The Buzz – Reviews

Love, Death + Rascals

Crosseyed Rascals—One88

Crosseyed Rascals has been a Fringe staple for years, and this is displayed with how confidently they were able to jump right into the action. This troupe operates best when the jokes are snappy, keeping a tight rhythm from performer to performer. They are extremely in tune with each other, and rarely have trouble moving from bit to bit. They all clearly have experience with children, indulging them enough to keep them entertained, while not making the scene too juvenile for adults.

Arden Pruden

Spank Bank Time Machine

John Michael Plays—Théâtre Cercle Molière

John Micheal does not just ask you to grieve with him, he demands it. What is titled as a typical Fringe comedy act turned out to be one of the most intense, powerful pieces of theatre I have seen this year. It is not, however, for the faint of heart, and the audience I was with struggled to match his energy. Spank Bank Time Machine is, at its core, a grapple with loss, no matter how dirty and grotesque that can look. Angrily attacking a common issue in LGBT+ communities, this show is a chaotic, unpredictable disaster. Just like grief.

Arden Pruden

Causin’ A Commotion

Momentum Aerial & Acrobatic Troupe—MTYP – Mainstage

The addition of a storyline in this piece was an odd choice, and in my opinion an unnecessary one. The plot, “Cell phones are bad”, felt as though it bogged down the beautiful choreography these girls expertly performed. The variety of acts as well was impressive, from contortion to aerial, and I was never bored watching them. Despite the addition of the out of place storyline, the show ran exactly 45 minutes, rather than the advertised 60, and it would have been nice to see more aerial feats from this troupe.

Arden Pruden

A Taste of Blood in the Mouth

Cerridwen Productions—The Output

A Taste of Blood in the Mouth is almost too good for Fringe. A simple set let’s the two performers and the script shine. The stark sound design heightens everything. Well deserving of a Rintoul shortlisting. The description in the program describes the plot well, but doesn’t do justice to the nuance. Go see this show.

Eric Rae

Dear Jax

To the Hilt Productions—MTC Up the Alley

This is a very touching and poignant piece with Stephen Maclean Rogers telling his very personal story about the relationship between him and his Mother and the changes in that relationship due to his Mother’s diagnosis with dementia. This particular form of dementia caused her to lose the ability to express herself verbally which necessitated finding new ways for him to communicate.

An interesting facet of the show is the letters to Jax, in which he learned a lot more about his Mother, and it helps tie the whole show together. Despite its heavy subject matter, anyone dealing with aging parents and dementia will definitely relate to this performance and hopefully find enough uplifting moments to be inspired like I was.

Murray Hunter

Entry Level Bob

Sour Candy Comedy—Son of Warehouse

This show was a hilarious and relatable comedy storytelling show about insane things that happen at work. Bob shares a variety of stories with us about some of the things he has dealt with on the job as well as reasons he’s been fired from certain jobs. He is a compelling storyteller and has an audience member hold a bitterness bell to ding when he’s getting too fired up about a particular tale. He had us howling with laughter and it made me think of the stories that I have from my time at a variety of jobs of all sorts. Sometimes at work we are given an opportunity or are in the right place at the right time to bear witness to some very strange aspects of humanity. Sometimes it’s so wild you can’t even imagine making that stuff up. Thankfully, so many of those stories are hilarious in retrospect and make for great comedy.

Calantha Jensen

Unreal: A Mindreading Experience

Mindshocker Entertainment —Dave Barber Cinematheque

This cheekily self-aware mentalist invites the audience to join in the game, immediately prompting us to question reality. Relying on a healthy dose of audience participation and interaction, his intense soundtrack helps set the mood during his mystifying mentalism. A great show for all ages; indeed many families were in attendance tonight and thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Ashley Frantik

Stitch in Time: A Knitting Cabaret

Melanie Gall Presents 2—MTYP – Mainstage

When you see women, mothers and daughters flocking to a venue proudly carrying their knitting, you know a Melanie Gall show is in the air. Ms. Gall is a Fringe favourite and known knitting enthusiast; having produced various shows for our Fringe fans with a knitting theme throughout the years.

She managed to source 100 songs with a knitting theme! Quite amazing! She treats us to some of these songs of WWI and WWII popularity, when women and some boys, girls and men were encouraged to do their duty by knitting for the troops. With these songs she has touching and beautiful videos of these people and sheet music covers, which are an enriching accompaniment.

It’s important to mention you do not have to be a knitter to love this, as I can attest. It was heartwarming during Melanie’s preshow interactive talk, to hear tales of the friendships, knitting circles and new hobbyists born at her shows. A wonderful experience all round!

Lisa Campbell

Let’s Kill A Dragon

SensibleChuckleTheatre—John Hirsch Mainstage

5 adventurers, 4 flesh and blood with one knitted doll, work to complete a grand adventure and avoid falling prey to adventure guild HR for poor performance in the field. Essentially a series of comedy skits in different locations, we follow the crew’s adventure to the dragon they need to ultimately take out in order to save their jobs. Playing larger than life characters, heavily steeped in tropes and strong accents, the delivery and writing is fun, if occasionally dragging with bits held for too long. Also, just a personal gripe, but I’m not a fan of AI art being used outside of the context of insane memes, and its usage to fill out the backgrounds was a bit much for my tastes. Extremely watchable and fun, any fans of wacky comedy and silly fantasy adventures would do well here

Josh Fidelak

The Ethan in the Room

Stark Raving Productions—Théâtre Cercle Molière

What a powerhouse of a show! I did not quite know what I was walking into when I arrived, and the show is excellent in its absurdity and comedy. The script gets into some important discussion of gender roles and identity but Ethan Stark has created something much more than that here. This show begins with the greatest mic drop of a land acknowledgement I have ever heard, and delivered a VERY essential message that had me gripped and several people crying. I am blown away by the brilliance of this work and I know that Stark is only beginning. My only regret, which I know is shared by a few others as well, is that we wish we’d seen it sooner so that we could have recommend it to our friends earlier in the festival. There are still a few performances left so make sure you get your tickets.

Calantha Jensen