This is the final day of the 30th anniversary season of the Minnesota Fringe Festival and I spent the day at the Strike Theater seeing six shows in the festivals Independently Produced group of shows. Aside from Stabby Stab Stab these were the only shows I was able to attend from the Independently Produced segment of the festival.
CHRIS DAVIS DOES STUFF is a solo show by Chris Davis who is an out of town artist and comedian that actually has two shows he’s doing in rotation. The show I caught was entitled “Seriously, I’m Not Gay” which stems from the fact that his whole life he has been hit on by gay men. He’s very good about illustrating that the title is not a defensive proclamation, but he uses it as an umbrella under which to bring up many different lines of commentary. From discussions of his relationships with gay men, platonic, and his early relationships with women, too often platonic. He also delves into topics of stereotypes, dance clubs, and college life. His humor is inclusive and positive and there are certainly a lot of laughs had throughout the performance. What is essentially a stand up routine does suffer from a lack of connective tissue, the transitions between jokes are frequently rough or even nonexist. A better flow, a more storytelling approach is what is needed to take this set to the next level.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/chris-davis-does-stuff
Truth or Truth Created by Michael DallaValle & Danna Sheridan is a combination of improv and storytelling. Each performance features a special guest, I chose this day, which also dictated that this be my day to spend at the Strike Theater, in order to see the incomparable Sam Landman. The format is that questions are submitted by the audience before the show. and then drawn at random during the performance. Based on the prompt, someone in the cast or the guest star will then tell a true story, after which the lies begin as the cast of improvisors act out comedic scenes that are inspired in some way by the story just told. Landman rose to the occasion as he always does with a story about a sinkhole in his neighborhood as a kid. He even answered one of the questions I submitted about introducing a new friend to your favorite movie, his answer is not what I expected.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/truth-or-truth
Joy; A Sketch Show is, as the title suggests, a show made up of sketches. This one was a bit uneven as sketch shows can be, the good thing about a sketch show, like anthology shows, is that if one scene doesn’t work for you it will be over soon and another one that might work will begin. Unfortunately more of these sketches didn’t work than did. I enjoyed the cast though and they were all giving it their all, it just felt that the written material never made it past the first draft/promising idea stage.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/joy-a-sketch-show
What If We Hugged? Is a solo show by Levi Weinhagen whom I’m used to seeing perform with his Comedy Suitcase partner Joshua English Scrimshaw. Their homage to silent physical comedy Bob & Reggie Go to Bed won the first ever The Stages of MN Fringe of the Day Award at last years Minnesota Fringe. I almost skipped this performance and so glad I didn’t. It’s basically Weinhagen telling two stories, one about the birth of his daughter and the second about a heart scare he had a couple of years ago. Sprinkled throughout as commercial breaks are tips on how to be a good man, all of it sincerely meant and good advice. The show is funny while also being emotionally honest and relatable and I’ve gained an appreciation of Weinhagen as a storyteller as well as physical comedian.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/what-if-we-hugged
THE STAGES OF MN FRINGE OF THE DAY AWARD winner!!!!
The Windblown Cheeks Of Lovers is a hilarious show created by Strike Theater’s co founder and Twin Cities improv legend Mike Fotis along with Rita Boersma and Tim Hellendrung. It’s done as if we are watching a news program on TV doing a full episode on the making of an imaginary hit 1980’s miniseries The Windblown Cheeks Of Lovers. Fotis, Boersma, and Hellendrung play all the characters, from the family watching the show at home, the broadcast anchors, the actors in the miniseries and the crew that made the miniseries. They are all superb, Hellendrung in particular does a great Irish accent, portraying one half of an on again off again acting couple who are surely based of Elisabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The production uses a really interesting technique of having a camera record the performers so that we can either watch the actors perform live or look over at the TV in the center of the set and see what the fake broadcast looks like. These are three of the best comedic performers in the Twin Cities and I regret this is the last performance as it means I can’t point people to it.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/the-windblown-cheeks-of-lovers
Everything Bagel is a slam poetry show by Michael Shaeffer. He’s a great performer and all of his poems are really funny. Again it’s a shame this was not only the shows final performance but also the final performance of the Fringe Festival, I would have loved to point people to Shaeffer’s show. One of the great things about this show is that it’s not simply Shaeffer reciting a group of his poems but it’s clearly curated as there are callbacks within poems back to poems recited earlier in the show. So this is more than a poetry recital of individual poems but a unified and cohesive whole.
https://minnesotafringe.org/shows/2023/everything-bagel
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