Well we are halfway through this year’s Fringe and things are going pretty well, except for everyone looking for (and not finding) the paper version of the Jenny. So I have put out a couple of the familiar Jenny Boxes (at the Beer Tent and MTC Hospo) with mini flyers in them to help people find the website. I’m also going to try and improve viewing the reviews for specific shows and give the list of what was reviewed. For now the search box in the left column works, but the results are not formatted as well as I would like.

Falling Stars—So according to the Free Press, apparently this year Nashville Hurricane is only worth 3 1/2 stars (instead of the 5 that I think it got two years ago) and Jon Bennett’s My Dad’s Deaths (a comedy) has gone from a Kevin Prokosh “Must See” (in 2013) to a one-star review, with what seemed like a personal attack in it. Of course that is part of the reason we eschew stars, or any other rating system, as that way you actually need to read what someone says about the show.

And Paper Moons—Much like our own humble publication, it appears the Free Press has also mostly abandoned printing reviews. In previous years they always had a nice pull-out section in the paper with many of their reviews in it, but now they are down to just a page a day. Last year they even went so far as to bury the Fringe with thousands of glossy review papers throughout the festival. To make matters worse all their online reviews are behind their paywall, so it is definitely Free as in Freedom and not Free as in Free Beer.

Keep the Content Coming—You can continue to send us your reviews to jennyrevue@gmail.com be sure to include your real name, the show title and your impressions of the show. Performers, send us those 80 words (or less) Shameless Self Promotions. Or if you have something else to say in general about the Fringe, send it in a letter.

Jenny Awards!—It is our time honoured tradition to hold the end-of-Fringe Bash to close out the Festival with some raucous revelry. So on Sunday July 24th at 10ish PM (an hour earlier than usual), join us upstairs at the King’s Head for our annual Jenny Awards. We create 13 kooky categories comprised of companies compiled from the content covered in this year’s Editorials, Reviews, SSP’s and Letters. The event is emceed by our own Shawn Kowalke of Horrible Friends. There is no accounting firm of Dewey, Cheetam and Howe minding golden envelopes of pre-picked winners. Instead, we leave it to the crowd to decide by voicing their approval for each company in that category, which is scored and tabulated by our human sound meters. Remember strength not length! The winner, who must have a member of their company present, receives one of our fabulous stuffed donkeys, lovingly hand-crafted by Michelle Cook.

Murray (Jenny Cyber Guru)