If you put a gun to my head and I could only see ten Fringe shows (that weren't already on a previous Top Ten list of mine), they would be these and these.
If you removed that gun from my head and allowed me to see ten more, they would be...
#11 to #15
#16
The Failed Voyage of the Failed Ororo
Nicholas Clark, Sophie Gori and Larry Sass-Ainsworth
"Being forgotten by everyone for less than a second and thus transported to a forgotten dimension isn't stupid.
It's dumb.
The tale of a soulless cowboy and the loneliest boy in the world's journey through time and space, back home to the comfort of Ma and Pa.
Told through a dizzying mixture of puppetry, video projection, shadows, and dumb-boy-choirs.
Ah, if only they knew the title of the show..."
Genre and Warnings - Puppetry, Sci-fi/mystery, Teens, Strobe lights, Loud noises/gunshots
First of all, the video...
What. The. Hell... ?
(and I mean that in a good way. No, really. It's in my Top 20, remember.)
It's sort of early Gus Van Sant crossed with all those odd homoerotic European films about young soldiers or scouts out in the wilderness that are just this side of gay porn.
(and I mean that in a good way. No, really. It's in my Top 20, remember.)
So, I was curious, and I emailed Nicholas Clark, and this is what he had to say...
"This is my third year in the Fringe Festival, but my first as a self-financed, self-produced creator. My first experience was with 2008's "The Boy Show," in which I wrote a little bit and also performed, and last year I wrote "Mutant Squad!," which was really to test both the Fringe and writing out. It was incredibly difficult last year and while I'm extremely proud of some of "Mutant Squad's" moments, I really wanted to present myself this year to both my friends and the community.
[Blogger note - Those were both Youth Performance Company shows. I love YPC. They train their artists to a very high standard. They have the Ivey Awards to prove it. Very good sign.]
I wasn't planning on participating in the Fringe this year until I got extremely frustrated with theater while in school, not that there wasn't enough great shows around town, but none that were really doing what I was hoping for. I wanted to see ton's of mixed-media, puppetry, and maybe even some horror! So I decided that since this was possibly my last year performing in the MN Fringe (I'm 17 and who knows where I'll be next year), I better get at it.
Me and my friend Sophie Gori (who has helped me design both this show and "Mutant Squad!") then started talking about putting on a show that incorporated BIG, video projected sets and that's when it really took off. Shortly after we decided that, "Brief Encounter" came to the Guthrie and blew me out of the water, I knew if I was going to go ahead with video projection, I was going to have to do it real good.
[Blogger note - Anyone blown away by "Brief Encounter" is OK by me as well.]
The show has changed a lot over the year, but one aspect has always been the same, the story of quite possibly the loneliest boy in the world and a mysterious stranger who finds a way to exploit him, only to together discover their virtually non-existent presence within the Universe.
Oh, and make it fun too. We decided before we began that we wanted to do a two-man show, both because it made the characters seem extremely alone and overly reliant upon each other. Also it's rare to see a teen Fringe show without a large ensemble, an aspect of "Mutant Squad!" I found to be a great source of stress last year.
I don't know if you've seen our trailer,
[Blogger note - Uh... yeah...]
but you can probably tell from both that and the description I want to keep the show mysterious. We've worked hard at creating a world for this (which is an alternate dimension, well a few of them at least) and I really want people to be surprised by it when they first see the show begin. Me and Larry Sass-Ainsworth (the other performer as Ororo) have really run free with this show, trusting our guts upon every aspect from embracing the convoluted science-fiction of the piece to understanding no joke is ever too dumb, but more importantly trying to tell a story that's both extremely intimate and still pretty damn epic.
[Blogger note - convoluted science fiction, dumb jokes, extremely intimate, pretty damn epic - check, check, check, and check.]
I hope to God we pull it off, we've poured our entire summer into it and have no regrets about it either. I hope you can make it to our show and see what we've done, we really want people to see it more than anything else!"
You know me. I love an quirky underdog show when I meet it. This is another of 'em. Even if they don't pull it off to their own satisfaction, it's probably gonna be fascinating just to watch them *try.* I just love watching somebody swing for the fences. 17. Damn.
Look at that video again. Aren't you just a little bit curious? I know I am.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their fourth performance on Tuesday 8/10.
(Their first three performances are Saturday 8/7, Sunday 8/8 and Monday 8/9)
#17
Naked Yoga (and Other Gay Love Stories)
No More Mr. Nice Gay Theatre
For all the reasons listed here
Note that they've updated their show listing a bit. Not all plays are playing all days. Everyone gets the Yoga and Vampires, if you have your heart set on killers, Bush or IKEA, look closely at their specific dates to see the show combo for you.
Their Fringe page
Not sure where this one lands on the schedule yet.
Their performances are Saturday 8/7, Sunday 8/8, Tuesday 8/10, Friday 8/13 and Sunday 8/15.
#18
Skiing On Broken Glass
Still Standing Productions
"A successful but lonely writer and a young male escort, both haunted by their pasts, find themselves in an unexpected and unlikely relationship. Can love heal their past wounds or will it cut them to shreds?
This two character drama is for mature audiences. It explores the psychological and sexual dynamics that exist in every relationship. Relationships are about power - who has it and who doesn’t. But, is power static or is it fluid? In every relationship, the couple negotiates the terms they can live with; but, can they live with terms they negotiate? Filled with emotion and humor, each character struggles to find his 'happily ever after.'"
So, this can go one of two ways - it can end the way Pretty Woman turned out, or the way Pretty Woman was originally written, which was, shall we say, a bit darker and less Cinderella. I know how I'd like it to end, but I'm not writing this one, and it's Fringe time, so who knows?
I've written my share of plays about guys dealing in sex for money, so the dynamics of the difference between sex and love is obviously something that continues to nag at me. Prostitution's just a really handy metaphor.
"lonely writer... young male escort..."
Let's face it, some days, there but for the grace of God, and the ability to afford someone who looks like Max Polski, go I.
Random observation - Between Skiiing On Broken Glass, Skating on Open Water, and Swimming in Quicksand, the playwright sure loves his S verbs.
The cast (Joel Liestman, Max Polski) and director (Michelle O'Neill) make me think we're in good hands, and that this one's going to be a cut above the rest. Haven't read the script or anything, but it's had some development time to mature, and didn't attract these artists for nothin'. It's why it floated close to the top of my list when perusing the Fringe offerings this year.
Their website - www.stillstandingproductions.com
Their Fringe page
Not sure where this one lands on the schedule yet.
Their performances are Friday 8/6, Saturday 8/7, Monday 8/9, Friday 8/13, and Sunday 8/15.
#19
Condoleeza's Rites
Tyehimba Leadership Center
"Over-the-airways political satirist Condoleeza Truth unleashes a deadly blow to poor black Americans. Trapped between life and death, she is forced to review her history and is haunted by its reflection."
I'm basically going to this one because phillip andrew bennett low will not shut up about it (and that's a good thing). I remember him raving about it the last time it was brought to the Fringe, but I didn't get a chance to see it. Now he's going back for more with this remount of the production...
"Condoleeza's Rites is actually a remount of a show that impressed the hell out of me when it presented a few years back -- and didn't get anything resembling the audience it deserved. The story of a shock-jock conservative reflecting on the choices that brought her to her profession, it stood out as rising above the material -- rather than a shrill condemnation of conservatism, an examination of the forces that shape things like the Tea Party movement. And this was written, like, years before anyone had dreamed up that nonsense. I'm eager to check it out again, to see how the play has changed -- how I've changed -- and, well, how the audience has changed. Here's hoping it gets a better shot this time around."
Anything that arouses that kind of devotion in phillip, I have to see for myself.
Their Fringe page
Not sure where this one lands on the schedule yet.
Their performances are Thursday 8/5, Sunday 8/8, Tuesday 8/10, Thursday 8/12, and Saturday 8/14.
#20
James T. Wilson
Harold D.
"James T. Wilson haunts himself as he dissects his relationship with his father and his half-sister. James is an average man in present day America where the sense of "status" begins to slowly take over his life, affecting his relationships with the people closest to him. James takes a risk that will make him happy and hopefully salvage his relationships that mean the world to him. WIll he be happy? Or will he be sad during the hard times of a recession."
Oh man, I am taking a big leap on this one. But I am strangely compelled by it, first because it was so hard to find anything out about it, and then when I did, well...
It's sort of fascinating in the same way a car wreck is mesmerizing. That, plus I talked with the producer/writer/actor Stanton Pavlicek on the phone the other day, and based on sheer force of personality, I feel like I have to see how this one turned out.
Because it's not a shiny, happy show, and I tend to like my Fringe with just a smidge more hopefulness in the mix.
But the fact that this show is happening at all is something of a small miracle. The script completely changed about a month ago (from comedy to tragedy), they lost both of the actors (so you won't be seeing either of the men in the publicity photo onstage), less than a week ago the two actors who are currently in the show (Stan, and Kevin Goff) switched roles, and their tech is the morning of the same day as their first performance. Phew.
Oh, and the actors are currently living together under the same roof, so the line between psycho on stage and pyscho at home is a thin one. But Stan got his playwright friend Max Hammel (who's going to NYU to study Dramatic Writing in the fall) to help him polish the script. And he sounded like he had a pretty clear idea of the sort of tech he wanted, and it didn't seem extreme or burdensome. He's also got a background in improv comedy, so he's used to thinking on his feet, which has carried him this far.
In the teeny tiny world department, he asked, "Are you the guy who wrote 'Leave'?" Because Stan is friends with one of the actors in the cast, and was one of a posse of people who drove down from Morris, MN to see the show at the Bryant Lake Bowl in 2008. But they couldn't get in, because it was sold out. So they bowled instead and then hung out with the cast after the play came down. I'd tell him to come see the show when it gets produced in early 2011 by Urban Samurai, but Stan's perpetual motion existence continues after the Fringe. He's getting his motorcyle license, and will be heading off to Los Angeles at the end of the month to seek his fortune in acting, modeling, and comedy.
Wear a helmet.
Their Fringe page
Not sure where this one lands on the schedule yet.
Their performances are Thursday 8/5, Sunday 8/8, Tuesday 8/10, Wednesday 8/11, and Sunday 8/15.
***********************
And here's a handy index of links for all blog content on the 2010 Fringe!
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Fringe 2010 - Top 20 - #s 11 to 15
If you put a gun to my head and I could only see ten Fringe shows (that weren't already on a previous Top Ten list of mine), they would be these and these.
If you removed that gun from my head and allowed me to see ten more, they would be...
#11
The Tragedy of Icarus
Joshua Caleb Larson, Suburban Cowboy Productions
"'The Tragedy of Icarus' is Greek in form. A character named Chorus appears on stage with a pair of yellow roses in a vase and sets them on the ground near the front of the stage. He then sings an elegy to his lost brother. What follows is an explosion of characters delivering songs and monologues that reflect the difficulty of grieving and the impact on the performer.
There’s a Dylanesque troubadour who has been rejected by his audience,
a British rocker who feels like a phony
and a retired country music superstar who returns to the stage after having a spiritual epiphany.
In between these performers is the struggle between Icarus and his brother. One wanting answers and the other reluctant to talk.
'Move on. There’s nothing here to figure out,' says Icarus to the audience.
But a persistent Chorus won’t leave it alone retaliating with 'Blue Roses' a ballad with the chilling refrain of 'it might be too late to dedicate a song to you.'
Icarus answers with a confessional monologue explaining the true reason of why he doesn’t like to talk about his death.
'I don’t remember it. Do you know how humiliating that is?'
The show ends with a Guitar God coming down from the heavens and resolving the play much like The Deux ex Machina in Ancient Greek Drama.
'The Tragedy of Icarus' is a Rock n’ Roll Elegy for the coolest guy that ever lived. Derek Larson was not famous. He played guitar but wasn’t a rock star. He painted houses for a living. He was loved by many and his loss affected all who had come to know him.
In the eyes of his brother, he was an Icarus figure. A rebel who flew too high, resulting in his own untimely death. Derek becomes Icarus in this new one man show by first time fringe producer Joshua Caleb Larson. Across the landscape of a dream, characters weave in and out in a tribute to Derek’s musical heroes: Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.
Everyone struggles in some way in 'The Tragedy of Icarus' either with loss, love or even the audience. Spiritual intervention helps resolve the dissonance and in the final monologue of the show, The Beatles, 'Let it Be' becomes the backdrop of a scene that reunites brothers through their infinite bond of music."
I know next to nothing about this show other than the above, which is enough. It's just a gut instinct. I won't know for sure until I've seen it. But out of 169 shows, it was able to grab my attention, which bodes well in my book. I was unable to reach the artist to learn more. All the internet will tell me is that he's a musician and stay at home dad. And for his first Fringe show, he's presenting a memorial to his brother. Ghosts, Greek myths, music, and a guy who knows how to handle a guitar and looks good in a cowboy hat. That pretty much pushes all the buttons I need pushed to check something like this out. If you're equally curious, schedule a trip to the Bryant Lake Bowl.
His website - suburbancowboyproductions.blogspot.com
His Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing his third performance on Monday 8/9.
(His first two performances are Friday 8/6 and Saturday 8/7)
#12
Grind: The Musical
Theatre Undeclared
For all the reasons listed here.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their second performance on Sunday 8/8.
(Their first performance is Saturday 8/7)
#13
Sincerity Forever
Arbor Heavy Theatre
For all the reasons listed here.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their second performance on Monday 8/9.
(Their first performance is Saturday 8/7)
#14
The Squeaky Wheel Squeaks
Squeaky Wheel, Inc.
"What if someone walked into surgery and awoke quadriplegic never having been warned of this risk? What if they not only survived but also endured the horrors of this disability with hope and humor? What if they returned to school, earned a masters degree in theater and then a law degree and got married? And then had a son and became widowed. What if they wrote a funny and tearful book about it? What if they wrote a play, too.
Someone did. That someone is Brian Shaughnessy. Not only is Brian an individual with a disability – quadriplegia – he is also an attorney, actor, director, writer, husband, father, entrepreneur and quite possibly the funniest man on four wheels. The Squeaky Wheel SQUEAKS!, is his brutally honest story of living life from an electric wheelchair. The story focuses on his challenges and accomplishments without sentimental back-patting. The audience will be laughing through the tears.
Brian’s friend, collaborator and former teacher Mark Medoff, Oscar nominee and Tony award winning author of Children of a Lesser God, had this to say about the book from which the play is taken, 'Brian Shaughnessy tells his story of suffering and survival with extraordinary humor and compassion. Fate dealt him what might seem an impossible life. His journey is harrowing, horrifying, and finally inspirational. His dignity, his humor, his life have informed my own. I am indebted to him for all he is.'"
Holy. Crap.
I'd actually have to work really hard to come up with reasons *not* to see this play. So, on the schedule it goes.
He hit the DC and Kansas City Fringes before us, and is on to Boulder and Chicago afterward. Bless his funny, hot-wheelin' heart.
His website - squeakywheelbook.com
His Fringe page
#15
living traces, burning breath
Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop
For all the reasons listed here.
Their Fringe page
If you removed that gun from my head and allowed me to see ten more, they would be...
#11
The Tragedy of Icarus
Joshua Caleb Larson, Suburban Cowboy Productions
"'The Tragedy of Icarus' is Greek in form. A character named Chorus appears on stage with a pair of yellow roses in a vase and sets them on the ground near the front of the stage. He then sings an elegy to his lost brother. What follows is an explosion of characters delivering songs and monologues that reflect the difficulty of grieving and the impact on the performer.
There’s a Dylanesque troubadour who has been rejected by his audience,
a British rocker who feels like a phony
and a retired country music superstar who returns to the stage after having a spiritual epiphany.
In between these performers is the struggle between Icarus and his brother. One wanting answers and the other reluctant to talk.
'Move on. There’s nothing here to figure out,' says Icarus to the audience.
But a persistent Chorus won’t leave it alone retaliating with 'Blue Roses' a ballad with the chilling refrain of 'it might be too late to dedicate a song to you.'
Icarus answers with a confessional monologue explaining the true reason of why he doesn’t like to talk about his death.
'I don’t remember it. Do you know how humiliating that is?'
The show ends with a Guitar God coming down from the heavens and resolving the play much like The Deux ex Machina in Ancient Greek Drama.
'The Tragedy of Icarus' is a Rock n’ Roll Elegy for the coolest guy that ever lived. Derek Larson was not famous. He played guitar but wasn’t a rock star. He painted houses for a living. He was loved by many and his loss affected all who had come to know him.
In the eyes of his brother, he was an Icarus figure. A rebel who flew too high, resulting in his own untimely death. Derek becomes Icarus in this new one man show by first time fringe producer Joshua Caleb Larson. Across the landscape of a dream, characters weave in and out in a tribute to Derek’s musical heroes: Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles.
Everyone struggles in some way in 'The Tragedy of Icarus' either with loss, love or even the audience. Spiritual intervention helps resolve the dissonance and in the final monologue of the show, The Beatles, 'Let it Be' becomes the backdrop of a scene that reunites brothers through their infinite bond of music."
I know next to nothing about this show other than the above, which is enough. It's just a gut instinct. I won't know for sure until I've seen it. But out of 169 shows, it was able to grab my attention, which bodes well in my book. I was unable to reach the artist to learn more. All the internet will tell me is that he's a musician and stay at home dad. And for his first Fringe show, he's presenting a memorial to his brother. Ghosts, Greek myths, music, and a guy who knows how to handle a guitar and looks good in a cowboy hat. That pretty much pushes all the buttons I need pushed to check something like this out. If you're equally curious, schedule a trip to the Bryant Lake Bowl.
His website - suburbancowboyproductions.blogspot.com
His Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing his third performance on Monday 8/9.
(His first two performances are Friday 8/6 and Saturday 8/7)
#12
Grind: The Musical
Theatre Undeclared
For all the reasons listed here.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their second performance on Sunday 8/8.
(Their first performance is Saturday 8/7)
#13
Sincerity Forever
Arbor Heavy Theatre
For all the reasons listed here.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their second performance on Monday 8/9.
(Their first performance is Saturday 8/7)
#14
The Squeaky Wheel Squeaks
Squeaky Wheel, Inc.
"What if someone walked into surgery and awoke quadriplegic never having been warned of this risk? What if they not only survived but also endured the horrors of this disability with hope and humor? What if they returned to school, earned a masters degree in theater and then a law degree and got married? And then had a son and became widowed. What if they wrote a funny and tearful book about it? What if they wrote a play, too.
Someone did. That someone is Brian Shaughnessy. Not only is Brian an individual with a disability – quadriplegia – he is also an attorney, actor, director, writer, husband, father, entrepreneur and quite possibly the funniest man on four wheels. The Squeaky Wheel SQUEAKS!, is his brutally honest story of living life from an electric wheelchair. The story focuses on his challenges and accomplishments without sentimental back-patting. The audience will be laughing through the tears.
Brian’s friend, collaborator and former teacher Mark Medoff, Oscar nominee and Tony award winning author of Children of a Lesser God, had this to say about the book from which the play is taken, 'Brian Shaughnessy tells his story of suffering and survival with extraordinary humor and compassion. Fate dealt him what might seem an impossible life. His journey is harrowing, horrifying, and finally inspirational. His dignity, his humor, his life have informed my own. I am indebted to him for all he is.'"
Holy. Crap.
I'd actually have to work really hard to come up with reasons *not* to see this play. So, on the schedule it goes.
He hit the DC and Kansas City Fringes before us, and is on to Boulder and Chicago afterward. Bless his funny, hot-wheelin' heart.
His website - squeakywheelbook.com
His Fringe page
#15
living traces, burning breath
Manhattan Experimental Theater Workshop
For all the reasons listed here.
Their Fringe page
Labels:
Fringe Archives 2010,
Fringe blogging,
Fringe Top 20
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Fringe 2010 - Fringe-For-All Coverage
Here's a bunch of handy links to all the write-ups on Fringe acts this year that were part of the big two-part Fringe-For-All showcase on July 12 and 19, 2010 (alphabetically by title...
Fringe Preview Season Is Upon Us - 7/12/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Fringe-For-All 1 - Sometimes The Best Moments Are Unscripted - 7/13/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
*******************
An Adult Evening Of Shel Silverstein - 7/29/2010 ("This Whole Thing Has Been An Adult Evening...")
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Bad Deeds Done Bad - 7/25/2010 (Bad Teddy, Bad Teddy)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Ballad of the Pale Fisherman - 7/20/2010 (Shows That Get Physical You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Batmama - 7/30/2010 ("Just Tell Them You're A Bat!")
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The Big Four-Oh - 7/28/2010 (One-Man Hootenanny)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Bite Me Twilight - 7/18/2010 (Shows With Funny Guys You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The Crock Pot - 7/17/2010 (When Minnesota Kitsch Meets Bible Study Bitch...)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Dracula's Castle - 7/22/2010 (A Dracula Musical That Doesn't Bite)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Drink Drank Drunk - 8/2/2010 (A Big Bunch of Liars You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Fartosaurus Rex! - 7/15/2010 (Flatulent Cross-eyed Dinosaur Devours Fringe Kitty)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The First Five Minutes Are Slow - 7/14/2010 (The First Three Minutes Were Great)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Grind, The Musical - 7/15/2010 (Love Among The Coffee Grounds)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Happy Sauce - 7/27/2010 (World's Cutest Corpse)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
I May Fly - 8/1/2010 ("Guess What? I Got Hit By A Motorcycle Last Week!")
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
I Remember You - 7/16/2010 (A Show That Hands Out Those Red Plastic Cups For Your Beer)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
living traces - burning breath - 7/23/2010 (From The Other Manhattan, In Kansas)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
My Mother Told Me - 8/1/2010 (A Strange Dance/Storytelling Hybrid You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Naked Yoga and Other Gay Love Stories - 7/18/2010 (Shows With A Big Helping Of Gay You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
A Nice Guy's Guide To Awkward Sex - 8/1/2010 (People Dissing My Union But I Like Them Anyway)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Open & Affirming Fairy Tales - 7/18/2010 (Shows With A Big Helping Of Gay You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Pants On Fire - 8/2/2010 (A Big Bunch of Liars You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Prince And A Pauper - 8/3/2010 (I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This, So Sue Me If It Goes Too Fast...)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Princess Jessica & The Kingdom of Boogers - 7/18/2010 (Shows With Funny Guys You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The Quest - 7/18/2010 (Shows With Funny Guys You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
A Sad Carousel - 8/2/2010 (Two Familiar Faces Take Center Stage)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
St. Christopher of Financial Aid - 7/18/2010 (An Actor I've Seen Pretty Much Everywhere BUT The Fringe)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Sex, Soap, Torture, Weather - 7/18/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Sincerity Forever - 7/18/2010 (Shows With A Big Helping Of Gay You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Story Time Time Bomb - 7/26/2010 (A Kids' Show Loaded With Great Fringe Vets)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Superlatives of Excellence: A Jamboree of Breviloquent Masterworks by Josef Evans - 8/3/2010 (A Group of Unrepentant Oddballs You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Waiting For Biffy - 7/20/2010 (Shows That Get Physical You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Yvette - 7/14/2010 (Man In Love With Chair, version 2.0)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Zombie High School - 7/20/2010 (Unscheduled Zombie Singers On The Sidewalk)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Fringe Preview Season Is Upon Us - 7/12/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Fringe-For-All 1 - Sometimes The Best Moments Are Unscripted - 7/13/2010
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
*******************
An Adult Evening Of Shel Silverstein - 7/29/2010 ("This Whole Thing Has Been An Adult Evening...")
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Bad Deeds Done Bad - 7/25/2010 (Bad Teddy, Bad Teddy)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Ballad of the Pale Fisherman - 7/20/2010 (Shows That Get Physical You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Batmama - 7/30/2010 ("Just Tell Them You're A Bat!")
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The Big Four-Oh - 7/28/2010 (One-Man Hootenanny)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Bite Me Twilight - 7/18/2010 (Shows With Funny Guys You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The Crock Pot - 7/17/2010 (When Minnesota Kitsch Meets Bible Study Bitch...)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Dracula's Castle - 7/22/2010 (A Dracula Musical That Doesn't Bite)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Drink Drank Drunk - 8/2/2010 (A Big Bunch of Liars You Knew I'd Like)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Fartosaurus Rex! - 7/15/2010 (Flatulent Cross-eyed Dinosaur Devours Fringe Kitty)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
The First Five Minutes Are Slow - 7/14/2010 (The First Three Minutes Were Great)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Grind, The Musical - 7/15/2010 (Love Among The Coffee Grounds)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
Happy Sauce - 7/27/2010 (World's Cutest Corpse)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
I May Fly - 8/1/2010 ("Guess What? I Got Hit By A Motorcycle Last Week!")
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
I Remember You - 7/16/2010 (A Show That Hands Out Those Red Plastic Cups For Your Beer)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
living traces - burning breath - 7/23/2010 (From The Other Manhattan, In Kansas)
Twin Cities Daily Planet
Single White Fringe Geek
My Mother Told Me - 8/1/2010 (A Strange Dance/Storytelling Hybrid You Knew I'd Like)
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Naked Yoga and Other Gay Love Stories - 7/18/2010 (Shows With A Big Helping Of Gay You Knew I'd Like)
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A Nice Guy's Guide To Awkward Sex - 8/1/2010 (People Dissing My Union But I Like Them Anyway)
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Open & Affirming Fairy Tales - 7/18/2010 (Shows With A Big Helping Of Gay You Knew I'd Like)
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Pants On Fire - 8/2/2010 (A Big Bunch of Liars You Knew I'd Like)
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Prince And A Pauper - 8/3/2010 (I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This, So Sue Me If It Goes Too Fast...)
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Princess Jessica & The Kingdom of Boogers - 7/18/2010 (Shows With Funny Guys You Knew I'd Like)
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The Quest - 7/18/2010 (Shows With Funny Guys You Knew I'd Like)
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A Sad Carousel - 8/2/2010 (Two Familiar Faces Take Center Stage)
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St. Christopher of Financial Aid - 7/18/2010 (An Actor I've Seen Pretty Much Everywhere BUT The Fringe)
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Sex, Soap, Torture, Weather - 7/18/2010
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Sincerity Forever - 7/18/2010 (Shows With A Big Helping Of Gay You Knew I'd Like)
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Story Time Time Bomb - 7/26/2010 (A Kids' Show Loaded With Great Fringe Vets)
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Superlatives of Excellence: A Jamboree of Breviloquent Masterworks by Josef Evans - 8/3/2010 (A Group of Unrepentant Oddballs You Knew I'd Like)
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Waiting For Biffy - 7/20/2010 (Shows That Get Physical You Knew I'd Like)
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Yvette - 7/14/2010 (Man In Love With Chair, version 2.0)
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Zombie High School - 7/20/2010 (Unscheduled Zombie Singers On The Sidewalk)
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Fringe 2010 - Top 10 - #s 1 through 5
So, clearing out all the returning favorites from past Top 10 lists which you know I'm going to try and find a way to see, here are the shows that are at the top of my list for Fringe viewing...
#1
Thinkingaview/CorresponDance
Jeffrey Peterson Dance (choreographed by Jeffrey Peterson/Rebecca Katz)
"From whimsical to edgy, this split-bill dance show combines vibrant movement with thoughtful social commentary. Love collides with distance and judgement, engulfed by the music of Etta James and Marty Winkler.
CorresponDance explores how we create and maintain relationships across distances – geographical, cultural, and emotional. The title, a play on the word correspondence, also reflects the process. Created by a company spread from Duluth to Georgia, the piece has taken shape literally across distances, with rehearsals and ideas exchanged via YouTube and email, as well as in person. The ultimate goal of CorresponDance, like correspondence, is human connection. That connection will be musically contributed by the fabulous Marty Winkler, playing live with guitarist Tate Ferguson, and featuring original material, including some specially written for this show.
A reprise of the 2006 Bryant Lake Bowl hit, Thinkingaview disguises social scrutiny as lighthearted cabaret entertainment. Called "fun, poignant, and extremely well orchestrated" by Twin Cities dance writer Linda Shapiro, the work presents equality by manipulating expectation. Through emotionally charged dancing, innuendo-laden partnering, gendered repetitions, public displays of affection, and strong costume choices, Thinkingaview boldly encourages us to love and perceive love without judgment. The goal of Thinkingaview is to raise a mirror to the members of its audience, asking us all to think about how we view our own and others’ relationships, no matter who/what they might be. The work is choreographed to an all-Etta James songbook, and will be performed live by Marty Winkler, Tate Ferguson and Kate Bordeaux."
During the Fringe lottery, the minute I heard their number come up I thought, "OK, that's an easy Top 10 act right there." I saw the earlier incarnation of "Thinkingaview" at the Bryant Lake Bowl and it was a heck of a lot of fun. Mostly because it was so damn romantic, and across the whole spectrum of sexuality. Their Fringe-For-All preview was one of the bouncier, upbeat numbers - where a guy was just as likely to leap into the arms of a gal as the other way around (hey, everyone deserves to be carried once in a while, right?). Part of the previous go-round had a set of dance moves performed to an Etta James ballad in three different pairings - a man and a woman, two women, and two men - and the order was determined by the audience on the night of the show. The world just kind of opened up just a little. It's such a simple idea, but the visual of the same moves in different configurations of gender was really quite powerful. I'm expecting more of the same sort of winking subversive work this time out. It's lovely, and funny, and kinda sexy, and one of the shows I'm looking forward to seeing the most. If "CorresponDance" is just as good (and why shouldn't it be?), this'll be a great show.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their opening performance Friday 8/6.
#2
A Sad Carousel
Pommelhorse
Another show I've been eagerly anticipating since the Fringe Lottery called their number, for all the reasons outlined here.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#3
O(h)
Caseblolt & Smith
Do I really need to post anything other than this video clip?
OK, how about their Fringe show last year Casebolt & Smith - Speaking Out was five star fun start to finish? I was not the only one at the Fringe Lottery happy to hear that they were coming back to visit this year.
How about they recently sent me an email that began... "It's hard to believe it has been almost a year since we were having a beer with you and your mom at Bedlam! We are so excited to be coming back for Fringe." This after a tour of Ireland and the UK. They're just as good company offstage as on.
Their press release declares, "Their 2010 show O(h) promises to be just as comedic and clever, and a little bit more gay."
How gay? Well...
"A highlight of O(h) is the 'Gay Break,' a laugh out loud section of the dance in which Joel prances around the stage removing articles of clothing, while Liz mockingly warns the audience that if they look at his hips they might turn gay! O(h) is a totally original creation that offers a fast paced, complex and hilarious glimpse into the minds and pants of casebolt and smith."
OK, if you need a bit more detail...
"O(h) leads the audience on an unexpected journey, delivering complicated, quirky, virtuosic dance theater rife with thought provoking shifts of perspective and meaning. Speaking directly to the audience while dancing and sometimes singing, casebolt and smith tear apart their process of making dances, offering honest insights into their limitations as a duet company and their fear of becoming unoriginal. The dance evolves from demonstrations of what they can, can’t and won’t do into intricate dance phrases layered with pop culture references and iconic dancing images of the past- from Martha Graham to Tina Turner. They rewrite iconic rock songs, borrow from famous choreographers, use microphones in a variety of ways, sing show tunes and deploy brash, witty, perfectly-timed humor and multiple dance vocabularies, including gyrating hips, hand snaps and a dash of breakin’."
All this, plus when interviewed for the print edition of this Fringe profile, the poor guy on the other end of the line trying to keep up with another of my rambling Fringe monologues misheard me say "Casebolt & Smith" as "Kate Fulton Smith." Corrected online, but print is print. So if you can't find that show by Kate Fulton Smith that I recommended in the print edition, why not check out Casebolt & Smith instead? (Because it will make me chuckle for no good reason for the whole damn festival.)
Their facebook page
Their website - caseboltandsmith.com
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#4
Missing: the fantastical and true story of my father's disappearance and what I found when I looked for him
(Clearly she's hanging out with the same people who come up with titles at Bedlam)
Jessica Ferris
"This magical-realist detective story traces California solo performer Jessica Ferris’s search for her father, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances thirty years ago, and her discovery that he is a con artist on the lam.
Says Ferris, 'In the past couple of years our country has been pretty devastated by huge con jobs: Bernie Madoff’s pyramid scheme, for example, and the shady practices that set off the housing market collapse. Most of us are thinking of these guys as far-away villains: what kind of people would do this? My show addresses that question on an intimate level. I reveal what it’s like to be the daughter, the mother, the wife of one of these guys.'
Throughout the piece, Ferris deftly transforms everyday objects (a folding chair, a metal toolbox, a sheet) into extra-daily entities and beings, and composer Mark Orton's original score compliments the physical theater elements of the show. Orton is a founding member of Tin Hat, a composer collective that blends elements of jazz, folk, and classical chamber music; he’s perhaps best-known in the Twin Cities for having scored the film 'Sweet Land.'"
Here's another one that right out of the gate at the Fringe Lottery I thought, "Excellent! She's coming back!" Why?
Because despite her being a cheerfully relentless promoter of her show "Speechless" in Fringe 2005, I was mighty leery due to the subject matter. But this is what I ended up saying about it when I had the good fortune to see it for myself...
"OK, it's an easy one, but I have to go with it. This show did leave me Speechless.
Well, unless you count my internal monologue at the end, which went something like, "Holy sh**. That's brilliant."
The thing that sets this show apart from the others at the Fringe is Jessica's unerring instinct for knowing when *not* to say something.
For knowing what parts of the story to leave out because we can fill in the blanks.
For knowing when to end the show and leave us wanting so very much more, and yet still leaving her audience completely satisfied.
Speechless is a theater experience I would never have expected from a show about two things that seem very prone to being overdone - drawing comedy from mime, and drawing sentiment from children with special needs.
It is Jessica's restraint, both in characterization and storytelling, that is the most remarkable thing about this show, and why it earns every laugh and every gentle emotion honestly.
It could have taken potshots at mime and gotten easy laughs.
It could have explored the world of children with learning disabilities and elicited easy sighs and tears.
Jessica does neither.
Instead, she builds characters from the smallest building blocks, much like the highly focused and detailed studies in her mime school, or the tiny victories one can achieve over time with the special students in her care.
It would seem that one school has very little to do with the other, that the only thing connecting them is Jessica, the person who experienced both.
But it is through the techniques of mime that Jessica so vividly creates the characters.
And the final image, of a developmentally disabled 17 year old boy releasing an unwanted helium balloon that has been thrust upon him by a well-meaning store clerk, into the air, and laughing for the first time as he watches it disappear - well, it slayed me. It didn't bring me to laughter or tears, but nonetheless, it both deeply moved and amused me. It stunned me into silence.
Trust me. You really need to see Speechless."
Endorsement enough? (What, you were expecting to see a lot of former 2-star shows in my Top Ten?)
Also, the lady has a healthy sense of humor. Emailing me a while back she said,
"Clearly I've still got my knack for choosing subject matter which makes people feel ill-at-ease; FringeFamous has chosen my show as Most Likely To Be The Number One Worst Show in the Fringe! Distinction!"
She actually links to the fact on her website :) Maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity in theater. Plus, imagine what'll happen if they see it and actually like it.
Finally, this was in her press release...
"Creating the show has been a life-changing process for Ferris. “Not only did I find my father,” she says, “but I found my husband. He was one of five people in the audience of a work in progress showing, and he was the only one I didn’t already know. In retrospect I’m really glad that’s how we met. It took care of the problem of how to break the news about my strange family.”
I mean, c'mon. Even if I didn't already know she was great, I'm a total sucker for a romantic/funny story like that. Artists as human beings rather than neurotics. Always such a refreshing thing to encounter. And another thing I love about Fringe time.
Video clip of the work in progress...
Her website www.jessicaferris.com
Her Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing her opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#5
Can Michael Come Out And Play?
Mahmoud Hakima
"For those struggling to find themselves in a society where individuality is often blurred, for those who have ever been weighted down by a label, for those who want to step outside the world of normalcy and have an interaction that is purely human."
A one-man search for self-identity, through mispronunciations, assumptions and suspicions of terrorism. After last year's hit Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon, Mahmoud returns to the Minnesota Fringe to answer the following questions: Is he from Africa? Is he intelligent? How do you spell his name? How do you pronounce it? Did he have access to chocolate where he came from? Was he named after a terrorist? And who the heck is Michael?
Mahmoud's 2009 Fringe show Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon was show #47 out of my 56-show marathon last year. I didn't get a review typed up and now I'm kicking myself. Why? Because I have very few specifics for you. I just know that have a very vivid recollection of liking it a whole lot. But it wasn't one of those shows where individual lines or moments popped out one after the other and lodged in your brain. I scribbled a few in my notebook that nabbed me...
"When he looks at me like that, I feel like I'm his real son."
"I was seven years old and up to my ankles in bullshit."
"He will break the kids. She will repair them."
It was more the accumulation of details in each story, and each story building on the next, unfolding key incidents in his childhood that grabbed and then held my attention.
I know it sounds like it could be one of those "this was my screwed up childhood, and that's why I'm an artist, thank you all for coming" sort of shows, but it was the opposite of that. You felt after it was done that you understood a childhood that was very different from your own (or perhaps very much the same, depending on where you were sitting.) But it was still a childhood. There was no self-pity here, and there was no blame. It was the kind of storytelling that trusted the audience to make its own evaluations of good and evil. And it was a sliding scale. Every human has some monster in them, and vice versa. We're all cowards and heroes. We're all alone and connected.
Here's a sample...
I could have sworn I shared this with Mom last year, and thus had a review handy (seeing that many shows in 11 days tends to make time collapse in on itself, I guess.) So now I'm doubly glad it's up there on my list so Mom gets to see Mahmoud in action this year, too.
The Fringe-For-All preview this year didn't do him any favors unfortunately. Because he was too good at what he was trying to do - which was convince the audience he was haltingly performing a poem he had just scribbled on a piece of paper. If you've only got three minutes, don't use your good performing skills to convince me you're a bad performer. Show me how good you are. It is possible to be too ironic when previewing your show. Don't give me any reason to doubt. Based on my experience of his show last year, I have no doubts, but not everyone has that frame of reference. He has a less goofy title and a slightly downbeat look to his materials this year, so a great preview would have helped him stand out more. Oh well. I'm still talking him up.
Prior to the Fringe-For-All marathon, Mahmoud emailed me to say the show "tells of the bizarre situations I've run into due to having the name 'Mahmoud'."
An alternate synopsis from him...
"The writer/performer of last year's Fringe hit Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon returns to tell tales from his life in which the following questions are answered: no he's not a terrorist, yes he's intelligent and not 'all Africans are dumb,' no he isn't Muslim, yes he used to call himself Michael to fit in, no he's not from another country, and yes, lady, even though his name is Mahmoud, he did grow up with access to chocolate."
From the show postcard:
"A one-man search for self-identity, through assumptions, mispronunciations and suspicions of terrorism."
Like his show last year, and Jessica's shows listed above, the short version doesn't necessarily give you an idea of the richness you're in for. It sounds basic. It isn't. That's why they're at the front of the pack for my scheduling this year. Check 'em out.
His Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing his opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#1
Thinkingaview/CorresponDance
Jeffrey Peterson Dance (choreographed by Jeffrey Peterson/Rebecca Katz)
"From whimsical to edgy, this split-bill dance show combines vibrant movement with thoughtful social commentary. Love collides with distance and judgement, engulfed by the music of Etta James and Marty Winkler.
CorresponDance explores how we create and maintain relationships across distances – geographical, cultural, and emotional. The title, a play on the word correspondence, also reflects the process. Created by a company spread from Duluth to Georgia, the piece has taken shape literally across distances, with rehearsals and ideas exchanged via YouTube and email, as well as in person. The ultimate goal of CorresponDance, like correspondence, is human connection. That connection will be musically contributed by the fabulous Marty Winkler, playing live with guitarist Tate Ferguson, and featuring original material, including some specially written for this show.
A reprise of the 2006 Bryant Lake Bowl hit, Thinkingaview disguises social scrutiny as lighthearted cabaret entertainment. Called "fun, poignant, and extremely well orchestrated" by Twin Cities dance writer Linda Shapiro, the work presents equality by manipulating expectation. Through emotionally charged dancing, innuendo-laden partnering, gendered repetitions, public displays of affection, and strong costume choices, Thinkingaview boldly encourages us to love and perceive love without judgment. The goal of Thinkingaview is to raise a mirror to the members of its audience, asking us all to think about how we view our own and others’ relationships, no matter who/what they might be. The work is choreographed to an all-Etta James songbook, and will be performed live by Marty Winkler, Tate Ferguson and Kate Bordeaux."
During the Fringe lottery, the minute I heard their number come up I thought, "OK, that's an easy Top 10 act right there." I saw the earlier incarnation of "Thinkingaview" at the Bryant Lake Bowl and it was a heck of a lot of fun. Mostly because it was so damn romantic, and across the whole spectrum of sexuality. Their Fringe-For-All preview was one of the bouncier, upbeat numbers - where a guy was just as likely to leap into the arms of a gal as the other way around (hey, everyone deserves to be carried once in a while, right?). Part of the previous go-round had a set of dance moves performed to an Etta James ballad in three different pairings - a man and a woman, two women, and two men - and the order was determined by the audience on the night of the show. The world just kind of opened up just a little. It's such a simple idea, but the visual of the same moves in different configurations of gender was really quite powerful. I'm expecting more of the same sort of winking subversive work this time out. It's lovely, and funny, and kinda sexy, and one of the shows I'm looking forward to seeing the most. If "CorresponDance" is just as good (and why shouldn't it be?), this'll be a great show.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their opening performance Friday 8/6.
#2
A Sad Carousel
Pommelhorse
Another show I've been eagerly anticipating since the Fringe Lottery called their number, for all the reasons outlined here.
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#3
O(h)
Caseblolt & Smith
Do I really need to post anything other than this video clip?
OK, how about their Fringe show last year Casebolt & Smith - Speaking Out was five star fun start to finish? I was not the only one at the Fringe Lottery happy to hear that they were coming back to visit this year.
How about they recently sent me an email that began... "It's hard to believe it has been almost a year since we were having a beer with you and your mom at Bedlam! We are so excited to be coming back for Fringe." This after a tour of Ireland and the UK. They're just as good company offstage as on.
Their press release declares, "Their 2010 show O(h) promises to be just as comedic and clever, and a little bit more gay."
How gay? Well...
"A highlight of O(h) is the 'Gay Break,' a laugh out loud section of the dance in which Joel prances around the stage removing articles of clothing, while Liz mockingly warns the audience that if they look at his hips they might turn gay! O(h) is a totally original creation that offers a fast paced, complex and hilarious glimpse into the minds and pants of casebolt and smith."
OK, if you need a bit more detail...
"O(h) leads the audience on an unexpected journey, delivering complicated, quirky, virtuosic dance theater rife with thought provoking shifts of perspective and meaning. Speaking directly to the audience while dancing and sometimes singing, casebolt and smith tear apart their process of making dances, offering honest insights into their limitations as a duet company and their fear of becoming unoriginal. The dance evolves from demonstrations of what they can, can’t and won’t do into intricate dance phrases layered with pop culture references and iconic dancing images of the past- from Martha Graham to Tina Turner. They rewrite iconic rock songs, borrow from famous choreographers, use microphones in a variety of ways, sing show tunes and deploy brash, witty, perfectly-timed humor and multiple dance vocabularies, including gyrating hips, hand snaps and a dash of breakin’."
All this, plus when interviewed for the print edition of this Fringe profile, the poor guy on the other end of the line trying to keep up with another of my rambling Fringe monologues misheard me say "Casebolt & Smith" as "Kate Fulton Smith." Corrected online, but print is print. So if you can't find that show by Kate Fulton Smith that I recommended in the print edition, why not check out Casebolt & Smith instead? (Because it will make me chuckle for no good reason for the whole damn festival.)
Their facebook page
Their website - caseboltandsmith.com
Their Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing their opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#4
Missing: the fantastical and true story of my father's disappearance and what I found when I looked for him
(Clearly she's hanging out with the same people who come up with titles at Bedlam)
Jessica Ferris
"This magical-realist detective story traces California solo performer Jessica Ferris’s search for her father, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances thirty years ago, and her discovery that he is a con artist on the lam.
Says Ferris, 'In the past couple of years our country has been pretty devastated by huge con jobs: Bernie Madoff’s pyramid scheme, for example, and the shady practices that set off the housing market collapse. Most of us are thinking of these guys as far-away villains: what kind of people would do this? My show addresses that question on an intimate level. I reveal what it’s like to be the daughter, the mother, the wife of one of these guys.'
Throughout the piece, Ferris deftly transforms everyday objects (a folding chair, a metal toolbox, a sheet) into extra-daily entities and beings, and composer Mark Orton's original score compliments the physical theater elements of the show. Orton is a founding member of Tin Hat, a composer collective that blends elements of jazz, folk, and classical chamber music; he’s perhaps best-known in the Twin Cities for having scored the film 'Sweet Land.'"
Here's another one that right out of the gate at the Fringe Lottery I thought, "Excellent! She's coming back!" Why?
Because despite her being a cheerfully relentless promoter of her show "Speechless" in Fringe 2005, I was mighty leery due to the subject matter. But this is what I ended up saying about it when I had the good fortune to see it for myself...
"OK, it's an easy one, but I have to go with it. This show did leave me Speechless.
Well, unless you count my internal monologue at the end, which went something like, "Holy sh**. That's brilliant."
The thing that sets this show apart from the others at the Fringe is Jessica's unerring instinct for knowing when *not* to say something.
For knowing what parts of the story to leave out because we can fill in the blanks.
For knowing when to end the show and leave us wanting so very much more, and yet still leaving her audience completely satisfied.
Speechless is a theater experience I would never have expected from a show about two things that seem very prone to being overdone - drawing comedy from mime, and drawing sentiment from children with special needs.
It is Jessica's restraint, both in characterization and storytelling, that is the most remarkable thing about this show, and why it earns every laugh and every gentle emotion honestly.
It could have taken potshots at mime and gotten easy laughs.
It could have explored the world of children with learning disabilities and elicited easy sighs and tears.
Jessica does neither.
Instead, she builds characters from the smallest building blocks, much like the highly focused and detailed studies in her mime school, or the tiny victories one can achieve over time with the special students in her care.
It would seem that one school has very little to do with the other, that the only thing connecting them is Jessica, the person who experienced both.
But it is through the techniques of mime that Jessica so vividly creates the characters.
And the final image, of a developmentally disabled 17 year old boy releasing an unwanted helium balloon that has been thrust upon him by a well-meaning store clerk, into the air, and laughing for the first time as he watches it disappear - well, it slayed me. It didn't bring me to laughter or tears, but nonetheless, it both deeply moved and amused me. It stunned me into silence.
Trust me. You really need to see Speechless."
Endorsement enough? (What, you were expecting to see a lot of former 2-star shows in my Top Ten?)
Also, the lady has a healthy sense of humor. Emailing me a while back she said,
"Clearly I've still got my knack for choosing subject matter which makes people feel ill-at-ease; FringeFamous has chosen my show as Most Likely To Be The Number One Worst Show in the Fringe! Distinction!"
She actually links to the fact on her website :) Maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity in theater. Plus, imagine what'll happen if they see it and actually like it.
Finally, this was in her press release...
"Creating the show has been a life-changing process for Ferris. “Not only did I find my father,” she says, “but I found my husband. He was one of five people in the audience of a work in progress showing, and he was the only one I didn’t already know. In retrospect I’m really glad that’s how we met. It took care of the problem of how to break the news about my strange family.”
I mean, c'mon. Even if I didn't already know she was great, I'm a total sucker for a romantic/funny story like that. Artists as human beings rather than neurotics. Always such a refreshing thing to encounter. And another thing I love about Fringe time.
Video clip of the work in progress...
Her website www.jessicaferris.com
Her Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing her opening performance Saturday 8/7.
#5
Can Michael Come Out And Play?
Mahmoud Hakima
"For those struggling to find themselves in a society where individuality is often blurred, for those who have ever been weighted down by a label, for those who want to step outside the world of normalcy and have an interaction that is purely human."
A one-man search for self-identity, through mispronunciations, assumptions and suspicions of terrorism. After last year's hit Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon, Mahmoud returns to the Minnesota Fringe to answer the following questions: Is he from Africa? Is he intelligent? How do you spell his name? How do you pronounce it? Did he have access to chocolate where he came from? Was he named after a terrorist? And who the heck is Michael?
Mahmoud's 2009 Fringe show Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon was show #47 out of my 56-show marathon last year. I didn't get a review typed up and now I'm kicking myself. Why? Because I have very few specifics for you. I just know that have a very vivid recollection of liking it a whole lot. But it wasn't one of those shows where individual lines or moments popped out one after the other and lodged in your brain. I scribbled a few in my notebook that nabbed me...
"When he looks at me like that, I feel like I'm his real son."
"I was seven years old and up to my ankles in bullshit."
"He will break the kids. She will repair them."
It was more the accumulation of details in each story, and each story building on the next, unfolding key incidents in his childhood that grabbed and then held my attention.
I know it sounds like it could be one of those "this was my screwed up childhood, and that's why I'm an artist, thank you all for coming" sort of shows, but it was the opposite of that. You felt after it was done that you understood a childhood that was very different from your own (or perhaps very much the same, depending on where you were sitting.) But it was still a childhood. There was no self-pity here, and there was no blame. It was the kind of storytelling that trusted the audience to make its own evaluations of good and evil. And it was a sliding scale. Every human has some monster in them, and vice versa. We're all cowards and heroes. We're all alone and connected.
Here's a sample...
I could have sworn I shared this with Mom last year, and thus had a review handy (seeing that many shows in 11 days tends to make time collapse in on itself, I guess.) So now I'm doubly glad it's up there on my list so Mom gets to see Mahmoud in action this year, too.
The Fringe-For-All preview this year didn't do him any favors unfortunately. Because he was too good at what he was trying to do - which was convince the audience he was haltingly performing a poem he had just scribbled on a piece of paper. If you've only got three minutes, don't use your good performing skills to convince me you're a bad performer. Show me how good you are. It is possible to be too ironic when previewing your show. Don't give me any reason to doubt. Based on my experience of his show last year, I have no doubts, but not everyone has that frame of reference. He has a less goofy title and a slightly downbeat look to his materials this year, so a great preview would have helped him stand out more. Oh well. I'm still talking him up.
Prior to the Fringe-For-All marathon, Mahmoud emailed me to say the show "tells of the bizarre situations I've run into due to having the name 'Mahmoud'."
An alternate synopsis from him...
"The writer/performer of last year's Fringe hit Two Bowls of Cereal and Some Bacon returns to tell tales from his life in which the following questions are answered: no he's not a terrorist, yes he's intelligent and not 'all Africans are dumb,' no he isn't Muslim, yes he used to call himself Michael to fit in, no he's not from another country, and yes, lady, even though his name is Mahmoud, he did grow up with access to chocolate."
From the show postcard:
"A one-man search for self-identity, through assumptions, mispronunciations and suspicions of terrorism."
Like his show last year, and Jessica's shows listed above, the short version doesn't necessarily give you an idea of the richness you're in for. It sounds basic. It isn't. That's why they're at the front of the pack for my scheduling this year. Check 'em out.
His Fringe page
Mom and I are seeing his opening performance Saturday 8/7.
Fringe 2010 - Fringe-For-All #2 - I Was Dreaming When I Wrote This, So Sue Me If It Goes Too Fast...
Another familiar face who's back to visit, along with another very familiar face outside Fringe circles, would be...
Prince & A Pauper
Andrew Fafoutakis
"Know what it sounds like when doves cry? Andrew Fafoutakis does. Here he chronicles his journey of growing up gay, bi-racial, and stuck with a big imagination in a world-premiere solo production. As half-Mexican and half-Greek, Andrew certainly has a different outlook on life, and he is ready to share everything along with his love for music, theatre, and all things purple. His tale is told through the music of one of Minnesota's very own along with personal stories, historical facts, songs, and comedic anecdotes. Purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, and join Andrew in a crash-course on his life, the music of Prince, and a dash of local Minnesota flavor. He will make you cheer, cry, and you might even get caught laughing in the purple rain! It’s part solo-comedy show, part rock concert, and all fun. Sing out as loud as you can, for it's a memoir of men, music, and Minneapolis from one lowly pauper..."
Andrew's video preview and his Prince imitation up on the big screen kept the Fringe-For-All crowd well entertained. It's a longer version of what's below...
In the longer version, "Prince" flirts a bit with the audience, which was a hoot.
Andrew was in an unusual (but quite good) 2005 Fringe production of the classic text Everyman before heading off to grad school down south at LSU. Anne Bertram and I crossed his path on our road trip down to Baton Rouge in January 2008 to see the Outworks Festival production of our short "Dog Tag" (the same year it was produced in the Fringe here and later Chicago).
Fellow blogger Rachel Reiva just did a great profile of Andrew and his show on her blog, so I'll refer you to that for still more info.
Prince, strangely, also feels like an old friend, mostly because when I was in college, the $1 second-run movie theater played the movie "Purple Rain" for several months straight. You couldn't get away from it. It was insanely popular. And this was in Terre Haute, Indiana. The world is a odd place.
His facebook page
His Fringe page
Prince & A Pauper
Andrew Fafoutakis
"Know what it sounds like when doves cry? Andrew Fafoutakis does. Here he chronicles his journey of growing up gay, bi-racial, and stuck with a big imagination in a world-premiere solo production. As half-Mexican and half-Greek, Andrew certainly has a different outlook on life, and he is ready to share everything along with his love for music, theatre, and all things purple. His tale is told through the music of one of Minnesota's very own along with personal stories, historical facts, songs, and comedic anecdotes. Purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, and join Andrew in a crash-course on his life, the music of Prince, and a dash of local Minnesota flavor. He will make you cheer, cry, and you might even get caught laughing in the purple rain! It’s part solo-comedy show, part rock concert, and all fun. Sing out as loud as you can, for it's a memoir of men, music, and Minneapolis from one lowly pauper..."
Andrew's video preview and his Prince imitation up on the big screen kept the Fringe-For-All crowd well entertained. It's a longer version of what's below...
In the longer version, "Prince" flirts a bit with the audience, which was a hoot.
Andrew was in an unusual (but quite good) 2005 Fringe production of the classic text Everyman before heading off to grad school down south at LSU. Anne Bertram and I crossed his path on our road trip down to Baton Rouge in January 2008 to see the Outworks Festival production of our short "Dog Tag" (the same year it was produced in the Fringe here and later Chicago).
Fellow blogger Rachel Reiva just did a great profile of Andrew and his show on her blog, so I'll refer you to that for still more info.
Prince, strangely, also feels like an old friend, mostly because when I was in college, the $1 second-run movie theater played the movie "Purple Rain" for several months straight. You couldn't get away from it. It was insanely popular. And this was in Terre Haute, Indiana. The world is a odd place.
His facebook page
His Fringe page
Fringe 2010 - FFA2 - A Group of Unrepentant Oddballs You Knew I'd Like
Even if they weren't already the guardians of Fringe Central welcoming us all with open arms (and beer taps), I'd love this Fringe-For-All group for their theater work alone...
Superlatives of Excellence: A Jamboree of Breviloquent Masterworks by Josef Evans
[Blogger note - How can you not love a ridiculous title like that?]
Bedlam Theatre
"A self-proclaimed genius performs odd plays in his grandparents' garage. Interlopers disrupt his plans; rampant peculiarities ensue. From the folks who brought you '06 Encore hit 'Love in a Time of Rinderpest.'
Bedlam returns to the Minnesota Fringe Festival this year, once again collaborating with playwright Josef Evans. The last Fringe pairing of these two very fringe artistic visions gave Festival audiences one of the year's most popular productions, resulting in an appearance in the Fringe Encore at the Guthrie."
Charles Bronson answers the phone, and agrees to an assignment, "I'm dead but I need the work."
It's a good sign when a Fringe-For-All preview has me scribbling notes like mad because I love so many of the lines.
"It's those goddamn ninja astronaut feminists!" (They're headed for the local library!) "Think of the reading they could do!"
It's also a good sign when I start to get a little nervous scheduling, thinking about a show, "I have to see that. How do I make it fit in the schedule. I can't miss it. I have to see that!"
"There are many fine Catholic romance novels."
Both of these things happened with Bedlam's latest Fringe offering, Superlatives of Excellence: A Jamboree of Breviloquent Masterworks by Josef Evans.
"I'll shoot a cat if it'll make you feel better."
I mean, seriously, just watch the damn thing...
Reading the slightly expanded version of the synopsis makes a few things more clear (not that they needed to be. I often trust Bedlam not to make any sense in the moment, because eventually, they always do)...
"For Superlatives of Excellence: A festival of breviloquent masterworks by Josef Evans, local playwright Josef Evans presents himself in alter ego form, as 'Josef Evans,' a self-proclaimed genius who lives in his grandparents' garage and performs festivals of his (mercifully) brief oddball comedies for anyone unfortunate enough to pass through its massive 2-car door. Having spent his meager budget on an irritated and incompetent wedding band, he is forced to employ garage detritus as actors in a desperate attempt to bring his vision to life."
[Blogger note - which answers my question, "So, why when they show up are the ninja astronaut feminists portrayed by a rake, a snow shovel, and a broom with eyes?"]
"A parade of interlopers further disrupts the show and finds itself drawn into Josef's singularly ridiculous universe.
This show brings back many of the most popular short plays Evans has presented at Bedlam over the years. Highlights include 'What God Said on Tuesday,' which recasts God as a demented old apartment-dweller tormenting his downstairs neighbor Satan with endless renditions of off-key banjo numbers, and 'Modern Library Situations,' an epic battle to save the Marcy-Holmes community library from ninja astronaut feminists in search of Catholic romance novels. The style is in keeping with the bizarre hilarity that has been a Bedlam/Evans trademark, from 2006's Fringe Encore hit 'Love in a Time of Rinderpest' to 'The Turducken,' an adaptation of Chekhov's 'The Seagull' as a Christmas musical spectacular."
The wonderful crew of Bedlam is a returning favorite of mine from my 2007 pre-Fringe Top 10. Mom and I both enjoyed a little Shakespeare in the parking lot when they did William Shakespeare's Hystery Queene Margaret
I managed to miss “Love In A Time of Rinderpest” in Fringe 2006, but caught it at the Guthrie encore - "full to bursting with Bedlam regulars - ...hilarious oddness (murderous lovelorn cardboard boxes, dead-on Springsteen impersonators, drag and gender confusion, bewildering accents and set pieces) that is the Bedlam trademark. If not, well, doesn’t that sound like something that’s worth the visit, if only to figure out what the hell is going on?" But critics of all stripes have been praising them year round for some time now, and rightly so.
I missed another one with You're No Fun during Fringe 2008, but managed to catch up with them again last year for more Shakespeare in the parking lot with Comedy of Errors. That was another show late in the going for me - Saturday of closing weekend, show #48 of my 56 show run (phew). But Comedy of Errors was another one to recharge my theatergoing batteries.
Just like when they crammed all three Henry VI plays together into a Fringe-sized package with Queene Margaret, Comedy of Errors benefitted from the streamlined Bedlam approach. It's a convoluted plot with two pairs of twins and all sorts of family, criminal and romantic misadventures. One of many smart touches by director Jason Ballweber was to not even attempt to cast actors that looked alike for the twins. One pair was Maren Ward and Elise Langer (both back for Fringe 2010), the other was Billy Mullaney and Jon Cole. The only things the twins had in common was their costumes. Suspension of disbelief begins early, and continues. Because all the other characters in the play believe the twins are identical, we go along.
Broad strokes of character and comedy, played at full tilt by people who understand what they're doing. If it didn't quite hit the same peaks as Queene Margaret, that's only because it had flimsier material to play with. Comedy of Errors was essentially just a romantic comedy, and one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. Though the Henry VI's, too, were early works, they had the sweep of history to back them up, plus the shadow of Richard III hanging over them when Bedlam went about mixing them all together. Comedy of Errors was good, light fluffy fair for a summer afternoon - a nice romp with old friends, both Shakespeare and Bedlam. I'll be seeing a visiting production of The Comedy of Errors early next year, but I doubt I'll understand it better, or enjoy it more than I did at the Fringe. Really, they'll be lucky to be just as good.
This year, not only do we have the dependably entertaining antics of Maren Ward and Elise Langer back again, but I have three other reasons that hit close to home for a show I already wanted to see anyway.
In the cast are Tom Lloyd and Carly Wicks, and offstage as Assistant Director is Johann Hauser-Ulrich, all of whom comprised the cast for a little short of mine in Commedia Beauregard's Rembrandt Plays earlier this year at the Bryant Lake Bowl. The play was Time Lapse and they all did right by me, so I feel like the least I can do is catch another of their shows in return. If they're involved, I'm looking forward to it all the more, and that's saying something.
Most of you already know that Bedlam's going through a transition right after the Fringe is over. They're losing their lease and need to find a new home. It's sad to see them leave their current location, but they've moved before, and been homeless before. They're a resiliant bunch. I look forward to more art and socializing with them. Meantime, there's one last 11-day Fringe party to enjoy in their company!
You can get more info on Bedlam's own Where Next? page
Their website bedlamtheatre.org
Their Fringe page
Superlatives of Excellence: A Jamboree of Breviloquent Masterworks by Josef Evans
[Blogger note - How can you not love a ridiculous title like that?]
Bedlam Theatre
"A self-proclaimed genius performs odd plays in his grandparents' garage. Interlopers disrupt his plans; rampant peculiarities ensue. From the folks who brought you '06 Encore hit 'Love in a Time of Rinderpest.'
Bedlam returns to the Minnesota Fringe Festival this year, once again collaborating with playwright Josef Evans. The last Fringe pairing of these two very fringe artistic visions gave Festival audiences one of the year's most popular productions, resulting in an appearance in the Fringe Encore at the Guthrie."
Charles Bronson answers the phone, and agrees to an assignment, "I'm dead but I need the work."
It's a good sign when a Fringe-For-All preview has me scribbling notes like mad because I love so many of the lines.
"It's those goddamn ninja astronaut feminists!" (They're headed for the local library!) "Think of the reading they could do!"
It's also a good sign when I start to get a little nervous scheduling, thinking about a show, "I have to see that. How do I make it fit in the schedule. I can't miss it. I have to see that!"
"There are many fine Catholic romance novels."
Both of these things happened with Bedlam's latest Fringe offering, Superlatives of Excellence: A Jamboree of Breviloquent Masterworks by Josef Evans.
"I'll shoot a cat if it'll make you feel better."
I mean, seriously, just watch the damn thing...
Reading the slightly expanded version of the synopsis makes a few things more clear (not that they needed to be. I often trust Bedlam not to make any sense in the moment, because eventually, they always do)...
"For Superlatives of Excellence: A festival of breviloquent masterworks by Josef Evans, local playwright Josef Evans presents himself in alter ego form, as 'Josef Evans,' a self-proclaimed genius who lives in his grandparents' garage and performs festivals of his (mercifully) brief oddball comedies for anyone unfortunate enough to pass through its massive 2-car door. Having spent his meager budget on an irritated and incompetent wedding band, he is forced to employ garage detritus as actors in a desperate attempt to bring his vision to life."
[Blogger note - which answers my question, "So, why when they show up are the ninja astronaut feminists portrayed by a rake, a snow shovel, and a broom with eyes?"]
"A parade of interlopers further disrupts the show and finds itself drawn into Josef's singularly ridiculous universe.
This show brings back many of the most popular short plays Evans has presented at Bedlam over the years. Highlights include 'What God Said on Tuesday,' which recasts God as a demented old apartment-dweller tormenting his downstairs neighbor Satan with endless renditions of off-key banjo numbers, and 'Modern Library Situations,' an epic battle to save the Marcy-Holmes community library from ninja astronaut feminists in search of Catholic romance novels. The style is in keeping with the bizarre hilarity that has been a Bedlam/Evans trademark, from 2006's Fringe Encore hit 'Love in a Time of Rinderpest' to 'The Turducken,' an adaptation of Chekhov's 'The Seagull' as a Christmas musical spectacular."
The wonderful crew of Bedlam is a returning favorite of mine from my 2007 pre-Fringe Top 10. Mom and I both enjoyed a little Shakespeare in the parking lot when they did William Shakespeare's Hystery Queene Margaret
I managed to miss “Love In A Time of Rinderpest” in Fringe 2006, but caught it at the Guthrie encore - "full to bursting with Bedlam regulars - ...hilarious oddness (murderous lovelorn cardboard boxes, dead-on Springsteen impersonators, drag and gender confusion, bewildering accents and set pieces) that is the Bedlam trademark. If not, well, doesn’t that sound like something that’s worth the visit, if only to figure out what the hell is going on?" But critics of all stripes have been praising them year round for some time now, and rightly so.
I missed another one with You're No Fun during Fringe 2008, but managed to catch up with them again last year for more Shakespeare in the parking lot with Comedy of Errors. That was another show late in the going for me - Saturday of closing weekend, show #48 of my 56 show run (phew). But Comedy of Errors was another one to recharge my theatergoing batteries.
Just like when they crammed all three Henry VI plays together into a Fringe-sized package with Queene Margaret, Comedy of Errors benefitted from the streamlined Bedlam approach. It's a convoluted plot with two pairs of twins and all sorts of family, criminal and romantic misadventures. One of many smart touches by director Jason Ballweber was to not even attempt to cast actors that looked alike for the twins. One pair was Maren Ward and Elise Langer (both back for Fringe 2010), the other was Billy Mullaney and Jon Cole. The only things the twins had in common was their costumes. Suspension of disbelief begins early, and continues. Because all the other characters in the play believe the twins are identical, we go along.
Broad strokes of character and comedy, played at full tilt by people who understand what they're doing. If it didn't quite hit the same peaks as Queene Margaret, that's only because it had flimsier material to play with. Comedy of Errors was essentially just a romantic comedy, and one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. Though the Henry VI's, too, were early works, they had the sweep of history to back them up, plus the shadow of Richard III hanging over them when Bedlam went about mixing them all together. Comedy of Errors was good, light fluffy fair for a summer afternoon - a nice romp with old friends, both Shakespeare and Bedlam. I'll be seeing a visiting production of The Comedy of Errors early next year, but I doubt I'll understand it better, or enjoy it more than I did at the Fringe. Really, they'll be lucky to be just as good.
This year, not only do we have the dependably entertaining antics of Maren Ward and Elise Langer back again, but I have three other reasons that hit close to home for a show I already wanted to see anyway.
In the cast are Tom Lloyd and Carly Wicks, and offstage as Assistant Director is Johann Hauser-Ulrich, all of whom comprised the cast for a little short of mine in Commedia Beauregard's Rembrandt Plays earlier this year at the Bryant Lake Bowl. The play was Time Lapse and they all did right by me, so I feel like the least I can do is catch another of their shows in return. If they're involved, I'm looking forward to it all the more, and that's saying something.
Most of you already know that Bedlam's going through a transition right after the Fringe is over. They're losing their lease and need to find a new home. It's sad to see them leave their current location, but they've moved before, and been homeless before. They're a resiliant bunch. I look forward to more art and socializing with them. Meantime, there's one last 11-day Fringe party to enjoy in their company!
You can get more info on Bedlam's own Where Next? page
Their website bedlamtheatre.org
Their Fringe page
Monday, August 02, 2010
Fringe 2010 - Fringe-For-All #2 - A Big Bunch of Liars You Knew I'd Like
Another twofer out of the second Fringe-For-All it should surprise no one that I'm a big fan of...
We kick off this two-for-one deal with...
Pants On Fire!
Allison Broeren & Mumble Mumble Productions
"Two truths and a lie each. You help decide whose pants are on fire as previous Fringe favorites, Rockstar Storyteller, and Poetry Slam Masters Allison Broeren, Wonder Dave, and a rotating nightly special guest liar spin yarns! Mascots! Ascots! Horrible truths and lovely lies."
And one of their guest stars (for the Monday & Saturday shows) is none other than one of our very favorite visiting Fringers, Les, with his own solo show...
Drink Drank Drunk, Diary of the Life of the Party
The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal
"Put your drinking shoes on and don't be tardy for the party. Come and join Les Kurkendaal on a wild ride of booze, fun and hilarious hijinks and what happens when it's time for the party to end. After many years of partying Les realizes that it's time to get sober . But how does one do that ? How is life going to change ? Am I still going to have fun ? Is my social life dead ?? Come hear Les tell stories of what it was like when he was out drinking , what happened and what life is like today."
Allison is a returning favorite from my 2007 Top 20 list with her first Fringe show All The Things I Never Told My Mother. Though I missed her 2008 outing, I'll Marry You For Health Insurance, I did catch last year's My Sinking Ship. I just did it so late in my Fringe-going marathon that I never got around to reviewing it properly. But that's what a notebook is for...
What I enjoyed most about Allison's 2009 Fringe show, My Sinking Ship, is what I enjoy most about all her shows - her way with language. She understands, better than most people, what words can do, and is constantly playing with them in order to learn how to do still more. There is unexpected poetry in odd situations ("When it snowed, it filled up our closets.") There is humor from strange angles ("I had somehow buttered a cigarette.") There is a big streak of mischief ("If you're lucky enough to see a whale, they get super pissed off if you throw pineapples in their blowholes.") There is the well-chosen splash of blue language, as in one of her opening salvos, an open letter of sorts, "Dear past, present & future roommates, I appreciate your need to fuck." There is a child-like sense of wonder ("Dinosaurs probably would have rocked my face off.") And there is a respect for all forms of life, even if they must bow down before human beings' place higher on the food chain, as in one of her best tales - "Words of Sympathy for the Bats I Have Killed" which includes the great (both funny and chilling) turn of phrase, "We leave your blood above the door as a message to your friends."
Allison, accidentally set adrift in a raft while trying to take refuge from an extra exuberant boating party, awakes to her predicament and, in one of the funniest moments, right at the top of the show, makes a strange discovery in her raft. "What's this? A music stand!" Because a music stand to a spoken word artist is like a life jacket in a raft to the rest of us. There are other random encounters throughout, courtesy of Allison's partner in crime Marlow, who appears as, among other things a mystical sea captain, and the friendliest great white shark imaginable. It's not completely seamless in terms of structure or payoff, but the clunkiness is part of the show's considerable charm. Spending time listening to Allison spin stories is time well spent, and considering it was show #37 of what would become a 56 show marathon during the 2009 Fringe, it was an enormously refreshing, relaxing time as well.
This year, Pants On Fire! promises to be more of a grab bag of styles and content, given the five person mix over the course of the festival. But that mix is what makes it so fun and unpredictable, much like their Fringe-For-All preview...
Plus, that structural conceit of two true stories, plus a lie, means we'll get both reality and flights of fancy that'll give everyone involved room to stretch and surprise us.
I have to admit, I'm especially looking forward to this show because the other regular in the rotation is Wonder Dave Crady, who I've had a bit of an artistic crush on since he first appeared in Laura Bidgood and Curt Lund's 2006 Fringe show, Two Queers And A Chubby. Which is why I wrote, "Wonder Dave Crady is a firecracker - a joyous, take-no-prisoners, reveling in his geekdom, won't back down from a fight against intolerance firecracker. I think I'm a little in love with Wonder Dave after this show." Since then I've bought his CD and one of his chap books but since most of his open mics with Allison conflicted with my writing group nights, I've seen very little of his work on stage since. So Pants On Fire! is great opportunity to get a little more Wonder Dave. Plus, their advertising campaign includes buttons that say "Allison/Wonder Dave sets my pants on fire!" And how can you not love that as a marketing strategy. Mom loves buttons, so she'll probably try and get one of each for her collection.
Of course, the first big lie in the preview was that the third person onstage was not, in fact, Laura Bidgood, but Wednesday/Thursday guest performer Courtney McLean. After being part of another great trio in the Rockstar Storytellers' 2009 Fringe outing, Axed! The Rockstars Remix, I'm looking forward to more from Courtney as well.
In addition to closing day Sunday guest performer Khary Jackson, they have the fabulous Les Kurkendaal on the guest roster. And even though Les wasn't in the Fringe-For-All, I'm giving him a shout-out anyway. When not guest performing in Pants On Fire! Monday and closing Saturday, Les of course has his own show to do...
Drink Drank Drunk, Diary of the Life of the Party
Les is a returning favorite off my pre-Fringe Top 10 List for Fringe 2007, delighting my Mom with a remount of Christmas In Bakersfield, which he had impressed me with just the year before in Fringe 2006. Mom and I were back again for more in Fringe 2008, when Les got 4-1/2 stars out of me for The Attack of the Big Angry Booty. Fringe 2009's tag team effort with the great Dan Bernitt, The Gayer Show was so good it made Mom cry. Plus, Les is just a lot of fun to hang out with as well. Mom is very much looking forward to more of Les, onstage and off, as am I. He comes both Mom and blogger-approved.
Here's a little video excerpt from Les' show
Allison's facebook page
Her Fringe page
Les' facebook page
His Fringe page
We kick off this two-for-one deal with...
Pants On Fire!
Allison Broeren & Mumble Mumble Productions
"Two truths and a lie each. You help decide whose pants are on fire as previous Fringe favorites, Rockstar Storyteller, and Poetry Slam Masters Allison Broeren, Wonder Dave, and a rotating nightly special guest liar spin yarns! Mascots! Ascots! Horrible truths and lovely lies."
And one of their guest stars (for the Monday & Saturday shows) is none other than one of our very favorite visiting Fringers, Les, with his own solo show...
Drink Drank Drunk, Diary of the Life of the Party
The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal
"Put your drinking shoes on and don't be tardy for the party. Come and join Les Kurkendaal on a wild ride of booze, fun and hilarious hijinks and what happens when it's time for the party to end. After many years of partying Les realizes that it's time to get sober . But how does one do that ? How is life going to change ? Am I still going to have fun ? Is my social life dead ?? Come hear Les tell stories of what it was like when he was out drinking , what happened and what life is like today."
Allison is a returning favorite from my 2007 Top 20 list with her first Fringe show All The Things I Never Told My Mother. Though I missed her 2008 outing, I'll Marry You For Health Insurance, I did catch last year's My Sinking Ship. I just did it so late in my Fringe-going marathon that I never got around to reviewing it properly. But that's what a notebook is for...
What I enjoyed most about Allison's 2009 Fringe show, My Sinking Ship, is what I enjoy most about all her shows - her way with language. She understands, better than most people, what words can do, and is constantly playing with them in order to learn how to do still more. There is unexpected poetry in odd situations ("When it snowed, it filled up our closets.") There is humor from strange angles ("I had somehow buttered a cigarette.") There is a big streak of mischief ("If you're lucky enough to see a whale, they get super pissed off if you throw pineapples in their blowholes.") There is the well-chosen splash of blue language, as in one of her opening salvos, an open letter of sorts, "Dear past, present & future roommates, I appreciate your need to fuck." There is a child-like sense of wonder ("Dinosaurs probably would have rocked my face off.") And there is a respect for all forms of life, even if they must bow down before human beings' place higher on the food chain, as in one of her best tales - "Words of Sympathy for the Bats I Have Killed" which includes the great (both funny and chilling) turn of phrase, "We leave your blood above the door as a message to your friends."
Allison, accidentally set adrift in a raft while trying to take refuge from an extra exuberant boating party, awakes to her predicament and, in one of the funniest moments, right at the top of the show, makes a strange discovery in her raft. "What's this? A music stand!" Because a music stand to a spoken word artist is like a life jacket in a raft to the rest of us. There are other random encounters throughout, courtesy of Allison's partner in crime Marlow, who appears as, among other things a mystical sea captain, and the friendliest great white shark imaginable. It's not completely seamless in terms of structure or payoff, but the clunkiness is part of the show's considerable charm. Spending time listening to Allison spin stories is time well spent, and considering it was show #37 of what would become a 56 show marathon during the 2009 Fringe, it was an enormously refreshing, relaxing time as well.
This year, Pants On Fire! promises to be more of a grab bag of styles and content, given the five person mix over the course of the festival. But that mix is what makes it so fun and unpredictable, much like their Fringe-For-All preview...
Plus, that structural conceit of two true stories, plus a lie, means we'll get both reality and flights of fancy that'll give everyone involved room to stretch and surprise us.
I have to admit, I'm especially looking forward to this show because the other regular in the rotation is Wonder Dave Crady, who I've had a bit of an artistic crush on since he first appeared in Laura Bidgood and Curt Lund's 2006 Fringe show, Two Queers And A Chubby. Which is why I wrote, "Wonder Dave Crady is a firecracker - a joyous, take-no-prisoners, reveling in his geekdom, won't back down from a fight against intolerance firecracker. I think I'm a little in love with Wonder Dave after this show." Since then I've bought his CD and one of his chap books but since most of his open mics with Allison conflicted with my writing group nights, I've seen very little of his work on stage since. So Pants On Fire! is great opportunity to get a little more Wonder Dave. Plus, their advertising campaign includes buttons that say "Allison/Wonder Dave sets my pants on fire!" And how can you not love that as a marketing strategy. Mom loves buttons, so she'll probably try and get one of each for her collection.
Of course, the first big lie in the preview was that the third person onstage was not, in fact, Laura Bidgood, but Wednesday/Thursday guest performer Courtney McLean. After being part of another great trio in the Rockstar Storytellers' 2009 Fringe outing, Axed! The Rockstars Remix, I'm looking forward to more from Courtney as well.
In addition to closing day Sunday guest performer Khary Jackson, they have the fabulous Les Kurkendaal on the guest roster. And even though Les wasn't in the Fringe-For-All, I'm giving him a shout-out anyway. When not guest performing in Pants On Fire! Monday and closing Saturday, Les of course has his own show to do...
Drink Drank Drunk, Diary of the Life of the Party
Les is a returning favorite off my pre-Fringe Top 10 List for Fringe 2007, delighting my Mom with a remount of Christmas In Bakersfield, which he had impressed me with just the year before in Fringe 2006. Mom and I were back again for more in Fringe 2008, when Les got 4-1/2 stars out of me for The Attack of the Big Angry Booty. Fringe 2009's tag team effort with the great Dan Bernitt, The Gayer Show was so good it made Mom cry. Plus, Les is just a lot of fun to hang out with as well. Mom is very much looking forward to more of Les, onstage and off, as am I. He comes both Mom and blogger-approved.
Here's a little video excerpt from Les' show
Allison's facebook page
Her Fringe page
Les' facebook page
His Fringe page
Fringe 2010 - Stranded and In Transit
Mom's on the road to Minnesota, expanding her Fringe-going carbon footprint to rival that an out of town artist coming to visit and perform for us.
She's doing better than I am with a car today.
I'm typing this at my mechanic's, waiting for them to tell me whether or not my car is well & truly dead.
It's 14 years old. It doesn't owe me anything. If it were a dog, it would be dead by now. Sometimes I think the patches of rust are the only thing holding it together. It just got a new battery (only its second, I think) at the last oil change. Last year right after the Fringe, it got new tires. A couple of weeks ago, it got some valve replaced to keep it running, but everything else seemed OK.
Well, as they said of the last season of Six Feet Under - Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends.
But in just three short days, Mom was going to arrive and give me her slightly used car, and then buy a nice shiny new one for herself to drive back to PA and surprise Grandma and my brother Mark.
Three days.
Oh well.
It may be taxis and buses and depending on the kindness of strangers for the next three days.
We'll see.
Meantime, I'm drafting what I think is almost the final schedule for me and Mom. The last two slots on Tuesday are still a question mark, but we've got a bundle of options. I need to confer with her to finalize those. The rest I'm pretty sure about.
For now, I need to roll out the stash of blog posts I'd been hoarding, and get the Top 10/Top 20 list posted.
Three days.
Sigh.
She's doing better than I am with a car today.
I'm typing this at my mechanic's, waiting for them to tell me whether or not my car is well & truly dead.
It's 14 years old. It doesn't owe me anything. If it were a dog, it would be dead by now. Sometimes I think the patches of rust are the only thing holding it together. It just got a new battery (only its second, I think) at the last oil change. Last year right after the Fringe, it got new tires. A couple of weeks ago, it got some valve replaced to keep it running, but everything else seemed OK.
Well, as they said of the last season of Six Feet Under - Everything. Everyone. Everywhere. Ends.
But in just three short days, Mom was going to arrive and give me her slightly used car, and then buy a nice shiny new one for herself to drive back to PA and surprise Grandma and my brother Mark.
Three days.
Oh well.
It may be taxis and buses and depending on the kindness of strangers for the next three days.
We'll see.
Meantime, I'm drafting what I think is almost the final schedule for me and Mom. The last two slots on Tuesday are still a question mark, but we've got a bundle of options. I need to confer with her to finalize those. The rest I'm pretty sure about.
For now, I need to roll out the stash of blog posts I'd been hoarding, and get the Top 10/Top 20 list posted.
Three days.
Sigh.
Fringe 2010 - FFA2 - Two Familiar Faces Take Center Stage
What can I say? I've been looking forward to finally seeing Pommelhorse on stage since I heard they made the Fringe cut, long before their hilariously odd Fringe-For-All preview. I'm still bummed I missed "Feelgood Hits of the '70s" (which Quinton Skinner called "one of the funniest scripts in recent memory") but at least the Fringe makes it easy to make sure I don't miss "Sad Carousel."
A Sad Carousel
Pommelhorse
"Punchlines can't stop bullets. Herschel Douscheburg (America's #7 insult comic) will learn that the hard way, as he and his nephew Saul battle blood-thirsty hit men and cutthroat talent agents in a comedic battle royale."
My first Fringe encounter with Sam Landman (one half of Pommelhorse) came in 2006 with Baggage, though I first saw him on the Penumbra stage earlier the same year in Sex Diary of an Infidel. In between Fringes, I've seen him in things as varied as Walking Shadow's The American Pilot and Girl Friday's The Skin of Our Teeth. Of course, last year Sam was back in front of Fringe audiences in the encore slot-winning show at Mixed Blood - the darkly funny Buyer's Remorse, which also had "blood-thirsty hit men" prominent in the cast of characters. In fact, Sam was one of them, a sad lonely hit man named Parker. Now he's a Douscheburg.
His fellow Pommelhorse (-ian?), and Douscheburg, Matthew Glover is also no stranger to the Fringe, as he was part of the ensemble of Sandbox Theatre's Fringe hit last year, June of Arc, which got selected for a remount in an emerging artists showcase at the Guthrie black box space not too long ago.
I get the feeling that A Sad Carousel is nothing like either of their 2009 Fringe outings, but you know you're in good hands with these guys.
The characters of Herschel & Saul Douscheburg have "loser" written all over them ("I wish I'd been a Scrimshaw" cried out Saul on his kind of not really deathbed). When Saul screwed up and "gave away" the ending to the play (Tawny Kitaen - I think it's kind of sad that I knew how to spell her name correctly on the first try), they doubled back to try Saul's death scene again. Herschel was just marking time, trying to speed through his lines, hilariously unlike his first emotional outpouring. Oh, just watch. Here's their Fringe-For-All preview
They're foul-mouthed and strange, but I already like the Douscheburgs a lot, and am very much looking forward to hanging out with them for an hour of Fringing. Not sure how Mom will take to them, but they're on her schedule, too. I can't quite explain why, but I'm almost giddy with anticipation on this one.
Check out their website - www.pommelhorseproductions.com - which says they've been "straddling the line between husky and cadet since 2007"
Their Fringe page
A Sad Carousel
Pommelhorse
"Punchlines can't stop bullets. Herschel Douscheburg (America's #7 insult comic) will learn that the hard way, as he and his nephew Saul battle blood-thirsty hit men and cutthroat talent agents in a comedic battle royale."
My first Fringe encounter with Sam Landman (one half of Pommelhorse) came in 2006 with Baggage, though I first saw him on the Penumbra stage earlier the same year in Sex Diary of an Infidel. In between Fringes, I've seen him in things as varied as Walking Shadow's The American Pilot and Girl Friday's The Skin of Our Teeth. Of course, last year Sam was back in front of Fringe audiences in the encore slot-winning show at Mixed Blood - the darkly funny Buyer's Remorse, which also had "blood-thirsty hit men" prominent in the cast of characters. In fact, Sam was one of them, a sad lonely hit man named Parker. Now he's a Douscheburg.
His fellow Pommelhorse (-ian?), and Douscheburg, Matthew Glover is also no stranger to the Fringe, as he was part of the ensemble of Sandbox Theatre's Fringe hit last year, June of Arc, which got selected for a remount in an emerging artists showcase at the Guthrie black box space not too long ago.
I get the feeling that A Sad Carousel is nothing like either of their 2009 Fringe outings, but you know you're in good hands with these guys.
The characters of Herschel & Saul Douscheburg have "loser" written all over them ("I wish I'd been a Scrimshaw" cried out Saul on his kind of not really deathbed). When Saul screwed up and "gave away" the ending to the play (Tawny Kitaen - I think it's kind of sad that I knew how to spell her name correctly on the first try), they doubled back to try Saul's death scene again. Herschel was just marking time, trying to speed through his lines, hilariously unlike his first emotional outpouring. Oh, just watch. Here's their Fringe-For-All preview
They're foul-mouthed and strange, but I already like the Douscheburgs a lot, and am very much looking forward to hanging out with them for an hour of Fringing. Not sure how Mom will take to them, but they're on her schedule, too. I can't quite explain why, but I'm almost giddy with anticipation on this one.
Check out their website - www.pommelhorseproductions.com - which says they've been "straddling the line between husky and cadet since 2007"
Their Fringe page
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Fringe 2010 - FFA2 - A Strange Dance/Storytelling Hybrid You Knew I'd Like
This time a three-in-one mash-up of Fringe vets from Fringe-For-All that no one should be surprised I'm looking forward to seeing...
My Mother Told Me
[...you better shop around... - blogger has had that song stuck in his head for weeks. Captain and Tenille? Shiver.]
Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw, with phillip andrew bennett low and DRP Dance
"Armed only with the dubious advice of his mother, the boy sets out to conquer a world full of peril, romance and perilous romance. Words twirl and limbs speak in this unique duet of storytelling and dance.
Dance, storytelling, and bluegrass -
Fringe veterans Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw, phillip andrew bennett low, and DRP Dance combine forces to create this genre-blending show of words and movement, set in the eastern hills of North America to a bluegrass score."
Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw is a returning favorite off my 2008 pre-Fringe Top 10 List for her dance comedy Fringe show Dance of the Whisky Faerie, which I gave 4 stars. I missed last year's offering from her, Mansion of Dust, so I'm happy to have a chance to catch her once again.
This year Sara teams up with another returning favorite (from my 2007 pre-Fringe Top 10 List), phillip andrew bennett low, of Maximum Verbosity. I wasn't as big a fan of phillip's 2008 Fringe show All Rights Reserved: A Libertarian Rage as I've been of a lot of his other work. But he dazzled both me and Mom last year with the 5 star presentation of The Rise of General Arthur.
And just to make the whole thing completely irresistable, they bring choreographer Danielle Robinson-Prater of DRP Dance into the mix. They quote me on their Fringe page about DRP so why try to paraphrase myself...
"What DRP's Artistic Director/Choreographer Danielle Robinson-Prater does best, create visually beautiful stage pictures full of movement...it has its own subconscious logic to it that's extremely satisfying...like good music, it sort of washes over you, submerging you in its world." (Fringe blogger Matthew Everett, 2008)
When phillip performed a chunk of the beginning of the show at a recent fundraiser for Maximum Verbosity, I wondered, "Why are his characters all speaking in southern accents?" Well, the Fringe-For-All preview cleared that up. Bluegrass music for the dance sequences. I'm still not entirely sure how this whole thing is going to congeal together. That was one of the challenges of Whisky Faerie, too, but Sara seems interested in finding ways to blend text and movement, comedy and drama and choreography and music. And with this group of collaborators, I'm more than willing to go along for the ride.
Plus, I'm curious if they ever get phillip to dance.
This is one of the Rockstar Storytellers Passport series. See all the Fringe shows, collect the trading cards and get a break on the new Rockstar Storyteller season of shows. Check out the passport page for the full list. It's a fun line-up.
DRP Dance MNArtists page
Joking Envelope website (Sara's theater company with husband Joseph Scrimshaw - jokingenvelope.com
Maximum Verbosity website - www.maximumverbosityonline.org
Their Fringe page
My Mother Told Me
[...you better shop around... - blogger has had that song stuck in his head for weeks. Captain and Tenille? Shiver.]
Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw, with phillip andrew bennett low and DRP Dance
"Armed only with the dubious advice of his mother, the boy sets out to conquer a world full of peril, romance and perilous romance. Words twirl and limbs speak in this unique duet of storytelling and dance.
Dance, storytelling, and bluegrass -
Fringe veterans Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw, phillip andrew bennett low, and DRP Dance combine forces to create this genre-blending show of words and movement, set in the eastern hills of North America to a bluegrass score."
Sara Stevenson Scrimshaw is a returning favorite off my 2008 pre-Fringe Top 10 List for her dance comedy Fringe show Dance of the Whisky Faerie, which I gave 4 stars. I missed last year's offering from her, Mansion of Dust, so I'm happy to have a chance to catch her once again.
This year Sara teams up with another returning favorite (from my 2007 pre-Fringe Top 10 List), phillip andrew bennett low, of Maximum Verbosity. I wasn't as big a fan of phillip's 2008 Fringe show All Rights Reserved: A Libertarian Rage as I've been of a lot of his other work. But he dazzled both me and Mom last year with the 5 star presentation of The Rise of General Arthur.
And just to make the whole thing completely irresistable, they bring choreographer Danielle Robinson-Prater of DRP Dance into the mix. They quote me on their Fringe page about DRP so why try to paraphrase myself...
"What DRP's Artistic Director/Choreographer Danielle Robinson-Prater does best, create visually beautiful stage pictures full of movement...it has its own subconscious logic to it that's extremely satisfying...like good music, it sort of washes over you, submerging you in its world." (Fringe blogger Matthew Everett, 2008)
When phillip performed a chunk of the beginning of the show at a recent fundraiser for Maximum Verbosity, I wondered, "Why are his characters all speaking in southern accents?" Well, the Fringe-For-All preview cleared that up. Bluegrass music for the dance sequences. I'm still not entirely sure how this whole thing is going to congeal together. That was one of the challenges of Whisky Faerie, too, but Sara seems interested in finding ways to blend text and movement, comedy and drama and choreography and music. And with this group of collaborators, I'm more than willing to go along for the ride.
Plus, I'm curious if they ever get phillip to dance.
This is one of the Rockstar Storytellers Passport series. See all the Fringe shows, collect the trading cards and get a break on the new Rockstar Storyteller season of shows. Check out the passport page for the full list. It's a fun line-up.
DRP Dance MNArtists page
Joking Envelope website (Sara's theater company with husband Joseph Scrimshaw - jokingenvelope.com
Maximum Verbosity website - www.maximumverbosityonline.org
Their Fringe page
Fringe 2010 - Fringe-For-All #2 - People Dissing My Union But I Like Them Anyway
A returning favorite from my pre-Fringe Top 10 List in 2006 (actually more than one Top 10'er here...) back in the Fringe and getting in a good dig at union rules...
A Nice Guy's Guide to Awkward Sex
Ben San Del
"From the creator of last year's encore-winning 'Animal Cracker Genocide' and past hits 'Mittens for Fat Kids' and 'Strawberry Fields Temporarily.'
WHAT?
Fringe veterans Ben San Del (writer/producer), Amber Preston, Phillip Low (co-writer), and Natalie Rae Wass* star as fledgling stand-up comics who force each other to embrace the embarrassments of love while evading the dangers of being "nice."
*Member, Actors' Equity Association"
(Also my union, since I used to be a stage manager, and still keep up my dues...)
Perhaps my favorite line in a Fringe-For-All preview this year, Ben San Del explained that the fourth member of his cast, Natalie Rae Wass, could not be on stage as part of the preview because she was a member of Actors Equity Association, "which does not allow her to be taped, or have fun."
Hee.
"CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC?
It's about comedians learning how to survive a career entertaining drunks in dive bars. If I tell you more it will spoil the show.
NOT ENOUGH. I STILL NEED MORE DETAILS.
Now you're just messing with me because you know I'm too nice to stand up for myself."
Amber Preston, Ben's evil sidekick for the preview, undermining him at every turn, was in a Fringe show last year with the heartwarming title "I'd Kick Puppies for You" (which I'm still worry I missed. I mean, c'mon. Kicking Puppies.)
The unseen Wass is going on her 11th Fringe show. And phillip andrew bennett low, well, more on him in another post. I need more space. (Surprise, surprise)
Ben gets good press from a variety of sources, and got a 5 star review out of me in last year's Fringe. As always, I'm looking forward to more.
But in addition to their amusing Fringe-For-All preview...
...what could be better than documenting a fake rivalry with popular Fringer Tom Reed (for their Fringey Awards video entry)?
Again, hee.
His website - bensandel.com
His Fringe page
A Nice Guy's Guide to Awkward Sex
Ben San Del
"From the creator of last year's encore-winning 'Animal Cracker Genocide' and past hits 'Mittens for Fat Kids' and 'Strawberry Fields Temporarily.'
WHAT?
Fringe veterans Ben San Del (writer/producer), Amber Preston, Phillip Low (co-writer), and Natalie Rae Wass* star as fledgling stand-up comics who force each other to embrace the embarrassments of love while evading the dangers of being "nice."
*Member, Actors' Equity Association"
(Also my union, since I used to be a stage manager, and still keep up my dues...)
Perhaps my favorite line in a Fringe-For-All preview this year, Ben San Del explained that the fourth member of his cast, Natalie Rae Wass, could not be on stage as part of the preview because she was a member of Actors Equity Association, "which does not allow her to be taped, or have fun."
Hee.
"CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC?
It's about comedians learning how to survive a career entertaining drunks in dive bars. If I tell you more it will spoil the show.
NOT ENOUGH. I STILL NEED MORE DETAILS.
Now you're just messing with me because you know I'm too nice to stand up for myself."
Amber Preston, Ben's evil sidekick for the preview, undermining him at every turn, was in a Fringe show last year with the heartwarming title "I'd Kick Puppies for You" (which I'm still worry I missed. I mean, c'mon. Kicking Puppies.)
The unseen Wass is going on her 11th Fringe show. And phillip andrew bennett low, well, more on him in another post. I need more space. (Surprise, surprise)
Ben gets good press from a variety of sources, and got a 5 star review out of me in last year's Fringe. As always, I'm looking forward to more.
But in addition to their amusing Fringe-For-All preview...
...what could be better than documenting a fake rivalry with popular Fringer Tom Reed (for their Fringey Awards video entry)?
Again, hee.
His website - bensandel.com
His Fringe page
Fringe 2010 - FFA2 - "Guess what?! I Got Hit By A Motorcycle Last Week."
Here's another example from Fringe-For-All of a one person show that has a lot going for it...
I May Fly
Amy Schweickhardt
"I May Fly is based on the life of May Pusey, an Australian radio, tv and stage actress who was determined to follow her dreams despite the Great Depression, World War II, childbirth and great personal difficulty.
In this solo performance, Amy Schweickhardt portrays May from the age of 8 to 80. Beginning with her days at catholic school, the story takes us through May’s life.
Written by May’s granddaughter Felicity, this play has previously been performed in Australia, London and New York. This is its regional debut."
"Sometimes she gets nervous and turns herself invisible. Don't be mean, she really is there."
The main things this show has going for it is an interesting true-life subject, and the boundless energy actress Amy Schweickhardt. The preview shows she's got a good multifaceted role, and plans to make the most of the opportunity. I've missed her two previous Fringe outings, but this year I may get to correct that.
Here's her Fringe-For-All preview
"Born in Subiaco, Perth as the youngest of six in an Irish Catholic Family, May was left to her own devices playing pranks, jokes and exchanging chocolate from her mother’s shop in Subiaco for maths answers. In a time when children were seen and not heard, May found a way to get laughter and applause. Cheeky, naughty, unconventional and deeply wounded by some tragic realities, imagination saved her.
We commence our play on the night before May’s 8th Birthday. She sets out to celebrate with her imaginary friend Phyllis, inviting everyone in the street to a wonderful party, full of poetry, dancing, singing and cake! 'Even though Mum doesn’t have a penny to spare to feed a family of 8, I am sure God will make it happen! Right?'
In the imaginary Phyllis, May has company, an audience and a trusted friend to talk through real and tragic problems. May becomes a young woman and can’t tell anyone! She doesn’t know why she is bleeding and assumes that she is being punished for her practical jokes and naughtiness.
Having become a woman, Phyllis disappears. Without her imaginary friend to guide her, she finds theatre, radio and subsequently television; a way to escape, a way to play, a way to survive the pain and grief of abuse, war, pregnancies, miscarriages and a difficult marriage."
Normally, I'm not a fan of art portraying the trials and tribulations of artists (as if they're more important somehow than, say, nurses or fireman or teachers), but if the story is about an actual human being first, and an artist second, that goes a long way toward breaking down my resistance to the genre.
[Side note - I was talking to someone yesterday about a show that was sort of the worst example of this sort of artistic navel-gazing. It's a musical about a couple of guys trying to write a musical. "It's like masturbation, only with singing." Sure, the tunes are catchy. Sure, the lyrics are clever. But about 30 seconds into every song on the cast album I listened to, I found myself shouting, "Oh shut up!" "Making art is so hard." Who cares? This applies to many true stories, but even more so to artist stories - just because it happened to you, doesn't mean it's interesting. Just because it's true, doesn't mean it's a good story. No one cares about your process. On stage, I don't want to know how you make art, I want to see the end result. If you're stewing in your own intestinal juices because you've got your head so far up your own a** that you can't see the world around you anymore, then I'm probably not your audience.]
But here, in I May Fly, it looks like acting is a part of May's life, not her entire reason for existing, or the only interesting thing about her life. And the line from adventures with an imaginary childhood friend to creating stories to be acted out for others is a short one.
This one didn't leap out at me as a must-see on first reading, but after seeing a sample of the way it's to be done in the Fringe-For-All setting, I'm intrigued. I like a good story, told well, and this one's looking promising on both counts.
Their Fringe page
I May Fly
Amy Schweickhardt
"I May Fly is based on the life of May Pusey, an Australian radio, tv and stage actress who was determined to follow her dreams despite the Great Depression, World War II, childbirth and great personal difficulty.
In this solo performance, Amy Schweickhardt portrays May from the age of 8 to 80. Beginning with her days at catholic school, the story takes us through May’s life.
Written by May’s granddaughter Felicity, this play has previously been performed in Australia, London and New York. This is its regional debut."
"Sometimes she gets nervous and turns herself invisible. Don't be mean, she really is there."
The main things this show has going for it is an interesting true-life subject, and the boundless energy actress Amy Schweickhardt. The preview shows she's got a good multifaceted role, and plans to make the most of the opportunity. I've missed her two previous Fringe outings, but this year I may get to correct that.
Here's her Fringe-For-All preview
"Born in Subiaco, Perth as the youngest of six in an Irish Catholic Family, May was left to her own devices playing pranks, jokes and exchanging chocolate from her mother’s shop in Subiaco for maths answers. In a time when children were seen and not heard, May found a way to get laughter and applause. Cheeky, naughty, unconventional and deeply wounded by some tragic realities, imagination saved her.
We commence our play on the night before May’s 8th Birthday. She sets out to celebrate with her imaginary friend Phyllis, inviting everyone in the street to a wonderful party, full of poetry, dancing, singing and cake! 'Even though Mum doesn’t have a penny to spare to feed a family of 8, I am sure God will make it happen! Right?'
In the imaginary Phyllis, May has company, an audience and a trusted friend to talk through real and tragic problems. May becomes a young woman and can’t tell anyone! She doesn’t know why she is bleeding and assumes that she is being punished for her practical jokes and naughtiness.
Having become a woman, Phyllis disappears. Without her imaginary friend to guide her, she finds theatre, radio and subsequently television; a way to escape, a way to play, a way to survive the pain and grief of abuse, war, pregnancies, miscarriages and a difficult marriage."
Normally, I'm not a fan of art portraying the trials and tribulations of artists (as if they're more important somehow than, say, nurses or fireman or teachers), but if the story is about an actual human being first, and an artist second, that goes a long way toward breaking down my resistance to the genre.
[Side note - I was talking to someone yesterday about a show that was sort of the worst example of this sort of artistic navel-gazing. It's a musical about a couple of guys trying to write a musical. "It's like masturbation, only with singing." Sure, the tunes are catchy. Sure, the lyrics are clever. But about 30 seconds into every song on the cast album I listened to, I found myself shouting, "Oh shut up!" "Making art is so hard." Who cares? This applies to many true stories, but even more so to artist stories - just because it happened to you, doesn't mean it's interesting. Just because it's true, doesn't mean it's a good story. No one cares about your process. On stage, I don't want to know how you make art, I want to see the end result. If you're stewing in your own intestinal juices because you've got your head so far up your own a** that you can't see the world around you anymore, then I'm probably not your audience.]
But here, in I May Fly, it looks like acting is a part of May's life, not her entire reason for existing, or the only interesting thing about her life. And the line from adventures with an imaginary childhood friend to creating stories to be acted out for others is a short one.
This one didn't leap out at me as a must-see on first reading, but after seeing a sample of the way it's to be done in the Fringe-For-All setting, I'm intrigued. I like a good story, told well, and this one's looking promising on both counts.
Their Fringe page
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