Control: A Psychological Magic Show

Gregoire Entertainment—CCFM – Antoine Gaborieau Hall

This family friendly magic show draws plenty of repeat attendees familiar with Winnipeg mentalist Patrick Gregoire’s previous Fringe performances. His polished stage presence and rapport with viewers of all ages is evident in this year’s offering. With an intense soundtrack and dynamic lighting to heighten the mood, Gregoire has excellent command (control?) over his audience.

In one section for the show, these theatrical elements may have unintentionally revealed a trick from certain sightlines, but most were delightfully inexplicable and enhanced by the atmospheric effects. Gregoire is sufficiently convincing, clever, and charming for the audience to believe; or maybe he was simply manipulating our thoughts the whole time.

Ashley Frantik

The List: A Traumady About Probiotic Masculinity

Conseil Keith Serry—Son of Warehouse

Stories about breaking generational trauma are a challenging task at the best of times but Keith takes us into his toxic upbringing with heart, warmth, and laughter. You wouldn’t know from watching this performer that it was his first solo show as he quietly navigates us through these dark subjects, but his vulnerability opens the door and allows us to share in his healing.

Touching and moving without being sorrowful there is a reason this show was nominated for Best Storytelling and Best Script at last years Montreal Fringe. The world needs more good men willing to step away from being ‘the man.’

Tim Hogue

Emil Amok, 69: Everything’s Flipped

Emil Amok Guillermo—MTC Up the Alley

Heard about the cancellation of Stephen Colbert and need something to help fill the soon to be hole in your heart?

Part storytelling but greater part topical political humour, how you’ll feel about the show depends entirely on your relationship with the main sort of politically liberal, American, late night talk shows. This might not be the best show for me personally, but the jokes landed well, a challenge when reacting to current events. Things really do just keep happening all the time. The personal highlight for me was Emil’s exploration of his family’s history from the Philippines to California, and the relationship that Filipino communities both past and present have with the legacy of Marcos and Duterte.

Josh Fidelak

A Pete Seeger Tribute

Woody’s Choice—CCFM Salle Pauline-Boutal

This show is exactly what it says on the tin: a live band singalong to Pete Seeger’s repertoire, albeit with some questionable and sparse ingredients. Audience members may wish to study before attending this performance, as the band offers very little in the way of context and generally do not provide lyrics despite their large, underutilized overhead projection screen and repeated invitations to sing along.

The musicians seem to be underprepared and underrehearsed, often unsure of what the next tune in their set was or the details of relevant anecdotes that would have added more depth to their tribute performance. While the intention to celebrate Seeger’s spirit is clear, the band ultimately lacks the enthusiasm and musical confidence necessary to lead the kind of communal, energized singalong they seem to envision.

Ashley Frantik

TheOtherVName Productions

The Get Laid* Show (*Or a date? Definitely a high five.)—Duke of Kent Legion

After last years successful run host, guide, concierge, weirdo V is back to connect people.

1 couple is still together from meeting at her July 25, 2024 show.

Digits were exchanged from Show #1 this year and many have shouted

#igotlaidwpgfringe

Couples…continue laying each other by learning the important questions to ask.

Singles…sick of online dating?

Try real interaction live! (Hand raises, high fives and shout a thing or 2)

Questions about dating or missed connection? email

TheGetLaidShow(at)gmail.com

The Puppets of Penzance

Backyard Broadway Theater—Creative Manitoba

There were a lot of children in the audience and I wasn’t sure they would be entertained for an hour by opera, despite it being a puppet show. Among all the younger bodies, I only saw one get distracted after the 50-minute mark; the rest were enrapt with the entire show. This is definitely, very kid-friendly.

As an adult, I found this a wonderfully entertaining outing. I’ve seen a lot (A LOT) of opera in my life and this is not the snobby, high-brow kind of thing that everyday laypeople cannot enjoy. Quite the contrary, the silly music and songs of Gilbert and Sullivan juxtaposed beautifully with the outrageousness of the puppets. The coupling resulted in a perfect marriage of fun, entertainment and amusement. Until the tragic part (and it’s not THAT tragic), I found myself with a smile on my face through the entire outing.

For the opera-phobic, most people I know who don’t like opera, specifically do not like the soprano voice. There is only one soprano who performs only two, abbreviated arias. There’s one bass and the rest of the cast comprises of altos and tenors, which are very approachable to all audiences. Most of the operas I see are in either Italian or German with surtitles. This is sung entirely in English, which makes it a bit of a challenge at times to hear what they say without the captioning, but worry not- the plot is simple enough that you do not miss a beat.

Tip for the cast: although I sat closer to the side, there were a couple of instances where the Diva/Uomo faced the target character and turned their back on me (meaning my side of the audience). At most, you should be 90-degrees when talking/singing to the other characters.

Lovely, lovely time—bravo!

Ray Yuen

The DnD Improv Show XVI: The Chosen One

The DnD Improv Show—Gas Station Arts Centre

The wild mashup of tropey fantasy trapping with probably every single person in Winnipeg who have even thought about doing improv at the fringe continues into its 16th iteration. As always, the story continues and builds from performance to performance, encouraging a dedicated audience to return over and over to fill the gas station theatre.

The performance I caught showed the magic and challenge of the format and focus on guests, with performers from An Improvised John Hughes Movie and Wuthering Frights starring in a side plot that rapidly fell off the rails and necessitating strong intervention by the DM to bring back into the meta plot, while also being absolutely hilarious.

If you know you know, and if you want to know, book quick before they sell out.

Josh Fidelak

Randy & Elizabeth: A Savage Love Story

Macho Manitoban—One88

This is one of those shows that you would only see at the Fringe. The Macho Manitoban becomes Randy “Macho Man” Savage as he tells the story of the famed wrestler and his true love Miss Elizabeth. He throws in a few stories of his own life in being a wrestling fan in Winnipeg and his fascination with the Macho Man.

It is like a live version of a wrestling documentary, with an excellent retelling of the key events when the then WWF (now WWE) was just starting to become big with its early Wrestlemania pay-per-views, many of which featured the Macho Man.

I am amazed how he held the Macho Man voice and mannerisms through the whole show. His passion for the subject comes through and the historical details and behind the scenes stories of the wrestling world really are engrossing. Full disclosure, I was a big rasslin’ fan in those early days as well, so some of the stories were familiar. But if you have ever been interested in wrestling (or the entertainment world) you will probably enjoy this as much as I did.

Murray Hunter

1 Small Lie: Martin Dockery

Martin Dockery—RRC Polytech

With Martin, you always know what you’re going to get—superb entertainment. That’s why his shows sell out; so plan accordingly, as you don’t want to miss this. Here, he knows the trick of a good lie—use just enough truth to make your story believable. But the ever more complicated mess he finds himself in piles one lie on top of another as he struggles to remain the hero he sees himself as. He gets challenged at every turn as human nature challenges his morality. This tale combines humour with life threatening danger in a most unusual and rewarding experience. Make sure to treat yourself and make this a must see!

Lisa Campbell

Papa Ubu

Theatre Incarnate—Théâtre Cercle Molière

Take one part absurdism, one part clown, and one part satire, sprinkle in a healthy dose of Shakespeare quotes and references, and you get Papa Ubu! An entertaining (and often nonsensical) take on the “Tyrant King” archetype, it’s the physicality of the performers, and the script’s determination to throw you off every time you think you have it “figured out” that truly make this piece shine. This one was my highlight of my first day of fringing.

Jordan Phillips