Fringe 2026 - Returning Favorites from Years Past

Here's a list of links to all the posts about returning favorites in the 2026 Minnesota Fringe Festival (alphabetical by show title):

After the End - One T Productions (Scot Froelich, Sheree Froelich)

Following a devastating global pandemic, Jeff is left to fend for himself. Twelve years later, he’s built a farm, a solar array, and – to pass the time - a hobby of playing guitar for the audience in his head. 

Apologies for the Late Reply - Ben San Del

Stand-up comedy about salvaging sanity in our age of crazy presented by four-time Minnesota Fringe encore winning producer and Acme Comedy Co.'s Funniest Person in the Twin Cities title holder Ben San Del. 

 

 

 

Bay Creek - Derek Lee Miller

Four generations of smugglers from the river bottoms of Pike County, IL deal with their legacy of violence and crime, and the terrifying entity they accidentally smuggled over the veil from the other side.

 

 

Be Not Afraid - Third Space Theater (Alex Church)

2012. A struggling farm in a northwestern North Dakota town transformed by the oil boom is given a warning. A savior is coming.

 

 

 

Buckeroohaiku's Reverse Armando - Button Productions (Ryan Klima)

True stories. Masterful improvisation. Kate Button spills the stories, while the Twin Cities top improvisors weave them into comedy gold! Brace yourself for an evening of raw, unfiltered hilarity!

 

 

 

Bury The Leads - Special When Lit (Nissa Nordland, Sam Landman)

Meet Clyde & Faye, two character actors navigating an industry of auditions, rejections, bit parts and false starts. Sometimes funny, sometimes melancholy, it's improv so grounded, it seems scripted.

 

 

A Confluence of Magical Arseholes - The Winding Sheet Outfit 

The feckin' story and singy-song of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. There be the famous supper club for some bored c*nts and dilettantes, and this be that time W. B. Yeats kicked Aleister Crowley's arse. 

 

 

 

Cyrano - Small Waves

A queer heroic comedy in five acts. The story you never knew you already know, like you've never seen it before. An adaptation of Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac."

 

 

 

 

 

Doozy - Dolly Who (Destiny Davison)

A good friend never forgets. Too bad, Dolly did. But no worries, it's her day off! No agenda, no script, no work...and all the time in the world for a little sweet, sweet revenge.

 

 

FAST Death of a Salesman - an alleged Theatre Company (Jake Mierva)

Dr. Duke Didier is putting on a production of Death of a Salesman, in order to prove to his nephew that the play is still relevant in 2026. Too bad his nephew, Braedyn, couldn't give a shit. 

 

 

Glengarry Glen Elvis

Elvis Presley stirs up trouble at an unscrupulous real-estate agency. Jumpsuits jitter and F-bombs fly as a post-Vegas career suddenly involves the temptations of grand theft and a fever for the rock 'n' roll. 

 

 

I Will Become The Silver Surfer. I Will Protect You - Jake Mierva

Galactus has chosen Earth as his next target. But don't worry. I will stop him. I will save you all. I will become The Silver Surfer.

 

 

 The Importance of Living - Mermaid Productions (Ariel Pinkerton, Tim Uren)

Samuel and Louise really know how to live; no morals, no regrets, no limits, no future. It's the night before their reckoning day and they've come to crack a bottle of wine, swap tales, and have a little fun.

 

Latin Papi - CuerpoxCuerpo - Gabriel Mata

Latin Papi is a bold, playful, and provocative contemporary dance performance blending sensual movement, voice, humor, and theatrical flair created by Armani Rey Colón and Gabriel Mata of CuerpoxCuerpo.

 

  

 

The Local Music Scene - JimJam Media (Philip Simondet)

Improv inspired by local music. Local musicians perform original songs live. Between songs the Local Music Scene cast improvise scenes inspired by the lyrics. LOCAL MUSIC; improvised SCENEs

  

 

More Better Stories - American School of Storytelling

Storytellers Jon Carlson, Vianna Isbister, Bernadine Joselyn, Hank Roubicek - each tell three times, and Erin Ferdinand, Kory May, Christopher Nelson, Laura Packer, and Anne Wiborg do "one off's" with stories for adults.

 

 

Quadrilogy, a Sabathani Benefit Game Show Extravaganza! (Mahmoud Hakima)

A game show in three rounds with audience participation. Answer questions, build Lego, have fun, win prizes! A different theme every night. Artist proceeds go to benefit the Sabathani Community Center.

 

 

A Revolution Highly Favorable - Maximum Verbosity - phillip andrew bennett low

On the 250th anniversary of American Independence, listen to the words of those who were there! Adapting for the first time 18th-century combat medic, historian, and POW David Ramsay, this fully AI-illustrated show features a different collection of readings each night.

 

Road Trip! - Chris Davis

Too expensive to go on a road trip? Then join two improv comedians as they take a ROAD TRIP without ever leaving the theater! You don’t need to pitch in for gas, just pitch in suggestions for destinations and leave the “driving” and comedy to them. Where will there journey take them? That’s for you to know and us to find out!

 

Silent Movie! - The Improv Movement Project (Mark Benzel, Sean Dillon, Victoria Pyan)

What happens when you get a group of physical improvisers to make a movie – but without the sets, lights, costumes, props, crew, dialogue . . . or movie. A new genre-smashing cinematic epic each performance.

 

Small Minded - Tyler West

When Tyler was a little boy he wanted to grow up and be a clown. Come to find out it was a lot harder to achieve the former, than the latter. 'Small Minded' features magic, juggling, clowning, and much more! Is being a dwarf clown REALLY half the size, but double the fun? Or is Tyler West just Small Minded? Either way, this show features juggling, magic, Shakespeare, story-telling, and some Ha-Ha's! from the heart.

 

Soap Prov: Show of 10,000 Secrets (Jex Arzayus, Mahmoud Hakima)

An improvised soap opera inspired by audience suggestions. Our cast will create a show filled with your favorite soap opera tropes: steamy affairs, family betrayals, love triangles, seduction, and so much more!

 

Sound and Noise and Bodies - Octoberdandy Productions (Jen Scott)

Fringe veteran Jen Scott presents a one-person storytelling show, a music-show, a bit of a clown show, all about being human and maybe being heard.

 

 

the statue of liberty is nora in a doll's house by henrik ibsen - SUPERMOON (Caleb Matthew Byers, Claudia Errickson, Mads Plonski, Michael Torsch

The Statue of Liberty prepares for and performs Nora in A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. This performance is about doors, lies, and the morphed American definition/concept of liberty. It's an Americana kaleidoscopic ritual praying for a miracle.

 

Stories from the Trauma Dump (Jex Arzayus, Allison Broeren, Shanan Custer, Mahmoud Hakima, Rev. Matt Kessen, Nissa Nordland, Ariel Pinkerton, Duck Washington)

A collective storytelling show featuring local artists sharing humorous tales around mental health. Personal or fantastical, these stories aim to share experience and possibly find catharsis through comedy.

 

Tech - Mike Fotis

This year's Fringe show opens tomorrow. The props are assembled. The actors have memorized (most of) their lines. The director has blocked the show. There’s only one thing left to do…TECH THE SHOW.

 

 

Witness Loudly - Kyle B. Dekker

Operation Metro Surge pitted armed ICE agents against the residents of Minnesota. Kyle B. Dekker recreates a live rapid response call on stage based on his own experiences as a constitutional observer, also  discussing the impact of the event on him and his neighbors. 

And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.  

Fringe 2026 - Returning Favorites - Kyle B. Dekker - Witness Loudly

Kyle B. Dekker is another returning Fringe storyteller that makes Strike Theater a venue worthy of multiple visits this Fringe.

Kyle’s currently at the Green Bay Fringe this coming weekend debuting his new show “Witness Loudly” that he’ll bring home to us here in the Twin Cities for our Fringe next month.  The show is (given the recent killings in broad daylight on city streets in Texas and Maine in the span of less than a week by ICE agents) sadly even more timely and relevant that it already was before the latest grim news dropped.

Description
Operation Metro Surge pitted armed ICE agents against the residents of Minnesota. Kyle B. Dekker recreates a live rapid response call on stage based on his own experiences as a constitutional observer, also  discussing the impact of the event on him and his neighbors.  
Venue – Strike Theater
Content Warnings – Adult Language, Gun/Weapon Usage, Loud Noises, Violence
Genre and Content – Solo Show, Drama, Political Content, Historical Content, Spoken Word, Storytelling
Ages 12 to 15 and Up

While Kyle was out there with his fellow citizens doing the work that needed to be done - keeping an eye on ICE patrols, making sure kids got to school and home again safely when their parents couldn’t leave the house, providing groceries and meals to people who couldn’t go outside and do their jobs to earn the paycheck to keep food on the table - Kyle was also regularly reporting on conditions during the occupation by posting updates online.  He has a hell of a lot more stories to tell than could fit in any one-hour Fringe Festival slot so I’m very curious to see how he’s crafted this tale.

One of many things I appreciate about Kyle as a Fringe performer (apart from the fact that he’s also so supportive of his fellow Fringe artists and their shows), is that he finds the humanity and ways to connect an audience to subjects he cares about and wants to share. That’s just as true of the solo show about his upbringing in a religious community (“He-Man is the Devil: A Satanic Panic Tale”) as it is when he creates a show with his son about the science of flatulence (“A Completely Serious and Not At All Comedic Review of Fart, Flatus and Flatulence, aka The Fart Show”).  “Witness Loudly” is obviously more on the serious side of that spectrum but when Kyle’s got a tale to tell, he does it well.

Bonus points if you attend (according to the More Information tab on the show page): “All proceeds from Witness Loudly will be donated to Indigenous Roots - an arts and community activism organization on the East Side of St. Paul, MN. They were essential in mutual aid and community support during Operation Metro Surge and continue to be an anchor of the East Side Community. Please consider making a donation to help them continue their mission and tell them Kyle sent you!”

[And if you want another angle on the occupation, there’s an ensemble storyteller show in this year’s Fringe as well called “Who We Are: Stories from the Surge” from the group Three Second Memory (headed up by Bruce D. Manning) that got some behind the scenes support from Fringe vet and rockstar storyteller Allison Broeren - so that also makes me curious.]

 

Interested in hearing about other artists I recommend based on past outings in the Fringe? Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.  

 

  

Fringe 2026 - Returning Favorites - Third Space Theater - Be Not Afraid

Third Space Theater is yet another example of why it’s so important to find the right collaborators.

When Alex Church (pre theater company name) landed at #3 on my pre-Fringe Top 10 List back in 2023, the mix of artists he was working with was… problematic, shall we say.  A lot of behind the scenes upheaval, leading to a performer leaving in the middle of the run during the festival so… yikes.  Really the less said the better for all concerned.  But what a wild upward trajectory from there over the next two Minnesota Fringe Festival seasons.

Alex bounced right back the next year with “Dutch: Made In America,” the darkest of absurdist comedies meditating on the forces that shaped the young actor who would one day grow up to be President Ronald Reagan.  It was a great gathering of fellow artists bringing the new script to life.

And then last year, under the banner of Third Space Theater, the right group of folks came together and created the unsettling seafaring adventure “Breach,” packing in the crowds through enthusiastic word of mouth around the Fringe, and getting both the Venue Pick and Artists Pick at the Golden Lanyard Awards at the end of the festival for their efforts.  At the time I wrote: “fantastic use of TRP space, all its levels and corners, light, shadow and sound, to create a fishing vessel on a high pressure job, with weather and tempers threatening to undo the crew; great script, cast, direction; plus a giant hallucinatory monster crab - 5 stars”

Then that same group of collaborators started my 2026 theater year off right with a stellar 5-star production of Will Arbery’s wild new play “Plano.”

And now they’re back again with a new script penned by Mariabella Sorini and Alex Church, both of whom also co-wrote last year’s “Breach.”  This time it’s a land-based tale of misfortune called “Be Not Afraid” (so, of course, you should be afraid - besides, it has nearly all the content warnings so…)

Description: 
2012. A struggling farm in a northwestern North Dakota town transformed by the oil boom is given a warning. A savior is coming.
Venue - Southern Theater
Content Warnings - Abuse/Physical Violence, Adult Language, Blood, Crude Humor, Drug Content, Flashing Lights, Gun/Weapon Usage, Loud Noises, Mental Illness, Sexual Violence, Violence, Other Divisive Content
Genre and Content - Comedy, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Original Music, Physical Theater, Storytelling
Ages 16 and Up

A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center - learn more about them and their essential work here, https://www.miwrc.org/

The press packet also includes these nuggets of info:

“The oil boom turns a North Dakota town into a modern Sodom & Gomorra.”

Well, okay then…

“North Dakota, 2012. A struggling farm in a town transformed by the oil boom is given a warning: a savior is coming. TST's newest original work places audiences at the edge of a nightmare on the plains. A motley crew of listless men, irate locals, and desperate neighbors fight for security and autonomy in a midwestern gothic of biblical proportions. As the heat rises and hope dries up. ‘Be Not Afraid’ explores what holds us together when the world is falling apart. “

They got the band back together from “Breach” adding on some folks from “Plano” and some additional new artists of promise for this go-round.  Building on the good that has come before.

Am I a fan of horror and violence in the my entertainment diet?  Not normally.

Would I trust these people to take me there for an hour?  Absolutely.  I can balance it all out with something funny and uplifting afterward.  The Fringe has everything.  Also, “Be Not Afraid” doesn’t open until Saturday on opening weekend, so I have some time to fortify myself for a good jolt.

Third Space Theater has found its Fringe audience, so they hardly need my help, but I’m recommending them anyway.

 

Interested in hearing about other artists I recommend based on past outings in the Fringe? Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.  

 

  

Fringe 2026 - Returning Favorites - Dolly Who - Doozy

An embarrassing pattern has developed.  When I tagged Destiny Davison (aka, Dolly Who) as #7 on my Top 10 list back in 2023 for her show “DollyWho,” my Fringe-going schedule that year jumbled things around so that I ended up catching Destiny’s very last performance, which was also the very last slot in the festival on closing night.  So it was right from there to the closing night party and I never even typed so much as a mini-review online on the fly, like I try to do, even for the last show.  Fell down on the job there.

Last year, when she returned with “Dolly Who’s Holiday Horror Show” I did a little better.  This time it was the next to last day of the festival when I finally caught the show, and at least managed to post the following:

“MN Fringe show #44: Dolly Who’s Holiday Horror Show - Destiny Davison’s cartoons are adorably goofy, and creating a new holiday improv-style as a crowd amidst her established bits was a great communal experience; joy is in short supply so this was a real tonic :) - 5 stars”

So the goal this year is to see her new show “Doozy” sometime opening weekend(?) and actually write a proper review finally.

Description: 
A good friend never forgets. Too bad, Dolly did. But no worries, it's her day off! No agenda, no script, no work...and all the time in the world for a little sweet, sweet revenge.
Venue - Open Eye Theatre
Content Warnings - Flashing Lights, Loud Noises
Genre and Content - Puppetry, Improv, Comedy, Original Music, Physical Theater, Kid Friendly
Ages 12 to 15 and Up

Destiny Davison is both a talented improv comedian (part of the roster at Blackout Improv, among other improviser gigs) and a talented cartoonist, and as Dolly Who she blends the two into delightfully quirky shows with both comedy and cartoons conjured up on the spot with the help of some audience suggestion.

It’s hard to adequately describe the look and feel of a Dolly Who show.

The video trailer for Doozy helps:


As does Destiny/Dolly Who’s website

And Instagram account.

So check out all that art and performance archiving to get a sampling of what’s in store for this year’s Fringe.

And maybe I’ll finally write more than fifty words about it this time :)

Whether I manage to write or not, trust that if Destiny Davison’s Dolly Who is in the Fringe, I will find a way to see it.

We’re woefully low on whimsy these days, so Doozy is much needed.

If you need more convincing, here’s a bit more background from the Fringe show page for Doozy:

“DOLLY WHO? (cartoonist, perpetually exhausted millennial, and part-time, semi-professional “Learner”) is taking the day off! But nobody's resting easy, no siree, Bob. Things are about to get real. Featuring puppets, a giant remote, improvised chaos, and a Best Friend Forever hell-bent on revenge, DOOZY is an equal parts heartwarming and heart-wrenching story of friendship for the whole family, but mostly made for the friend (s) in your life that could use a reminder on how to be better one.

Featuring Britt Johnson as DOOZY, Cody Madison as DOOZY, Destiny Davison as DOOZY, Deanna Pistono as DOOZY, Alsa Bruno as DOOZY, Ross Flores as DOOZY, Jill Bernard as DOOZY, Alexandria Davison as DOOZY, Xylophone as DOOZY, Big Remote as DOOZY, Father Time as DOOZY, and DOOZY as DOOZY.

About DOLLY WHO?
DOLLY WHO? is Destiny Davison (she/they) a Minneapolis-based multi-media artist, cartoonist, and performer. Her work explores the real, the unreal, and the in-between. Right now, she is most concerned with how to stay human in a world of chaos and hurt, being a friend, and snails with fragile, bottomless hearts. Destiny has appeared on stages across Minnesota, including The Ordway, The Jungle Theater, Pangea World Theatre, Strike Theater, the Brave New Workshop, and more. Destiny's first appearance as DOLLY WHO? was at the 2023 Minnesota Fringe Festival. And in 2026, Destiny premiered their first ever puppet show “DOLLY WHO?'S FOR DINNER” at Open Eye Theatre’s Puppet Lab Festival. Destiny's artwork has been commissioned by Apple TV, Planned Parenthood, the Minnesota Star Tribune, TPT Almanac, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), and the Minnesota Billboard Project.”

 

Interested in hearing about other artists I recommend based on past outings in the Fringe? Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.  

 

 

Fringe 2026 - Returning Favorites - Chris Davis - Road Trip!

Chris Davis was last here (his first Minnesota Fringe) in 2023.  He was #4 on my Top 10 list that year and he lived up to the much deserved hype he got from friend and Minnesota Fringe favorite Sam Landman.  I’m very happy to see he wanted to make a return trip to Minneapolis with more of his comedy.

Some things I said in my 5-star review about his combination stand-up and improv comedy show that year:

“Skewering stereotypes and semantics, banning books improv-style, deconstructing which lives matter and the unfortunate naming of buildings, Davis' comedy may be laid back but it still hits all its targets…

Good stand-up comedy is rare.  Good stand-up comedy that deals with thorny topics like race relations or sexuality is even rarer.  So I’m very glad that comedian Chris Davis made the trip up from Alabama to do a couple of his shows for us...

The two “Chris Davis Does Stuff” shows (Just Black Enough, and Seriously, I’m Not Gay) are sort of a cross between a stand-up routine and a solo show.  Basically a much funnier than usual solo show.  And a much more thoughtful stand-up routine, with a larger, overarching theme behind it.  I appreciate comedy that requires that my brain still be turned on and not off.  Chris Davis delivers the laughs I need, and the insight I wasn’t expecting.  Can’t ask for more than that from a good Fringe show.”

This time around, Chris is bringing his friend Rich Mansfield with him and they’re going full improv comedy this time.  As the poster for their show “Road Trip!” says, “Improv Comedy Goes on the Road.  You Choose the Destinations.  We Take You on the Journey.”

Description: 
Too expensive to go on a road trip? Then join two improv comedians as they take a ROAD TRIP without ever leaving the theater! You don’t need to pitch in for gas, just pitch in suggestions for destinations and leave the “driving” and comedy to them. Where will there journey take them? That’s for you to know and us to find out!
Venue - Bryant Lake Bowl
Content Warnings - None
Genre and Content - Comedy, Musical Theater, Audience Participation
Ages 16 and Up

Whatever Chris has in mind for this return trip, I’m happy to check it out.

If you need more convincing, here are Chris and Rich’s bios:

“Chris Davis started doing improv comedy in 2000 and stand up comedy in 2003. He is a member of Ugly Baby Improv, ETC Improv, and hosts Fresh Ground Comics, Birmingham's longest running local comedy showcase. Chris performs comedy, theater, appears in commercials, corporate videos, print ads and hosts many different events around town, including the Birmingham Moth StorySlam. He’s been fortunate enough to have opened for Janeane Garofalo, Al Madrigal, Michael Ian Black, Hannibal Buress, Brian Posehn, Jen Kirkman and performed comedy sets at two TEDX Birminhgam events in Birminhgam, Alabama.

Raised in the windswept cornfields of Illinois, Rich spent a decade performing standup throughout the MidWest , as well as a five year layover in Minnesota performing on stage in scripted and improvised productions all over the upper Midwest. Rich now performs regularly with two separate improv teams as well as producing and hosting his own comedy stage shows in Birmingham, AL.” 

 

Interested in hearing about other artists I recommend based on past outings in the Fringe? Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.  

 

  

Fringe 2025 - Returning Favorites - Wet Splat - MicroMedics

As their Fringe preview can attest, complete with tiny sailor outfits, virus puppets, miniatures, and dance moves, this crew knows how to create a catchy theme song to launch their improv comedy adventures.

 



MicroMedics
WetSplat
Directed by Ari Newman and Will Schroeder
Venue: Strike Theater

Show Description:

No one likes being in the hospital - what if the hospital was in YOU? MicroMedics turns a gnarly bruise into a pleasure cruise! Climb aboard the world’s first medical submarine cruise ship that’s really little. Hop aboard the world’s smallest medical submarine, manned by very little doctors! Shrink down! See the sights! Cure disease! Fall in love?  Committed enough to build puppets and costumes, but not enough to write a script, this improv show will send you straight to urgent care! Your life will never be the same.

 
Genre & Content:
Comedy, Improv, Original Music, Puppetry, Sci-Fi
Warnings:
Adult Language, Violence, Gun/Weapon Usage
 
So the crew that landed on my pre-Fringe Top 20 list in 2023 with their literary crime-stopping team in 20,000 Leagues Under The Telltale Heart are back again, this time taking an idea as old as Fantastic Voyage, and as weird as InnerSpace and giving it their own 21st century spin.  They’re not promising LGBTQIA+ content this time, so it’s more a heterosexual super-tiny Love Boat than  the homoerotic tension for laughs we got last time.  More goofy fun will no doubt ensue, given the potential of this source material, which was always easier to laugh at than take seriously.

 

Here’s some handy links to my Fringe Top 10, Top 11 to 20 and Returning Favorites lists for this year, as well as all the coverage of this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival.  

 

As I’m sure many artists are, I find myself struggling with the idea of just “taking time off” (what a luxury) and submerging myself in a whole lot of theater for 11 days while the world is on fire so… I’m going to put some phrases and links down here (and at the end of each post going forward) and if you find yourself compelled to explore one or more of them, so much the better.  There’s a lot going on, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed and tune out, but as Congresswoman Sarah McBride recently said, “If everybody shows a little courage, nobody needs to be a hero.”  I freely admit this list and these links are hardly exhaustive.  It's just something to get started.  Do what you can, where you can, however you can.  Let’s help one another get through this.

Contacting your elected officials about the issues that matter to you (and protesting as necessary)
Starvation in the Gaza Strip
Immigration raids around the United States
Ukraine fighting off invasion by Russia
Trans rights
Climate change action
Housing shortage and the unhoused
Reproductive Rights
Voting rights, and running for office
The courts, from the Supreme Court on down to the local level
Don’t forget to laugh - even gallows humor is still humor 

 

 

 

Fringe 2025 - Returning Favorites - A Handy List

Here’s a handy list of links to all the returning favorites posts I manage to crank out between now and the start of the festival (and there’s a lot them), alphabetical by show title, just like in the show listings on the Minnesota Fringe website:

503  - Jackdonkey Productions 

A Completely Serious and Not At All Comedic Review of Farts, Flatus, and Flatulence, aka The Fart Show - Kyle B. Dekker

A Good Cancer To Have - Theatre on the Rocks (Sam Sweere)

A Sad Carousel 2: The Timely Death of Herschel Douscheburg - LandmanLand (Sam Landman) 

Breach - Third Space Theater (Alex Church) 

Breakneck Twelfth Night - Timothy Mooney

Delete Later - The Young Artist’s Council of Youth Performance Company

Dice of Destiny: Neon City, The Improvised 80s Action Movie - The Bearded Company

Dolly Who’s Holiday Horror Show - Destiny Davison

Fall of the High School Valedictorian- Philip Simondet

Fangs and Bangs (and Sangs) - Special When Lit (Nissa Nordland)

Grief, It’s What’s For Dinner - Aethem Theatre (Kayla Hambek)

In the Garden of American Heroes - Andrew Erskine Wheeler (Wheeler In The Sky)

Invasive Species, or: In Space No One Can Hear You Steam - Snikt!Bamf!Thwip!

Jon Bennett: American’t - Jon Bennett

Manasu: Echoes of the Mind - SAATH

MicroMedics - Wet Splat 

Ranger Jim - Dogdog-Beardog (Jim Stowell)

Rec League - Mike Fotis Productions 

That Which Is Green - Michael Rogers

The 4 Ws and the H of Murder - Lady Z Productions (Maureen Bourgeois)

 

The Abortion Chronicles - Mermaid Productions (Ariel Pinkerton)

The Big Secret - Brad Lawrence

The Gentlemen’s Pratfall Club - Comedy Suitcase (Joshua English Scrimshaw and Levi Weinhagen)

The Shrieking Harpies: Period Piece - The Shrieking Harpies

The Spirit Moves You To Color the Unseen - The Winding Sheet Outfit (Amber Bjork)

The Temporary Tattoo Trio - an alleged Theatre Company 

This - Tim Uren

Trust Exercises Exorcises - Raffish Ripoff Productions (Phil Gonzales)

Your Hello To My Goodbye - Cornucopia Productions

Here’s some handy links to my Fringe Top 10, and Top 11 to 20  for this year, as well as all the coverage of this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival.  

As I’m sure many artists are, I find myself struggling with the idea of just “taking time off” (what a luxury) and submerging myself in a whole lot of theater for 11 days while the world is on fire so… I’m going to put some phrases and links down here (and at the end of each post going forward) and if you find yourself compelled to explore one or more of them, so much the better.  There’s a lot going on, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed and tune out, but as Congresswoman Sarah McBride recently said, “If everybody shows a little courage, nobody needs to be a hero.”  I freely admit this list and these links are hardly exhaustive.  It's just something to get started.  Do what you can, where you can, however you can.  Let’s help one another get through this.

Contacting your elected officials about the issues that matter to you (and protesting as necessary)
Starvation in the Gaza Strip
Immigration raids around the United States
Ukraine fighting off invasion by Russia
Trans rights
Climate change action
Housing shortage and the unhoused
Reproductive Rights
Voting rights, and running for office
The courts, from the Supreme Court on down to the local level
Don’t forget to laugh - even gallows humor is still humor