Toronto Fringe Roundup #1

A roundtable conversation about Toronto Fringe on the first Saturday, as Tom McGee (Featherweight), Janelle Hanna (Robert.), Belinda Corpuz (Lighters in the Air), Danny Pagett (Prank), and Rebecca Perry (Bikeface) join host Phil Rickaby to talk about Toronto Fringe so far, what they’ve seen, what they are looking forward to seeing and much more.
Recorded 10:00, July 7, 2018.

Tom McGee
Twitter: @mcgeetd
Website: www.tdmcgee.com
Theatre Brouhaha: www.theatrebrouhaha.com/
Featherweight: https://fringetoronto.com/festivals/fringe/event/featherweight

Janelle Hanna
Twitter: @janellemhanna
Robert: https://fringetoronto.com/festivals/fringe/event/robert

Belinda Corpuz
Twitter:@belindarona
Instagram: belindacorpuz
www.belindacorpuz.com
Lighters in the Air: https://fringetoronto.com/festivals/fringe/event/lighters-air

Danny Pagett
Twitter: @spoonydan
Instagram: @danquo
Prank: https://fringetoronto.com/festivals/fringe/event/prank

Rebecca Perry
Twitter: @rebeccaperry21
www.rebeccaperry.ca
Bikeface: https://fringetoronto.com/festivals/fringe/event/bikeface

Transcript

Welcome to episode 134 of Stageworthy. I’m your host, Phil Rickaby, and this is the Toronto Fringe Roundup, and I’m here with a wide variety of fringe artists. Why don’t we start on my left, Danny Pagett.

Introduce yourself and talk a little bit about your show. Cool, yeah. My name’s Danny Pagett.

I wrote and directed a show called Prank. It’s about the daughters of internet celebrities. It takes place 20 years in the future, and it’s about them dealing with the legacy that their parents left for them.

It’s loosely based on a true story about a YouTube account called Daddy of Five, where these two parents would prank their children to try to get famous on YouTube, and eventually it got worse and worse and worse, and people were watching the videos being like, this is child abuse. This is not fun, this is child abuse, and their children got taken away. So it’s sort of based on a story.

I use that as a jumping off point. It’s just talking about the race for internet fame. There is one.

Hi, so I’m Tom McGee, and I wrote and directed a piece called Featherweight, which was inspired by a really long TTC ride where I was thinking about Egyptian mythology, as one does. It occurred to me that in today’s day and age, the thing we’d be most worried about getting judged isn’t our heart, but our internet history. And I just read a great article about a book called Everybody Lies, about how big data is actually telling us a lot about the human condition, because no one lies to Google.

We’ll lie to our therapists, we’ll lie to our doctors, because we want the person we’re talking to to like us, but with Google, we’ll just vomit whatever we’re thinking directly into the search bar. So there’s a whole bunch of really interesting information coming out about sort of biases, but also fears, and a lot of things. And it’s like any time you fill in a Google bar, and it finishes it for you with like, how do I, it’s like stop crying, and you’re like, oh no.

So my story is about a guy who finds himself suddenly dead, and he wakes up in his favourite bar in Toronto, and he realizes his soul is going to be judged by ancient Egyptian gods. However, they’re also going to judge his browser history, because the gods have an agenda of their own, and are trying to figure out whether they’re good or bad. So the best way they can think to do this is to throw it all on a mortal, and see what comes out of it.

Okay, it’s a comedy, sort of. Awesome. Hi, I’m Rebecca Perry.

I’m producing Bike Face. I didn’t write it, and I also didn’t direct it, but let me tell you about it, and what attracted me to the project. So Bike Face is the real account of Natalie Frejia biking from Halifax all the way to Vancouver by herself on the road.

It’s about all the people she encounters. There’s a lot of strange people in Canada, especially in the prairies. But anyways, it’s also about testing yourself, pushing yourself to the limits, doing something because you want to, and not letting anybody’s opinions about what you’re doing stop you from doing it.

It very much has the message of like, if you want to go and take an adventure, just do it, because there’s going to be a million reasons why you shouldn’t, but the only reason you should listen to is you want to go. And what attracted me to this project was I had actually seen it in workshop format a few years ago. It was just one story, because she essentially tells one story per province.

She told the story of her in Saskatoon meeting this guy who basically stopped drinking at 18, and then just started collecting Wild West memorabilia. As you do. As you do, right? And so she talks about like staying in this guy’s Wild West mansion, and thinking he maybe was an axe murderer, but instead he’s just this like friendly old guy who like collects things.

And anyways, I have also biked from Halifax to Montreal, so I just loved hearing the story of someone who made it the whole way over. Yeah, it’s really inspiring, really cool, and our actress Claire Blackwood kicks ass. I was in line to see Ala Frances I Think I’m Dead, and this woman in front of me just could not stop talking about how amazing Claire was.

I’m so proud of her. It has sincere moments, but it is also still a comedy. I’m Belinda Korpis.

I did not write any of the fringe things. That’s a weird way of saying that. But I’m in Lighters in the Air, which was written by Chris Hagen and directed by him, and he also plays one of the, he plays the main character in the show.

And it’s basically about the community of like open mic, like an open mic community in Toronto in a fictional bar called The Empty. It’s a site specific at the Monarch, and it’s just about dreams and whether you want to pursue your dreams versus reality and stability and sustaining an artist’s career basically. And what attracted me to the project was the fact that it was a very unconventional musical, all original music.

Being a songwriter myself, I was attracted to the character that I play, who is a songwriter, so that was really cool. So it’s very close to home in that sense. And yeah, it’s great.

Linda’s an awesome songwriter and singer. I’m Janelle Hannah. I’m in Robert, which is written by Brianna Brown and co-directed by Rob Kempson.

Robert is about a brother and a sister, Kat and James, who are waiting in a hospice for their father to die. And right before that happens, James reveals a secret he’s been holding on to since childhood and everything kind of gets turned upside down. It’s also site specific.

We’re doing it at St. George the Martyr Church, which is in Grange Park. It’s a beautiful space. It’s also called the Music Gallery.

Some people know it as that. And yeah, and there’s bag pipes. So it is a comedy, yes.

I would like to point out that you play the bagpipes? For two months. So you learned how to play the bagpipes for this show? For this show, yeah. How do your neighbours feel about you? Exactly, right? So I split my time rehearsing actually at Brianna’s house and in the basement.

And she has a pretty like concrete basement. So I don’t know how her neighbours feel. But my neighbours, I live in an actor house and my neighbours, I don’t know.

I don’t really talk to the downstairs, but the girls upstairs are lovely and came on opening and super supportive and didn’t care. And I’m like, oh, it was bad for so long. I know.

It was bad for so long too. And I’m like, God. I feel like you always earn brownie points though for learning something complex.

Like one thing, if it’s like, I’m learning violin, it’s like beautiful instrument, but like, oh God, here she goes. But like bagpipes as an actor, I’d be like, oh boy, that’s a lot. You know what? You do whatever you got to do.

That’s commitment to the cause. I was intimidated by learning the accordion, but bagpipes. Accordion too though, like it’s, you know, I don’t know what it is.

It’s a lot. You’re bouncing like a lot. Everybody’s opened now, right? How many shows have you guys had so far? One.

Three. All the BYOBs are high-tech. I mean, BYOB, got to go hard or you go home with no money.

Two in my site specifically, but our third one’s today. I’m loving how many BYOBs there are this year and in so many cool different locations. There’s so many.

It’s awesome. Yeah, it’s great. Yeah.

Yeah. I definitely got the green eye of envy when my pal was like, yeah, we’re on a boat. I was like, oh boy.

Why didn’t I think of that? I’m just going to drag a boat into the paddock and just sit in there. Just bring a canoe in there. Nico would be fine.

It’s not the strangest thing that’s ever happened in a paddock. Not by a long shot. So how has Fringe been going for you guys so far? It can be a long, strange road to get to Fringe.

How’s it been? And I just want to say that this is a safe space in terms of talking about Fringe. We all love Fringe. And so if you have a criticism, don’t feel like you can’t say it because Fringe never grows unless we criticize.

That’s true. Every theatre needs air conditioning. I will agree with you on that one.

Which ones don’t have air conditioning right now? Well, I know for sure, because I’ve seen a lot of shows in the factory backspace. Although it has air conditioning, it’s just too many shows are happening every day. Do they turn off the air conditioning when the show starts? Because I’ve been at some venues that do that.

It depends on the show. Yeah, it depends on the show. I know Annex has now said, we’re not turning it off for anyone.

Thank you. And they are actively opening all the doors and really trying to fix that because also that’s one of the hot things. And then you have St. Vlad’s where they give you a blanket when you go in.

Is it chilly in St. Vlad’s? I think it’s always freezing. It’s an icebox. St. Vlad’s is the icebox.

When you go in, they hand you this thick blanket and you’re like, what’s this for? And I’ll be like, you’ll see. But it’s 35. St. Vlad’s is adjoined with a museum.

And so there’s artifacts that need to be kept at a specific temperature there. So as a result, it’s like an icebox. Yeah, there’s no need to store your lunch.

That’s the best place to have your snack while the show’s going on. I always just get a fridge slot at St. Vlad’s along with my other fridge slot, so I have a place to keep my lunch. It’s an expensive place.

Expensive, yeah. But I don’t fancy it like that. Yeah, but his food is so well-tempered.

It’s excellent. So yes, air conditioning at all the venues. Yeah.

I would certainly have appreciated some at our site specific. Yes, yes. I was saying earlier that it’s intermittently air-conditioned in this community centre.

Yeah. Not anybody at Fringe’s Fault. This is the venue that was selected for the show.

And on Thursday, before the temperature broke, it was hot in there. We arrived at five and it was already a sauna. And it was like five of us in there.

And we were like, so we have to do something. We open windows. There’s no air movement.

We’ve got one fan going. Nothing happens. The show starts.

I walk in. My glasses go and fog up. Well.

But everyone was just like, wow, what a great choice. Strong choice. I think everybody knew.

How did he do that effect right at the beginning? Where his glasses fog up? No, everybody who was in that room knew exactly how to do it. Because they were all like, wow. I would have just been like, they are character glasses.

Yes, yes. Sure, yes. You don’t need to see, right? But he walks right through.

Everybody would know they were fake if I had like those lensless glasses people wear. Oh, my God. His eyes fogged up.

That’s how humid it was in there. So how has Fringe been for you guys? I mean, site specifics have their own challenges. And people who are in the venues have different challenges.

But how have you guys generally found it? It’s been good. This year, I have found. So there were a few big sort of changes that they made this year.

And some of them, like, I agree with a lot of the changes in effect and why they’re doing them. I think that the changes came a little bit late in the planning stage of Fringe, because the communication at times was like not… Some of it was a little rushed. I would agree with that.

I have a feeling that they implemented the land acknowledgement thing after they created the schedules, because there was no time built into the schedules for the land acknowledgement. So now it’s in the 15 minutes when people are coming in, which is sort of like, I don’t want to do that. But it’s also it’s not supposed to be part of our slot.

Like the time that you’re performing. I also think that like a land acknowledgement deserves full undivided attention. And so basically, we’ve had to sort of turn our music way up and then just stop it.

So people hear that, look up from whatever they’re doing on their phone and actually listen to what we’re saying, the land acknowledgement. I have one concern about mandating that everybody does a land acknowledgement. And I’m all for the land acknowledgement.

But my concern with that is that it becomes a turn off your cell phone that nobody pays attention to. A little bit. So a show that I just did players as well here at the Transac and we had a land acknowledgement for the first time, which was great.

And that was part of our pre-show announcement anyway, where the director gets up and like talks everyone through the rules of the day. So everyone had full attention and it was wonderful. But I agree.

It’s interesting. But the thing that I found when I was doing it was I wanted to make sure I was off book. Yeah, you don’t want to be reading from a paper.

No. And particularly for the intent of it. And I think what I’ve seen a couple of times now where either volunteers read it or someone’s read it and it just doesn’t quite have the same impact because then it is kind of the here’s my byword.

And the thing is, though, that it is like as a white dude, it’s terrifying and I don’t want to screw it up. The last thing I want to do is be like, hi, we’re here to honour someone and then just completely shit the bed on it. I’d like practice the pronunciation before I do it.

So I did it every day for two weeks on this other show and I still muttered under my breath just to give myself the confidence. So I fully understand that. But the tone is so important that it almost does.

It needs to almost be treated, to your point, Rebecca, as almost a separate piece. It’s like, hey, here’s this thing. And I understand the necessity of putting it before the show.

But also, like, for example, with Featherweight, this is the first time I haven’t had a song lead into a show. And I love, I love, like, I’m a sound designer myself. I love bringing the audience in with a killer track that takes the tone.

But I also don’t want to be like, so, you know, we respect all the storytellers who have been here before. We’re on the hunt! That’s one of our three show songs. It’s a bike trip, man.

The other thing about it is that a lot of times, I think a lot of people don’t know why we do it. A lot of the international companies. I also went and had, like, for a while there, I was hearing the land acknowledgement.

And the way that it always played for me was, white guy stands up and he takes off his hat and he gets very solemn and he says this thing. And I go, great. So here we got some white guy who’s, like, paying lip service to the thing.

So I was like, why is so many people doing this? So I research it and I find out that it’s part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was requested by the chiefs who were attending that. Why don’t we make that part of the acknowledgement? Absolutely.

Because there are a lot of people who have the same reaction that I did because they don’t know why it’s being done. But anyway, what other things have come up for you guys this week? Any challenges? Any challenges for the site specifics? Yeah. Well, Verlinde, you go.

Oh, okay. Oh, no. I was just going to say, like, yesterday, because it’s a bar where we were playing.

Some of the bar staff weren’t aware. Oh, no. So, like, right in the middle of this, like, very cathartic moment for the protagonist, one of the waiters comes in.

And I’m, like, in my backstage. And I’m like, okay, the show’s going on. She’s like, I work here.

And I’m like, no, like, a show is going on. She’s like, but I work here. I’m just supposed to set up the bar.

And I’m like, no, there’s, like, a theatre show going on. Oh, no. Like, read the sign.

Like, didn’t your boss tell you? So that’s, like, kind of been, like, the challenge of, like, who has told the staff that we have a show? One of the questions that you don’t think you need to ask is the venue when you go in. So much happens at the Monarch. Like, CloudFest was just there for, like, two months.

They have shows there all the time. It’s very surprising. She’s very nice.

But it was very much like a, she had a biker on it. Yeah, but I want to speak at full volume. I also want to clatter these pots and pans.

That’s my thing. That’s basically what it was. It was, like, its own little performance in itself.

Don’t worry. I’m just going to drop this box in the locker. For BarakaFest.

That was one of the fun little things that happened. I had a similar experience last year with BendySign. Not the exact same, but Nico is lovely.

He does shows there. It’s Featherweight’s third one at the Paddock. But last year when we did BendySign there with SextyRex, I was playing a puppet server.

I was going around with a puppet and serving everybody in the bar during the show. And beforehand, we would do food. But the cook there that Nico had, he was sort of independently contracted.

But he didn’t care about the show. He wanted to sell his food because that’s how he was making his money. And so he would start giving me notes on how I was serving.

Like, he would say, hey, could you sell more of my food? And I was like, dude, I’m a puppet. You can see the puppet on my arm. Don’t tell me how to sell your food.

I’m trying, but also some people just don’t want it. So he started coming out in our pre-show and serving while I’m serving as a puppet. And I’m like, you’re really breaking the reality here, dude.

Where’s your puppet? Yeah, yeah. Make yourself a puppet and then you can come out. Cheers for BendySign.

And that guy. And that guy. I know this is sort of specific to our show, but I would love to hear if you guys have had any similar challenges.

So basically, as far as leading up to Fringe, it can go many different ways. You can get a lot of the spotlight. Congrats, Janelle.

You can get none of it. Or you can get a little bit like two days before. And you actually do.

The minute the press starts coming out, you have to re-strategize, especially as the producer. You also have to manage the expectations of the people you’re working with. So I know Claire Blackwood.

She’s a personal friend of mine. And we’ve done theatre together throughout the years. But this was her first solo show.

And as someone who is also a solo artist, I was very protective of that art. And I want her to have the best experience possible. And it really coloured how far I was willing to go as a producer.

Guys, I just worked my tush off. So essentially, it actually kind of taught me if things aren’t going your way, because we didn’t have a lot of pre-press. And stuff that we knew was coming was taking forever to come.

For example, I had just cold called the Globe and Mail and been like, there have been some cyclist deaths. There have also just been a lot of bad politics surrounding cyclists in Toronto. We’re doing a show about biking across Canada.

We talk about those politics. Why don’t you interview our writer, who is now a doctor, because she just got her PhD. I’m sure you guys would like to hear what she has to say.

So they interviewed her a casual five and a half weeks ago. The article came out today. So we were waiting and praying, being like, Ave Maria, bring this article out.

And it just came out. And it is very much helping us. But until it came out, we very much had to just do the grass markets advertising and stuff like that.

What have your experiences been with pre-press leading up to the show and all that kind of stuff? Because it is an important part of French. It’s very important, absolutely. Yeah, I don’t know.

I always just like the lists start to come out. Everyone has a list. And so I just start counting the list.

But eventually it starts like early, early pre-press. You’re like, people pay attention to it. And then it just starts to become a bit of a wash.

It’s true. It doesn’t matter as much when the festival starts. No, no.

Everyone is like hinging on it at the beginning. Because up until like when the tickets are on sale, like the tickets go on sale. And now, since in Toronto, we can buy 100% of the tickets up front.

Yeah. Which many people have opinions of. Those, yes.

But and I also. But on that note, does anyone want a postcard? We’ll all flyer each other once we’ve done. It’s the, like those lists, people sometimes make their choices for that first weekend based on those lists.

Super important to get on there. But they’re also like subjective. So makes you appreciate that there’s multiple publications.

Oh, yeah. No, I was just going to say like producing. We all kind of have a hand in it for Robert.

But one thing we did is we did like a 30 day plan for June. Yeah, we planned everything out and we had all this stuff. And then even if we weren’t getting the list or that kind of stuff, we still had stuff.

You know, so it’s like such a happy bonus when it happens. But producing for friends, too, is just such a specific beast. And sometimes there’s that element of the unknown, an element like that you can’t control.

So would you agree you have to change your strategy at the drop of a hat? Yeah, yeah. Actually, I was going to say, I love that you guys spotlighted all the BYUVs this year. I thought that was really smart as producers because there were so many this year.

Yes. Yeah, cool. We yeah, we just I don’t know.

Want to show some luck because it’s hard to be site specific. You know, if you’re in a place that’s had a lot of shows before, but if you’re not like you’re just not in people’s minds. And if you don’t have other shows going on at your venue, you don’t get that kind of support.

So I think it’s also difficult because this year they have all those venues that are outside. Yeah, that’s true. It’s really spread out this year.

And I mean, I know because when I was talking to Lucy, the idea was that the whole idea was that they would be taking Fringe to people who don’t usually see Fringe, which I think, to be honest, is a kind of a naive outlook because those are not the people who are going to Fringe. It’s still the same people who are normally going to Fringe. Yeah.

But now we’re asking them to track a little further. Yeah. Also, I had assumed that they would give some extra, you know, some promotion to those shows, but it’s been radio silence on them.

Yeah, yeah. So Fringe hasn’t really talked about those, but Fringe only talks about the shows that they think are going to. Yeah, the sure things.

So I haven’t really promoted any of the off Fringe. It’s interesting, though. I mean, so this is my ninth year, second year doing Fringe in some capacity, and it’s been fascinating watching the festival change.

And the thing is, there’s usually been something like this every year, right? And it’s because the festival is constantly evolving and changing and trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. And it’s interesting, too, having done a few of the other Fringes around Canada, seeing how they deal with these issues. So even Vancouver, it’s a very condensed Fringe.

And then the Culch, which is easily the worst name of the venue I’ve ever heard, is way the hell up north. The what? It’s not. It’s the Culch.

C-U-L-C-H. Yeah, it’s Klingon. Oh, boy.

The Culch. You have to fight an honour duel to get in. But even just that space, it’s a little bit like… I guess Tarragon’s sort of the furthest north we’ve got right now.

But even then, it’s not that far. No, I know, but it’s about… I guess the closest thing would be like if Old Solar Stage was like a Fringe. We’ve got all this stuff downtown.

Oh, or you could go to North York. There’s one show you want to see. And it’s going to burn the rest of your day to get there and back.

Which hurts their ticket sales. Which hurts their ticket sales immensely because it becomes an island. So it becomes the show.

And I would argue with a lot of these sort of satellite venues. It becomes… You almost need to have several shows in one satellite venue. Which they won’t do.

Yeah. Exactly. Because they won’t let you split a show between them.

And what I’m noticing this year, John, and this kind of ties back into what my experience of producing this year has been, is it’s interesting seeing… There’s a really big push and pull going on right now in Toronto, Fringe specifically, between the spirit of Fringe and the machine of Fringe. The spirit of Fringe is very much like, Hey, you give us your entry fee. We give you space.

And that’s all on you. We’re here to be a support structure. But then after that, it’s all you.

And like, yeah, we’ve got our press angles and stuff for the festival. But they’re not your press angles. They’re our press angles.

We need to run the festival. That’s how we’re going to do it. And what’s interesting is, some years I felt a tremendous amount of freedom to do whatever the hell we want.

But also the pressure of knowing it’s up to us to market. You can’t expect anything. That’s fine.

It’s not their job to provide that for us. This year, I’m finding it’s almost a weird hybrid where they’ve done enough that it kind of feels like they’re doing promotions. But also, they’ve got this crazy fundraising target.

Also, this is a much larger argument, but there’s a lot of push and pull going on even between things like the Fringe tent, where the rebranding, I think, is very clever. I understand why they’re doing it. But as someone who gently rebranded it last year myself as Thunderdome.

I bought the t-shirt. Still have the t-shirt. Well, and the thing is, I’m starting to feel… Sorry, this is a weird deep dive.

But I don’t know if I’m allowed to engage with the Fringe the way I want to anymore. Right. Because last year, I was missing Honest Ed so fucking much.

I didn’t even know if I wanted to go to Fringe. I was just so ripped up about it. And then I went there the first day, and I was like, this is a delight, and it’s silly, and there’s skateboarding kids who are trying to buy booze in the hotel.

I was like, oh shit, it’s the Thunderdome. Now it’s ours. Now it’s fun.

Like, I can claim this thing as my own and engage with it. And this year, I’m like, ah, I feel so sheepish even talking about it. Because I’m like, oh, but I don’t want to fuck with your very expensive, very passionate rebranding.

And it’s, I don’t know, it’s a weird feeling. Because I’m like, I want to have the fun that I’ve had at Fringe forever, but I don’t know if I’m allowed to anymore. Well, that’s the interesting thing is that now I see posters for Fringe and postscript as a separate thing.

Which feels very strange. Which is very Edinburgh Fringe. And I think I can kind of explain where that came from.

So Lucy Evely used to actually work at the Pleasants, which is one of the top four venues in Edinburgh Fringe. And they very much had a structure, and they very much had a way of doing things. And one of the big things at Edinburgh Fringe is, you not only have your theatres, but you have a separate immaculate patio where only the people in the Pleasants will go, or only the people at Gilded Balloon will go.

And it is very separate. And so there’s these little, like, nuclear families all over Edinburgh Fringe. And so I think she was very much trying to make something, well, her and her team, obviously, that resembled that.

Which I think is smart, because Edinburgh Fringe makes insane amounts of money in, like, bar sales and snacks and all that stuff. But it is a very different atmosphere, for sure. And so I think, from what I’m hearing from you, you’re sort of seeing that difference.

Because everything is very heavily branded. And it also started with the Fringe a few years ago when Next Stageworthy took off. And Next Stage is awesome.

It’s such a huge thing. I love Next Stage. But you can notice the shift in brand from, oh, we’re the Toronto Fringe Festival, and we also run Next Stage, to we are Toronto Fringe purveyors of Next Stage and the Fringe Festival of Toronto.

And it was that idea of, okay, well, we’re stuck with the Fringe. Storefront did the same thing when they shifted from the Storefront Theatre to the Storefront Arts Initiative. And we run the Storefront Theatre.

But the problem is, you’re known for your branding. So you’ve got to keep that branding. Because I guarantee you, if Toronto Fringe could be called something other than Toronto Fringe as the organization, they’d take that in a heartbeat for exactly that reason.

Which all makes sense. It just means that the way I, as an artist, engage with the Fringe has changed. And that’s okay.

I feel like I’ve grown up this year. It does. But the flip side of that is, for these venues that are out on the fringes, and all this other sort of stuff, there’s a really odd dynamic where it’s like, well, wait, are we all out there in the woods alone? Right.

Or are we part of this kind of large organization? Where do we fit in this? Yeah. Because I, yeah. I kind of feel like we’re off alone.

And a Fringe representative shows up, and that’s the front of house manager for a venue, and a volunteer shows up. Like, I feel like there’s virtually no signage. Like, we were talking earlier about how, you know, I recall there used to be like some kind of banner.

Right. They’d give like a flag for your B-1B venue. They don’t have that.

With a number and everything. Which is funny because PostScript has the most signage I’ve ever seen for anything ever. There was a billboard downtown.

Yeah, there was a billboard. They’ve spray-painted PS on everything in the surrounding like 10 kilometres. Which is awesome.

I’m impressed. I mean, it’s awesome. And I also like, I also do love the look and feel of the new, yeah.

But there’s a lot of signage. But it’s interesting because like, if you want to take Fringe to people who normally don’t go to Fringe, you have to make it visible. Yes.

Totally. Which those flags would have done. Yes.

But just putting up a table outside the door. You don’t know what it’s for. There’s nothing.

Which part of me wonders if that’s their strategy, trying to get people to PS Patio, PostScript Patio. Right. And then they find out about Fringe and then they go.

Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. But anytime you implement something new too, it takes like, you know, some getting used to.

And I certainly thought, and I’ll say that too, I kind of, because Fringe always has their thing. Yes. Yeah.

And I thought the expanding their borders, welcoming more people, you know, and more venues. I thought that would be their thing. And the thing this year is certainly the patio.

Yeah. Maybe that’s their, you know, they get people to the patio first, they find out and then they go to shows. I don’t know.

It’s nearly impossible to get tickets to the patio. Totally. That’s the other thing.

The ticket booth is like, is tiny. There’s like maybe two people in there. It’s a litreal lock shop.

Yeah. It’s yeah. Bring it in there.

That’s it. Bring it in there. And also like, I don’t know what, like, like I was, I was standing in line for a long time without it moving at all.

Like I, like, and I, and like, typically when that happens, I look to the front of the line to see, I’m like, okay, who’s, whose mom is making a fuss at the front, like at the front of the line, you know? But it was just like, just somebody waiting, being like, can I have my tickets now? Like, like, I don’t know. The ticketing this, this year has like, just in general has been a bit, it needs to be more box office stuff. Yeah.

The downside, I think one of the, unfortunately, because it seems like PostScript has sort of taken over their focus in a lot of ways. And I would almost hate to see the kind of thing that where, like, so if you’ve ever been to the Edmonton Fringe, you know, there’s people go to the Edmonton Fringe and they don’t know there’s theatre involved. Yes.

Because there’s so much, there’s, there’s, there’s beer tents, there’s buskers, there’s food trucks, and some people are just there for that. Right. Cause that’s a whole festival within the festival.

Some people just hang out in this area. And so you’ll go and you’ll be like, so I want to tell you about your show. And they’ll be like, show? Yeah.

So it’s like, and it’s sprawled there for theatres. I had that moment yesterday where like, two men came up to me and they’re like, oh, like what music show are you doing? And I’m like, well, I’m doing a fringe show. And I give them my flyer and they’re like, oh, but like, what, what else is happening here? Like, did you have a good gig here? And I’m like, no, I’m talking about my fringe.

Again, that’s the, that is the down, like they, they should be making sure that people who are at PostScript know it’s a theatre festival, not just a hang out here, get drunk, watch a show on our stage. Yeah. I, I, uh, Box office would help.

Like, oh yeah, it would. Basically if the box office for my money, uh, cause the most successful box office I’ve ever seen at Fringe was like the last two years at Ed’s when I was at the, uh, the South entrance. Huge tent, eight people working their ass off, getting in and out.

Everything was visible. You could see what was selling, what wasn’t selling. You had everything.

And quite frankly, if you took the space, uh, and I liked that they’ve got a permanent food thing at PostScript, that’s a huge help. Yeah. And it’s a good food thing.

Huge help. Cause I remember like, even at Ed’s occasion, you’re like, oh really? Burgers that taste like frisbees. Don’t.

Uh, anyway, um, but, uh, they had like, if you took where the bar was last year, that long expanse of tent and turned that into a box office. Then you, and like, sign the hell out of that. I mean, even if I’m hanging out drinking, I’d be like, box office, what the shit? Like, do I have to buy tickets for this? It’s like, no, you can buy tickets for, insert button.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what have you guys, have you guys had a chance to see any shows yet? 12 shows. 12 shows.

Wow. Holy shit, Rebecca. All right, well, we’re all going to leave.

I have a list here. I’m ready to tell you about them. I’ve seen three.

So what I want to know is, what I want to know is, what shows have you seen that you’ve loved? Quite a few, actually. Okay. That being said, and I’m sure you guys see this too, I sort of always front load my fringe with shows that are not necessarily a sure thing, but just when I read the description, I go, I’m intrigued.

That is a topic I want to know more about. Sure. So I’ll just give you the shows I saw, and then maybe I’ll pick one or two to sort of spotlight.

Yeah. Okay. So for kids shows, I saw The Princess of the Tower.

And then for musicals, I saw One Small Step, Kander and Ebb, The Preposterous Predicament of Pauly Peele, Act One, as well as, no, those were all the musicals. For comedy, I saw a 6N Review, Martin Dockery’s Bike Trip, which is replacing Operation Bowling in the program. Then just for like solo shows, The Honeymoon Period is Finally Over, Bike Face, obviously, I went to my own opening.

Oh, sorry, a few, two more comedies, Police Cops in Space, as well as, I’m missing one, hold on. Well, that’s all I wrote down off the top of my head, but I think I saw more. That’s okay.

I’m trying to see 47. I’m trying to break my- Oh, she’s so nice. Wow.

You know what it is? This year I’m producing, right? So yes, I am doing a lot of work, but it can go to any coffee shop in the U.S. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, like, just because this year I had some, like, vacation hours left for my Joe job. He was like, hey, guys, I’m taking next week as my vacation week.

Peace. So I can just schedule whenever. I’m pulling a Chua.

Nice. Going full Chua. I’m going full Chua.

I got the 30 pass. David, my hubby, and I are just splitting the pass. That needs to be a button, by the way, for people who see more than 40 shows.

Full Chua, I’m going full Chua. His record is 93. That’s insane.

I don’t even know how you do that. That’s nonsense. I thought 47 was, like, pushing myself to, like, my spiritual limits.

I don’t know. I think, honestly, I think he’s pulling a prestige scam. It was actually two Derek Chua’s.

Two Derek Chua’s? The brothers that just never, they’ve never fessed up to it. Now I’m just thinking it’s, like, two Michael Caines with Derek Chua masks on. I mean, he did keep going, it’s my Derek Chua.

That doesn’t sound like your actual name. Cock me ass. You were great in Batman Begins.

So I’ll sort of just pick one from each category. I know I only saw one kid’s show, but I must say The Princess of the Tower. It’s like those Pixar movies that are also meant for adults.

I highly recommend it. Much like the cast of, like, Once the Musical, each of these kids plays, like, seven instruments. What? I say kids, they’re grown adults.

Okay, okay. I was like, children, what? Yeah, and it’s just a very sweet story. The klezmer music that Scott Christian has composed is amazing.

I was thoroughly impressed. Like, I was going in, like, a little skeptical. I was like, yeah, what instruments? You’re gonna play the harmonica a bunch? But, like, these people are talented musicians.

So bagpipes, I don’t give a shit. I’m sorry. We can’t all learn the bagpipes, okay? Also, the harmonica is a great instrument.

As far as, like, musicals, I still think Kander and Ebb is standing out for me the most. Ryan Hines is such a compelling storyteller. And I just am so glad that Cabaret is starting to actually get a spotlight.

It is very closely related to doing solo shows, so my heart is in it. He just, he had me from start to finish. The other musicals were great, but that one just sort of stuck with me and made me sort of think about what kind of art I want to create.

And I think that’s a sign of a good show. As far as comedy, I’m a little biased on this one because I’ve seen them before, but Police Cops in Space was so funny. So just a bit of background.

These kids dominate the Edinburgh Fringe. I saw them after lining up for, like, two hours in the rain be like, this better be good because I didn’t have lunch. And it was so good that I saw it, like, three more times and, like, lost sleep over getting in.

And so this is, like, their second one. They are very talented physical comedians. They obviously have training in mime and Lecoq and stuff like that, but also their improv and sketch is so spot on.

Essentially, they are sort of parodying any cop farce, but also, like, CSI at the same time and kind of just making fun of everything as they go along. What impressed me more was I met the stage manager while I was at Toronto Fringe and she was like, just so you know, only half of this is scripted. And I was like, they are very smart comedians.

So yeah, Police Cops in Space for comedy. And as far as solo shows, I still think The Honeymoon Period is officially over by Gemma Ward is my favourite that I’ve seen so far. She’s very talented in telling stories and one unique thing about her shows is she doesn’t only, like, personify all the characters.

She personifies, like, objects in the room. Like, there’s one point where her and I guess, like, the boyfriend she’s talking to are having a serious conversation and she’s also personifying the fire wavering as it gets more awkward in the conversation. Or, like, there’s one point where she’s, like, petting her cat and crying and then the cat gives, like, a whole monologueue about how he’s going to eat the hamster tonight.

It’s just, it’s smart, it’s funny, accessible to all ages. I think that was the coolest thing. I went to her opening and it was, like, 9 to 99 was there.

There you go. Oh, and a 6N review is just funny. Just go see it.

You’re a Torontonian. You’re gonna love it. And they basically hypothesize what would be required to make a 6N review in the eyes of Glen Sumi.

And eventually they get audience suggestions and incorporate it into, like, an improv scene at the end. Was very impressive because the one that I saw included a monologueue about a fire hydrant. It happened.

It was funny. Great. Damn.

What have other people seen that they loved? Oh, I saw Featherweight. And I saw Prank. I’ve already talked to Tom drunkenly about it, but it is hilarious.

And it’s also… It’s a secret play about some cultural issues in our world nowadays. Like, it’s this sort of, like, American gods-y comedy thing. But there’s some definite parallels to be drawn.

I want people to be able to draw their own. It’s sort of a la Bright Lights last year, where you could interpret it, like, one of several ways. But I came out of it being like, wow, that’s, like, yeah.

Oh, that’s about a lot more than just what it was about. Oh, I enjoy that. Yeah.

Subtext. Yeah. So see that one.

But I also… Here’s your 20 bucks. Thank you. And also, I saw Anywhere by Michael Ross Albert at the Factory Backspace a couple nights ago.

And it’s great. It’s super tense. It’s Cass Van Wick and Courtney Ching Lancaster.

I hope I got your name right, Courtney. But they’re both incredible actors. You know, like, stage-tested.

They’ve done it a bunch. Cass was great in The Rock 25, really. She was amazing.

And I just saw Courtney in Instant Blossom. Yeah. They’re both fantastic.

And it’s just this, like, tight, like, sort of, like, pressure cooker of a play. Oh, I love Instant Blossom. Yeah, it’s great.

It’s very tense. And then, like, very strangely funny at times. Like, the laughter’s, like, the laughs in it come out of weird places.

And you’re like, oh, thank God that’s there. But it’s, yeah, it’s great. Nice.

Yeah. Excellent. I’m having a… So I’m doing the land acknowledgement at Featherweight.

And also, as a producer, I’m just so used to, A, things going completely haywire right at showtime. And B, we’re a small venue. We’re 60 seats.

And a bunch of those seats are bench. Yeah. Or, like, are bench seating.

So the amount of times I have to be like, hi, you’re now on a date with the person next to you. Yeah. Get in there.

So that’s kind of really thrown a wrench into my fringing. Plus, World Cup is on. So as a sports nerd, throughout Featherweight, all I want at rehearsals, I was just like, I just want to watch some fucking soccer.

So I’m trying to balance the important games with so much stuff. So so far, I’ve only seen Prank. It took three shows for Featherweight to settle to a point where I’m like, OK, house isn’t on fire.

So yeah, so I went and saw Prank yesterday. And as Danny did with his show Cloud, I don’t see a lot of sci-fi that isn’t… I feel like there’s this weird dead space in sci-fi where we jump from today to we’re in space and living in pods and I’m a dog for some reason. And what’s really cool about Prank is it’s… even though it’s very much a show about modern YouTube culture, it’s modern YouTube culture through the lens of the next generation.

And that is both terrifying and fascinating. And Danny really plumbs that for what… we make a lot of jokes about the damage we’re doing to future generations with our kind of fame obsession and our kind of like Wild West approach to the internet where we’re just like, whatever, it’s the internet. And it’s really fun kind of… Again, it’s weird.

I’m just like pumping your show. But it’s really fun watching how the show plays with the idea of, OK, well, let’s jump this ahead. We’ll also comment on what’s going on, but also telling a narrative that takes place in that.

So it’s not just like… Because also the other things I feel that there’s a real danger, particularly with sci-fi, look at this cool concept. All right, peace. Yeah.

And then the characters are like, I am a mouthpiece for cool ideas. They’re like, shut up, robot. And so figuring out how these characters can have their own journeys and their own emotional storylines that we care about and engage with while also weaving in kind of this meta-commentary on technology.

Well, also, weirdly, it’s set in the future, but it’s not like a bleeding sci-fi where there are holograms and their eyes are made of lasers. It’s still a very human and accessible story, but that just happens to be in sci-fi. And as a huge sci-fi nerd, I feel like for a lot of people, something like Prank is what could be a great gateway drug into actually enjoying sci-fi because it’s not, you know, sexy sci-fi robot lady in space.

It’s like, no, here’s two kids who are fucked up by their parents. Also, like a tremendously gross and weird element of parenting and fame and internet culture that I hadn’t even considered. Because I love, like, you know, Charlie bit me and David goes to the dentist.

And all those things are really funny. But then there was that case not too long ago about that kid who was crying about being bullied. And everyone was like, oh, this is so tragic.

And then when they did more research, they were like, he was being bullied because he was being really racist to a bunch of kids in his school. And they all fought back. And I was like, ah! Because, like, not only did we all have this moment with this, like, sad child, then we’re like, oh, but you’re problematic.

And oh, it’s super problematic. I was in on that. I’m like, whatever.

And also, like, a bunch of, like, NHL people and, like, NFL people were like, hey, bud, you can come see our games for free. We’re going to give you, like, a tour of, like, backstage or whatever you call it. He’s like, just don’t kneel.

Yeah, so all I’m going to say, like, for me, like, my favourite part of Fringe, and this ties into my love of Thunderdome, slash PostScript, slash Onset, is getting to talk about shows and, like, have those conversations. And I think one of the best things Fringe has to offer is that idea of, like, you get ejected out into the world with a bunch of other people who are just fired up to talk about theatre. And, yeah, for me, like, if I can come out of a show, it’s one thing to just have a really nice time.

I’m like, cool, I feel great. But a show like Prank is the kind of thing where I’m like, oh, great, I can go and talk to people about this now. Like, my brain’s firing and I’ve got a bunch of things I want to think about and explore.

So that’s what I’ve seen. I’m actually seeing all of your shows, I hope, which is good. I remember there’d be, like, someone on the panel where I’m like, I don’t know what’s going on.

I’m actually pre-booked for all of them. Well, you just keep showing us up. No, you know what it is? Like, if I miss one show, it messes up my entire schedule.

Right, right, right. So I’ve actually, there’s, like, only one spot I can see your show. There’s only one spot I can see your show.

So yeah, but I’m really, I’m actually, I’m very excited about Police Cops in Space largely because their write-up is great. They’re going to the most dangerous place on Earth, space. Also, I’m just going to say Glow-in-the-Dark fight scene.

Yes. Oh my goodness. Yes, I’m excited for them.

I’m always excited for more on JASP just because they always make me feel the feels. We’ll laugh in the laughs. Yeah, my friend’s stage managing, Letters in the Air.

So I’ve sort of, like, Moni’s has been giving me the inside scoop on a bunch of that. And I loved your preview at Daratwo’s musical night. I wanted to say that on podcast.

There you go. But yeah, I don’t know. It’s a bit of a weird fringe for me because I’m writing, directing, producing Featherweight.

My brain has been, and I came right off another show that ended mid-June. So, like, it’s just been that. And now that I can actually breathe, it’s just today for the first time did I go through and star the personal interest shows.

Like, there’s all the ones I’m like, okay, here’s what my friends are doing and hit those. But it was litreally today was the first day I was like, oh, cool, they’re police cops and they’re in Spence. Oh, it’s a retelling of this.

I love that stuff. So I’m not being a bad fringer. One show I actually also wanted to shout out.

And this guy got on the same top 15 list as Janelle. His name is Adam Schwartz. He’s a comedian from Winnipeg.

His show is called, oh, please let me get this right. Asperger’s A Tale of a Social Misfit. So I’ve seen his first one, which came here a few years ago.

And I loved it so much that I was doing, I think one of the coffee shop girls the same year. And I kept shouting it out at the end of my show because I wanted everyone to see it. So I saw the second installment.

It’s at the Annex Theater. He is such a good storyteller and makes such good jokes that are not necessarily self-deprecating. You actually, you learn more about Asperger’s and understand him as a human being so much more after spending 60 minutes with him when you leave the theatre.

But also you are laughing your head off at the same time. And I think that’s a mark of a good comedian. Someone who can like tell a story and you not only learn something, you don’t realize you’ve learned something.

And also like he’s making you laugh. It’s very funny. Also half of the things he talks about, we all can relate to.

And the other half, it’s just so cool to hear it as like a perspective because so often people that do not have Asperger’s are talking about it. It’s great to hear someone be like, hey, here’s my platform and here’s what I have to say. So I think it’s well worth anyone’s time.

And he very much deserves all the pre-press that he’s been getting. I loved his show. So Belinda, Janelle, have you guys had a chance to see anything? Well, I want to split myself in half so I can like go and see everything.

I’m seeing four tomorrow. I think five on Monday. Certainly excited to see Bugface.

Because I also just, anyone who does solo work and females who do solo work, I’m there. Really excited to see Josephine, a less cabaret dream play. Yeah, I’m so excited.

They’re one of our fringe friends that we kind of connected up with and trying to support each other. And I’m super excited to see that. Prank, I could go on.

But like, I just, I want to see so many things. And I’m also like, how do you guys take care of yourself after? You do, right? Yeah. So you need to have a voice.

I’m in that boat where it’s like, oh God, like I want to see like, I’m going to see your show. I’m going to see, I want to see all your shows. And it’s also like, when do I have time to see all these shows? As an artist, like as an actor in the fringe.

Because yeah, you have to take care of… And you’re singing. And you’re singing. Definitely so.

Have you had a chance to see anything yet? Or is it all like, I’m going to see things? I’m going to see, like today I’m going to see Generally Hospital, it’s where we’re going. See you there. Yeah, oh great.

And then I’m seeing D&D and seeing Robert. Those are the three ones, the three that I have tickets for. And then I’m going to buy tickets for other shows.

And yeah. I’ve only managed to see one show so far because between working a day job and rehearsing psych-specific, I managed to take yesterday off because life needed to be taken care of. But there was also some time.

I saw Al LaFrance’s I Think I’m Dead. Which, Al is exhausted by telling this story. But it is a story about realizing that you, among many things, realizing that you have perhaps a mental disability or a problem like bipolar or depression and learning how to deal with it.

And you don’t really realize that’s where he’s going until about halfway through. Oh wow. And he tells it, like I said, at a breakneck speed.

And it’s really quite awesome. And he’s been telling it for the last year. Oh wow, yeah.

Across Australia and North America. So yeah, pretty incredible. Anyone want to share one other one that I haven’t seen yet but saw the previous iteration of that I forgot? That also hasn’t been getting good reviews but hasn’t been getting a lot of press.

But Enjoy the Hostilities. Oh, yes, Robin Black’s show. Yeah, it’s Robin Black’s show that Graham Isadore helped write and develop.

And it’s in terms of, yeah, kind of exhausting weird life stories. And also, I don’t know, yeah, with his solo show I always like getting a little peek into who the person is. And I didn’t know Robin Black at all.

That’s a very interesting one. Yeah, it’s like Graham’s a buddy of mine. He kept being like, oh yeah, I’m working with Robin Black.

And there’d be that moment of like, I’m like, I got nothing, man. Cool, sounds like a cool dude. I’m working with Michael Moosie.

That’s right. Terrence from Kim’s Convenience. But speaking, I’ve got a funny story about that in a sec.

But yeah, so anyway, but I’ve seen various iterations because yeah, Robin Black has led a crazy life. He was a glam rocker. He was an MMA fighter.

Now he’s a professional MMA commentator. And basically his stories are exactly as nuts as you’d imagine. And Graham kind of worked with him to like really, because Graham does a lot of storytelling shows, in and around Toronto, as well as perform the personal situational anarchy and that sort of thing.

And he really massaged these stories. And it’s been fascinating watching the condensing of these stories. I’ve seen like one that’s now maybe 10 minutes of the show.

It used to be like a 25 minute, like full thing. And watching these stories get honed down, honed down. So anyway, they’re a Bovine… Bovine sex club.

Bovine sex club. But yeah, again, I haven’t seen the Fringe iteration, but they just did it in Ireland. And like by all accounts, it’s… It went very well.

I had quite a few friends at the festival. So what’s Hot and Hug? Cool, yeah. So just another one that I’d shout out, because it’s unique also.

I always love seeing someone who isn’t a theatre performer doing a solo show that isn’t just their natural thing. Because it was also interesting watching Robin go from, this is my glam rocker kind of person. And it’s every stance he takes on stage, he looks like a glam rocker.

And it was interesting because the early show was very much more like I’m doing my bit between songs. And now he’s fully into a storytelling mode. That’s awesome.

Well, I want to thank you guys for doing this. And we’ll do this again next week. Yay! Thank you for having us, Phil.

Happy Fringe! Merry Fringemas, one and all. God bless us, everyone. This has been a Homebody Productions production.