On the last night of the 2022 Winnipeg Fringe, we gathered at Across the Board Game Cafe for our end of Fringe Awards Show and Wrap Party. A huge thanks to Nick and the staff at Across the Board for hosting us this year. We apologize to those who might not have got the message that we were going to be in a new location. As much as we love the King’s Head, and appreciate their long term support, we decided to move to a new location because we wanted a space that was accessible to all. We will try and do a better job next year on getting the word out to all earlier in the festival. We will be hosting next year’s Jenny Awards at Across the Board again next year, so it was the start of a new tradition.

We were short a couple of our crew that night as both our regular Master of Ceremonies Shawn Kowalke and one of our reviewers Lisa Campbell were isolating due to Covid. Big thanks to Ray Yuen for filling in as MC and also doing double duty in photographing almost all of the winners. Apologies to Ingrid Hansen and Tamlynn Bryson who in the rush of presenting we didn’t get pictures of them getting their award.

Our lovely awards were created by hand by Michelle Cook, who wanted everyone to know that the material used for the bodies of the wee donkeys was repurposed from some nurse’s scrubs as an homage to our hard working health professionals.

Below are the categories with the winners highlighted in bold:

1. It Is a Zoo Out There!
(an award for working with a bunch of animals)

1. The Sex Life of Butterflies [Martin Dockery]
2. Crabs Gone Wild [Pinchy Productions]
3. Horseface [Alex Dallas Productions]
4. Bushtits, Shih Tzus and Private Dicks: All’s Fur in Love and Noir [Theatrically Obsessed]
5. Shadow Kingdom [The Wishes Mystical Puppet Co.]
6. Field Zoology 201 [Shawn O’Hara]

2. Don’t Speak…I like to Move It Move It
(an award for shows that don’t need a lot of dialogue)

1. THREE [Bossy Flyer]
2. FERN [Horse & Engine]
3. Minoosh Doo-Kapeeshiw [Echo Theatre]
4. Tango to the Pointe [PointeTango]
5. Journey to the Centre of the Earth [Studio Accelerando]

3. Stand Up and be Counted! or Up Against a Brick Wall
(an award for the Stand-Up acts out there)

1. Stéphanie Morin Robert: BLACK EYE (a live comedy album recording) [Stephanie Morin-Robert Performance Society]
2. Blueberries Are Assholes [TJ Dawe]
3. Paco Erhard: Worst. German. Ever. [Paco Erhard]
4. Pretty Beast [Kazu Kusano]
5. Gabe Mollica: a Solo Show About Friendship [Gabe Mollica]
6. Chris Gibbs, Old is the New New [Kelly Finnegan Productions]
7. God Is A Scottish Drag Queen (Best Of) [Mike Delamont]

4. When the World Gets You Down
(an award for shows that delve into the dark past or possible bleak futures)

1. All of Human History in 7 Stories [So Lonely Productions]
2. A Thousand Words [C. Neil Parsons]
3. Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl In Hitler’s Germany [Ingrid Garner]
4. Six-Legs [Second Date Productions]
5. Se’ed [jurasco]
6. CIVILIZED [By the Book Productions]

5. Let’s Take a Holiday or a Little Trip
(the we could all use a break award)

1. The Happy New St. Paddy’s Valentween Thank Hallow Xmas Day Show [Crosseyed Rascals]
2. AWAY, NOW – The World’s Most Desired Destination [Paul Strickland Presents]
3. mr.coffeehead [Spec Theatre]
4. I’M BATMAN 89-97 [Rod Peter Jr.]
5. Kateryna and Havrylo [Ce-Lee Productions]
6. Slowly and Sideways [Shoestring Players]
7. As It Turns Out… [TBA Productions]

6. Monster Mash
(an award for … nevermind you are just going to say it was a graveyard smash)

1. Monster Makers [North Kildonan Community Players]
2. Bat Brains or let’s explore mental illness with vampires [Scantily Glad Theatre]
3. The Dungeons ‘n’ Dragons Improv Show XIII: The Loom of Annihilation [The DnD Improv Show]
4. Something in the Water [S.E. Grummett]
5. A Grave Mistake [A Little Bit Off]
6. Macabre Tales of Horror and Macabreness (kinda?) 10 Year HELLebration [Puppy in Pants Productions]
7. Buckets of Blood – Fairy tales not for kids [Stories Alive]
8. The Ultimate Actor’s Nightmare [Club Soda Improv]

Editors Note: This was a close 4 way race with A Grave Mistake, Bat Brains, and Something in the Water all within 1 point of Macabre Tales.

7. But Sting Told Me Love Was the 7th Wave
(an award for Tales of Love or at least have Love in the Title)

1. Romeo & Juliet [Indifferently Reformed]
2. Charming & Rose: True Love [R-G Productions]
3. Courtship [Snakeskin Jacket]
4. Are You Lovin’ It? [Theatre Group GUMBO]
5. King Warrior Magician Lover [Wolfhaven Productions]
6. List of People I’ve Killed (A Love Story) [PMF Productions]
7. Murmurs of Earth [MaxQ Productions]

8. All Alone and Desperate
(an award for Solo Performance)

1. Wait So Do I Make Out With A Pan? [Buried Seeds Productions]
2. Scattered Seeds [Kolja Company]
3. The Paladin [THEATrePUBLIC]
4. The Disney Delusion [Prosperity Mule Productions]
5. Daddy’s Boy [Erik de Waal]
6. The Truth(tm) [Still Your Friend]

9. Hear our Voices!
(an award for stories told through song)

1. BEFORE BREAKFAST: An Opera in One Act [Naomi Forman Productions]
2. A Toast to Prohibition [Melanie Gall Presents]
3. Josie & Grace [PKF Productions]
4. Songs From A Wine-Stained Notebook [Big Empty Barn Productions]
5. CABARET SIDE SHOW [Wall Street Theatre]
6. Tomatoes Tried To Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life [Quivering Dendrites]
7. Chase Padgett: Lucky Break [Chase Padgett]
8. The Ballad of Johnny Boy [Walk&Talk Theatre Company]

10. Mysterious and Magical Mysteries
(They will put a spell on you)

1. Grumplestock’s [Eleventh Hour]
2. Dirk Darrow: Magic of Future Past [Tim Motley]
3. The Great & Powerful Tim: Magic Tonight [The Great & Powerful Tim] *
4. Fringe Family Fun Show [Comedy Illusions of Greg Wood]
5. An Evening of Magic & Mystery with Ken Sky [Ken Sky]

* Editors Note: The Great & Powerful Tim won the vote but was not present, so the Jenny went to Tim Motley.

11. Guy’s Night Out
(Bro… an award)

1. Hockey Night at the Puck & Pickle Pub [Monster Theatre]
2. James & Jamesy: Right This Way [Alastair Knowles]
3. Generic Male: Just What We Need Another Show About Men [PUSH Physical Theatre]
4. The Stakeout [big word performance/ jem rolls]

12. Is There a Doctor in the House?
(an anatomically incorrect award about body parts and what can go wrong with them)

1. Epidermis Circus [SNAFU]
2. Bedwetter [Drawing Board Productions]
3. I Am The Most Unfeeling Doctor in the World (And Other True Tales from the Emergency Room) [Melissa Yuan-Innes]
4. Symptom Circus [Chronically ch(ill)! Productions]
5. Brown Wasp [Saw Toe Productions]
6. The Beginner’s Guide To Suicide [Dark Horse Theatre]
7. Contractions [Best of Luck Endeavours]
8. Underbelly [Aaron Malkin]

Editors Note: There was a tie between Epidermis Circus and Bedwetter, and Ingrid and Tamlynn decided to share the Jenny Award instead of using the Tie Breaker. Congrats to both!

13. A Variety of Sketchy Comedies and a Pair of Parodies
(an award that conveniently catches everyone else who was in the Jenny)

1. Everything’s Actually OK: a variety show [S.P.I.C.E. Productions]
2. Family Dinner: Part 3! [Family Dinner Comedy]
3. The Morning After With Pam & Paula [Power Pause Productions]
4. Juliet: A Revenge Comedy [Ryan Gladstone]
5. Meagre Joys [Project Pigeon]
6. Ask Me Anything? [Keep It Movin’ Productions]
7. Lost and Foundling [MTYP’s Summer Studio]
8. Movie Musicals [Move The S Productions]
9. One Man Back to the Future (A Parody) [Historic Jukebox]

Congratulations to all the winners. Thanks to all the nominees and all the great shows out there. I hope everyone had a great time, and that you will join us next year in celebrating our 30th year of the Jenny Revue.

Murray Hunter