As I recall, the first show of last year’s Fringe was, for me, The Spy by Jonno Katz, it started the festival off with a BANG! This year I was happy to repeat the feat with his latest offering The Accident…*whimper*
Vancouver: I will be the first to admit that I was not expecting too much when I walked into Origins Coffee House to see The Hefner Monologues. John Hefner, the self-proclaimed estranged second cousin to the notorious Hugh Hefner, has written his one man show in the hopes of “writing his own Vagina Monologues”.
Vancouver: Hey, remember that guy Shakespeare? He wrote some shit and we totally jizz all over it hundreds of years later? You remember that guy? Well, playwright Steven Berkoff remembers him too and he’s created a letter-writing rendition of the troubled relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia.
With lots of shows left to see and so few to see them in, I knew that I had to catch this acclaimed sketch-com act from Montreal. You’ve only got one more show to do it - and I’d suggest you put it on your Sunday “to do” list.
In the style of High School Musical, Back to the 80’s is a same-old-same-old story about an average guy after a cool girl – the exception being that it’s chockfull of pop culture references custom made to fit a playlist of hit songs from the 80’s. If you were around for the side-ponytail, the oh-so-trendy aviator shades, the neon, you’ll enjoy the nostalgia, probably sway in your seat and clap your hands.
Victoria: Jonno Katz is no stranger to Victoria Fringe-goers. This packed house further drove that point home - but not as much as this stellar performance. Katz has been able to strike an even balance between the physical and comedic before, and he does so again with tremendous results with The Accident.
Plunge straight into this 60-minute, fast paced one-woman show, where a librarian accidentally turns to the adult video industry to find herself. This production of Chris Craddock’s pornStar takes you into the heads of four women, all masterfully characterized by Anne Wyman. Esther is a librarian who is nominated for a prize for her role in an adult video that her ex-boyfriend filmed without her knowing; she then heads to Toronto to claim the award where she meets Clarice, a loud-mouthed sex columnist, whom Esther then falls in love with, becoming a headlining lesbian porn star—to her Christian politician mother’s...
I always wondered what it would be like to just forget school, forget social pressures, and forget thinking for a while. And guess what? Just the other night, I learned that the positives of this lack of knowledge are taught perfectly in The Power of Ignorance by Vaguen. (Vaaagggguen. Vaguen. Vaaguen. Vagueeen.) Vaguen teaches us the Ig mantra ("duh"), hypnotism and skills in learning people’s names. He teaches us that it is actually good to un-learn everything you know—because hey, what you don’t know can’t hurt you.
