On the Fringe
Amy German, Brett Hooton, Brendan Murphy, Philip Szporer, Isa Tousignant
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Miss Sugarpuss and Her Burley-Q Revue
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Hour's crew sifts through the first week of Fringe goods and puts
the plays in their place
Relieve Me 1/5Directed by Robin Friedman. Written by Robin Friedman and Faraz Abdullah. With Robin Friedman, Alex da Silva and Kyle Marshall Nares. One of those plays where the actors seem nearly as embarrassed by the experience as the viewers, Relieve Me is (sort of) the story of four university students coming to terms with their ambition, needs and desires. The word fuck is relished beyond useful proportions as a last-ditch attempt to endow the story with a sense of street cred, or realism, I think - it never quite does succeed though. Actors Erik Carlson (as the witty Quid) and Kyle Marshall Nares (leather-clad Tim) give backbone to an effort that would otherwise be limp. (IT)
Miss Sugarpuss and Her Burley-Q Revue! 3/5
Directed and written by Holly Gauthier Frankel. With Holly Gauthier Frankel, James Allport and Joel Rubin. This was the second burlesque show I had the pleasure of seeing within a week, and also the fullest Fringe show I attended. The standing-room-only didn't deter me from being fully captivated and entertained by the at times hilarious charm of Frankel and her crew of half-nudies. In comparison with the Blue Light Burlesque troupe, this gang boasts more professionalism on the dance front, but also a little less raw charisma. Frankel herself, though, along with the melodious Chantale Woods and the screamingly funny Jingle Boys (James Allport and Joel Rubin), warrant the ticket price without a doubt. (IT)
This Is Uncalled For 4/5
Directed
and performed by Uncalled For. I'm really not an improv chick, usually - I remember moments of my childhood when I was asked to do improv and they were phobic, horrible, and as blankly unfunny and mortifying as most of the improv I've seen performed since. But that was then! Uncalled For had me bent over for most of the side-splitting show, an hour-long play built entirely on random audience suggestions of places and themes, which means it's different every time. Anders Yates, Caitlin Howden, Matt Goldberg, Dan Jeannotte and Mike Hughes mostly have some sort of theatre training, but what they really share is a severe case of class clownage that makes you wish they were all your best friends. (IT)Hip-Hop 4 Dummeez 3.5/5
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| Hip-Hop 4 Dummeez |
Directed, written and performed by Jerome Sable and Eli Batalion. The fast-talking funny brains behind last year's Fringe hit JOB: The Hip-Hop Musical are back from L.A. with this too-hip tutorial. Formulated like a double-disc DVD lesson, complete with extra features like deleted scenes, this play-that-isn't gives the boys plenty of showcases for their rhyming abilities, and the audience some fucking uproarious moments alongside a little education, for some of us. The duo is a real-life hip-hop crew, by the way, who's performing at Swimming on Saturday, June 18, so don't miss that. (IT)Man 1, Bank 0 3/5
Directed, written and performed by Patrick Combs. Judging from the anticipatory excitement over Man 1, Bank 0 and the corresponding sold-out shows, I had high expectations. What I found was basically an incredible true story retold in monologue form, which I failed to see the necessity of bringing to the stage. True, Combs is an accomplished, understated raconteur, which helps the audience relate to his everyman David and Goliath tale, and the piece has its own unique charm. But clocking in at an hour and a half, it was too much. Seeing as this show is apparently heading to off-Broadway, though, obviously more than one person disagrees with me. (BM)
Never Surrender Saves a Baby 3.5/5
Directed by Mike Paterson. Written by Paterson and Tim Rabnett. With Paterson, Rabnett and Ryan Wilner. Never Surrender is the world's greatest lip-synch band, and, as such, is forced to fight the evil that appears in the shrieking form of Corporate Commander. While Paterson can play an air keyboard like no one else (just thinking about it makes me smile), it's lead lip-syncher Wilner whose inspired Bryan Adams mockery draws the biggest laughs. Along the way, the boys (rounded out by Rabnett) lampoon not only lip-synching, but also the notion of the superhero. When the comedy piece attempts to move the story forward, though, many of these scenes are clunky - more money shots, less pizza delivery guy! (BM)
The Harvey Christ Medicine Show 2/5
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| The Church of Harvey Christ |
Directed and written by The Company. With The Church of Harvey Christ. The Harvey Christ Medicine Show is a poorly thought-out marketing vehicle for the "brand new" Harvey Christian book and CD, The Dead Beat Scrolls. The show is presented as a musical sermon for the church, with spoken interludes - sadly, a premise that is never explained. The mock Christian revivalist tunes themselves are great, however they don't save the group from falling triumphantly flat in their attempt to incorporate the songs into a narrative, let alone deliver that narrative to start with. Each sermon is more of a non sequitur than the last, with musicians turned actors who lack in timing and panache and flub their lines painfully. (AG)Jem Rolls' Charm Offensive 4/5
Directed, written and performed by Jem Rolls. Self-described as "big word performance poetry," Rolls's show delivers a manic, electric hour of poetry at the speed of light. Though it may take a few moments to adapt to his high-speed cadence and heavy English accent, Rolls is indeed a bevy of delightful lyrical tales. Politics, passion, stand-up comedy and personal rants are all rolled up into tight performance poetry pieces. Already in his 11th year as a performance artist, Rolls exudes his experience, professionalism and enthusiasm for his craft. Despite his description of this particular performance as a "pig's dinner of a show," Rolls, as promised, was all-out charming. (AG)
Jane 2/5
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| Jane |
Choreographed and performed by Andrea Spaziani (Dance Vein Productions). Toronto dance artist Spaziani makes her Montreal debut. She's from the modern dance school of breath, release and extension, and make no mistake, she's a beautiful, sensitive dancer with expressive arms and legs. Jane is a minimalist work, and in terms of sets and costumes, a black raincoat is the sole prop. The canvas of changing emotional states (exuberance, anxiety, depression) is revealed in pretty obvious ways, physically. Peter Katz has composed the overly loud score that doesn't always support Spaziani's well-intentioned theatrics. (PS)1001 Nights (The Arabian Nights) 2/5
Choreographed and performed by Shakti. There's something dismaying about Shakti's shtick. Granted, she's a phenomenon, almost a force of nature. But imbued with her self-conscious sense of sexuality and beauty, her performance erotica is of comic-book dimensions. She pouts, coos, grinds her hips, aches on cue - and there are those come-hither looks. Her perplexing eyebrow movements shift our focus elsewhere: Does she have gas? No question, what she does is a bore (and if you're wondering, the promotional images reveal more than you'll ever see on stage); yet when she demurely waves down the applause at the end to encapsulate what we've seen (i.e. a never-ending story), she makes it seem like she really believes in what she's doing. Note to Shakti: Hem those fabrics - strangulation by threads of silk really will upstage you. (PS)
Les Sylphides 3/5
Choreography by Christophe Garcia and Les Ballets de la [parenthèse]. With Marie-Eve Carrière, Céline Giachero and Chartine Peugeot. Garcia examines the classic through a contemporary prism. In his 40-minute version, he trashes any previous recollections of Les Sylphides's idealized woman. Under the auspices of Les Ballets de la [parenthèse], his Marseilles-based company, he directs a young cast with ease, and a few too many broad strokes. It looks like a trip down memory lane: Garcia's women are playful, repressed, rebellious and shackled by bullies and religion - but they really have the upper hand, particularly when it comes to sex. The show is bare bones, but with an expanded production budget and some proper staging Les Sylphides could have legs. (PS)
Drinking in America 3.5/5
Directed by Kelly Reay. Written by Eric Bogosian. With David Trimble. "You go in melting pot, you melt. That's American way," says Yuri, an immigrant restaurateur in this intense and engaging one-man show that explores the relationship between addiction and the "American dream." Trimble gives a captivating performance as he swears, stutters and staggers through a dozen characters, each one destroying themselves with drugs, alcohol, religion, or an all-consuming need for external validation. Written over 20 years ago, the play remains relevant today, but at times feels as if its characters were lifted from Bret Easton Ellis's novels of the same period and could have benefited from some additional editorial tightening. (BH)
The Bionic Yahoos Are Famous for a Week 1.5/5
Directed and written by Androgynous Robin. With Shawn Baichoo, Phil Harrison, and Vikki Walker. If you're a 13-year-old boy, you might find this funny. Unfortunately, most of us do not respond well to pointless swearing and diarrhea jokes. For a sketch comedy troupe that's received a fair amount of positive publicity in the past, this show is incredibly disappointing. The group trots out a series of tired stereotypes, but lacks the sense of irony or sheer absurdity to make mail-order brides, bad French accents, or double entendres about cat puppets seem fresh and funny. And what is this compulsion to make up satirical lyrics for overplayed pop songs? To the Bionic Yahoos and anyone else with this urge: Please put down your guitars! (BH)
Improv, Lies, and Videotape 4/5
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| Improv, Lies, and Videotape |
Directed and performed by Without Annette. Local troupe Without Annette returns with another show of improvisational comedy, this time turning the world of documentary filmmaking upside down. This year's theme allows for a more relaxed pace and tighter structure that, at times, was missing from 2004's Murder, You Wrote. Although the film topics change from one show to the next, the ensemble creates a world that is consistently smart, witty and highly entertaining. With long-form improv, finding a balance between the energy of the individual scenes and the trajectory of the overall storyline is notoriously difficult. In Improv, Lies, and Videotape, Without Annette pulls it off with aplomb. (BH)Moving in Reverse 5/5
Directed by Mary Fulham. Written by Fulham and Susan Jeremy. Performed by Jeremy. This dark comedy traces the lives of three women - a celebrity publicist, a troubled teen and a gambler/hoarder in her golden years - as they spiral toward an unexpected meeting at a posh party in Long Island. Jeremy's brilliant, protean acting style drives a script that is not only funny, but also a poignant look at the class system in American culture. One of the most talked-about entries in this year's Fringe, this play answers the high expectations with unforgettable characters, spot-on direction and a sensitivity that grows more acute with each roaring laugh. Moving in Reverse finds beauty, purpose and humour in the chaos of a cruel world. (BH)
Fear of a Brown Planet 4/5
Directed, written and performed by Nile Séguin. Basically an extended stand-up routine, Fear of a Brown Planet consists of an up-and-coming comedian recounting the bizarre, racially charged experiences that inevitably hound a black performer and the twisted insight he has gleamed from these episodes. Séguin's razor-sharp wit touches on a variety of topics from interracial dating to his vision of a Rwandan sitcom, and overall, his style is perceptive, confrontational and, at its best, unabashedly gutsy. Although there are times when the longer, more anecdotal form allows Séguin to wander dangerously close to the realm of political diatribe, as a whole, this is one of the best comedic sets you will see in Montreal or anywhere. (BH)
Sunday Night Live 4.5/5
Directed, written and performed by The Sketchersons. SNL oozes moxie. Not only does this sketch-comedy troupe recreate every facet of the legendary Saturday Night Live, from the guest hosts to the "Weekend Update" segment, they do it with a reckless abandon reminiscent of that show's glory days. The group crams their hour full of skits about boyfriend lattes, prostitutes who chase frogs instead of tricks and a series of morbid spoofs on the ubiquitous Just For Laughs' Gags television series. As an added bonus, The Magic Stuff band supplies quirky musical interludes that make you feel like you are in the most wonderful elevator ever invented. (BH)
Tales From Another England 3.5/5
Directed by Stewart Matthews. Written and performed by Justin Sage-Passant. This one-man show sings a love song to "merry old England" in all its joy and despair. Sage-Passant shapeshifts through a series of flawed characters, embodying everyone from drunken louts to hyper-polite matriarchs. Unfortunately, as the play says, "sometimes England's handshake is cold and distant." Despite quality writing and acting, Tales never seems to connect fully with a foreign audience and its revelations about British culture rarely inspire any earth-shattering epiphanies. Nevertheless, this play deserves respect for its attempt to present a balanced, introspective assessment of a country that, like so many others, is still searching for its place in the new millennium. (BH)
Confessions of a Class Clown 4.5/5
Directed and written by Bruce Horak. With Ryan Gladstone. Perennial Fringe favourite Monster Theatre present their quirky, hilarious and strangely heart-warming take on the class clown's place in the education system, and then ask what happens after all the spit wads have dried and been scraped from the walls by the school janitor. With frenetic energy, Gladstone guides his audience through the tribulations of his formative years as a "laugh addict" and his insincere attempt to suppress his clowning impulses by taking a job marking standardized exams for the government. Ultimately, Confessions tells a masterful story about standing up for oneself in a world that prescribes Ritalin at the first signs of individuality. (BH)
| Just For Laughs Fringing! |
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Well, I have to admit that the Fringe pretty much passed me by this year. I won't deny that I put in some time at the Beer tent but the rest is suitably hazy. Had to be a combination of the hot and hazy weather, sidewalk/street fest, and, of course, the copious amounts of beer imbibed. Still it's great to have an overview of some of the hits and misses at this year's edition. At the very least, I'm sure I can catch up on some of the most Fringe-worthy productions at the Just for Laughs Fest annual Best of Fringe show. This time I'll quaff some brews only after I bust a gut laughing at the sheer hilarity and comic ingenuity of some of the most notable and memorable presentations!
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Mark St Pierre
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{9 votes}
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| Oh...so, that's what Fringing = all about. |
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Well, for someone who wasn't quite so familiar with the whole Fringe scene, that first review really managed to awaken what it must be all about, SEX. In a Fringy sort of way I'm sure...although, I wouldn't really know what that is of course until it stared me in the face, or BIT me on the ass - whichever = more FRINGY!
N-E-hoo, that 'Hip Hop 4 Dummies' looks kinda fun, as long as we're talking good clean stand-up type of funny...which we probably aren't since I am talking about Fringe world now, which I know nothing about. How exactly did this stuff become popular? What exactly makes it a festival? MAN Montreal is the home of some of the most idiotic and liberated crap I swear. I mean, let's say one year, I say to myself and some buddies that home videos are the new inn thing, and if you get them all to have this one theme, let's say brother's who tell the most hilarious jokes, in the SHOWER, then that's our theme, now go with it! Are you serious?!? Do you think that this actually has a shot at becoming an internationally known festival? No. I don't think so.
Wow, that was more of a rant than a commentary wasn't it? Ah well.
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Dawn Manhertz
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{3 votes}
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In a time when cutbacks and censorship keep hampering artistic expression, one will never cease to be amazed by the way the Fringe has managed to circumvent it all. This is one of their best lineup ever, and it's a pity that so few of the offerings managed to make it to Hour's pages (I remember times when *every single show* of the Toronto Fringe was reviewed in its cultural weeklies). Oh, never mind that--the Fringe has ALSO managed to circumvent the dependency of other cultural ventures on newspaper critics. If you haven't already done so, just go to www.montrealfringe.ca/2005/buzz.shtml for audience comments, good and bad. It's a wonder that other artistic endeavours haven't picked up on this supremely useful idea!
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Charles Montpetit
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{6 votes}
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