The Big Kahuna...
It's been a few years since I've been to the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. The first time I attended was as the Summer Festival Reporter for CBC Radio, and it quickly became my favourite fest of the season.
I enjoyed being in the reviewer tent ten hours a day, talking to people about the shows they've seen and being in the middle of the live RadioActive show from the Casa RadioActive beer tent every day. They'd bring in performers to do a bit live on air and talk about their shows. It was a lot of fun.
After hours, I used my media pass to its full advantage, running around the Fringe like a madwoman for the last two hours, trying to catch any show I could, bad reviews or not. I saw a lot of great theatre and discovered some brilliant artists. But I also saw a bunch of stinkers, which is all part of the true Fringe experience.
The last time I was there was a few years ago when I volunteered as a photog. I enjoyed walking around, snapping candid pictures of people enjoying the sights and sounds, and reaped the benefits by cashing in on as many free shows I was allowed as a volunteer.
The past few years, however, we've been away on holidays, and I haven't been able to get my Fringe fix. But this time we stuck around, and it's so good to be back. I'm privileged to be a member of the media again, especially one who can legitimately use one of our station's two reviewer passes. Trust me when I say they are not going to waste.
I cooked up this "brilliant" idea of doing the Big Kahuna Bingo to review the plays on our show this year. I figure since there is a lottery system to get the plays into the Fringe in the first place, we'll use our own lottery system to pick which ones we're going to review. Because it would be damned near impossible to review them all.
On Friday, we fired up the bingo machine that's been sitting idle under the stairs, and drew our first bingo "winner." And my first fringe play of 2008. Here is the review I submitted to the Fringe website (as the CBC reviewer tent no longer exists...sniff):
"My first play of The Big Kahuna. It was very heavy, but very good. Well written and well acted. I had goosebumps during parts of it, and the non air-conditioned theatre was VERY hot! Way to go, women of Troy!!"
My shooter, Scott, and I quickly interviewed the actors after the show, then raced back to the station to file this report.
Jamie was working on Friday night, so I convinced our friend Jeff to tag along with me and check out some other shows. The first was Jem Rolls: or how I stopped worrying and learnt to love the mall. I've seen Jem twice before and loved him both times. He definitely didn't disappoint. He's a British spoken word poet, and delivers his passionate rants so quickly and fiercely that you don't realize you just spent the past hour laughing your ass off. It's quite the ride.
At midnight, we met Derek and Lindsay in the line-up for The Spy. I've seen two of this actor's shows before as well, and while it wasn't my favourite of the three, it was still funny as hell. You can see the "trailer" for the show here.
The Dancer who Didn't Dance is equally hilarious and gives a taste of his offbeat, understated humour. This guy is one of the best physical actors I have ever seen. I guess that isn't saying much since I haven't seen many physical actors perform before, but he had the crowd in stitches for most of his performance. The only way it would have been better was if the audience had been more into the participation bits, but it was midnight and there was no AC at the venue, so I'll forgive them. I'd recommend this one as well.
Yesterday, Jamie and I went to see Teaching the Fringe by Keir Cutler. It was really well written and well acted, and well directed by TJ Dawe. But I think Jem set the bar so high that everything else kind of paled in comparison. It was by no means a bad show; Jamie and I both enjoyed it. Just not my favourite of the fest.
That brings us to right now. Jamie and I just got back from TJ Dawe's show, Maxim & Cosmo. We first saw him a few years ago, and he was hilarious. He just takes every day observations and makes them sound so funny. M&C is no exception. Very funny show, very funny guy, but Jem still takes the cake.
If I had more time, I would love to experience more of the Fringe. I know I kind of wussed out going to shows by artists I knew I'd enjoy, and I feel bad that I'm kind of bitching about how they aren't as good as I remember. But I didn't want to miss out on the shows and performers that I really wanted to see. And with the Big Kahuna Bingo continuing all week long, I'm sure I'll get to see my fair share of those stinkers that will really make me appreciate what I was able to see on my own free will this weekend.
Happy Fringing!
I enjoyed being in the reviewer tent ten hours a day, talking to people about the shows they've seen and being in the middle of the live RadioActive show from the Casa RadioActive beer tent every day. They'd bring in performers to do a bit live on air and talk about their shows. It was a lot of fun.
After hours, I used my media pass to its full advantage, running around the Fringe like a madwoman for the last two hours, trying to catch any show I could, bad reviews or not. I saw a lot of great theatre and discovered some brilliant artists. But I also saw a bunch of stinkers, which is all part of the true Fringe experience.
The last time I was there was a few years ago when I volunteered as a photog. I enjoyed walking around, snapping candid pictures of people enjoying the sights and sounds, and reaped the benefits by cashing in on as many free shows I was allowed as a volunteer.
The past few years, however, we've been away on holidays, and I haven't been able to get my Fringe fix. But this time we stuck around, and it's so good to be back. I'm privileged to be a member of the media again, especially one who can legitimately use one of our station's two reviewer passes. Trust me when I say they are not going to waste.
I cooked up this "brilliant" idea of doing the Big Kahuna Bingo to review the plays on our show this year. I figure since there is a lottery system to get the plays into the Fringe in the first place, we'll use our own lottery system to pick which ones we're going to review. Because it would be damned near impossible to review them all.
On Friday, we fired up the bingo machine that's been sitting idle under the stairs, and drew our first bingo "winner." And my first fringe play of 2008. Here is the review I submitted to the Fringe website (as the CBC reviewer tent no longer exists...sniff):
"My first play of The Big Kahuna. It was very heavy, but very good. Well written and well acted. I had goosebumps during parts of it, and the non air-conditioned theatre was VERY hot! Way to go, women of Troy!!"
My shooter, Scott, and I quickly interviewed the actors after the show, then raced back to the station to file this report.
Jamie was working on Friday night, so I convinced our friend Jeff to tag along with me and check out some other shows. The first was Jem Rolls: or how I stopped worrying and learnt to love the mall. I've seen Jem twice before and loved him both times. He definitely didn't disappoint. He's a British spoken word poet, and delivers his passionate rants so quickly and fiercely that you don't realize you just spent the past hour laughing your ass off. It's quite the ride.
At midnight, we met Derek and Lindsay in the line-up for The Spy. I've seen two of this actor's shows before as well, and while it wasn't my favourite of the three, it was still funny as hell. You can see the "trailer" for the show here.
The Dancer who Didn't Dance is equally hilarious and gives a taste of his offbeat, understated humour. This guy is one of the best physical actors I have ever seen. I guess that isn't saying much since I haven't seen many physical actors perform before, but he had the crowd in stitches for most of his performance. The only way it would have been better was if the audience had been more into the participation bits, but it was midnight and there was no AC at the venue, so I'll forgive them. I'd recommend this one as well.
Yesterday, Jamie and I went to see Teaching the Fringe by Keir Cutler. It was really well written and well acted, and well directed by TJ Dawe. But I think Jem set the bar so high that everything else kind of paled in comparison. It was by no means a bad show; Jamie and I both enjoyed it. Just not my favourite of the fest.
That brings us to right now. Jamie and I just got back from TJ Dawe's show, Maxim & Cosmo. We first saw him a few years ago, and he was hilarious. He just takes every day observations and makes them sound so funny. M&C is no exception. Very funny show, very funny guy, but Jem still takes the cake.
If I had more time, I would love to experience more of the Fringe. I know I kind of wussed out going to shows by artists I knew I'd enjoy, and I feel bad that I'm kind of bitching about how they aren't as good as I remember. But I didn't want to miss out on the shows and performers that I really wanted to see. And with the Big Kahuna Bingo continuing all week long, I'm sure I'll get to see my fair share of those stinkers that will really make me appreciate what I was able to see on my own free will this weekend.
Happy Fringing!