Out of Towners - Rebecca Kling - Storms Beneath Her Skin

Are you a boy or a girl? Are you sure? I am transgender, which complicates things. This show is about my experience, as well as apologies, surgery, the equations of sex, the weather, boobs, and more. 

"The first time I had to lift something heavy [after acquiring breasts], a girl friend said to me, 'Yeah, suck it up.  It's much harder now.'"

Rebecca Kling knows how to work a room.

After seeing this preview at the Out of Towner showcase, I feel a little bad for slotting her into my Top 20 at 13.  While it's not a scientific ranking of merit or anything, after this preview, I'm thinking she surely should be up in the Top 10.  She's that good.  In fact, if I ever have the pleasure of meeting her, I'll probably make the mistake of saying something silly for which there is no polite response like, "You're fantastic."  (Update: before posting this, I did meet her out and about handing out her postcards and managed to tell her how much I liked her preview and was looking forward to the show without embarrassing myself.  Score one for improving social skills around talented people.)

The lady takes no prisoners and makes no apologies.  She's not confrontational.  She's just interested in spreading truth and having an honest conversation.  The topic of sexuality and gender identity is a slippery one, and it might make some folks uncomfortable.  But they probably aren't the Fringers who'd go to her show anyway.  And that's a minority of Fringe audience members.  We come to the Fringe to experience something different, and saying Kling has a different kind of show is probably an understatement.

But this isn't a dry infomercial or documentary presentation about the transgender experience.  Kling has the verbal dexterity of a storyteller, and the wit and adaptability to gauge and perform to her audience like the best stand-up comics.  She's entertaining, and she has something to say.  It's a great combination of messenger and message.  She also seems infinitely patient (a skill I'm sure she had to acquire over the years).  She wants to bring her audience with her on the journey and she's willing to meet them more than halfway.  At the same time, she's not going to dumb anything down, or sugarcoat any discomfiting bit of reality.  It makes for a bracing preview, and I'm sure an equally eye-opening show.  Both Mom and I are really looking forward to this one.

Plus it was fun to have Robin reading the introductory show blurb from the website and need to say, "I'm transgender."  Robin is thrown by nothing.

Storms Beneath Her Skin's first performance is Saturday 8/4 at 4pm at Patrick's Cabaret.

Out of Towners - Dance

We got three dance shows in the mix at the Out of Towners showcase last night.  Well, two full-on dance shows, and a third that just had dance as a big part of its preview snippet.

They were...

Nucleus... and other Cell Bodies - Kelly Rademacher - Southern Theater

Two hydrogen atoms bond with one oxygen atom to make-dance! Get silly and scientific inside our peculiar kinetic bio-textbook for the stage, a bizarre and compelling movement world as seen through a microscope!

The dance groups were pretty innovative in the way they dealt with the preview opportunity.  In the case of Nucleus, they took a show choreographed for the vast proscenium of the Southern and nimbly adapted it to the far less spacious stage (and multiple levels of risers, and odd shape) of the Brave New Workshop.  Points for ingenuity.  The four dancers in long colorful dresses, with brightly colored footstools at the ready, worked together and in opposition to one another's undulating movements accompanied by electronic music.

They have the 7pm slot tonight, Thursday, 8/2, at the Southern, then more shows this Friday and Saturday 8/3 and 8/4, closing up in the middle of the week on Tuesday and Wednesday 8/7 and 8/8.

The Dust - Core Project Chicago - Patrick's Cabaret

Explore contemporary myth and belief through the archetypes of Death, Fate, Memory and Man. Using dance, poetry, experimental music and visual art, we'll confront the heaviest of thoughts: our own mortality.

Whoever thought to tap the dry comedic talents of Core Project Chicago's company manager is a great judge of how to do a preview.  Unable to fit your dance on the small stage?  No problem, put your company manager in one of the costumes, have her simulate some of the moves all the while talking to the audience with a tone of voice that has "eyeroll" built-in.  While she ran through the moves of her non-dance routine, the company manager entertainingly fed us all the information we would need to come and see the show.  She also sardonically assessed the content of the show when she shared that she had been instructed to come out, roll around on the stage, "and rub fake dust on myself."  "We... and by we I don't mean me, because this is ridiculous."  The thing was perfectly constructed.  She warned us her limited repertoire included a cartwheel, a pelvic thrust and a couple of jokes.  We got the laughs, the pelvic thrust generated more, and then she cartwheeled off stage.  Preview complete.  Their company manager was a great ambassador.  I now know the company as a whole has a great sense of humor, and that's a good thing to know about a Fringe show.

Their first performance is Friday 8/3 at 5:30 at Patrick's Cabaret

The Habit - Wilson Loria - HUGE Improv Theater

In a daring look at a religious woman facing the crossroads of her life, The Habit guides its audience from the familiar images of docile convent life to a path sprinkled with hints of a more profane one.

"Vapor poured from the nostrils of the gigantic machines"

This is more solo show than dance piece but movement is a big part of what Loria does here.  Transformation is another big part of what he's up to, as he starts the preview in full nun regalia and then ditches that outfit for a white linen suit and hat combo, culminating in an energetic soft shoe routine.  While it didn't necessarily share a lot in terms of plot, the preview definitely gives you the sense of the kind of performer Loria is, and that identity is going to be among the major concerns of his Fringe offering.  Those two very different character looks make for intriguing possibilities.

His first performance is Friday 8/3 at 10pm at HUGE.

Out of Towners - Shelby Company - Font of Knowledge

A washed-up word jockey and a sexy librarian team up to stop the world's deadliest font from falling into the clutches of the Commies in this mash-up of 1950s genres, from noir to sci-fi.

"The time for mustaches is over."

Anybody reading this blog the last three years knows I love me some Shelby Company.  They blew my mind on their first visit with Winnemucca: Three Days In The Belly, and followed up with a goofy assortment of shorts in Uncle Shelby's Traveling Treasure Trunk, then won over a whole new group of fans with their baseball drama Sousepaw last year.  This year, they're back to goofy, with another completely different script from Sousepaw scribe Jonathan A. Goldberg.  And judging by the preview they did last night, it's gonna be a hoot.

The jokes were flying fast and furious in this send-up of old film noir hard-boiled detective stories.  The cast is having a ball doing this script, you can tell.  Nice thing is, we get to share the fun, too.  The costume design is largely stark shades of black and white, with some red accents thrown in for good measure.  The characters are not just cynical (and funny) but oversexed as well (sample line - "I think better on my back with my mouth full." - and it was a guy saying it to a woman for a change), so proceed with a little caution.  But if you like your humor smart and ballsy, this one looks like a lot of fun.

I'm glad Shelby Company picked up some of Les Kurkendaal's good Fringe Lottery karma and they just keep coming back.  Not only do I like their shows, but I like them.  They're a fun bunch to hang out with, so be sure to look for them at Fringe Central.  If I'm lucky, they'll adopt me as one of their Fringe mascots again this year.

If you want to kick off your Fringe with a little Shelby Company, they have the closing slot at 10 at Mixed Blood tonight, Thursday 8/2.  They also have the 10pm slot on Saturday, 8/4, then they have shows on Monday, 8/6 and next Friday and Saturday, 8/10 and 8/11.

Out of Towners - Hazy Shade Productions - Scarborough Fair

This musical comedy features the sassy melodies (and harmonies) of Simon and Garfunkel. With little more than a guitar and an egg shaker, these spiritually-driven travelers warm hearts and melt faces.

"You might see us bathing in your fountains, dancing with your homeless people, riding on the backs of your Vikings."

It's a one-joke premise, but it's a funny joke, and there's music.

The two men, Scarborough (Matthew Frazier-Smith) and Fair (Brendan Johnson), are your typical hippie acoustic guitar folk music types.  They clearly have issues with each other, which keep bubbling to the surface.  And they're extremely earnest in their song delivery, complete with "meaningful" gestures and facial expressions for emphasis. Plus they're actually quite good at the whole Simon & Garfunkel cover band thing.  Nice harmonies.  And you can only clown around with something like this if you've got your act down to begin with.

If you need a break from the rock musicals and the show tunes and you wouldn't mind a laugh at the expense of characters who take themselves way too seriously, Scarborough Fair would be a nice pause in the mad rush and spectacle of the Fringe.

They've got the closing slot at 10 at Theatre In The Round tonight, Thursday 8/2 (right after the raucous - and highly recommended - Class of 98 - so you could make it a twofer).  They've also got shows this Saturday, 8/4, then Tuesday 8/7, and next Friday and Saturday, 8/10 and 8/11.

Out of Towners - Left Right TIM - Summerpocalypse: Colorado Improv

Fast-paced, high-energy improv comedy using audience suggestions. LRT brings its patented brand of improv to Minnesota for the first time. Relationships are explored, worlds discovered, and fun had by all. 

 If you want to kick off your Fringing with some improv in the very first slot, I think these are your guys. Left Right TIM are here from Boulder, Colorado, at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. They've got the Thursday, 8/2 kickoff slot at 5:30 and based on what I saw the Out of Towner showcase last night, their show Summerpocalypse: Colorado Improv promises to be a lot of fun.

Of course, since it's improv, it'll be a completely different show every time, but these guys all know what they're doing. They came out and took one word called out by an audience member - "monkey" - and they were off to the races. There were cops and mad scientists and monkeys, of course. And then, most delightfully, there was a giraffe onstage driving a car getting pulled over because, well, he was a giraffe driving a car.

How to make a giraffe - One guy pushed the guy in front of him to bend over and he hopped on his back and then another guy walked up behind them both with arm extended in the air to provide the rest of the long neck and pivoting head. And even though it was clearly still just three guys piled on top of one another, their movement set off this memory in my head of all those documentaries with a giraffe running across the open plains of Africa.  Uncanny.

And they just did this. Instinctively. They all just work as a seamless team and then we're left with a monkey and a giraffe sharing a jail cell together and the monkey asking, "So, what are you in for?" Along the way there was all kinds of cheeky references to gene splicing and genetic mutations and animal/human racism and... these guys think so fast on their feet it's kind of scary. But damn funny.  (Frankly I'm envious.  How fun must it be to be able to create art with your friends like that, to be that in sync with other human beings you like hanging out with?)

Now I'm going to have to find a way to work them into my schedule. I enjoyed the goofiness of their publicity picture. Having spent a couple of summers in Boulder working for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival back in my grad school days, I have fond memories (and also family) in Colorado. And I love me some improv. So I was already leaning their way. Their quick-witted showcase presentation sealed the deal.

They have shows this Friday and Saturday, 8/3 and 8/4, as well. Then Tuesday 8/7 and Friday 8/10, too. Definitely worth checking out if you need a good laugh, and some good improv comedy.

Out of Towners - Les Kurkendaal - A One-Way Ticket To Crazy Town

Les' mother is suffering from dementia and doesn't remember who he is. She remembers the rest of the family, just not him. So Les is going to tell his mother stories and hope they will jog her memory

Mom doesn't really consider Les an out-of-towner, since every time she's in town to visit me for the Fringe, Les is always here, too.

Les is blessed with some major Fringe Lottery good karma.  The ping pong balls always seem to go his way.  And I can't complain.  Both Mom and I love seeing Les perform, and just hanging out with him in general.  In fact, when Les saw me after the show last night, his first thought was not of me but upon spying me he immediately asked, "Where's Mom?!"  Right behind me, of course, so they had a fun little reunion.

Oh, his show.  You want to know about his show?  It's more vintage Les, which is to say the man has an enviable skill for taking his life and finding that key story around which to create a show.  In this case, it's Les dealing with the fact that his mother no longer knows who he is.  My own mom is caretaker to my 99-year-old grandma (her mom) and so the family knows where Les is coming from.  Grandma still knows who the key people in the family are, but the memory bank is shot for the day to day stuff.  When people ask about grandma, Mom will joke, "She'll be 100 in March, if I let her."  Given the daily challenges, I was wondering if this Les show would hit a little too close to home.

But it's Les, which means the key ingredient in any survival recipe is humor.  The guy just knows how to tell a story.  With Les, you're in good hands.  We're catching him in performance on Tuesday to help close out Mom's last day of Fringing, but he has a performance today, Thursday 8/2 in the 5:30 kickoff slot.  Les, now as ever, comes very highly recommended.

Fringe 2011 - Top 10 - #4 - I Love You (We're F*#cked)

If you held a gun to my head and I could only see ten Fringe shows, what would they be and why?

#4 - I Love You (We're F*#cked)

55BC

"A hilarious mix of stand-up comedy, storytelling and music about a gay man looking back over the greatest loves (and sex) of his life. Features original music from Kevin J Thornton's new release."

This is how you know you've developed an instant Fringe crush.

You're milling about after the Out of Towner Showcase is over and your married friend leans in and asks

"Do you find Kevin J. Thornton attractive?"

and in addition to the obvious "Hell, yeah" response that forms in your head, you also find yourself feeling slightly giddy. Why is she asking? Oh wow, perhaps she knows him and this is a prelude to her trying to set the two of us up while he's in town. That's what married people do with their gay friends all the time, right?

No, no, silly man. She's only asking for confirmation. She wanted to make sure she wasn't alone in thinking that. No, definitely not alone in that regard. Take a number, get in line. "We seem to have similar taste in men, so..." she continued. (This is true. Noah Bremer still has a restraining order out on both of us.) Mom concurs with my friend and I as well.

I mean, c'mon, just watch the trailer. The guy's funny.



(As he says, "Don't bring the kids," but for adults, a perfect hour of entertainment.) He's attractive and he's funny, which makes him more attractive. He also seems smart, which makes him that much more attractive. And he can sing and play the guitar so, well, just kill me now.

He's doing a circuit of ten Fringe Festivals this year, so he's also clearly insane. But he's been racking up the audience favorite awards and killer reviews all over the country (including the description "a really gay, obscene Prairie Home Companion"), so he must be doing something right.

Normally, the theater of "these are all the losers I slept with" isn't a home run for me, but there's just something about the guy. He was reading notes off of a piece of paper taped to his guitar, and admitted as much. Then he went off on a tangent about said guitar (warning us that tangents would be par for the course come showtime). The guitar was something he found in mint condition just sitting in his grandfather's closet, when they went to clean out the man's house after he died. With the receipt for the purchase, back in the 1950s, tucked behind the strings in the neck of the instrument. "I know that talking about my dead grandfather onstage is extremely manipulative. But whatever gets you in the theater..."

Whatever indeed.

This one's on the shortlist for opening weekend.

Fringe 2011 - Top 10 - #1 - Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance (The Musical)

If you held a gun to my head and told me I could only see ten Fringe shows, what would they be, and why?

#1 - Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance (The Musical)

This play is so deeply, deeply wrong, on so many levels, I can't help myself.

I am in love.

"After Abraham Lincoln's tragic death, John Wilkes Booth sets out to create a doomsday machine to take over the world. The mad scientist Uncle Sam revives Lincoln as a robot to stop him and save America!"

Just from the title, this thing has been a guilty pleasure for me for weeks now.

But I was shy about being too hopeful, even with the expanded description on the Fringe website...

"Robot Lincoln: The Revengeance is a quirky, satirical musical comedy that is part sci-fi, part steam punk, part action adventure, part buddy movie, and all spoof. In this deliberately inaccurate retelling of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth's relationship, Booth assassinates Lincoln, who is revived as a robot. Lincoln is sent to stop Booth, whose insanity has driven him to try to destroy the world. But when an unexpected enemy bursts into their conflict and presents an even greater threat, can the two enemies come to a mutual understanding, resolve their differences and unite to save the world?

Mary Todd Lincoln wanders through the show, as do several presidents (all robots) from various periods of American history, as well as sundry historical characters performing in a plauditory pastiche of musical styles. If you don't think about it too hard, you'll have a wild and wacky time."

And then, they performed at the Out of Towners Showcase last night.

Robot Lincoln looks spectacularly ridiculous (cheesy sci fi at its best)

John Wilkes Booth has an equally cheesy fake mustache.

They had a few brief lines together, and then the music kicked in.

A song of forbidden love between an assassin, and the president he shot in the head.

"I take your hand, your robot hand..."

A classic old-school musical theater ballad, as sung (and danced) by John Wilkes Booth and the revived robotic corpse of Abraham Lincoln.

These people have a sick, sick sense of humor.

And I can't wait to see the rest of the show.

Fringe 2011 - Challenge #2 - So Few Bad Options

Mom just kept coming back to one thing about the Out of Towner Showcase last night.

"Across the board, they were nearly all just so good this year."

Which has been my other struggle with the Fringe offerings in general this year.

Sure, there will be some stinkers. There always are.

But there's so very much, from so very many performers with great track records both in and out of the Fringe, that's hard to decide what you're going to see and what you're going to miss.

Because you're going to have to miss something.

There are 168 shows and no human being can see more than 56, even if they saw a completely different show in every single slot on the schedule including the encore at the end.

So no matter what you do, you're missing over two-thirds of the festival.

And up until last night with the Out of Towners (more on that in just a minute), there wasn't really anything I was excited about.

Oh, there were some things that looked good. A whole lot of things that looked good.

But there wasn't anything that I was thinking, "I cannot wait to see that! That's gonna be fantastic!"

I was thinking maybe it was just me. Maybe I'm distracted because of the day jobs, or the impending visit of Mom (prompting an all-consuming cleaning binge), or the still not quite finished play for Project 515. Could be anything.

But I've run into other people who expressed the same quandary.

Not that the Fringe is bad. It's really, really good. But where's the "great"?

I started to be proven wrong last night with the Out of Towner showcase, of course.

And the Fringe whacks me across the back of the head with a heavy dose of awesome every year.

So it's coming.

Up until last night, though, I didn't really have a clear picture of where it might be coming *from*

And there's so much out there that could be "that show" - in a sea of quality stuff both familiar and unfamiliar - that to a certain extent, you just gotta hope you get lucky...

The upside? With so much good, the odds against getting unlucky with a show are also pretty good this year.

Fringe 2009 - Out of Towner Showcase (or OOTS)

Here's links to the coverage of the artists previewing in the Out of Towner Showcase (or OOTS), alphabetical by show title.

The Twin Cities Daily Planet versions of the posts are grouped together in clumps - first half, second half of the evening.

Once I get them archived on my site, there will be individual show posts, too.

7/30/09 - AfterLife
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Auntie Dorris’ You May Not Wanna Know but I’m Gonna Tell You Anyway A-thon
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Bedroom Stories
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Casebolt & Smith - Speaking Out
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Cherry Cherry Lemon
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Concord, Virginia - A Southern Town In Stories
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - The Gayer Show
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Habitat - A Documentary Theater Project
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Holding Patterns
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Like A Virgin
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Like You Mean It
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - The Morning After The Summer of Love
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Passage
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Storm Still
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Stroke Is No Joke
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Sure To Cure, Dr. Amelia's Medicine Show
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - Tech Support - The Musical
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/30/09 - The Tenth Muse
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - The Vegas Project (#1)
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Was My Brother In The Battle? Songs of War
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

7/31/09 - Winnemucca (three days in the belly)
Twin Cities Daily Planet version

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - Like A Virgin

"Porn is one of the few things you can actually unfurl."

Jimmy Hogg

Like A Virgin

The cheeky Englishman returns with his comedy about the trials of youth, love and loss (of virginity). Physical, fast-paced, hilarious storytelling with at least one dance routine and tangents within tangents.

Another returning favorite, relentless yet damn friendly self-promoter and comedic storyteller Jimmy Hogg is back again. And since he's regaled us with stories of his day jobs and life of crime (which landed him on my 2007 Top 20 list), it's only natural that his sex life should be next.

His preview snippet recounted the incident where he accidentally stumbled upon a stash of porn in the family garage as a young boy and immediately nipped off the woods to spend a little quality time alone with it.

If you saw it, or are familiar with Jimmy's work, you know it was damn funny. If not, well, it's high time you discovered what all the chuckling is about. And he's not just going it alone this Fringe. In addition to his solo show...

Solo show page

He's also teaming up with some local comedians of note...

His other show page - for "Hogg and the Humors" - sketch comedy blending Mr. Hogg, and his friends at Four Humors Theatre (aka, Artists Without Borders)

Go to one, better yet go to both, and you can kick back and have a lot of laughs on your Fringe journey this week.

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - casebolt and smith - Speaking Out

"They're in the front."

Casebolt & Smith

Casebolt & Smith - Speaking Out

Table dancing, ball and boob grabbing, potty mouthed dynamic duo casebolt and smith deliver complicated, unexpected, quirky and humorous dance theater. "The Nichols and May of Dance." (LA Times)

These two are extremely funny. Another one I'm going to have to try and get on my schedule somehow. They danced silently for a few moments, and then stepped back to start deconstructing how the routine could be improved. Starting with the boob grab. Placement, angle of attack, etc. Each succeeding move, also with sexual overtones was picked apart clinically, with conversation continuing through a suspended crotch grab, one person squatting above another's face, and so on. Neither of them phased at all. One, two, three, it's just blocking notes. The more awkward and ridiculous the positioning, the funnier their calm detachment became. Another smart, graceful, goofy set of dancers. Judging from the video clips below, there's more where that came from. Sample them, and then get out and see them. The beauty of dance, and the welcome release of comedy, all in one show. Can't ask for better than that.

(In the "It's A Small World After All" category, Liz Casebolt dropped me a note and it turns out that her husband is Troy Conrad, who brought us The Comedy Jesus Show a couple of Fringes back. That's a whole lot of oddball comedy in one marriage.)

Their website - www.caseboltandsmith.com

Their show page

Their video trailer



And just 'cause they're funny, how about some more...

After Words (the full routine from which the preview came - hee hee)



In Other Words



Having Words

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - Concord, Virginia - A Southern Town In Stories

Peter Neofotis

Concord, Virginia - A Southern Town in Stories

from New York, NY

Neofotis performs his prize-winning stories, published by St. Martin's Press. With tales of interracial lovers, moonshining old ladies and gay trials-it's kinda like Garrison Keillor, except Southern.

I tagged this performer earlier in a post on that other Fotis we know so well. So I was looking forward to hearing what he had in store for us. His website and coverage of his previous outings there indicate it could be pretty captivating.

Unfortunately, this was kind of an aborted preview. He got up on stage, told us he wanted to share two short previews with us from the stories he'll be telling. The background noise at that point in the evening at Bedlam (near the end of the showcase) was becoming its usual Bedlam brand of boisterous, but not too overwhelming. In that big space, though, it was a little hard to hear Mr. Neofotis.

So Robin, our host for the evening, suggested using her microphone. This seemed to throw the guy just a little. But he seemed to recover, and though using a mic in his act doesn't seem to be standard for him, he seemed to be adapting pretty well. We were plunked down in the middle of a Southern courtroom drama in progress. It was interesting stuff.

But then he just kind of stopped. Said that was all he wanted to do this evening, and quickly exited the stage.

I felt kind of bad for him. I guess the mic was restricting what he'd planned to do more than I realized. That's a shame.

Thankfully, he's at the Gremlin stage, which is a more intimate black box space (and there's no bar right next to the stage area). So, no sound troubles there.

I'm still curious. Wish we got just a little more to go on, but given the background I can glean from his website, he's definitely worth a look. (He's got one more book published by a major press than I do, after all.)

His website - neofotis.com

His show page

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - Sure to Cure, Dr. Amelia's Medicine Show

"A stick, a skull, a hat, a jar, and a rope..."

Sigal Shoham

Sure to Cure, Dr. Amelia's Medicine Show

Pay Attention! This is crucial for your health, love and success. I am not a doctor, but I do claim to be one. Losing memory, hearing or underwear? Need money, love or weight-loss? Guaranteed Transformation!

Old-time snake-oil huckster meets new-age self help guru--all in one doctor! She offers salves for all of life's ailments--including her own. Her healer's pitch is punctuated by banjo tunes with sweet melodies and biting lyrics. Forcefully and ironically honest, charming Amelia has something for anyone who's ever wanted things to be different or better.

from Berkely, CA

Now this lady is a hardcore Fringer. She was almost the last show in the door this year (absolute last show in the door honors I believe go to Livelihood, but Sigal I think is indeed the last out-of-town artist in the door). Called up off the wait list out in California with just a couple of weeks to spare, she said yes, and proceeded to get her act ready to take on the road.

I really enjoyed her preview. Her banjo ditty, with lyrics composed of diseases both physical and spiritual, was kind of hilarious. The litany of ailments set to her bouncy melody was as much fun as things like syphilis or sexual dysfunction are likely to get - in song anyway.

Her sales pitch after the song blended together business plans and tantric yoga, and all sorts of other mismatched duets of healing methods and get-rich-quick schemes. Her character is most definitely a modern day snake oil salesperson, but a beguiling one.

Plus, there seems to be a personal backstory lurking around the edges. The stick, skull, hat, jar and rope she kept invoking each seem to have their own special significance to her life. I don't think there's another Mortem Capiendum-style plot brewing - she's up on that stage all alone, after all - but I get the feeling around the sales pitch that more will be revealed.

Between the comedy and the music, this looks like a most pleasant way to spend an hour of Fringing. Definitely consider an appointment with this doctor (just be careful of your wallet.)

(Side note, this is Banjo Show #2 - Fearsome Critter being Banjo Show #1 in this year's Fringey calvacade of banjos. Robin Gillette says there are four shows in the Fringe featuring banjos. If you can name all four, she'll buy you a beer. [No, I can't think what the other two are at the moment. But if you can help me out, I may need that beer later.] Personally, I think the banjo shows should band together out of solidarity and form their own Fringe posse. The banjo, after all, will not be denied.)

Her show page

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - Passage

"Rock & roll has got to go, and go it does. That's the best way I know to get rid of it."

Back & to the Left Productions

Passage

from Galesburg, IL

Pas'sage
a. A movement from one place to another
b. The process of elapsing: the passage of time
c. The process of passing from one condition or stage to another;
(transition: the passage from childhood to adulthood)
d. A section of text; particularly a section of medium length

The multifaceted performing artists of Back & to the Left Productions bring you Pas'sage, a collection of six different movement-based performance pieces, each with its own essence and energy. Using text, movement, improvisation and audience participation, Pas'sage is provocative and challenging, moving from a visceral understanding of what it means to be human today.

Back & the the Left productions, founded in 2000 believes in fostering creative collaborations between artists with an eye towards reaching out to non-dancers and incorporating them into the performance experience. The work created by the company is generated through collaboration, with each performer playing a vital role in the development of core ideas. The goal of Artistic Director, Jennifer Smith, is to provide a supportive environment in which these ideas can be explored and later, defined. The outcome of this process is the creation of performance pieces based in personal exploration, that touch audience members on a deeper level.

First off, I just have to give a shout-out to anyone with the peculiar sense of humor to call themselves back and to the left (warning, that link is to the Oliver Stone film "JFK" so... it's a little gross - think Zapruder film, enhanced, and you can just skip on by). On to the preview...

Mom and I refer to this one as "the drunken bridesmaids" - mostly because many of the ladies dancing in this preview were in hideously colored dresses of a matching style. They stumbled in, and stumbled out at the end, from various directions. Their sound mix was an elaborate conglomeration of classic 1950s-era rock & roll music clips, plus sound bites from news and those much-maligned social behavior films of the same time period ("if you find yourself outside during a nuclear explosion...") The audience and the dancers didn't get any one piece of music to latch onto for very long - just recognizable blips in a tossed salad of sound. When the music became slow and distorted, the dance moves did the same. It was a really interesting way of approaching the notion of context. The visuals, the movement, could have meant any number of things. But because we had that aural commentary going on underneath it all, it guided the audience into certain areas of contemplation. I'd be interested to see how this mode of performance plays out over an hour long Fringe slot. If you're looking for dance, they're definitely worth considering. These folks know what they're up to.

Their show page

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - Winnemucca (three days in the belly)

"I don't mind intimacy either. There are worse things out there in the dark."

Shelby Company

Winnemucca (three days in the belly)

Jonah wakes up bruised, bloody and trapped in a seedy motel room on the outskirts of Winnemucca, Nevada. Big Chet's extreme motivational tactics and a powerful encounter with a dancer named Suede Lucy compel Jonah to complete a task he cannot fathom. This darkly funny re-imagining asks, "How do three days in the belly make a man a prophet?"

This was another kind of weird "non-preview preview," though a little more germane to the show to which it was related. One of the characters, Big Chet, drunk but friendly (to us), armed with an aluminum baseball bat, badgered (not so friendly) a "stranger" (actually fellow cast member Grayson) up onto the stage to entertain the crowd. Big Chet was of the opinion that the audience couldn't really get into the show until they learned a little bit about the performers first. So Grayson stumbled into a story of when a bug flew into his ear when he was a child, and how his sister lured it out with a flashlight. He couldn't actually finding meaning in it, or an end that was satisfactory to Big Chet. Grayson would keep thinking he was done. Big Chet and his baseball bat lurked nearby to assure him he wasn't. ("Don't stop the magic.") When the task was considered complete, Grayson asked, "Now what?"

"Now the show can begin," Big Chet replied

And we got our only blackout cue of the night.

Like I said, weird, but in keeping with the character dynamics of the show itself, as I know it from the script. I'm just wondering what other people who had no information about the show thought. It was intriguing enough to get someone's attention, certainly. But was it enough to get them in the seats? I hope so. The production's in my Top 10 list this year, so I'm really rooting for it to succeed and be seen by a lot of people. (And that's before I've even seen the actual production myself. Strong hunch.)

There is a bit a sampler of the actual show in their video trailer (at the end of the post), plus their travel mini-videos on the road to Minneapolis, which are pretty funny even if they have nothing to do with the story.

After the showcase, I finally got a chance to meet the whole crew and they seem like great people (Mom was particularly fond of Jenni's Yoda backpack). I told the playwright Dan that I really should hate him because he's so damn talented he's giving me a playwright inferiority complex. I'm hoping Fringe is good to them. I can't wait to see the production myself. Friday night (tonight).

Meantime, as we waited for our very first Fringe show to start yesterday, a friend in a Fringe show of his own asked, "I've been so in rehearsal/tech mode that I haven't really had a chance to get any of the buzz about what's good. What do you recommend?"

"Winnemucca (three days in the belly)," I said, without hesitation. "Amazing script. Probably one of the best in the festival this year."

So he headed off there for their opening performance that night. I was with them by proxy, at least, for their opening. I hope a lot of other people were, too.

Their website - www.shelbycompany.org

Their show page

Their video trailer



Travel video #1



Travel video #2



Travel video #3

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - The Morning After The Summer of Love

"I'm clumsy, but I've never dropped acid."

Scream Blue Murmur

The Morning After The Summer of Love

from Northern Ireland

Back to rock the Festival for a second time, the artists previously known as the Belfastpoets touring group, bring you a new show, a new name and a drummer! These international poets stunned audiences into all (and only) five star reviews at the fringe in 2007 with "Pack Up Yer Troubles". Now Scream Blue Murmur presents their new show tackling the legacy of 1968 with hard-hitting and humorous words, chants and beats. From civil rights, riots and revolution to sexual freedom and liberation, the group promises a show to rock you from your seat. Not quite poetry but not quite anything else!

Here's another entry on this year's Top 20 List that didn't disappoint in preview.

In fact, the whole audience liked them and wished to applaud them so much that we jumped the gun before they were finished a couple of times. ("We love you. Oh, you're not done. Keep going!")

There was just a whole bongo, flower child, hippie vibe going on. Song, and poetry, clever toying with words and audience expectation.

A green acoustic guitar.

Irish accents.

I don't know these people but they feel like people I want to turn into old friends as soon as possible.

Lovely, funny, good good stuff.

Can't wait to spend a whole hour listening to them.

Their website - www.myspace.com/screambluemurmur - complete with poetry/song snippets - give a listen

Their show page

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - The Gayer Show

"For all you bitches out there doing the math, I'm 43 years old."

The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal and Dan Bernitt

The Gayer Show

from Los Angeles, CA & New York, NY

Coming out is never easy. Come join Les and Dan in the journey that all gay men have to take: the path to acceptance of being gay. You will laugh, you will cry and, in the end, you will love this show.

It's Les and Dan. It's Dan and Les. I'm going. So is Mom. We love these guys.

Two different generations of gay men, culling their respective pasts for humorous anecdotes around the subject of coming out. Sure, you've probably seen it before. But not by these guys. Which is why we're going, Mom and I.

Dan and Les both landed on my radar in 2006. Dan was part of my Top 10 that year for his solo show, Thanks for the Scabies, Jerkface!. Though Les was a regular visiting Fringer in the past, I finally got a chance to see his work, with his solo show that year, Christmas In Bakersfield.

That landed Les on my Top 10 list for 2007, when I took Mom to the remount of Christmas In Bakersfield. Dan took that year off from Minnesota.

Last year, they both were back for Fringe 2008, Les with the charming solo show The Attack of the Big Angry Booty, Dan with a non-autobiographical turn this time, with the powerful solo outing, Phi Alpha Gamma (which he's brought back again this year).

These guys are great storytellers on their own. In tandem, it should be a hell of a lot of fun. A great way to spend a relaxing hour of Fringing. Can't wait.

Their websites - www.facebook.com/pages/LES-KURKENDAAL/38991573192 and www.danbernitt.com

Their show page

And don't forget Dan's solo show, the return of the really great

Phi Alpha Gamma (I saw it twice last year, but I'm tempted to go back again, just to see how it's grown. It's that good.)

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - The Vegas Project (#1)

"I don't gamble."
"Why?"
"Because... I know... I won't win money?"

Maythinee Washington

The Vegas Project (#1)

Sin City native, Maythinee Washington, thinks Las Vegas is the most American city in the U.S. Her new show contrasts the bizarre and the surprisingly conventional to examine this unique metropolis.

She. was. fantastic.

This is an example of how the showcases really can work in a performer's favor.

Because I came into this rooting for her in the general, vague "out-of-towner" sense, but not really thinking I'd go to her show. From the little bit of info available, it didn't strike me.

But she nailed this preview. Big time.

She was basically just up on that stage, fielding questions from the audience about her subject - Las Vegas - where she was born, where she still lives and works.

The worst solo shows ignore the sage wisdom, "Just because it happened to you, doesn't mean it's interesting."

The best solo shows know how to cull from a person's specific experiences and create something specific, yet universal.

I get the sense this is one of the good solo shows out there this year.

The first couple of questions, I thought, "She must have set some of these up ahead of time with friendly audience members."

But the longer the question and answer style preview went on, the more convinced I became that she really was just winging it, depending on the questions she got. Some questions were dumb, some were clever, some were great. Her answers to all of them were, as I noted above, fantastic.

What's the best night of the year to be in Las Vegas? Do you recommend hookers in Vegas proper or the outlying areas? What happens to all the stuff that stays in Vegas? What's the best way to get a room comped? What's the weirdest thing you've ever seen in Vegas? Do you gamble? (answer above)

She has a very winning personality, a great sense of comic timing, and she thinks on her feet in a way that would completely elude me.

I still don't know much about the show. I'm assuming it's scripted but who knows? After seeing Maythinee Washington, I honestly don't think it matters.

This young woman knows how to put on a show, no matter what way she chooses to do it.

I now have her on my short list of shows I really want to find a way to see this year. From nowhere to on my radar in less than five minutes.

*That's* a great preview.

Her website - maythinee.com

Her show page

Fringe 2009 - OOTS - Was My Brother In The Battle? Songs of War

"And the band played 'Waltzing Matilda'..."

Stephen Swanson & David Gompper

Was my brother in the battle? - Songs of War

from Iowa City, IA

A concert of songs about the individuals involved in America's historic military conflicts, their friends, and their families - harsh, ironic, funny, patriotic, poignant, disturbing - images of America at war.

This was a classic example of why these guys are on my Top 20 List for this Fringe. After seeing this, maybe I should have ranked them up in the Top 10 instead.

This was a beautiful moment of theater. One guy on keyboard. One guy singing, amazing voice.

It was the only time all night, that the entire rowdy Bedlam Theater building got completely quiet. As the song progressed, a calm settled over the place. Everyone was rapt in their attention. It was gorgeous. We were all right in the palm of their hand.

Damn.

This was just one song. Can you imagine what the full show's gonna be like?

Do not miss this one.

The kind of spell they cast over that boisterous ramshackle scrappy little theater palace - that doesn't happen too often.

I get chills just thinking about it.

Their websites - www.stephenswansonbaritone.com and www.davidgompper.com

Their show page