The Buzz – Reviews – 2016

Outside Joke: The Improvised Musical

Outside Joke—Gas Station Arts Centre

Outside Joke’s improv efforts continue to bear fruit in this year’s Fringe entry titled The Improvised Musical, as the entry I saw (of course, with improv, every show is different) dealt with plants and gardening, and how they intersect with a secret government plot that also involved Area 51. The improvised lines involved green houses, planting seeds, glass doors, growing in people’s mouths, slow-growing succulents, and, strangely, a clarinet that sounded like a saxophone. This troupe’s form is crafty and their imagination is impeccable, so get some dirt under your fingernails and check out their show.

Beau Hajavitch

In Search of Cruise Control

Gangland Productions—John Hirsch Theatre at the MTC Mainstage

This is the most difficult review I have had to write this entire Fringe. Fortunately it was not because the show was bad. I really liked this show. Why I say this review is hard to write is due to a huge bomb shell of a plot twist that is dropped on the audience. I will get to that later.

James Gangl’s razor sharp wit was compelling to watch. He is a powerhouse story teller who couldn’t give a flying you know what about what anyone thinks. He is in your face and unapologetic and I couldn’t help but get drawn into his stories. It felt like we were all at a family barbecue hearing the cool young hip brother talk to us about what’s going on after having a few beers. This feeling was sustained throughout the show without becoming sloppy or annoying. While the show is highly polished and runs very cleanly the best moments were when he broke script to engage with the audience. Whether it be a weird sneeze or misplaced reaction, Gangl breaks to immediately address it but seamlessly goes back to his story as if the break had been apart of the show all along.

Now on to the bombshell. With out giving the twist away, this show’s ending was very tough to hear. It becomes a very serious look at how we cope after terrible things that have happened to us. What was most interesting to me was that while dwelling in this darkness Gangl chooses to not let us sit there. He inserts small funny quips to keep the audience completely out of the dark and to keep us from leaving in a very sad state. The actor even allows the audience to reinterpret the show by providing a breakneck speed run through of all major plot points allowing myself to reflect on the information with new eyes.

This play may be triggering for some. The advertising is misleading as the entire show is not fun and games. That being said it is a show and story that needs to be seen. I will be recommending this play and hope others take a chance on an engaging and thought provoking piece of dark comedy.

Kaitlyn Kriss

One Woman Sex and The City: A Parody of Love, Friendship and Shoes

Yellow Flamingo Productions—The Playhouse Studio

Break out your Manolos and check in with Carrie Bradshaw and the gang as Kerry Ipema reviews and recreates key memory-filled moments from all six seasons of Sex And The City. Unlike one-person-movie plays, Kerry throws in the occasional snarky comment to mix with Sex’s original dialogue, adding to the fun. Half tribute, half parody productions like this always hit the mark because it’s the healthiest mindset when you can see through the source material, yet still be a fan of it. And did Sex really have that many puns? And if so, where was Samantha’s boast that she was a trysexual (because she would try anything once)? To quote and sort of paraphrase Kerri, in the form of how Carrie might end one of her columns, “Can the land of designer shoes and fringe festivals aid a modern woman in finding her sole?”

Beau Hajavitch

Curious Contagious

Mind of a Snail Puppet Co.—John Hirsch Theatre at the MTC Mainstage

I have really enjoyed Mind of a Snail’s two previous shows that they have brought to the Fringe over the last few years and their new show, Curious Contagious, is truly magical. Each show they have done has progressed exponentially from the previous one in complexity and the wonderment experienced from the beautiful and colorful worlds they create and project on the screen. The visual feast for the eyes is complimented by the soundtrack that was also composed and performed by Chloe Ziner & Jessica Gabriel.

Curious Contagious follows the story of an Unicorn, who happens to be a land developer, and the virus that infects him. The larger outside world is done on the big screen by using mostly rear projection and shadows. This then transitions to a couple front projectors for the internal microscopic scenes. The virus scenes also feature the pair of performers in creepy looking virus suits. The fantastic and fantastical story also has a deeper underlying meaning. You cannot help but smile throughout.

Murray Hunter

P & P Do the Entire Fringe

Peacock & Pheasant—The Cinematheque

This show was unbelievably fun. The whole point of the show is the two performers pick a category from the Fringe guide and flip until they find a play in that category. The following is their take of that show going off of nothing more than the synopsis provided. The whole ordeal was hilarious! I happened to go on musical theatre night. The songs were so good at points it was tough to tell they weren’t scripted. Since the description of one of the shows they picked included cellphone use, the audience members even got to text in suggestions or lines for the performers to use. All of these suggestions were incorporated seamlessly and offered a new level of audience connectivity to the show. I left wanting more and would definitely see this show again.

Kaitlyn Kriss

One Man Dark Knight: A Batman Parody

Chicken For Supper Productions—John Hirsch Theatre at the MTC Mainstage

Charles Ross applies his frenetic energy and vast trove of pop culture references to the Christoper Nolan Batman Trilogy. It helps considerably to be familiar with all three of the movies, as otherwise you may not know why certain things he does are hilarious. My own hazy recollection of the first movie made me miss a couple of the jokes there, but his parody performances of the Ken Watanabee and Liam Neeson roles still were amazing.

After taking a short break to talk to the audience he moved into the second movie. His mannerisms and voice for Heath Ledger’s Joker were bang on. All the sharp little pop-culture references he throws out may not be caught by everyone, but the audience laughter will show you who did.

For the final movie, once again Ross nails the characters of Harvey Dent and Bane. The philosophical musings of his Bane were the highlight of the show for me.

My only negative was sometimes the Batman lines were hard to make out, a natural hazard of that low and hushed style of speaking, but it doesn’t happen that often.

Murray Hunter

In The Trenches: A Double Feature

That Dog Was A Band Now—The Rachel Browne Theatre

Wow did these actors have a lot of spunk. Since this show is split into two parts so will this review:

The first half was a long term clown sketch involving three clown troops trying to cope with the war going on around them. What started off as very dark subject matter turned into a silly romp of hilarity as the actors use everything from their barrack tent to body parts as props. The three clowns were very good at what they did and no sound or prop was left untouched. While I did really enjoy the sketch, I felt some of the jokes went a bit long. The golden comedy rule of three was completely ignored and some of the gags were really predictable. I would probably not bring any children to this play, as there is quite a bit of violence and death, but I would totally bring my friends back. This was a super fun and silly show with a few extremely heart warming moments.

The second half was stock comedy involving classic comedia dellarte tropes. The story is predictable but the jokes were fresh and funny. The actors are extremely high energy and very physical, this kept the pace going at rapid speed. The commitment to their characters was extremely impressive. I had quite a few belly laugh moments. This is certainly not a play that you would bring any children to (a cut off penis prop took care of that), but I left wanting more from this extremely talented clown troop.

Both halves are very different but together they create a fantastic piece of clown theatre. Well done to all involved!

Kaitlyn Kriss

Cooking Truths

Petri-dish Productions—School of Contemporary Dancers

The actors swarm you on the streets with cookies so you’re not sure if there’s actually going to be baking during the show. The setting starts off à la Iron Chef and changes gears in a big way from there.

While the cooking motif maintains through the journey, it only acts as a backdrop to the main storyline. The plot develops beautifully through flashbacks and gorgeous dance. The well-polished moves flow elegantly from one scene to the next and you’re left enchanted by their grace, power and agility.

Although the outcome is a bit predictable, it doesn’t diminish the thoroughly enjoyable evolution of the adventure. This show stands as an early favourite to be my fav of Fringe.

Hint: get there early and grab a seat at the front. Their facial expressions add a hilarious dimension to this exceptional effort.

Ray Yuen

Sound & Fury’s “Sherlock Holmes”

Sound & Fury—WECC – Ventura Hall

The game is “a feet” at the West End CC! This long time sell out troupe once again has brought their A game and one of their past crowd favourites back to the fringe. The accents were funny, the puns were a flying, and the whole audience was in on the joke the whole time. The three actors clearly love what they do. They make fun of theatre but do it in a way that makes it accessible to non-theatregoers. This is not a show I would bring my parents to, but it is a show I would bring my drinking buddies to, then go and laugh about the funny lines were heard in the beer tent. The actors never at any point take themselves seriously and some of the best moments of the show were when an actor would break character because they couldn’t help laughing at what one of their fellow cast members were doing. This fun comes across clearly on stage and the audience ends up having just as much fun watching.

Kaitlyn Kriss

Noir In Blue

THEATrePUBLIC—John Hirsch Theatre at the MTC Mainstage

I am a huge fan of both the blues and the old noir detective genre so I expected to really enjoy this show. The story is sung by Cory Schmitt and Melissa Macpherson with live accompaniment by Kenneth Brown. They play multiple characters, sometimes switching off roles between them. There is a screen above the stage which helps the audience by letting them know where the scene is set and who is in it. Both performers are great singers, and a couple of the songs performed by Melissa show off her powerful delivery.

Unfortunately, I found the story a little flat. For me, it may have been because it was mostly set in the late 1980’s. This was done to provide a major part of the story line on how some of the main characters are related, but it seemed an odd time period for the genres they are working in.

Murray Hunter