Pretty Beast

Kazu Kusano—The Cinematheque

When I graduated from high school, I wondered what would become of everyone? Some of the stereotypes came true: a few of the nerds became IT techs; the delinquents have menial labour jobs; the valedictorian became a doctor; the jocks work at SportChek and the Asian kid (me) became a math professional (Data Scientist). So what happened to the class clown? This show provides the answer.

Ray Yuen

Underbelly

Aaron Malkin—Tom Hendry Warehouse

I don’t know a better way to describe this show than to say there’s a splash zone that extends over the entire Venue. While some of the scenes do end up dragging, and some of the jokes fail to land as intended, the sheer creativity is something to behold. Impressive props and costumes are likely the stand out, pairing with wacky slapstick and vivid imagery. At the end of the day, it’s a fringe shows fringe show, for better or worse.

Josh Fidelak

Bat Brains or let’s explore mental illness with vampires

Scantily Glad Theatre—MTC Up the Alley

We were warmly welcomed by Sam Kruger and gently introduced to Scud the quirky, troubled and anxious vampire. It is a sympathetic portrayal enhanced by often cheeky disembodied voices of inner monologue/dialogue and stunningly beautiful interpretive movement. We accompany Scud on his perilous and chaotic journey to reconnect with the world after a long period of isolation. Resonant metaphor, I thought. I’m still hoping Scud is going to be OK.

Barbara Fawcett

Hockey Night at the Puck & Pickle Pub

Monster Theatre—The King’s Head Pub

If you are Canadian and love hockey, you will adore this. I don’t even follow hockey now that I don’t have to, and I thoroughly enjoyed this. Ryan and Jon hilariously portray the classic denizens of any pub on game night. Grumpy old men who mourn the good ol’ days of the sport, a couple on a first date, two guys who fancy themselves well qualified to comment long and loud on every moment of the game, two drunk gal friends, and hockey pool nerds. It was obvious that the crowd loved what they saw.

I will go see anything by Monster Theatre, Jon Paterson and Ryan Gladstone. And I’ve never been disappointed through all these years. Go!

Lisa Campbell

Scattered Seeds

Kolja Company—The Clock Tower – Portage Place

This coming-of-age adventure comes complete with catchy tunes and a riveting story that ranges from charming to heart-breaking. The description in the guide tells you everything you need to know about the show so I won’t be repetitive.

Ray Yuen

I’M BATMAN 89-97

Rod Peter Jr.—Tom Hendry Warehouse

Reliving the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman films in reverse chronological order, Rod Peter Jr. pairs these comedic reenactments with interludes from his childhood. While some of the reenactments lack proper context for anyone without a strong memory of the films, an impressive multimedia backup paired with good comedic timing on the part of Rod more than make up for that. For any fan of the original Batman films I couldn’t recommend a better show.

Josh Fidelak

Robert Will Show You the Door (tales of being fired)

Jeremy Productions—The Clock Tower – Portage Place

So excited to see Susan back from NYC to share her talents with us! One of the best things about this fest is we get to see this calibre of talent for a pittance. Lucky us! This woman will always be on my must-see list as long as she graces us with her presence. A complete professional, with nary a slip, stutter or glitch, her show just flows along on a hilarious wave. Despite her tale of just not making it at various endeavors, I knew anyone this smart and driven would find success. And she has!

If you’ve ever had a crappy job and been treated like it, you will easily find empathy for her various, and according to her, unfair, and often illegal, mistreatments at multiple careers, without a pension (inside joke). It’s such a pleasure to get to enjoy someone excelling at doing what they do best. Brava!

Lisa Campbell

Buckets of Blood – Fairy tales not for kids

Stories Alive—Planetarium

The self-described story teller and story collector Eden Ballantyne delves into some of the more gruesome stories included in the early compendium of Fairy Tales for children by the Brothers Grimm. He expertly acts out 3 such stories, with interludes discussing the gorier bits that have been removed from other more well known tales.

His rapport with the audience and story telling ability make this a fun show. Don’t worry there are no actual buckets of blood.

Note: The Fringe’s printed program guide incorrectly lists his show as “Namaste-Confessions of a Yoga Instructor”.

Murray Hunter

Contractions

Best of Luck Endeavours—The Fountain – Portage Place

At one time, the department was known as “Personnel.” Then some genius came along and changed it to “Human Resources.” Personnel gives people the attribute of being a “person.” As a human resource, you are exactly what the phrase says you are: a resource. You are another resource among the list of assets within the company; you just happen to be human.

I work in a think tank. I had a colleague who transferred from our department to HR a while back. When I asked him what it was like, he described it like a bicycle wheel. Take the wheel and turn it horizontal. In our department, we were like the stem at the top, with all the spokes as conduits looking down at the rest of the organisation. In HR, it’s the same, except you’re on the bottom side—the asshole looking up at everything.

This play looks at the role of HR, one spoke at a time.

Ray Yuen

Epidermis Circus

SNAFU—PTE – Colin Jackson Studio

I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so hard at a show I knew during the performance would feature in my upcoming nightmares. Raunchy, hilarious and deeply uncomfortable, even the parts of this body part based puppet show that threaten to overstay their welcome loop back around from uncomfortable back to enjoyably uncomfortable. We’re all just bags of meat, and Epidermis Theatre is nothing if not a fantastic reminder of that fundamental fact.

Josh Fidelak