Suddenly, I feel rushed. It’s all going by too fast. We’re wrapping things up and it’s only Friday as I start to write this. Our own scribes are supposed to be done by this evening, leaving Murray enough time to edit, and post the final weekend wrap up on Saturday. And catch some zzz’s as well, I hope.

(No doubt he will have acquainted you with deadlines with regard to when this all stops and we turn our attention Awards-ward. Hmm, awk-ward.)

To be eligible, a show must have caught our attention by 6:00 tonight. After that you’re SOL.

Chances are that attention came from Jenny’s own reviewers—who were just stellar this year and covered this fringe like a blanket. Considering there are only six of them, what they’ve accomplished amazing! Almost every one of the 135 reviews of 129 shows were written by one of: Lisa, Ray, Kaitlyn, Murray, Arden or Calantha. Be nice to them. Buy them drinks. They deserve it.

Still, it’s not quite the Fringe forum it used to be, and still could be. I don’t know how we slipped off the Fringe radar. Maybe we failed to Shamelessly Promote our move from paper to online-only access vigorously enough, and, without the physical presence of the Jenny, we succumbed to the rule of out of sight, out of mind.

I’m pretty sure the beer tent folks don’t miss Jenny’s physical presence on the damn floor.

And of course we are no longer the only outlet to solicit reviews, with every TV and radio station, print press, facebook page and even the damn program inviting all and sundry to review what they’ve seen.

Now, lest you forget, asking the folks who buy the tickets, volunteer, or provide the entertainment, to jump in and share their opinions, accolades, and Fringe experiences is the whole Jenny oeuvre. It’s exactly what it was meant to do.

But it doesn’t work without you. Next year jump in and add to the conversation.

And as Jenny is buried by the explosion of our own populist concept, becoming just one of the review soliciting herd, we know we have one thing nobody else does—the fabulous:

JENNY AWARDS!—Party on down (up?) to the King’s Head at 10(ish), Sunday night for our 27th hoot and holler fest, where performers and their fans can whoop and howl (briefly, please) at the mention of themselves or their favorites shows. The noisiest buggers win a Jenny award.

Jenny Awards are gracing book shelves, closet floors, and touring van dash boards, gathering dust and ketchup stains on every continent except Antarctica. True some of the earliest—purchased trophies of a gold woman holding a wreath, (I think)— and later, our first hand made, jig-sawed, hot pink & gold wooden donkeys, were what went to South America a couple of decades ago, rather than our current delightful, stuffed little equine effigy.

This is your chance to start or add to your herd. Just follow the:

Jenny Awards rules:

• A show or company has to have had some mention in the 2018 Jenny;
• Only one nomination per show/company;
• Someone from the winning company has to be there to accept. No proxies! We don’t send it on to absentee winners. We give it to the 2nd noisiest bunch, as determined by the rating the sound levels from various points in the house.
• The judge’s ruling is final.
• The judge can be bribed.
• I’m the judge.

If you know you’ll be moving on down the highway before 10 on Sunday night, please let us know so we don’t nominate you and face dead air, or even worse, cacophonous support for a no-show. Let us know, by emailing Murray at jennyrevue@gmail.com.

Better yet, tell us in person. We’ll be massing on the King’s Head patio, starting at 10 PM tonight (Sat) to hammer this thing together. Just look for the too generously proportioned woman with the black hat, and big red walker. That’s me. With luck, I’ll be surrounded by Jenny scribes, and other interested parties, compiling Jenny categories that defy description. I know. I have to describe them

So, get ready for the last show of the Fringe. Step right up and try to win a beautiful little Jenny. Best of all, admission is free!

Coral McKendrick
Editorial Goddess Emeritus