The Kansas City Fringe Festival opens tomorrow and someone pulled out. The show is advertised, the venue open and people will probably be coming…to see no show.
What to do? What to do?
Well, the organizer of the venue, in what surely will go down in history as an epic blunder, asked me if I could take the stage. The answer I gave? Of course, I can take the stage!
What kind of show was the cancelled one? What will people be expecting to see when they get here? Dark comedy. Good so far; that’s what I’m about. A fairly straight-forward 3 person play. Hmmm. Not so good, there; I’m just me. One hour of show. Hmmm, even worse. I’ve got those shows, but don’t know if I’ll be able tyo polish one up in 1 day. I’ve been doing 45 minute school-assembly type shows recently. Don’t think those will work for an all adult audience. My festival shows are 30 minutes long–doesn’t fill the time.
What to do? What to do?
I’m going to take the opportunity to play around and test out all new material. Use it as a dress rehearsal for next year’s shows. It’ll be great for me. I hope it will work for the festival and the audience. But, hey…it’s what I got at the moment.
For those not familiar with the Fringe Festival experience, it is simultaneously the best and the worst of theatre viewing. Many festivals are non-jurried, which means first come, first on as far as performers. Some are brilliant, some are dreck…you just have to see for yourself and plug into the scuttlebutt about the festival. Many of the best shows also tour the Fringe Circuit…so it’s possible to hear about shows before they arrive in your neck of the woods.
Most festivals run 4-7 days and are pretty cheap to attend. You get to pick and choose what type of shows you’d like to see and when. There are usually jugglers, clowns, music acts, musical plays, performance art, stand-up comedians, straight plays, and things you can’t even describe. If you’d like to attend a Fringe Festival, chances are there’s one near you. I highly recommend taking the time to be entertained. For a partial list of Fringes, see here. If you’re Canadian, you probably are currently hosting a Fringe in your livingroom.
A Clown in the Middle 
Break a leg, blipey! Kisses and Wishes from bof’us!
And thank you for the plug on your sidebar.
Kisses
have fun.
But I would like to point out the The edinburgh festival fringe, will be starting up in a week or so. Is this the oldest, biggest fringe in the world? As far as i am aware it is.
It is indeed. Edinburgh Fringe started in 1947. Great story–it was started by 8 companies that couldn’t get into the Edinburgh Theatre Festival, so they set up on its fringe. Now-a-days….Edinburgh Theatre Festival: long gone, Edinburgh Fringe: largest theatre festival in the world. I guess we know who got the last laugh.
Except perhaps us poor residents, hwo have to put up with all these visitors cluttering the place up…
If I ever get the chance to perform at Edinburgh Fringe, I’ll make sure I warn you. I probably won’t even ask to stay at your house…unless you keep a large stock of Old Engine Oil in the fridge. Love that beer.
HHmm, not one I’ve tried yet. Theres so many that I can never try all the beers that need trying. But we have some pretty good ales in scotland.
If you ever do get the chance to perform, take it. Accomodation would be tricky ( i dont think i know you well enough yet to offer you a spare bedroom) but the experience is worth it.
Harveistoun Brewery. Dollar, Scotland. I’d highly recommend it. It’s a little sweeet (as are most Scottish ales) to drink several of. But great if you’re gonna have a couple. Definitely wouldn’t ask to stay in your spare bedroom…punchlines just need a set-up.
Harviestoun bitter and twisted- tastes good in a bottle, but i have yet ot have it draught. You have to try the Arran Brewery stuff draft, its wonderful, I ate in the restaurant next to the brewery, and had a brilliant couple of pints.
Orkney brewery is usually pretty good. The Atlas brewery, I’ve had a good drink off them, but I cannot recall what.
My ability to drink Scottish ales on tap are severely limited by the fact that I live in Kansas City. We get the big boys, of course, but god help us with the rest. Luckily I really do like Guiness, so I suppose the situation is borderline acceptable.
Making it better, Gomer’s Liquors does an excellent job of getting in the best wines, spirits, and beers from around the world. many of the bottled beers, however, are sold by the bottle–making them expensive:$3-$5 for 330mL.
At risk of sounding like a heretic, I’m not that impressed by Guinness. I had a bad pint when i was learning to drink at about 17, so avoided it afterwards. Then I got more into real ales at 20 or so when I realised they tasted nicer, and drank them a fair bit. So a few years later, when I had a pint of real Irish guinness in a real Irish pub in Ireland, it was palatable, but nothing special.
Hey. Drink what you like. Who am I to tell others what their taste buds should find tasty? I do enjoy the Guiness, not my favorite beer, but I think it is better than most things you get a lot of on tap around here. Of course, what we get a lot of on tap is: Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, etc.
Of course, the brew pubs around town have better crafted beer, but only in house. Boulevard Brewing Company, a local craft brewer, distributes far and wide, but while they generally do a very nice job…their dark ales (stouts and porters) tend to be thin and not top notch. Their IPA and hefeweisen are outstanding, though.
hhmm, sounds interesting. I guess I’ll have to travel to the USa one more time. When i was in california didnt manage to try anything local.
Here’s a very partial list of craft / microbrews you should try when you’re visiting:
Kansas City: Boulevard Brewing Company (great brewery tour)
McCoy’s Brewhaus (Highly recommend the Hogpound Brown Ale)
Freestate Brewery (actually in Lawrence, KS)
San Francisco: Anchor Steam (decent beer, great tour)
Anchorage, Alaska: Great Alaska Brew Company
Oregon: Rogue Brewing Company
Colorado: New Belgium Brewing Company (Blue Paddle Stout)
O’Dell’s Brewing Company (90 Shilling is awesome)
Burlington, Vermont: Vermont Brew Pub (Great beer and excellent restaurant)
ok, thanks. I think i shall have to ahve a round the world trip at some point in the future, before the oil gets expensive.
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