Dangerous Mind

Strange Danger—Planetarium

There’s a classic kind of Fringe one man show, where a comedian makes light of a dark, personal struggle, buoying the content with jokes and self-deprecation. This is one of those shows, but never seemed to lean hard enough in either direction. While the exploration through comedian Scott Porteous’s life, anxieties, and addiction are worthwhile, the show needs a stronger through-line of these events, making the show itself fall flat.

Josh Fidelak

Pool (No Water)

10…9…8… Productions—CCFM Pauline-Boutal Hall

Sometimes, I smoke a lot of dope and I have no idea what just happened, but I had a good time. That’s what happened to me here. I have no idea what I just watched, but I still had a good time. The audience responded with standing applause—I guess they had a good time too.

Ray Yuen

Barry Potter and the Magic of Wizardry

Dirk Darrow Investigations—PTE – Colin Jackson Studio

Australian Tim Motley (magically cursed with an American accent) returns with a new concept, deviating from his Fringe favourite persona of detective Dirk Darrow.

Tim is great with the audience and kind and gentle with nervous and sometimes unwilling audience recruits. There’s no doubt he’s a master of card tricks and sleight of hand, but his running through the whole card deck bit went on too long and the natives were getting restless (especially the younger ones).

His final trick with the envelope was Crazy Good and was a great finale. I’ve seen every one of his shows, and to be honest, really want Dirk back! When you have a great recipe, you don’t mess with it!

Lisa Campbell

The Comaback Kid

Lykos Theatre—Théâtre Cercle Molière

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I sat down in this theatre. Is this a comedy that will split my sides with laughter? Or a soul-searching journey that tugs at the heartstrings? Psst: it’s the latter.

I would have called this journey “brave” but de Jong says it’s not, so I won’t.

Ray Yuen

Creating Rem Lezar

Rem Lezar Theatre—John Hirsch Mainstage

Creating Rem Lezar is a 1989 direct to video musical for kids. It’s 48 minutes long and has since the mid aughts built an online cult following. Creating Rem Lezar is a 2023 fringe show musical for kids. It’s 42 minutes long, entirely follows the film, and I have no clue who this is for. Well, I know who it’s for, but it’s for a very particular kind of person who likes online content about “so bad it’s good” movies from the 80s. For kids the plot could be a bit twee, and for adults who aren’t in the know there were some technical flubs and the general kid musical aesthetic isn’t something most enjoy. If this sounds like your jam I think you’ve already seen it by now, but if you haven’t, it’s what it says on the tin. My partner, who this was made for, watched it with me and she said that the actor playing Rem Lazar did a better job than in the original film. Take from that what you will.

Josh Fidelak

BOOKMARKS

Local Rascal Productions—Théâtre Cercle Molière

The words flow effortless from Raymond, all with poetic ease. There’s something about the words he chooses that makes the delivery sound elegant and graceful. This is a ludicrously fun story that’s beautifully told.

Ray Yuen

Fake ‘n’ Bake

Oh Hello Productions!—John Hirsch Mainstage

All I have to say is wow. Ellie’s physicality is amazing, and I was never confused about what character she was portraying. Her switches between characters was so clear, and you could easily tell when she’s being the voices in her head as opposed to outside characters. Her set was very effective, and I’m really happy with how much she utilized it to further her story. I would recommend this show to anyone and everyone, it was funny, and heartfelt, and sad, and all around a wonderful show and so very raw and real.

Al Gilbert

My Body of Work

Holly M Brinkman—The Rachel Browne Theatre

In my younger years, I sang, and I had a voice. Like many things in life, you use-it-or-lose-it. With the singing, I could belt out a good scream. Aside from song, when does a good scream come in handy? For a teenage boy? Where else but the strip clubs! Today, you don’t see many but in the 1980s, every bar became a strip venue over lunch hours. They were everywhere and they were good for “a scream.”

Then I grew up and there was no reason to scream anymore—not until today. Forty years ago, my scream rattled windows. Today, I sadly found that the best I could muster was the mewling of a cat. For this show, I wish that could belt out screams like I used to. The final 10 minutes of the show are THAT MUCH FUN! Oh, and so are the first 50 minutes.

Ray Yuen

A Review of Venue 17

Why is The Colin Jackson designed with a main section—treated as a typical end stage audience and a groundling aka plebeian section?—In The Colin Jackson this consists of 3 rows on the side (audience right, stage left) who are largely ignored. If I’m going to be treated as a plebeian (I Googled it) in the side seating then at least cut my ticket price. The groundlings at Shakespeare’s Globe paid a penny back in the day; now they pay £5. (I was there last summer.)

If a show is blocked & designed strictly for end stage then please do not sell those 20 side seats. Take the financial hit; don’t sell them and instruct your ushers not to let people sit in them.

If those 20 side seats are in use, then stop ignoring that they exist in the staging of your shows. Side glances do not count as blocking for a side audience. Performers/Directors get a map of the venue’s configuration in advance. The Colin Jackson is a diamond-shaped partial thrust. The centre line in that theatre is the upstage right corner to the downstage left pillar. In a thrust, it’s imperative to play the angle.

I attended The Family Crow on July 22 and was seated in the side audience in the upstage back row. I found myself comparing the two sections of the crowd and it was like two audiences having two opposing experiences in the same room at the same show.

The side vibe was palpably low. Those 20 people were comparatively checked out. Not at all experiencing the same play as the main section audience. We paid the same ticket price and got a lesser effort. We experienced exclusion.

My husband had a single seat in the main treated-as-end-stage section and he enjoyed the show. So did the family seated in front of him, so did the perpetually smiling person seated to his right, so did most of the main treated-as-end-stage section of the audience.

If I wasn’t instantly agitated by feeling excluded and sensorially bombarded by blinding light, I might’ve enjoyed the show, too. (You’ll have to see The Family Crow from the side audience to understand.) The side audience at The Family Crow gets a frustrating pendulum-swing experience of I-can’t-see-it’s-way-too-dark and Ah!-it-burns!-too-bright! (Ugh. I miss the old incandescent lightbulbs.) As a Neurodivergent “AuDHD” person, I found the lighting very assaulting. Often it was aimed right into our underling eyes

And as a Neurodivergent person reviewing a physical space, I feel I must also make mention of PTE/Portage Place’s terrible ventilation system. Bring a parka, a bikini, and wooly socks—you need to dress in layers for that building.

I’ll be sure to get in line much earlier if I’m seeing more at Venue 17 to ensure better sight lines. I didn’t get there earlier because the trek from The Exchange District to Portage Place was chock full of barriers including locked entry doors on the Ellice Street side of the building and other time-consuming encounters along the way (but that’s a review of our three levels of government best left for another forum.)

Happy Fringing!

Kim Zeglinski