Delightfully Rude

Elaine Orion—The Cinematheque

Delightfully Rude? Perhaps slightly rude but not delightful. Orion was off and struggled to find material, often hushed in segments of silence while she pondered what to say next. This performance was somewhat of a disaster and I don’t think it’s fair for me to slam this show because I honestly do not believe that today was an accurate portrayal of what Orion’s show is normally like.

Elaine (I hope you’re reading this): you looked uncomfortable right from the beginning. I sense your hesitation in broaching sensitive topics, perhaps for fear of offending the audience. Your show’s description says that the act is “rude”; feel free to be rude. No one will be offended; and if they are, what are they doing here? They read your description and this is Fringe after all.

For some reassurance, America is a lot (A LOT) more religious than we are in Canada. We are less likely to take religious jabs to heart (I saw a show yesterday where someone portrayed Jesus as a penis). As well, Fringe folk generally are not shocked by sex jokes. Your toilet skit was very funny; you should have built on it.

I could feel you searching for material that you believed to be appropriate for the audience. Instead of a cogent and coherent delivery of gags that are scripted to build on each other, the show ended up being a mish-mash of content that had no connectivity. You should go with your designed act and stick with it. I’m sorry you had such a bad experience today and I look forward to seeing a future performance from you where you hit your potential. Best wishes and best of luck to you for the remainder of the Fringe.

Ray Yuen