summarized by the taglines, “It’s like Carol Burnett violating Oscar Wilde with a rolled-up New Yorker,” or “Picture Frasier and Niles Crane, but they’re drunken, singing, dancing strippers.”

All of this is also a recommendation (or a warning) for their show TransMasculine Cabaret.

I know on some level I’m expected to resist this show, but I can’t, it’s too craftily put together and presented.  On the list it goes…

Here's some handy links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to all the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.