“Get Me the F**k Out of Edmonton” and other ramblings from a Fringe Has-been

Wes Borg—John Hirsch Mainstage

Old Fringers like us have been jumping out of our skin with excitement since we heard Wes Borg, of 3 Dead Trolls in a Baggie fame, was finally returning to the city that adored him so much. This show stands alone, but has special meaning for those of us who sorta remember those hazy, crazy, beer-soaked days of the Fringe in the 80’s. Those days were special to those of us who were lucky enough to have been there. Some of us even met our spouses there(guilty). Those days were crazier, rowdier with beer gardens packed to bursting with artists and fans; until we were thrown out to stagger over to reluctantly close the King’s Head. Parties continued into the morning. The beer garden and patio were filled to capacity nightly. 3 Dead Trolls were a major and truly important part of those days. Our Fringe has changed, evolved, and become a more serious fest that doesn’t have the boundary-pushing antics of the past. Performers and patrons don’t mix and party the way we used to. The Fest was more centralized; with the action more crammed into the city core, and especially Market Square. As the Fest has grown and expanded its parameters to the Gas Station and MTYP, for example, the tone has changed. You can do the whole Fringe and not bump into your friends. There is not the intense sharing of word of mouth that happened when foot traffic was contained around the Square. I miss those days. Enough nostalgia.

But no, this show IS nostalgic. The spirit of the late Troll, Joe Byrd, who loved my cooking, was part of this act, bless his crazy soul. You even get to be flashed by his life-sized puppet. Wes was in fine, bare foot mode. Don’t worry, he hasn’t grown up that much. His silly, goofy grin and wild curls are just the same. The show was warm, endearing and entertaining. His humour is still sharp and wiser with age. He shares his hilarious tales of life, and Fringing on the road, with his wife, who just happens to be his motor home. Go listen, and let him explain. His songs are hilarious and crude. His attitude is F-U if you don’t like my style; but the huge audience there, loved it. He was there to perform for his base and they were there to show him how much he was missed. Well done Wes! Welcome back! And please don’t be a stranger.

Lisa Campbell

Lauren & Amanda Do It

Toasted Theatre Company—Planetarium

As the write-up suggests, this talk show explores sex with no limits. They invite audience participation and the energy of the audience goes along way in driving the show. By all means, sit near the front if you want to guide the show and possible win some rewards!

Some of the informative info underlines the theme of what they try to accomplish here, which is to educate the audience about sex issues. A volunteer from the audience dictates the discussion topic, and today’s happens to be “sex work.” No one thinks past the stage when you consider dancing but there’s a lot more to it than accepting a job to disrobe (bet you didn’t know you need a license?!). I would have liked to see a lot more of this kind of depth.

The guest speaker can drag a bit—after all, who’s really that interested in his sex life? The games are fun so I would have liked to have seen more games and more educational material. Still, this is a fun show so long as you have no problems with people talking about sex explicitly.

Ray Yuen

A Drink Maker’s Guide to Spirits

Fox and Badger Productions—Tom Hendry Warehouse

While I enjoyed the music that came accompanied the show, this is not a play I will be telling anyone to go to. The show was boring and the characters were forgettable or just plain unlikable. One I wish I was able to forget was the character Justin Conner who was overacted and ham-fisted throughout the entire play and had me rolling my eyes more than once. A stand out of this show was Alex Conner played by Nathan Sawatzky-Dyck. I did love his breaking of the fourth wall and the tidbits about different spirits I had no idea about. His singing voice was superb as well. I didn’t come for the music however and found my self wanting for anything resembling an interesting story. I checked my watch within the first 15 minutes and was checked out for the rest of the play. Better luck next year folks.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Dangerous Magic

The Great Gregoire – Professional Astonisher—Cinematheque

What a magical year, and by that, I mean that there’s a huge representation of magic shows at the Fringe this year.

As far as competencies go, the great Gregoire gives a good presentation. He’s a tad shy on humour but very good at audience engagement. He does the slights-of-hand expertly and he executes the card tricks very well. Being a recruited participant, I have no idea how he does it.

One of his major feats failed today due to equipment deficiencies, which is too bad. I’m certain I figured this one out and I very much looked forward to the climax. I’m sure they’ll have it resolved for next show.

The finale, which Gregoire develops through the show, still befuddles me. I sat right in front of this setup the entire time and I was sure I would see the secret.

Whether you’re like me where you look for secrets, or if you enjoy seeing the unexplained or impossible come true, you’ll like this well-performed demonstration. Warning:  sit in the front only if you want to get called upon!

Ray Yuen

Almost a Stepmom

Standing Room Only Theatre—Planetarium

A very cute show. Our leading lady flowed between characters seamlessly. Her characters were very well defined and it made transitions that much more smooth. Her accents were very good and her impersonation of a 5 year old made me laugh. A little bit crude and predictable, I found the end very lack luster. She had fleshed out the rest of the play so well I was left feeling slightly unsatisfied. I wanted more insight into the main character and what they were feeling at the end. A cute play but not one I would run out and go see again.

Kaitlyn Kriss

The Bathtub Girls

kairos—Red River College

The choreography and the movements fill the scene well but it’s the chilling tragedy that owns this show. Stepping into the theatre, I knew nothing about the plot—and that’s the best way to watch it. If you can resist, don’t read the Fringe programme write-up before attending. Sadly, the description gives away too much of the denouement. Either way, make sure you see it. The volume of the recorded voices can be a bit low—hopefully, they fix that or try to sit facing the actors. This will be a popular show so come early!

Ray Yuen

Patrick Hercamp & Jon Bennett in New Show, BUTT different

Patrick Hercamp—Pantages Studio

Well these boys have done the unthinkable. They have put Larry David and Seinfeld to shame and made a show literally about nothing. We are talking no script, loose canon ideas, and nothing but charm and wit to sell their cockamamie ideas. The program is accurate, you don’t know what your getting but that’s part of why it’s so fun! The audience gets to become almost a third cast member. The show was us sitting down and all of us figuring out what we wanted. Many will not like this show. Your are literally paying $10 for a non show. However it became exactly what I wanted: a few laughs with two cool dudes creating something new and original. That is so Fringe to me and that’s what makes it worth it.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Inertia

Happy Accidents—Rachel Browne Theatre

“To be or not to be…” It’s been done before—yes indeed, it has, but never this poorly. The troupe shamelessly asked for some Jenny’s (which they might still get) but more than 3.5 stars from other review sites might be a stretch.

This is supposed to be a juxtaposition between actor conflict and development of the play-within-the-play. The multiple fractures between the two worlds makes it seem like swimming across the Avon between jumps.

I had very high hopes based on the start, a semi-spooky, comical address to the theatre ghosts. The Ghostbusters theme busted that ambiance immediately. I slid downhill from there. The political and social statements end up being potshots without any substance or backing. While I agree with what they say, they need more than just one-liners to affect the audience.

The most impressive display about this show comes in the form of beer cans. That’s really too bad as I’ve enjoyed previous work from these actors immensely.

Ray Yuen

Executing Justice

The Placeholder Show—Son of Warehouse

Bill patts takes a turn telling a dying inmates story. As the first person in 60 years to be executed this character’s got nothing to lose and tells it like it as. Our main subject was highly engaging and his story fascinating. This is helped by Bill Patts charisma as a story teller. The story also includes testimonies and accounts from supporting characters (also played by Patts) which adds more dimension to the story. While the main character was great I found the supporting characters weak and uninteresting, one of which just yelled at he audience for a solid 5 minutes. During those short monologues I was wondering how long before he gets back to the main character. This weakened the main characters final plight and show of insanity. The play was good but was uncomfortable and borderline disturbing at points. A very interesting play that lets you watch a man’s downward spiral to an early death with a full understanding of how he got there.

Kaitlyn Kriss

AFTER THE CAUSE

sisu\rab—The Rachel Browne Theatre

I hoped for more here. I expected intricate dance routines with eclectic music to guide me through a vicarious journey After the Cause. I had some questionable days in my past, some memorable experiences, and some that I can’t remember—all of them were better trips than this.

The dreadful music did nothing to evoke experience; sadly, the offensive rap piece was probably one of the most revealing tunes. A few of the dance segments served as a warning to the experience of your body, rather than you mind, but in the end, I wanted to see more facets. In my mind, I would have mood swings of euphoria to happy music, paranoia to eerie music, relaxation to spa music and a crash crescendo to something powerful. Unfortunately, none of those sides showed and the single dimensional show only lasts 45 minutes, which is still way too long to spend on little development.

Ray Yuen