Fringe 2024 - Very Highly Recommended Shows I've Seen - 5 Stars, 4.5 Stars

Here's a handy list of coverage of the shows I've seen so far at the Fringe that are VERY HIGHLY Recommended, getting either 5 stars or 4.5 stars, with links to full-length reviews as they're posted, in alphabetical order by title:

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended (aka, Life-Altering Experience)

Threads review, mnfringe show 23, All The Hullabaloo: Though the sky seemed to dump all its water on me just as I was walking to the theater, it was worth the soaking to get to see Lily Conforti and the skilled dancers of Corpus Dance Works stage yet another of their joyous dance parties, this time filled with piles of clothes, boxes of cereal, and the kind of amazing moves only human bodies such as these are capable of; transporting, beautiful and just a whole lot of fun to watch - 5 stars (my returning Fringe favorite write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 42, All The Hullabaloo - yes, I had so much fun the first time I went back again - and I forgot to mention before the dancing boxes that turn into star fields, and the dance where they use fitted bedsheets to create a boat and circus tent, both great fun in a show stuffed with one fun sequence after another - still 5 stars (my full review)

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 11, As Above, So Below: enormously compelling, sometimes funny (horror) story of family dysfunction and mental illness so personal and vivid you genuinely want to ask the artist after the show if they’re really all right (because even though they’re still here and there’s a show… damn) - 5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 31, The Banana Wars: it was fun to revisit Derek Miller’s show in this new context of 2024; he still makes me feel like an unread philistine most of the time but he doesn’t judge so it’s fine - 5 stars

Threads review, mnfringe show 20, Blackout Improv Does Something!!! OK, we’re back on track with my previously scheduled programming :) If you’ve seen Blackout Improv, I don’t need to convince you they’re great. If you haven’t seen Blackout Improv, then improve your life by starting now and seeing them throughout the rest of the year as well - 5 stars (my returning Fringe favorite write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 55, Blackout Improv Does Something!!! my friend Denzel was in the ensemble tonight so it was a great excuse for a return trip to see Blackout do another set; in fact, it felt like the ENTIRE Blackout ensemble was there, the stage was full to bursting with talented improvisors and the energy in the room was off the chart; an ideal way to end my Fringe show schedule; now (and always) 5 stars (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 25, Close Call: A How-Not-To Guide to Being a POS - a cheeky but also sincere and heartfelt presentation, complete with interactive screen text, recounting a half-dozen bad paths Brian Watson-Jones nearly went down but pulled back from, and the people and incidents that saved him; it's hard to do an earnest confessional without seeming self-aggrandizing or preachy, but he walks that fine line perfectly; impressive and moving work - 5 stars

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 34, Daddy Issues - Brilliant. Allison Vincent takes cardboard, sound FX, and herself and conveys her father's decline and the way for a time it consumed her life. Because she's such a gifted storyteller, she populates this world with countless characters, including herself, who are not her today. The precision involved in this comic tragedy is breathtaking, but because it also gives the gift of distance from the raw horror of it all, tears are not required. My thanks - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 10 write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 41, every single one: Part dance show, part documentary, a cancer survivor and dancer documents her journey and 3 generations of her family as the disease invades all their lives in different ways; still here, still dancing; a really rich, layered audience experience - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

Side note: I thought I’d been in my smallest mnfringe audience with a house of 6 a few days ago; “every single one” just had only 4; artist lost first 2 perfs to covid; bounced back, but it’d be great to give her last show Sunday 8/11 at 2:30pm some love if you’re looking for something you haven’t seen before. It’s fascinating stuff, deserves a bigger crowd.

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 26, 5x5: I think I need an expanded vocabulary to find some new words for how great the work of Transatlantic Love Affair is as an ensemble creating whole worlds of stories with just their bodies and voices, and also for how great the work of Amber Bjork is as a director; we got rapid-fire (funny but still not disrespectful) versions of the Green Knight, Macbeth, Nosferatu, Jurassic Park, and Popo and Izta all in the space of an hour; magical - 5 stars (my returning Fringe favorite write-up) 

Threads review, mnfringe show 24, Godzilla Is Not A Dinosaur: Abby Bland is a lot of fun as both standup comedian and poet; knows how to work a crowd in both roles (even though on a rainy Monday I was one of only a half dozen people in the house; she played with the same enthusiasm as if the place was full); some might not think Godzilla, King Kong, Jurassic Park and meditations on gender would mix well as fodder for both comedy and poetry, but those people would be wrong; this was a great time - 5 stars

Threads review, mnfringe show 43, Godzilla's Not A Dinosaur; back again to hang out with Abby Bland and her Godzilla focused jokes and poems; bigger crowd this time and some hearty laughers - still 5 stars 

Threads review, mnfringe show 51, Heart Ripped Out Twice and So Can You: holy sh*t, the turn this thing takes 3/4s of the way through is brilliant; you think you have it figured out early on, but then it turns into something so much more beautiful than you imagined; wow - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 54, An Honest* History of Bullshit; this was Paco’s extra slot picked up from an act that left the fest early; only 6 of us turned up so it was an intimate affair, we all moved close to the stage, he ditched the mic, learned all our names, and gave us the set that way instead - 5 stars 

Threads review, mnfringe mind f**k part 1, show 7, A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies: honestly don't have fully coherent thoughts about this yet; hilarious, touching, weird, because it is very much the title, and very much not, just the Fringiest f**king thing I've seen in quite some time - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 32, A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies; yes, I went back and saw it again, it’s worth repeated viewings; also just wanted to go as a regular person, not take notes, and catch details I missed the first time - still 5 stars (my full 5-star review) 

Threads review, mnfringe show 44, A Horse Walks Out Onto The Stage And Dies; yes, I have now watched the horse die three times; there are times when you watch a performance and think “This is the beginning of something” Very much looking forward to whatever Sam Sweere does next; helluva debut Fringe creation - still 5 stars (my full review)

Random thread: mnfringe closing night party: glad I chose to wear my War Horse T-shirt today because I got to hang out with the Horse/Dies Fringe show crew at the party, and watch them take home two Golden Lanyard Awards; also saw the first male Beverlee Award winner chosen, Andrew Troth; it was fun to see so many deserving shows and people recognized (in a festival with just as many other shows one could give awards to as well - just a really lovely 11 days). Thanks to all who made it possible!

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 27, Interstella 5555: A Daft Punk Discovery - a concept dance show based off the 2001 album Discovery from French electronic music duo Daft Punk and it’s accompanying animated sci fi film (no, really); and it’s a lot of (very weird) fun - 5 stars
 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 21, Least Likely to Succeed: Tales from a Midwestern Homeschooler - I love the standup comedy of @tristanjmiller, just watching his clever brain wend its way through both the established set and the various tangents is super entertaining. And he had to push on through the muted response of a small Minnesota crowd (we find it hard to laugh loudly if we think we’ll draw too much attention to ourselves :) Doubly impressive - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 10 write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 53, Least Likely to Succeed: Tales from a Midwestern Homeschooler; I was in the neighborhood and felt like some stand-up comedy; the crowd was livelier and the set was tighter this time around; enjoyed it even more than I did the first time :) still 5 stars (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 39, Love Lies a Bleeding; just as horny and silly and queer an adaptation of the classic text as I expected it to be; so many stabbings, so much stage blood and still a happy ending?! Great fun - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)
 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 2: Mae West’s The Drag; sleek and slimmed down adaptation of a naughty period farce with very modern drag queens, what’s not to like? - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe mind f**k part 2, show 8: A Number - a father is confronted by the multiple clones he made of his son; some of the encounters go better than others; some of them go very, very wrong; a meditation on life and identity, offspring and parenting; funny and haunting in equal measure - 5 stars (my full review)

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 40, Put A Needle To Me: Ariel Pinkerton transforms the most recent chapter of her storied life into another compelling story for an audience; her life may be more recognizably “normal” to an outsider but the tattoo testifies otherwise - 5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 9, Thy Hard - it isn’t Christmas until Hans Graber falls out the window of Nakatomi Plaza, in iambic pentameter; comedy word wizard Michael Shaeffer does it again - 5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up) (my full review)

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 12, Transmasculine Cabaret starring Vulva Va-Voom: so much queerness in one show, singing, jokes, interactive sound cues, arias, truths both hard and soft, my mind is still spinning - 5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 36, Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon: Wow. Just amazing. Mahmoud Hakima tells the story of the shadow cast by his abusive stepfather over his family thru the eyes of himself as a boy from age 4 to 13; finely detailed, sharply observed, performed with wonder punctuated by moments of anger and terror; mesmerizing - 5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

Threads review, mnfringe show 49, Yo-Ho-Hum: A Pirate's Midlife Crisis - supposedly rich guy thinks he belongs in leadership (in this case, pirate captain) so he buys a ship, promises crew a high salary (which he never gets around to paying), steals from others to enrich himself, doesn't care if anyone else around him lives or dies (and they do), makes and loses powerful friends by treating them carelessly, is convinced all his failures are successes (sound familiar?); crazy good cast, witty script - 5 stars

4.5 Stars - Very Highly Recommeded (aka, Damn Near Perfect)

Threads review, mnfringe show 14, The Camp Out: a half dozen of the Twin Cities’ best improvisors, as a group of messy friends who don’t camp, gathering in the woods to say goodbye to an old friend, if they can hold their own sh*t together long enough to do so, delightfully awkward and very funny - 4.5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up) (my full review)

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 16, Dutch: Made In America, a hallucinatory scramble through the personal history of former President Ronald Reagan; still sorting out my own brain on this one but it’s a unique vision, sharply executed; worth seeing for the sock puppet FDR ventriloquist routine alone, but there’s SO much more going on - 4.5 stars (my returning Fringe favorite write-up) (my full review)

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 5: Francis Grey and the Case of his Dead Boyfriend - inspired lunacy, Dickensian murder plot full of wigs, blowup dolls, video, and even puppets; a one man ensemble piece - 4.5 stars (my fringe Top 10 write-up)

 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 17, I Favor My Daddy: A Tale of Two Sissies; like a lot of us, Jamie Brickhouse knew his mother better than he knew his father; fathers keep their secrets close; Jamie’s father provides a lot of mystery, but Jamie still manages to make a helluva show out of it - 4.5 stars (my returning Fringe favorite write-up)

 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 46, Improv Movement Project presents CollideScope: super inventive improv with no words, just musical accompaniment; very physical group of improvisors; extremely amusing, even if there were a handful of times I had no idea what was going on :) - 4.5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 15, Juliet and Juliet: Improvised Shakespeare - a new short play fully improvised by just a suggestion of subject matter and two names, all in iambic pentameter, so funny that even the performers sometimes had to suppress smiles (and corpses moved with laughter); the skillset here is off the charts impressive; great fun you don't need to be high-brow to enjoy (the Bard loved dick jokes, after all) - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 10, The Light Bringer: personal, often harrowing story of a Muslim girl who grows into a young woman her conservative family can no longer control - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Top 20 write-up)

 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 4: Minnesota Tonight; late night show in a Fringe-sized package; charming host, 2 very funny comedians plus some sketch comics, house guitarist, and interview guest Josh Carson! - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Returning Favorites write-up) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 50, MN Tonight: this time from behind the curtain as an interview guest; trivia: I took Mom’s red portfolio on stage with me, just in case I needed to refer to my notes, so a little bit of Beverlee hit the stage as well this afternoon; fun way to start the final day of Fringe; now it’s back into the audience for me :) (my full review)

Threads review, mnfringe show 3: Musical Settings for Shakespeare; again, title couldn’t be more clear on this one :) workshopping random songbook for random script cuttings, great singers plus a trio, drums, bass, keyboard - 4.5 stars (my full review)

 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 18, They Still Make Film For That? Enchanting, laid back change of pace, exploring the history, art, process, and benefits of film photography - 4.5 stars (my Fringe Top 10 write-up) (my full review)

 

 

 

Threads review, mnfringe show 13, The Wind Phone: a disconnected phone in the middle of a sculpture garden allows grieving people to talk to dead loved ones, be they spouses, mothers, mentors or dogs; smartly written and executed, and just the right level of heartfelt - 4.5 stars (my Fringe returning favorite write-up)

 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also 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.