Fringe Festival 2005 Views

Into the festival's second week now, it's a bit late for PREviews... but perhaps yet still a smidgen premature for REviews. Unlike the rest of the first wave of print media Fringe coverage -- reheated reviews of Victoria Fringe plays, leftovers also featured on the menu here -- I employ a different, more decidedly nepotistic, heuristic for my recommendations: endorsement of Fringe shows by performers I already know, some socially, from their work external to the Fringe. Follow the links for prices and performance dates.

* Yoga instructor and clown Cara Yeates finances research trips to India by "picking up nickels." That's right -- she's spent more than one summer stint tree-planting in the middle of our country's great and glorious nowhere while fending off the 45th Mosquito Airborn Cavalry with shoulder-launched rockets. What's it like? Why, funny you should ask -- her Fringe show provides a pretty good summation in its name: Knee Deep in Muck. A careful examination of the true-life tales shared here may tell the inquisitive indigent whether or not they're cut out for the rough-and-tumble world of tree-planting, or if they'd be better off pursuing an easier career -- like selling their blood, pint by pint.

* Puppetry enthusiasts have slim pickings offered up to them this Fringe season (and really, puppetry, like Morris dancing and kitten juggling, is practically the very definition of a Fringe art; John Malkovich needs to put his back into raising its profile further) but one intriguing, political, presentation is Is This The Way To The First World? -- one insect's epic journey toward a mythical better life.

* Not all puppet shows equal wholesome kids' entertainment. (See: Punch and Judy.) Conversely, not all wholesome kids' entertainment need involve puppets. If you think your tykes aren't quite yet up to Timmy's Sexual Adventures, may we recommend Dianna David's the Polly Planetarium Show: no puppets AND no sexual adventures. And certainly, no sexual adventures with puppets. Please.

* A funny man with a funny stage name, often the first line of comedic attack, wants to militarily engage and inform audiences with an entertaining take on dark material. Ivan Petaluna's A Brief History of Warfare may be the only play on this subject ever to include a discussion of Swedish pop superstars ABBA. All that plus the Red Army Dancing Girls!

* Jacques Lalonde has been performing in the Vancouver Fringe for 19 years... enough to drive anyone loopy, let alone one Frenchman, but more to the point -- it's certainly an achievement to celebrate! As such, he's got top billing in The Party and the After Party (Not Starring Peter Sellers). (It's true -- he's not Peter Sellers.) A burlesque cabaret of sorts with rotating musical guests, the show could be described as analogous to "Tony and Tina's Wedding"... without the wedding, though (... or Tony... OR Tina for that matter. But there will be, I have been most assured, not just a party, but a Party. The Party.)

* Moving right along, I'm obliged to list two shows that almost certainly don't need my endorsement -- but do certainly DESERVE it: Daniel Packard's schtick is elegant in its minimalism -- he says provocative things about gender relations, infuriating audience members to confrontationally engage him (conversationally) steeped in roiling clouds of rage. Because angry people are often more than a little dopey (blood pressure... RISING! ... brain... SHUTTING DOWN!), this seems to add up to comedy gold nearly every time. Expect more of the same in this year's installment of his Live Group Sex Therapy Show. Also a guaranteed heavy hitter, The Wet Spots' Big Ass Show promises to tap into unexplored territory (nudge nudge, wink wink) following last year's Pick 'o the Fringe award with their hit "Sing Your Way to Better Sex" -- this time around with musical accompaniment by the Hitachi Magic Band! (That explains the mysterious buzzing noise...) Finally, sex education the whole family can enjoy.

* All I can tell you about This Fringe Venue Is Being Held Hostage... Again! is DAMN, it's noisy! I rehearsed in the studio next to them and we might as well have well been in the same room. If you like your comedy HIGH-VOLUME and painted with broad strokes, this company may induce a case of Stockholm syndrome in you.

* Cocktails with Lucky Eights is a talk show for people who thought that the only thing holding back the Austin Powers movies from sheer cinematic genius was all the spy movie cruft distracting from the so-called dry British wit and, more to the point, the intrinsic hilarity of anything said in an English accent. The celebrity guests? Why, performers from other Fringe plays, doing snips and previews. If you're on top of your game, there's a good chance you can even leave this show with a pair of free underwear, courtesy of Fringe sponsor Ginch Gonch. (I don't know how theatre festivals made do in the days before official underwear sponsors. It was a... difficult time...)

* Benjamin Crellin has come all the way from New Zealand just to discover that Vancouver comedy audiences aren't quite ready for prime time yet. We made a good impression of crickets during his stint on Lucky Eights, but because I liked his stuff I'm going to recommend his Gags 4 the Masses. Sure, there's isn't anything that transgressive about telling jokes whose punchline adds up to George W. Bush being a Nazi, but even the plainest political gag beats another dick joke or observation about how men and women are so very different. (huh huh, he said beats another dick.)

The Fringe runs until the 18th, with fan favourites coming back for another spin, so eat up some of these desperate theatrics while you can!

(And, uh, if you want to know what I was rehearsing... you can catch me squeezing the accordion as part of Melinda Gidaly Mayor's backup band in Jew! (a Musical) 8)