True Blue

Cagey Productions—Onstage at Pantages

Three buddies have yet to miss a Grey Cup and spend thirty years attending, talking about, and causing mischief at every play off game. This show was 100% not for me. I’m not a big football person and I don’t care about the history of the Bombers for the past 30 years. I certainly did not need to spend an hour of my life watching it be poorly told to me by three middle aged white dude bros. The script was poorly written and focused on little besides the stats. I got none of the jokes as a non football fan and I was bored 5 minutes in. Not only was it boring, it was beyond amateur. They had scripts on the table and I stopped counting after their 14th set change, many of which included them forgetting what their places were. When your funniest ‘jokes’ are poking fun at arts degrees, calling a football player the wrong name and sleeping with’hot babes’, it might be time to expand your subject matter. Don’t waste your time or money on this show.

Kaitlyn Kriss

A one-human being, potentially comedic performance of LES MISERABLES

Living the Dream—Pantages Studio

Bad acting + bad singing = spectacular show – correct?

In this case, yes and absolutely. The traits not listed above are charisma and wit, both of which ooze out of the performer. Actor Alli Perlov, a full time drama teacher by profession, readily admits that her rendition of Les Mis is a butchering of the theatrical productions—and by all accounts, that’s true. However, her delivery style adds a dimension to this show that makes it more fun than the original can ever be.

Part musical, part narrative, part critique and all high-spirited, exuberant energy, Perlov charms the audience through gimmicks, gags and visuals. Laughs permeate throughout the show, with moments of honest side-splitting roars. This goes off as one of my Fringe favourites of all time.

Ray Yuen

Bushel and Peck

Aaron Malkin—John Hirsch Mainstage

I find it hard to write a proper review on this performance, as they had a catastrophic failure of a key prop, a light that was not only the centerpiece of many of the bits, but was meant to provide the primary illumination of those scenes. It shows the professionalism of real life couple Alastair Knowles and Stephanie Morin-Robert (of James & Jamesy and The Merkin Sisters) that they were prepared with a spare light bulb, but unfortunately the light itself was broken beyond any quick repair.

They managed to persevere and by using an audience member’s cell phone as a replacement light, along with alternate stage lighting and a few verbal notes to the audience of what the scene should look like, were still able to put on a pretty good performance.

Murray Hunter

The Waffle House Daze

Wish Experience—The Cinematheque

My first thought walking out was ‘Working at Waffle House sounds wild’, which I’m almost 100% certain wasn’t the intention. Or perhaps it was part of it. We are guided through a half standup, half storytelling hour of the risks of doing all together too many drugs and the rewards of not. Her storytelling was wonderful, but the standup could use some work, as while it was funny, at times it felt forced and even properly under-rehearsed. She often felt as though she was waiting for a laugh that didn’t happen. When the show takes a more serious tone towards the end, it felt quite jarring, which I’m sure was the point, but also a little out of place. Trying to make jokes of subjects like this can be tricky, and while she didn’t hit the mark spot on, she came right close.

Arden Pruden

Puppet Guy, Africa’s top ventriloquist

Conrad Koch—Son of Warehouse

Africa’s top ventriloquist? I can’t say, but he’s a hell of an entertainer. The merriment and laughs start as soon as the lights dim and continue through the entire show. The opening “guest” feels like what you’d normally see from a ventriloquist act, but performed expertly nevertheless.

The next characters that take stage are out of this world whacky, with hilarity ensuing. If you’re adverse to being in the public eye, you should probably stay away from the front row.

Ray Yuen

Daddy’s Boy

Erik de Waal Productions—Onstage at Pantages

By the end of this one several people in the audience had gotten out their tissue to mop up tears. This is a heavy, but nostalgic view of an apparently incredible man, and this show does him justice and then some. We are taken gently through the life of Erik’s father from his birth, to his father’s death, and it paints a stunning picture of a man who loved big, and loved hard, and wanted out on his own terms. My only regret is that I never got to meet him.

Arden Pruden

Pixels

Virtual Productions 3000—PLATFORM Centre

The premise is simple: someone from the audience provides a topic and actors Stephen Sim and Caity Curtis develop a skit based on the background. The actors take quite a bit of time to propound the virtues and the newness of the technology. If you have no virtual reality experience, this will open your eyes.

As for the sketches, the performers are not up to the calibre of the usual improv actors you see at Fringe. They struggle frequently with material, leaving numerous gaps of silence. Curtis especially looks like she struggles for fill, with Sim reaching to bridge the gaps. Despite the awkward moments, the results end up fun to watch.

A couple of hints:
1.This venue (Venue #24, not Venue #7 across the atrium) is the hottest I’ve experienced yet. They offer complimentary water on site. You should take it to keep hydrated, or better yet, bring your own refillable water bottle to save the plastic.
2.This room is very cramped and not tiered. If you’re in the back row, you may not see very well. I highly recommend you get here early to get a front row seat to get the best (and only) full-screen view.

Ray Yuen

The DnD Improv Show 11

DnD Improv—Gas Station Arts Centre

As we were leaving, my partner asked me, how much of this do you think is scripted? Well obviously not the scenes or it wouldn’t be improv, but it speaks for the ingenuity of the company that despite the random nature of the show, they always have a prop or set piece available. Much like a proper campaign, I imagine that the general story is planned, and clearly certain elements were made when characters were planned out, but it maintained all the charm of a proper improv performance. If you’re going to see this one, I suggest not picking favourites, as 3 characters died on the night that I went alone, and there has been more. I was surprised and a little disappointed when the show ended, I hadn’t even noticed that it had been an hour. I could watch this company for hours.

Arden Pruden

Let’s Prank Call Each Other

Zach Dorn—Son of Warehouse

With multiple streams of media for his puppetry, the set looks like a deck at NORAD, rather than a stage at Fringe. With some many modes, I wondered how he’s going to be able to navigate through them all to deliver a smooth and refined package.

He couldn’t.

The presentation looks fractured at multiple points, leaving the collective un-cogent. There is great potential here for a visually stunning show but he’s too ambitious in what he can juggle. There’s no discernable plot to the story, leaving a miscellany of video technology.

Ray Yuen

Tumbling After

MTYP Summer Studio—MTYP – Richardson Hall

I’m always a fan of fairy tales, in nearly every context, so this was a no brainer for me. These kids took to the script beautifully, many of them going from character to character and back again without hesitating, and sometimes very quickly. I can only imagine what the backstage looked like. While not yet professional, they all held themselves as such, and never once did the puns get tedious, as they so often can threaten to. These a long and bright road ahead for all of these kids.

Arden Pruden