Fringe 2026 Review - Bay Creek - Who (or What) Is Beside You? - 5 Stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 24: Bay Creek: mesmerizing tale of family with a tradition of working on the wrong side of the law tangled up with a demonic force passed down from father to son thru generations; just who, or what, are the federal authorities interrogating? expertly crafted script, acting - 5 stars

Writer/performer Derek Lee Miller loves a good scary story.  So in his solo show “Bay Creek” he’s crafted himself the perfect vehicle for telling such a tale.  Devon Thompson (played by Miller) is in an interrogation room with a large audience of agents from a number of federal law enforcement agencies (we in the seating risers of the Barker Center serve as that audience). The voice of the primary interrogator (Rob Ward) is trying to ask Devon questions about the disappearance of his father Daniel, but he’s insisting on waiting for his lawyer.  In the meantime, however, he’s happy to tell some other family stories.

“There’s no such thing as monsters, son.  Just people, and the things they choose to do.”

And boy, does his family have some stories to tell.  From his grandfather to his father to him, Devon’s family has spent many generations just on the other side of the law. (Not that you’ll find any evidence.  Or bodies.). Liquor during Prohibition, other drugs of choice through the decades, Devon’s family has been skilled at transporting goods, banding their fellow smugglers together for protection, and not getting caught by the authorities.  But there’s something else going on.  People don’t die in their family, but they do disappear.  As do their enemies.  As do some of Devon’s friends.

“It’s like something was wearing him.  Like a suit.  And he looked at me.”

There’s also something not quite right about Devon.  Early on, he says “No” to someone just over his left shoulder - except no one’s there.  Periodically throughout his tale of intergenerational misdeeds and peril, just for a sentence or two, it seems like someone else, someone threatening, is talking *through* Devon.  But then just as quickly Devon’s back, amiably telling his story to pass the time.  

“What did you bring into my house?!”

Miller’s performance is fantastic, but just as impressive is the way he’s crafted the script for “Bay Creek.”  It’s a supernatural mystery of sorts.  And just like any good mystery, he lays out the clues, but he lets the audience slowly fill in the blanks for themselves.  Sometimes in the course of his stories, the Devon of the past blacks out and loses time and wakes up in some other time or place.  Or he’ll describe the conditions of a location that he doesn’t (or won’t let himself) understand, but the audience is piecing together just what it means, and it’s not good.  Some darker force is haunting (stalking? using?) the men of this family to serve an addiction of its own.

“That guy who’s always standing right behind you.  I don’t like him.”

“Bay Creek” is the best kind of horror (at least for me as an audience member).  It’s not about blood or dismembered limbs.  It’s a story that plays with your mind, creates a world and a cast of characters, even though there’s only one person on stage, and slowly takes you by the hand and leads you into the dark.  Miller has crafted a devious little script, and he’s the perfect performer to act it out.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended 

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

  

Fringe 2026 Review - Witness Loudly - Tribute to Community Under Threat - 5 Stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 17: Witness Loudly: storyteller Kyle Dekker puts his work as a constitutional observer into the larger context of MN’s response to ICE occupation earlier this year (and still ongoing); compelling, justifiably angry but also hopeful and funny; 1st draft of history - 5 stars

When Operation Metro Surge brought armed ICE agents to Minnesota streets (no, not just Minneapolis, but Saint Paul and other areas of the state as well), storyteller Kyle B. Dekker didn’t just sit in his house and worry.  He joined his neighbors out on the streets, patrolling the neighborhood to keep their fellow citizens safe. “Witness Loudly” is a show built from the written and video documentation Kyle has from that time, along with recreations of the rapid response calls to incidents around the city of Saint Paul (with voice work by actors Quincy Anderson, Jennifer D’Lynn, Jei Herald-Zamore, Derek Lee Miller and Allison Vincent).

“Armed with nothing but 3-D printed whistles and their cell phones.”

“Witness Loudly” is, understandably, a show with a lot of anger in it, but it’s just as much a testament to the sense of community that built up around the efforts to fight back - whether it was following ICE patrol cars so they knew they were being watched, or arriving on the scene of neighbors being brutalized or kidnapped off the street in broad daylight, or making sure that kids had escorts to and from school, or providing families with food when they felt they couldn’t leave their homes.  The sense of hope, the discovery of things about your neighbors and neighborhood you didn’t know before.  The new appreciation of things you used to take for granted, now under threat.

“I got to know more neighbors in one winter than I had in the past 15 years.”

“Witness Loudly” is also Kyle’s celebration of the protests that took place during the surge, and the art and humor of the many protest signs and street art that popped up all over the city during that time.  A neon yellow vest and a whistle around your neck was a sign you were one of the good guys during those bitter cold weeks of the worst of the abuse.

“There are simply some things I will never forgive.”

If you need a reminder of how Minnesotans stood up to the stormtroopers, or need a dose of hope about how good human beings can be to each other, “Witness Loudly” is a compelling and humorous living document of those times earlier in the year, when things were a lot darker.  The fight isn’t over, but we’ve learned how to band together when the times call for it, and it’s good to be reminded of that.  (Also, the proceeds from “Witness Loudly” go to the arts and community activism organization Indigenous Roots, which continues to provide mutual aid and community support.  Throw them a donation in addition to buying a ticket, while you’re at it.)

5 Stars, Very Highly Reommended

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

  

Fringe 2026 Review - 1 Hour Left To Live - Deathbed Puppet Antics - 5 Stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 12: 1 Hour Left To Live: 1 puppet on its deathbed, surrounded by a team of fellow (human) improvisers, creating a wacky non-linear rapid fire tour thru the puppet's life (and afterlife) with a little stand-up comedy right in the middle; inspired lunacy tied to a rocket - 5 stars

A person on their death bed?  Not funny.  A puppet on their death bed?  Comedy gold.  In the right hands, of course.  Thankfully in “1 Hour Left To Live: A One Puppet Show by That Felt Good,” the puppet is on the hand of co-writer/co-producer Phoebe Bottoms, who’s also a gifted improviser.  Flanked by a team of equally quick-witted improv comedians (Steph Callaghan, Zelia Gonzales, Eric Heiberg, Patrick McIntyre, James Moore, Chris Rodriguez, Phillip Simondet, and Meg Trowbridge), the puppet recounts the highs, lows and regrets of their checkered past.

“Maybe I equated sandwiches with love.”

Not right away, however.  Pal the puppet has a tendency to plagiarize details from actor Chazz Palminteri’s biography, as laid out in the one-man show “A Bronx Tale” (which later became a movie).  However, after an extended riff in this vein to start the show, the priest, Father Padre (co-writer/improviser Victor Gonzalez), calls the puppet out on his lies and implores him to tell his real story.  First, Father Padre asks the audience for a couple of suggestions (the day I attended, the chosen elements ended to being the occupation of race car driver, and activity of jumping rope). And a couple of suggestions are all improvisers this gifted need to get things rolling.

“Jesus and the 12 disciples and the last improv jam.  These are my suggestions, use them in remembrance of me.”

What follows is a random, non-linear recounting of major events and relationships (parents, teachers, lovers, children) of the puppet’s life which keep building on one another and cycling back around with callbacks of characters and themes recurring to hilarious effect. Layering on top of the improv is music director John Hilsen on keyboard, providing a soundtrack that either fits the mood of the current scene, or could prod it in a different direction (wait a minute, is someone about to kiss a puppet, or is the puppet about to kiss them?). With Bottoms articulating the puppet’s movement and giving them a voice, the puppet can either be a regular scene partner, or devolve into adorable hugging and cuddling.

“My ears!  Where are my ears?!”

Partway through, the puppet admits to Father Padre that, “I’ve died before.”  But what they mean is, they spectacularly failed in their stand-up set at a comedy club once.  Which is where the rotating roster of stand-up comedians come in (the day I saw it, the comedian was Lily Meyer; but it changes with each performance.  The other comedians on the roster were Jamie Carbone, Ben Katzner, James Stanley, and Comrade Tripp).  It’s an excuse for a comedian to do a tight five before Pal the puppet comes out and does their terrible stand-up set (which again, they’re stealing material from A Bronx Tale).  During the guest comedian’s stand-up set, the other improvisers disappear into the audience so they’re ready to mercilessly heckle the puppet for their Bronx Tale misappropriation.  So yes, the puppet has died (on stage) before.  This sequence is also an excuse for the voice of Comedy Club Announcer Ron Lynch to make comments about the night’s menu, their riot-prone environment, and bemoan that one of the waitresses dumped him.

“We weren’t gonna kiss!”
“Who doesn’t want to kiss their school principal?”

Soon after, the puppet actually dies.  But wait, the show’s still got a lot of time in the hour left.  Oh, Father Padre tells the audience it’s now time to determine the fate of Pal the puppet’s eternal soul.  Depending on audience response (singing like angels or howling like demons), the puppet goes to Heaven or Hell, or if Father Padre think it’s too close to call, the puppet goes to Purgatory.  At the performance I attended, Purgatory it was.  In the afterlife, the puppet meets new folks, but also people they recognize from the cast of characters we were introduced to during their life retrospective.  And, oh no, Chazz Palminteri’s there, too, and he’s pissed.

“Here to stare into the void, too, huh?”

Co-writers Bottoms and Gonzalez, with fellow co-writers Colin Klug and Matt Olson (also director/co-producer) have built a great framework in which all the improvised biographical antics can take place.  And the life story, just like the afterlife sequences, are rapid-fire so no bit hangs around long enough to wear out its welcome.  So when there’s a callback, the audience is on board with a returning character and another twist in the relationship.  Here, of course, with the race car driver prompt, we got a race or two, plus some comedically horrifying accidents.  Your results will vary depending on whose shouted suggestion makes the cut.

“What are we doing on the Eiffel Tower?”

“1 Hour Left to Live” is great improv comedy that also has the benefit of a beginning, middle and end like a more standard story, so all those jokes have somewhere to land.  Like I said at the top, inspired lunacy tied to a rocket.

5 Stars, Very Highly Recommended 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

 

Fringe 2026 Review - A Revolution Highly Favorable - Cheeky Voices from the Past - 5 Stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 11: A Revolution Highly Favorable: 1st of 5 completely different shows, bringing to life the words of people who lived thru birthing the USA 250 years ago, with a big wink toward the situations and sensibilities we're living with today; smart, funny, mind-boggling - 5 stars

Maximum Verbosity’s philip andrew bennett low has tackled an even bigger project that I anticipated when attending the first performance of “A Revolution Highly Favorable.”  From the information available pre-show, I had gotten it into my head that all he was doing was performing excerpts from the writings of American Revolutionary War combat medic, historian and prisoner of war David Ramsay, and that Ramsay’s records somehow covered the whole expanse of time that low was engaging with, from prior to the first shots of the war being fired through the war and up to the creation of the nation’s new government.

“No nation can adore more than one man at a time.”

But I should have known that this would be too simple a task for a research enthusiast such as low.  Ramsay’s writings were being adapted here for the first time, but there were also a great many OTHER sources from the late 18th century that the writer/performer was incorporating into this historical tapestry.  Multiple perspectives from the time, alternating with low’s own writing, synthesizing the history and setting up the next set of reference points for the writings of the period.

“The people were provoked beyond endurance.”

Given the current goings on in the United States, presentations of history can land a bit differently in a new context.  For instance, the summary of the content of the first performance, which I attended was as follows:

“When a distant autocrat imposes a series of crippling tariffs, a peaceful protest movement is met with overwhelming force.”

So… yeah, there’s that.

The artist here is reminding us that where we are in some ways isn’t all that much different from where we were 250 years ago.  We made it this far.  We’ll keep going.  But being reminded of the past is helpful.  At times, emotion crept into his voice as if he were talking bout something like the occupation that happened here several months ago, rather than about something that was hundreds of years in the past. Though some of the language can be a bit old-fashioned, low has assembled and performs it in a way that it’s always easily understandable.  And low’s own narrative sections, setting the larger context in which these people penned their thoughts, are a helpful framing device for aiding that understanding.

“If she is but just, and we are but free…”

This is a different kind of storytelling production for Maximum Verbosity, but it still fits neatly into their mission, a theater company history steeped in the legends of old was bound to get around to our own American legends eventually.  It’s good to have this kind of adult examination of American mythology, seeing it more clearly as actual history and not the gauzy overview we got from history classes in grade school.

“A perfect calm in the political world is not long to be expected.”

All of which makes this show sound very “serious” - but the founding citizens of the new country, in addition to often being well-spoken, also did have a sense of humor, and satire, in their writings, including poems and song lyrics.  They also weren’t above being a bit petty or spicy when the occasion called for it, and low takes full advantage of these opportunities in his source material. So there’s amusement to be had here as well, it’s not a dry history lesson.

“Reason alone has never accomplished anything.”

After all these years, it’s still fun for me to just be in a room and watch phillip andrew bennett low wrangle with reams of language, crafting it into a larger narrative - and here it’s a five-part narrative of the founding of the United States of America, with useful perspective on the state of the country today by comparison. philip doesn’t hit you over the head with it.  He just has to present the material for you to think to yourself, “well, that sounds familiar.”  Each performance of “A Revolution Highly Favorable” is its own self-contained thing, so you can drop in anywhere in the run and get something out of it.  No homework necessary, he’s done that for you already.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

 

Fringe 2026 - Day 7 in Brief

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

#mnfringe show 31: Maniac: not at all what I expected; no need to fear this show, unless you're terrified by audience participation, of which there is a lot from start to finish; Fringe crowds are good sports so this mock trial with many detours did reach its destination; playfully dark - 4 stars

My Fringe Top 20 write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 32: A Real Piece of Work: impressive work by all involved (direction, script, acting ensemble of 10); characters well-balanced in terms of getting their moment, just enough depth not to be stereotypes, just silly enough to make great comedy out of ill-fated Hamlet attempt - 5 stars

My Fringe Top 20 write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 33: FAST Death of a Salesman: classic play hilariously torn into tiny pieces by college professor trying to reach his screen-addicted nephew employing a cast of misfits to (somehow) turn theater into something relevant by making it all the things it's not; comedy meltdown - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 34: Hell on Wheels: The Winter Strike of 1934 - stirring theatrical slice of Minneapolis union history, cleverly written and staged; modern physical theater work alongside period detail, and music, all perfectly blended together; tough assignment but they nail it - 5 stars

My Fringe Top 20 write-up on this show

 

 

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

 

Fringe 2026 Review - The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy - Lighthearted Fun, with So Many Options - 5 Stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 21: The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy: perfect family fare; puppeteer and marionette Turtle Boy engage audience multiple times to steer the plot, and volunteer for cemetery and fight training scenes; charming, silly, nimble improv; whole audience very into it - 5 stars

Visiting New York City puppeteer Emmanuel Elpenord and his marionette alter ego Turtle Boy are a charming pair of entertainers with their show “The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy.”  And they aren’t kidding, there are many points in the performance where there is an option to go one way or another, on which the audience gets to vote and steer the narrative.  As is common with improv audiences, there’s a lot of noise and chatter at the start, but Elpenord quickly gets the audience on board, calling for applause or cheers for an option one at a time, and then he has the final say on which group sounded more enthusiastic. 

“Here’s our picnic!  Only vegetarian options, because I’m a turtle.”

But the puppeteer is also quick to get the audience to bond together, and bond with Turtle Boy, right at the very start.  Turtle Boy, just as he was in the previews the night before Fringe began, is a little spooked by crowds (“So many people, even more than there were yesterday!” Nice to hear the audiences are getting bigger, even though it quickly causes Turtle Boy to duck behind the performer’s leg.) Getting a clap and chant of “Tur-tle Boy, Tur-tle Boy” going gets the puppet to “come out of his shell” (OK, that joke’s out of the way early in the show, too.)

“Is the end of Turtle Boy?  Should Turtle Boy give up?”

Once the adventure gets going, there are also a couple of opportunities to have volunteers come up on stage and interact with Turtle Boy.  Well, the first one we had was a body in a cemetery, so not a lot of interacting there.  The second option was for someone to join Turtle Boy for fight training, except it was a Battle to the Death… of Rock, Paper, Scissors.  A lot of fun to be had, even for the little girl who was a corpse.  Elpenord was also good about not taking both volunteers from just one part of the audience.  So everyone really did feel included, which is not an easy thing to keep in balance in a show like this.

“The bridge is out!  Do we make the jump or dive in the water?”

The adventure when I attended had to do with defending a secret salad dressing recipe from some competitors who sent a gang of Cajun Cowboys (the other option was Russian Robots :) to take Turtle Boy out and steal the recipe.  After the inevitable action sequence of Turtle Boy battling them to a draw, he had to go on the run, after stopping off to say goodbye at his friend’s grave, and then some fight training, before a climatic car chase.  Your adventure will vary.  Another amusing audience interaction took place when Turtle Boy asked the spectators about the message on his friend’s grave.  A very alert audience member quickly piped up with “Avenge Me!” which was a big hit.

“This salad dressing stuff is getting out of hand.”

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this one.  Emmanuel Elpenord is a gifted performer, both as a puppeteer and in managing an audieince.  He even does his own pre-show music, riffing on the flute in conjunction with music tracks playing on his computer.  If you need something light and fun, you should check out “The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy.”

5 Stars, Very Highly Recommended

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival. 

 

 

Fringe 2026 Review - Bury The Leads - Better for the Struggle - 5 stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 22: Bury The Leads: top tier improv from Sam Landman and Nissa Nordland as 2 striving supporting actors who never get the lead roles but keep on fighting; their strong friendship the thing that keeps them going despite the daily indignities; funny, sweet, yearning, human - 5 stars

Sam Landman and Nissa Nordland created the characters of Clyde and Faye, respectively, and have channeled all their talent, experiences, and frustrations with the life of a working actor, into the improv comedy duo "Bury the Leads" (coming to the Fringe under the banner of Nordland’s producing company Special When Lit). In addition to these two main characters, who ironically seem to be destined to a career of supporting roles, Landman and Nordland also play a host of other characters in the entertainment industry (directors, agents, fellow actors, family members, cinematographers and crew).  They take input from the audience at the beginning of each show with a couple of questions (the night I attended it was “what’s a mundane task you don’t like?” and “how do you flirt?”) and selection of a couple of random accessories from their big bin of costume bits and pieces they’ve labeled as “Make ‘Em Ups.”  From there, things go in all kinds of comedic directions.

“We are not assigned to one or the other.”
“Because we have MASSIVE range.”

Central to the concept is the friendship between the characters of Clyde and Faye - how they support one another, how they continue to grow closer.  We see them individually and together enduring the absurdities of self-tapes, auditions, and meals with agents to talk about options. Because they’re supporting players to the rest of the world, they’re often working with characters that don’t have names, or characters who have only one, or no, lines.  Clyde and Faye, though, are always fully formed human beings, even if the people around them sometimes come off as stereotypes.  But even these “bit players” in Clyde and Faye’s universe have their little moments of humanity peek through sometimes.  It’s often satirical, but never mean-spirited.  Even the transition “music” bits, also created by Sam and Nissa, are hilarious, accompanied by slides that let the audience know what’s about to happen.  They’re pseudo-funky meta commentary on the actors’ need to take a water break or change a costume piece, even as those performers are right in front of us, doing whatever.  That, too, is the life of an actor, getting the transitions right, on and off stage or camera.

“It’s not a thing.  Don’t treat it like a thing.  I just need to tell you something.”

It’s a tribute to Landman and Nordland that audiences can so quickly become invested in the success or failure of these two struggling artists, wanting them to succeed, or at least have someone give them a chance, or really just see them.  You also could be forgiven for rooting for the two of them to get together romantically.  The thing that really landed the night that I saw them was a moment when Clyde was getting a big case of imposter syndrome, genuinely wondering if he was even an actor at all, if he’d just been wasting everybody’s money and time (especially his own).  Then Faye steps in and becomes his cheerleader, reassuring him that he is the artist he wants to be; she sees it even if nobody else does.  You don’t have to be in the arts to have that crisis of faith in yourself, or to wish that you had a good friend like that to keep you from spiraling.

“I don’t need your opinion.  Just stick to the lines.”

All of which makes this whole show sound much more serious than I mean to.  It is, first and foremost, an improv comedy concept, and Landman and Nordland are very gifted improvisers and comedians, in addition to being able to pull off those human moments that are constantly punching through the larger narrative of Clyde and Faye’s absurd career struggles.  Kudos also to Kayla Dvorak Feld listed as Performance Advisor, for the assistance she offers in helping the two creators and performers to fine-tune and adjust the concept.

If you need a laugh, "Bury The Leads" has buckets full of them.  Along with generous dose of heart.

5 Stars, Very Highly Recommended

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival. 

Fringe 2026 Review - Don’t Be Scared - Freakishly Good Fun - 5 Stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 19: Don’t Be Scared: deeply strange/funny in all the best ways; 2 German clowns as zombie business professionals with singing, dancing, acrobatic presentation for the audience on confronting fears and beating back the darkness; best use of Rarig X space (and crowd work) - 5 stars

As an audience member, I am perhaps too easily creeped out by things like horror, violence, blood and zombies (just to name a few), and so stay away from things that might otherwise delight me.  (For instance, I love the community of the Twin Cities Horror Festival, but I am often too squeamish to sit through it myself.) The zombie clown antics of Band Practice (performers Lisa Ullrich and Ash Willison, and dramaturg Lena Katzer) in their show "Don't Be Scared" were borderline for me, but Fringe is a time when I try to push myself a bit more, and these folks were coming all the way from Germany, so I wanted to throw some support their way.  After all, it was only an hour, so if I was going to be uncomfortable, it wouldn’t be for long.

“Where do you come from?”
“Minneapolis.”
“I come from the dark.”

Turns out, I had nothing to scared of, just like the title says.  Were the clowns (named Stacy and Gunter) creepy-looking in their black and white face makeup and oversized suits? Yup.  Is the Rarig Xperimental Theatre darker than usual for this show?  Yup.  But are these zombie clowns also constantly smiling, speaking in reassuring tones, and engaging the audience in inventive and amusing ways? Also yup.

“There are four ways to deal with the darkness.”

Ullrich and Willison make great use of almost literally every corner and level of the Rarig X space.  Thanks to a headlamp and the sound of the actors’ voices, even in the dark you’re not subjected to any serious jump scares.  Plus, Stacy and Gunter are here to help us face our fears (including the darkness).  After establishing a rapport with the audience, starting with their elaborate acrobatic entrance dealing with a set of stairs as a team, the clowns gather an assortment of random fears from the audience and sketch or write them on their big presentation pads of paper, and proceed to act them out, improv style.

“It’s getting colder.”

There’s also a thread of music running through the show, popping up at the most unexpected times, thanks in part to an empty blue plastic jug and stick they use for percussion.  The show has everything from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” to “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands” to Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure”  to Tears For Fears’ “Shout” to Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” to a full-on dance party with Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”  Some of these are caught up in the improv of it all so your song list may vary slightly, but there are a number of tunes that seemed baked into the structure of the show.  (Will you get riffs from Katy Perry or Disney’s Aladdin or the musical Grease or Judy Garland’s “Over The Rainbow”?  Who can say?)

“Now, imagine the light.”

Ultimately, “Don’t Be Scared” is an amusing and uplifting bit of crafty community-building.  The audience comes together as a group to deal with these two weirdos and their strange requests, and in return we all get the affirmation that though life may be scary in any number of ways, things work out better if we all face the scary things together.  And nothing’s better as a bonding experience than an oddball piece of interactive live theater.

5 Stars, Very Highly Recommended

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival. 

 

 

Fringe 2026 Review - The Quiet Piggy - Purging Some Negative Energy - 5 stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 14: The Quiet Piggy: colorful, cathartic, pissed off Powerpoint presentation augmented by music and a fat, pig-nosed clown in a bad wig repeatedly killed and swept off stage like trash; preaching to the choir with humor, heart and righteous anger; good to exhale, de-stress - 5 stars

“I’ve been to Horror Fest, I know how this works.”

Minnesota Fringe Executive Director Dawn Bentley (now in her 10th year with the festival) decided to take the plunge and independently produce a show of her own this year because she had some things to get off her chest.  Given the general state of society and the arts right now (and the packed house that attended her opening performance), a lot of us may also be feeling that way.  (And if you’re not one of those folks, then this show probably isn’t for you, fair warning.)

“Art makes life more manageable, and more meaningful.”

“The Quiet Piggy” is very entertaining and cathartic for anyone (including yours truly) fed up with the current federal government and all the shenanigans they’ve been up to since regaining power last year (many fatal, the rest either cruel or stupid or both). The show includes both the sublime (Bentley’s thoroughly researched and smartly edited narration) and ridiculous (clown Luke Fanning’s pig-nosed portrayals of the person currently squatting in [and demolishing parts of] the White House and other odious officials).  The audience even gets to suggest (through a basket out in the lobby) ridiculous ways to die for clown reenactment.

“I do hard things.  I’ve created humans from scratch.”

I also learned all kinds of new things I didn’t know about Dawn’s own personal and professional journey through life that led her to where she is now (lucky us).  Bentley is a fierce advocate for both the arts and basic human decency, so her anger is refreshing.  She’s also assembled a great team to help her execute this project - co-directors Rita Boersma (also seen this year in Tech) and Jen Scott (with a great solo show of her own this year, Sound and Noise and Bodies); dramaturg (and tech booth board operator) Heather Meyer, and the previously mentioned clown antics of Luke Fanning (who can also be seen this Fringe in The Improv Movement Project’s show Silent Movie!).

“Why are they fondling Mother Earth?”

It’s fun (and inspiring) to watch Dawn jump off this new artistic cliff, part multimedia slide show, part (metaphorical) food fight, saying out loud with her whole chest things many audience members (myself including) have been stewing about silently for a while now.  It’s nice to be in a room with others and know you’re not alone.  And isn’t that, at its heart, what theater is made for - community?  Thanks for the foul-mouthed sermon, Dawn Bentley.  I needed that trip to my theater church.

“I’m not your girl, but I am 100% that bitch.”

Side note, best use of a sound cue, the chorus to Neil Diamond’s song “Sweet Caroline,” to get the whole audience on the same page in under five seconds. (If you know, you know.)

5 Stars, Very Highly Recommended

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival. 

 

 

Fringe 2026 Review - Doozy - Whimsical Live Action Cartoon - 5 stars

Review on the fly:
#mnfringe show 13: Doozy: Destiny Davison and collaborators keep topping themselves each new show; live action cartoon/puppetry in black and white; goofy time loop revenge plot on Dolly by abandoned imaginary friend Doozy, who talks by harmonica; packed with whimsical cardboard creations - 5 stars

Getting stuck in a time loop on a very rare day off doesn’t seem like it’d be all that terrible - endless vacation, anyone?  But of course, the day never changes, and that can get old.  To get out of the time loop, Dolly Who (Destiny Davison) needs to mend the relationship with her childhood best friend Doozy (Britt Johnson), a glove with big, bulbous eyes who speak only via harmonica. However, first Dolly has to remember that Doozy exists. 

“Do you ever think about time?”

Dolly also has invisible roommates, the Movers (Cody Madison and Deanna Pistono), who helped her move in and never left, existing as they do in a dimension right next to our own.  So Dolly can’t see the Movers (though we of course can), but she does see when they move things, like pulling out a chair for her, or moving a piece on the game board.  Seated at a table on the side of the stage is Erik (Erik Ostrom), providing music and sound effects.

“Revenge is the whipped cream on a ‘cry for help’ sundae.”

Doozy presents her scheme to the audience at the top of the show by unfurling a large paper scroll with the steps of her plan written and cartooned in amusing fashion, which also conjure up sound effect memories of the past friendship that only enrage Doozy more.

“Doozy, I’ll never forget you… forget you… forget you…”

Dolly at first is just having a hard time with the concept of a day off.  Normally she works as the host of an educational show that’s a cross between PeeWee’s Playhouse and Sesame Street, and she sort of lives inside the show.  So she has to stop herself from spelling everything out or imparting simple life lessons.  She still engages with some of the show’s regular characters, like the Sad Sunflower, or Trash Heap, the talking trash can, both of whom have the same big eyes that Doozy does (both also Johnson), and the Good Morning Birds, who insist on singing about everything from friendly greetings to eating breakfast (also Madison and Pistono)

“How will I sustain my mistresses?!”

This may make it sound like the world is very colorful, but Davison’s artistic signature is cartoons drawn in black and white, and the set and props and characters are all extensions of this.  Dolly and the Movers are dressed in black, though Dolly has white accents painted on both layers of her costume, the outer jumpsuit and the next layer of formal clothing underneath it.  Sad Sunflower is a cardboard or foam cut-out three dimensional version of a a black and white cartoon.  Trash Heap is a small trash can, painted white, with those big eyes attached to the lid which moves up and down like a mouth.

“Don’t eat Frosted Flakes!”

There’s a whole impressive setting created by Davison, manifesting her style all over the Open Eye Theatre stage, including a large cardboard wall with a big opening in it to serve as Dolly’s TV screen, presenting snippets of several different satirical TV shows spoofing soap operas, reality TV, and personal injury law firm commercials. Madison and Pistono act all these out using black and white cartoon puppet figures.  It’s all very amusing and inventive, just like Dolly’s bizarro world board game, and enormous TV remote control, again manifested in black and white painted cardboard.

“Let’s be bad - they’ve also got godlike power over space and time.”

No one’s aware of Doozy’s time loop revenge plot/cry for attention until Doozy literally rewinds the clock and everyone goes through the entirety of the first chunk of the Fringe show in reverse, and then Dolly starts the whole show over again, hit over and over with a sense of deja vu.  Everyone needs to learn a lesson about friendship, however quirky and offbeat, in order to resolve the crisis.

“You’ve been out here the whole time.  I just didn’t see you.”

Destiny Davison has found a great team of collaborators here, who help her do much more than she could do with a solo show.  The sheer scale of the production is impressive, yet another step up from her previous, and equally enjoyable past shows. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this production.

If you’re looking for something different, or just want a bit of whimsy, and to see an artist create a world on a 3-D canvas, Doozy is a great option for you this Fringe.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

  

Fringe 2026 - Day 6 in Brief

 

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

#mnfinge show 27: Quadrilogy: A Sabathani Benefit Game Show Extravaganza! - sharply executed game show format pitting 4 eager audience members against each other in elimination rounds (memory, Lego, lightning round) til 1 is victorious (but all get prizes); great fun for a good cause - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show 

 

#mnfringe show 28: That Was Shakespeare: A Revue - well-intentioned but awkwardly executed collection of scenes by the Bard; seemed a bit condescending; maybe needed better direction; actors each had good moments (Beatrice/Benedict a highlight) but elsewhere a lot of unnecessary screaming - 3 stars

My Fringe Top 20 List write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 29: Pistachio’s Playhouse: unexpectedly short show (30 min) but every minute was fun, colorful and weird with LOTS of surprises; manic kids show host melts down when tragedy strikes; set, costumes, puppets, sound FX all wildly, delightfully over the top/meta; more, please! - 4.5 stars

My Fringe Top 20 List write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 30: Buckeroohaiku’s Reverse Armando: Kate Button's storytelling refracted tonight thru the improv comedy lens of The Mess; stories this time more a collection of random parenting anecdotes, so the improv was equally random but both still quite good, funny and entertaining - 4.5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show  

 

 

 

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

  

Fringe 2026 - Day 5 in Brief

Monday, August 10, 2026

#mnfringe thoughts: I keep forgetting how much my scheduling prior years depended on Mom's visit Thurs-Tues; because of her, I'd have the first weekend all plotted out, then decide on Mon-Tues when she arrived. W/out that push I've been scrambling day to day instead :) Plotted Mon-Fri now (phew)

#mnfringe thoughts: Pattern emerging on things I expected to connect to more strongly, but haven't; maybe generational? 3 of 4 are theaters with younger (than me) artists; I'd like to think art is just art and it doesn't matter who you are but... talking to other folks about them. Puzzling... [Update, technically all 4 productions feature artists younger than me, 3 teams are just *much* younger]

 

#mnfringe show 23: Therapist Zero: it's...fine; a father's love letter to his daughter after going thru the wringer of an imperfect mental health system; skimps on the details; not sincere enough to be genuinely moving, not biting enough to be satire; means well but needs focus - 3.5 stars

My Top 20 List write-up on this show

 

 

#mnfringe show 24: Bay Creek: mesmerizing tale of family with a tradition of working on the wrong side of the law tangled up with a demonic force passed down from father to son thru generations; just who, or what, are the federal authorities interrogating? expertly crafted script, acting - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show
 

 

#mnfringe show 25: A Magician: artist himself says he's still learning how to be himself onstage, telling his own story while also performing magic; the illusions are fun; the bones of the script are there; taking time and taking the stage without apology are the next step in his evolution - 4 stars

 My Top 10 List write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 26: The Importance of Living: fascinating duet of two (actual) murderers from different times in history sharing tales of their misdeeds (and alibis) (how? why?); charming sociopathic performances from Pinkerton and Uren; script is clever, cagey and unsettling - 4.5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show 

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

Fringe 2026 - Day 4 in Brief

Sunday, August 9, 2026

#mnfringe show 16: Maxxeapolis Goes To Hell: clever premise “amuse the devil and maybe he’ll let you out of hell”; quick-witted, varied, oddball comedy sketches; funny songs; gifted ensemble; actually made me laugh out loud, which is rare - 5 stars

My Top 10 List write-up on this show 

  

#mnfringe show 17: Witness Loudly: storyteller Kyle Dekker puts his work as a constitutional observer into the larger context of MN’s response to ICE occupation earlier this year (and still ongoing); compelling, justifiably angry but also hopeful and funny; 1st draft of history - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 18: Vintage Tunes, Modern Gal: Plucky Rosenthal and her trusty ukulele, hilarious original songs and relentless (but fun) audience engagement spins a tale of trying to connect with others, however awkwardly (and aren't we all?); high energy, goofy, occasionally even sweet - 5 stars

My Top 10 List write-up on this show

 

 

#mnfringe show 19: Don’t Be Scared: deeply strange/funny in all the best ways; 2 German clowns as zombie business professionals with singing, dancing, acrobatic presentation for the audience on confronting fears and beating back the darkness; best use of Rarig X space (and crowd work) - 5 stars

My Top 20 List write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 20: Be Not Afraid: looks fantastic; big theatrical stage pictures; great cast really throwing themselves into story of Big Oil destroying a family farm; a bit overstuffed for just an hour; characters, supernatural elements feel underdeveloped despite all the talent here - 4 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 21: The Choose Your Own Adventures of Turtle Boy: perfect family fare; puppeteer and marionette Turtle Boy engage audience multiple times to steer the plot, and volunteer for cemetery and fight training scenes; charming, silly, nimble improv; whole audience very into it - 5 stars

My Top 20 List write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 22: Bury The Leads: top tier improv from Sam Landman and Nissa Nordland as 2 striving supporting actors who never get the lead roles but keep on fighting; their strong friendship the thing that keeps them going despite the daily indignities; funny, sweet, yearning, human - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show 

 

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.

 

  

Fringe 2026 - Day 3 in Brief

Saturday, August 8, 2026

#mnfringe show 9: This Body, This Fruit: Davi Gray delivers poems like a conversation (granted, with better turns of phrase :) unfolding explorations of identity, gender and self in amusing, tender and thought-provoking ways; luxuriate in language for an hour, it's very refreshing - 5 stars

My Fringe Top 20 write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 10: Tech: catnip concept for theater people, myself included; stakes are very low, but damn it's fun to see all these gifted improvisers conjure up a set of people and scenes from a fake play and just watch them cook, creating a whole world out of next to nothing - 4.5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 11: A Revolution Highly Favorable: 1st of 5 completely different shows, bringing to life the words of people who lived thru birthing the USA 250 years ago, with a big wink toward the situations and sensibilities we're living with today; smart, funny, mind-boggling - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 12: 1 Hour Left To Live: 1 puppet on its deathbed, surrounded by a team of fellow (human) improvisers, creating a wacky non-linear rapid fire tour thru the puppet's life (and afterlife) with a little stand-up comedy right in the middle; inspired lunacy tied to a rocket - 5 stars

My Fringe Top 10 write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 13: Doozy: Destiny Davison and collaborators keep topping themselves each new show; live action cartoon/puppetry in black and white; goofy time loop revenge plot on Dolly by abandoned imaginary friend Doozy, who talks by harmonica; packed with whimsical cardboard creations - 5 stars

My Returning Favorites write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 14: The Quiet Piggy: colorful, cathartic, pissed off Powerpoint presentation augmented by music and a fat, pig-nosed clown in a bad wig repeatedly killed and swept off stage like trash; preaching to the choir with humor, heart and righteous anger; good to exhale, de-stress - 5 stars

My Fringe Top 20 write-up on this show

 

#mnfringe show 15: Too Fat To Run: friend recommendation, so glad I took it; Eileen Tull is an amazing performer with a solo show that's just as funny as it is inspiring, battling other people's perceptions and her own, pushing herself to do the Chicago marathon, unpacking how she got here - 5 stars

 

 

#mnfringe thoughts: running around a lot yesterday, but it meant that I got to see a string of GREAT shows all in a row; totally worth it; no, I don't rate everything 5 stars; sh*t's just really good this year; opening weekend, there are so many options, you have to work to find a bad show :) 

 

You can find reviews of other shows in these links to my listings of 5 and 4.5 Star Shows (VERY Highly Recommended) and 4 and 3.5 Star Shows (Highly Recommended). Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival.