Nancy's MUST SEE List at the 2010 Calgary Fringe

I was beaten to the punch.  Another local Ottawa blogger has already put out a pretty stellar list of things to see at the Calgary Fringe this year AND HE'S NOT EVEN GOING TO BE HERE! So go ahead.  Click the link and see what The Visitor has to say.  See if I care.  I'm just going to go ahead and put out an almost identical list below.

Actually, the main difference with his list and mine is that he's actually seen all of those shows, whereas I've been saving up until Calgary to finally catch them all.

So without further ado, here's what I think should not be missed at the 2010 Calgary Fringe Festival (have you downloaded the App yet?)

Of course, you just HAVE to come and see The Last Goddamned Performance Piece, featuring yours truly and the incredibly talented Ben Meuser.  The show goes from hilarious to touching to hilarious again in 2.5 scenes.  And everything will go wrong due to the actions of a certain ass-faced ex-boyfriend.  You will enjoy yourself, I promise!

Actionable - This show has gotten a lot of buzz throughout the Fringe Festival Circuit, in no small part to Bob Wiseman's history with Blue Rodeo and the fascinating subject matter.  There are already three or four Calgary Fringe preview articles that include him as a show to see.  On a personal note, I just met him in a Starbucks in Calgary and he was really nice.

Antoine Feval - The incredibly funny Chris Gibbs (who I saw in Toronto recently and had no clue he would be here as well) has another one man show that I am just dying to see after the brilliance that was The Power of Ignorance, which I saw at the Big Comedy Go-To in London two years ago.

Dale Beaner and the Turtle Boy - missed this Best in Venue winner in Ottawa and again in Toronto.  I was thrilled when I looked at the program and saw it was here.  Caught the two guys in this show at the Midnight Cabaret in Ottawa and vowed that I would see this show if it was the last thing I do!

Phone Whore - Cameryn Moore has pretty much been doing the entire Fringe circuit and I promised myself I would see her show in Calgary.  Everyone I've talked to who has seen this show has been affected by it and I can't wait!

SEEKING - The cast has changed and now includes Ottawa locals Zach Counsil (who is my stage manager for The Last Goddamned Performance Piece) and my former doppleganger Celine Filion (which Ottawa audiences will remember for her turn in TLGPP).  You can be sure I'll be there to support them with this new incarnation of the show.

The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over - I saw the amazing Gemma Wilcox last year in Ottawa when she did Shadows in Bloom and regretted never having seen this one when it was in town a few years prior.  You have no idea how happy I was when I realized that it was being put on at this festival.  The woman is a veritable chameleon.  She will quite simply blow your mind.

The Peter n' Chris Show! with Peter n' Chris!! - won best duo at the Ottawa Fringe Festival.  I have a soft spot for people who are vain enough to repeat their own name twice in their show title.  Oh and EXCLAMATION MARKS!  I honestly don't know what this show is about, but I do know they bring on the funny.  I like the funny.

And last, but not least, one of my most favourite Fringe performers of all time, my dirrty muppet and yours! Mr. Paul Hutcheson and Third Time Lucky - This show is Rated "R" for "Rock Your World" - This is the one show that I absolutely, 110% DO NOT WANT TO MISS!! (you know, except for mine...)

If there's anything at this festival you feel I should have mentioned, please feel free to bring it up in the comments section.

I'll be seeing you at the theatre! (or the bar...)

Big Comedy Go-To - Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was in London (ON) during the Big Comedy Go-To. When I mentioned Chris Gibbs' show, The Power of Ignorance, I forgot to say that I didn't know what I had just watched... if you've seen this production, you know that this is a very funny compliment. Although it's not that funny now that I have to explain it...

Saturday started out with a decent production of Morris Panych's 7 Stories by London's Passionfool Theatre. Many of the festival shows were taking place in front of the 7 Stories set at The ARTS Project. It was nice to finally see how it was being used.

Highlight number one on Saturday was a panel discussion with 7 or 8 of the festival performers, which was moderated by producer Jayson McDonald (who deserves a big pat on the back and maybe a beer for putting this whole thing together). The panel was great because it revealed to me that people whom I consider to be incredibly amazing and talented performers are still scared shitless and think all their work is going to suck. So I guess you never get over that, huh? Damn.

Highlight number two occurred when The Circus came to town. Yes, a real circus with a clown (only Morro, rhymes with sorrow, made it out in one of the bravest and most endearing pieces of theatre I've seen in years) and juggler and the magic of Siegfried and Roy in their comeback special. Seriously, I can't believe someone would want to miss this!

Even Elvis made it out to the festival and he's dead. What's your excuse? Elvis was my highlight number three. And I'm not just saying that because I got a scarf with his sweat on it either.

I followed that up with some more improv (and my previous comment still stands) and a solid night of stand-up comedy from many of the performers. Basically, if I liked your show, I also liked your stand-up routine.

Wow, and the festivities weren't even over yet.

On Sunday, I was exhausted but saw my friend's show, He Ain't Heavy in the afternoon. This was a great new work that had one of the biggest houses at the festival. For those of you who missed it, I believe they are remounting it for the London Fringe Festival in June, which I am annoyed to say overlaps with the Ottawa Fringe Festival.

Then I stuck around for Paul Hutcheson's, Third Time Lucky. Apparently, Paul (or M. Hutcheson if you're nasty), who's shows tend to be quite explicit had promised his parents he wouldn't perform in London again in order to avoid "embarrassing" them with his material. However, he couldn't pass up the chance to participate in the festival so they came up with a compromise: a nice clean show. Paul is a giant manic ball of energy who does not fail to entertain. He reminds me of a dirrty muppet (yes, two Rs). I could watch him read the phone book (note to Paul if you're reading this, maybe I found the concept for your next show - I'm sure it would please your folks). Fortunately, I won't have to though as he is bringing his piece On Second Thought to the Ottawa Fringe.

Ah but it wasn't all good. I saw some absolutely terrible sketch comedy too. Feel blessed you will never have to know the meaning of Cake Farts.

Everything did end on a high note, however, with some really good sketch comedy thanks to Fully Insured (who really should update their website) and The Cody Rivers Show. I had seen Fully before in late December, but this time was even better than before. Perhaps it has something to do with their opening act. I can't even begin to describe Cody Rivers. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, but I know that if I get the chance, I will see it again.

So there you have it folks: my recap of the first annual Big Comedy Go-To. It was impossible to see absolutely everything, but I sure tried. This whole thing was an amazing, quality experience and I look forward to seeing it around for many years to come.

A Pre-Fringe Experience

I'm currently in London (ON) smack dab in the middle of the Big Comedy Go-To, a brand spanking new festival that includes sketch, stand-up, improv, theatre and musical comedy on the menu at three different venues over the weekend. Though I'm primarily here to support a friend, it's an awesome opportunity for me to mix and mingle with plenty of talented artists who often make the rounds of the Fringe Festival Circuit. A full-festival pass is ridiculously cheap ($50) and allows me to see everything... and so far I pretty much have. The festivities began on Thursday night with Jimmy Hogg's Like A Virgin, a new piece which he plans to tour this summer... so new that this was in fact his first public performance. I drove into town about 15 minutes prior to curtain. I didn't think I would make it, but I am definitely glad I did. Jimmy is an incredibly hilarious and charismatic performer. He had a small but very appreciative crowd, as you can see from this review. For those of you in Southern Ontario, I highly recommend you make the trek down to the newly renovated Arts Project on Sunday at 6 p.m. To all my Ottawa friends, have no fear! You will get your chance to see Jimmy at the Ottawa Fringe Festival this June. I know I'm really looking forward to seeing it again once it's had some time to develop.

A real stand-out performance for me came shortly after with Nile Seguin's Fear of a Brown Planet at the Black Shire Pub. This guy was amazing (and he's from Ottawa). His show is a bit of a long form stand-up routine, which can often be hit or miss. However, Nile delivers a smart and witty performance that made the hour just fly by. Every joke was solid and when he was done, I still wanted more. If you ever hear that this guy is doing a show in your area, drop whatever you are doing and go see it. You will not regret it. He is also doing a show on Sunday at 6 p.m.

That said, not everything is amazing. I saw some improv which was just alright. Improv is such a tricky art form. It is really difficult to do well and I have the utmost respect for those who attempt it. I found the main problem with what I saw was that people often didn't know when to just end the scene and so they'd just keep going once the joke had peaked or they'd just go for the tried and true guy on guy action, because gay-ness is funny. Then again, if I see it done again tonight, who knows, it will be completely different and may be the best thing I see all weekend... That's the beauty of improv and theatre festivals in general: you never know what you're going to get.

So that was Thursday. On Friday, I caught The Power of Ignorance by Chris Gibbs and TJ Dawe. The show was great but I was completely distracted in the venue by people coming in and out, chairs being moved around in the room above us, and staff coming by our table to take food and drink orders (um, no I'm not hungry I'm watching a play!). The turn out for this show was also incredibly low (in fact, I heard the show that came before, Who's Afraid of Tippi Seagram? had to be canceled due to nobody showing up) which was unfortunate. Really low numbers, meaning four, for Rob Salerno's Fucking Stephen Harper too. I don't know if this had something to do with the hockey playoffs or perhaps a general lack of awareness of the Big Comedy Go-To (unless you're on Facebook, it's hard to find an online schedule). Things picked up for the London favorite, The Boneyard Man though.

I've got to head out and see more shows today, but I will leave you with the schedule in case you're in the area. Come and support your local artists. They're doing some really good stuff! I'll post more later on if I manage to find another internet connection.

SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2009

ARTS PROJECT 2PM Passionfool: 7 Stories 90m $18 4PM Panel Discussion FREE 6PM The Circus Show (Siegfried & Roy - The Comeback/Morro's Sorrow/Steve Seguin) 75m $15 8PM Passionfool: 7 Stories 90m $18

LONDON MUSIC CLUB 6PM Rob Salerno: Fucking Harper 35m $8 6PM Chris Gibbs: Power Ignorance 75m $10 7PM Theatre Nemesis: Which is Better? 45m $8 7.30PM Who’s Afraid of Tippi Seagram? 60m $10 8.30PM Prop Knucks/Project G-Force/ Approximately 3 Peters 90m $15 8.30PM Matt Martin: King Alive/Sexual Tyrannosaurus/You Are Awesome 90m $10

BLACK SHIRE 7.30PM STAND-UP: Your Tax Dollars at Play 90m $10 10PM STAND-UP: The Big One 120m $15

SUNDAY, APRIL 19, 2009

ARTS PROJECT

2PM Josh Cottrell and Aaron Youell: He Ain’t Heavy 60m $10 4PM Paul Hutcheson: Third Time Lucky 60m $10 6PM Jimmy Hogg: Like A Virgin 60m $10 8PM Alex Eddington: Tired Cliches 60m $10

LONDON MUSIC CLUB 6PM Four Lb. Beauty Pucks/Good Game 60m $10 7.30PM Cody Rivers/Fully Insured 90m $15

BLACK SHIRE 6PM Nile Seguin: Fear of a Brown Planet 60m $10 7.30PM STAND-UP: Open Mic 60m PWYC 10.30PM CLOSING NIGHT PARTY!