Nancy's MUST SEE List at the 2011 Ottawa Fringe

Every year, I put out a list of shows that I really want to see at various Fringes across Canada and every year it always becomes my most popular blog post of the year. So, without further ado, back by popular demand (I think), here's Nancy's MUST SEE List at the 2011 Ottawa Fringe.

Well, first up, hands down, you need to see my show: Roller Derby Saved My Soul. Once you've done that, you may then come back to this post and find out what else I'll be checking out.

...

Did you go see my show yet? Ok. You may now read on.

STUFF I'VE SEEN Being the theatre traveller that I am, there are many things coming to town that I may have already caught at another festival. The following shows are a guaranteed good-time:

Fruitcake This is Rob Gee's first time at the Ottawa Fringe, but I've seen this show twice already. Yes, twice. Once in Winnipeg and once in Toronto. It's sold out every time. And since he's in the small space that is the Arts Court Library, you can expect more of the same here too.

Canuck Cabaret Ottawa audiences will remember Paul Hutcheson from On Second Thought and Sharon Nowlan from Burlesque Unzipped. They've pooled their considerable talents together for one of the best variety shows I've ever seen. I caught a version at London's Big Comedy Go-To that only included the two of them. This time around, expect a few Fringe favorites (including yours truly!) to pop by and showcase some additional mad skillz.

Fucking Stephen Harper: How I Sexually Assaulted the 22nd Prime Minister of Canada and Saved Democracy I wonder if Rob Salerno would still be presenting this show if the Conservative Government hadn't won the election? I saw one of the very first workshop performances of this piece back when it was just called Fucking Stephen Harper at the, once again, Big Comedy Go-To (where all funny things are born). It was a great little story then and I can't wait to see how it's changed in the past three years. Ottawa audiences will remember Rob from the Best in Venue winning Balls, a funny and touching story about two friends coping with testicular cancer.

Peter n Chris Save the World Since they are two of the funniest guys in the world, it makes sense that they should be the ones to save it. Caught this one at the Toronto Sketch Fest last November. If you saw the Peter N Chris Show at last year's Fringe, you will be pleased to know that the satin jackets once again make an appearance.

PEOPLE I KNOW WHO DO COOL SHIT The following shows I have not seen, but they involve really incredible and talented people I know so I really want to check them out!

Live from the Belly of a Whale Countries Shaped Like Stars broke my fucking heart and then put it back together with glitter and cookie dough. There's no way in hell I'm missing this show.

Complex Numbers I love all things adorkable and Nadine Thornhill. Now I hear she's forgone pants for the duration of the festival. Icky icky pants. If you do not see this show SHE WILL PUT THEM BACK ON! I am pretty sure none of you want that. However, if that's not enough for you, she's the plywright behind past Ottawa Fringe hits Oreo and The Wedding Night. I once called her Norm Foster meets Gilmore Girls. Directed by the wonderful Ken Godmere, good times are pretty much guaranteed.

Curriculum Vitae Oh Jimmy Hogg! The guy is so fucking charming and falls into the category of "People I would watch read the phone book." Fortunately, I'm pretty sure he's bringing a real show to town, because where the heck do you find a phone book in this day and age? Ottawa Fringe audiences will remember him from his Best Comedy Award for Like A Virgin.

Every Story Ever Told Anything Monster Theatre touches is pure genius. They have not been back to Ottawa since 2002 with THE CANADA SHOW: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF CANADA IN ONE HOUR. It was incredible. This time, Ryan Gladstone is flying solo and tries to tell every story ever told... By jove, I think he'll do it!

Dying Hard Don't let the fact that it's a drama pull you away. Mikaela Dyke is one of the brightest and most talented women I know working in Canadian theatre today. She wowed me in Winnipeg with her dramatic performance in Reflections on Giving Birth to a Squid and then turned everything upside down with her incredible comedic chops at the Big Comedy Go-To. My bet? This is going to be the sleeper hit of the Ottawa Fringe.

Pick Your Path Matt Domville wrote my very favorite show ever at the Ottawa Fringe. It was so good I can't remember the name right now, but it basically brought in the funny when Hercules, Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes walk into a bar... I saw it twice. This show includes Amanda Klaman, who is funny as tits, and is a choose your own adventure type show. Like the books I used to read as a kid, there better be a way for me to cheat and see the ending before I pick it...

The Search for a Reason for Murder Remember last year's Dale Beaner and the Turtle Boy? I do! That's these guys! And they're funny!

Vagabond One of my biggest surprises at the Ottawa Fringe was Tribulations of a Failed Vigilante. I think I caught it because it was short and ended up laughing more than I had in a long time. Well, Dunk a Sok is back and it's in a funky site specific place.

Ok, Ok, I really wanted to make this 10, but I got 12 not counting my own... And there's a bunch more stuff I still want to check out!

There's French stuff, like Le rire de la mer. I'm not normally a fan of Improv, but you've got the Set T-Rex guys (more gems I've discovered at the Big Comedy Go-To) with Callaghan!, Crush Improv with Spotlight On... (and man, I would pay good money to see Cari Leslie make shit up) and the gang from Insensitivity Training who kind of sold me with this trailer for Something with Virgin and Chainsaws.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrGmqbSr6KE]

And and and I've heard interesting things about When Harry Met Harry and The Walk has strong local pedigree and and and...

GAH!

This list is no where near complete. Just get out there will ya? And let me know what you see!

Nancy's MUST SEE List at the 2010 Toronto Fringe

I'm currently in between shows in Morrisburg.  With two performances left, I'm fighting the blues by focusing on the trip I'm going on tomorrow to the Toronto Fringe Festival.  I'm itching to get my hands on a program, but until I do, here's a list of shows I would like to catch while I'm down there. In the spirit of my past Must-See lists, I probably have not seen these shows already and can't comment on them directly, but each one comes with it's own pedigree as to why I want to catch them.  I've seen enough Fringe now in the past 8 years that you can probably count on what I'm putting down here, but if that's not enough, fellow performer Alex Eddington's list has a lot of overlap with mine.

I won't be linking to each individual show description, but the whole list can be found here.

First up: The Ones I Missed in Ottawa!

Although I was able to see 15 shows at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, there wasn't enough time to see everything I wanted.  Here are some of the shows with great buzz that I'm planning to catch in Toronto.  We had two Best of Venue winners in the Duck Wife and Dale Beaner and the Turtle Boy.  There was also the absolutely stunning Lindsay Sutherland Boal's Purely Cabaret and Jonno Katz's Cactus: The Seduction.  I also heard really great things about Phone Whore, but I plan to catch her in Calgary.  If you're not going to be in any other Fringe cities, then I highly suggest you see her now.  I really want to see MAL.  Rachelle Elie's concept really interests me.  Oh and although it's not the same show, I really think it's about time I saw something by Barry Smith.  This time he's got Me, My Stuff, and I: a Multimedia Comedy.

The Ones I've Already Seen

Having been a fringe patron for so long, there's bound to be stuff that I've already seen at various other festivals.  Here's what I know is bound to be good.  Rob Gee's Fruitcake is a hit wherever he goes and I remember enjoying Raven for a Lark (though be warned it's not exactly a comedy) when I saw it in Ottawa last year.

The Ones from my Favourite Non-Fringe Festival

I met them at the Big Comedy Go-To in London (ON) last year and so I'm looking forward to Jimmy Hogg and Christel Bartelse's Wisdom: Part One & ONEymoon.  Same goes for Rob Salerno with Big in Germany (who's got the very awesome Mikeala Dyke working behind the scenes).  Morro was flying solo at the time in what I had dubbed "the bravest and funniest piece of theatre I'd seen in a long time" so I'm excited to see her again with her partner in Morro and Jasp GONE WILD.  Oh and the Go-To also first introduced me to the amazing work of the Cody Rivers duo (gosh, the Go-To is quite the festival now, isn't it?) and one of it's members wrote Poison the Well, which stars the fantastic Elison Zasko (who was one of my Fringe Crushes in Ottawa this year.  That talent! That style! That accent!)

Everything Else that Is Probably Going to Rock my World

Speaking of rocking my world, Die Roten Punke is back with Die Roten Punkte: KUNST ROCK (ART ROCK). I don't know what it's about, but I want more of this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-003rK1vt8]

Monster Theatre has a soft spot in my heart for the Canada Show from many moons ago and I think they win the prize for longest Fringe play title ever with The Shakespeare Show: Or, how an illiterate son of a Glover became the Greatest Playwright in the World.

Can you believe with all my years doing Fringe, I have yet to see something by the "undisputed" Gods of Fringe like TJ Dawe and Keir Cutler?  It might be time for me to correct that with Lucky 9 and Teaching Shakespeare respectively.

Some of the guys from Uncalled For are involved with Dance Animal & You & Me and Me & You (this last one includes Kirsten Rasmussen who is one of the funniest improvisers I have ever seen).

Oh and remember BASH'd? Well the guy who created that, Chris Craddock, has got a new show called PUBLIC SPEAKING.  It's been getting A LOT of advance buzz in every article about the Fringe I read and I just hope it isn't sold out before I get a chance to see it.

So that's abou 20 shows in one week and doesn't include everything else I will hear about once I'm on location.  I can't guarantee I'll get to see it all - Toronto Fringe has yet to consider me a VIP like it's Ottawa counterpart has and money is tight now that my contracts are ending - but I will try my best.

What are you going to see?

So You Think You're Funny?

After a terrible drive through construction, past accidents and the Toronto rush hour parking lot, that took 8 hours instead of the usual 6 and a half, I finally made it to London late enough to miss the first evening performance of The Big Comedy Go-To by Jimmy Hogg. The second show of the evening was The Canuck Cabaret with Paul Hutcheson and Sharon Nowlan. Now, I’ve spoken of my love for Paul before. He’s an amazing storyteller and an incredibly charming performer. He’s also one of the funniest people I’ve ever seen, so I was excited for this new bit. I had never met Sharon before but chatting with her at the bar afterward we had one of those “How have we never met before since we know so many of the same people” kind of conversations.

The show really did not disappoint. It was exactly what it said it would be: a cabaret filled with musical numbers, stories, dance, and even an incredibly brilliant and moving light show by Sharon. If someone saw the show and knows what those things she was using are called, please let me know below!

My only critique is that I would like to have seen them do more bits together. They started off strong with a hilarious opening musical number; Paul told new stories similar to what he does in his one man shows; Sharon did an amazing silent piece with a doll on her shoulder and her right arm as they danced and flirted together to some Sinatra (you really have to see this to believe it, I can't describe it well enough - it was incredible!); some individual stories about Canada; light show; and Paul closed everything on a 3 minute reenactment of Dirty Dancing that made me want to go watch the movie. Though funny the movie bit felt kind of anti-climactic. Perhaps a closing number together would tie things up nicely?

After that, we headed to the Black Shire Pub for THE BIG ONE! A stand-up cabaret where most of this weekend’s performers were going to be participating. I grabbed myself a good seat near the front and I was thrilled when I realized the first person up would be ELVIS! And he threw another scarf at MEEEEEEEEE!!! OMG! OMG! OMG! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*ahem*

I’m sorry. Where was I?

Oh yeah, the stand-up.

Throughout the evening, many of the performers asked why I wasn’t participating. To be honest, I didn’t really see myself in the same league as these people. Most of them have toured extensively with their own material and regularly do things like stand-up, improv and sketch. Me? I feel like I’m just a novice. And I’ve only recently begun to feel, after seeing the crowd at the Airport Security screening bust a gut at my on-screen antics, that I am even that funny.

But watching my friend Cristel Bartelse up there bravely testing out some hilarious new material from her upcoming Fringe show (coming to a London Fringe near you!) did a little voice inside my head go: “Hey. I can do that.”

Maybe it was the beer talking. It could very well have been the beer talking, but watching performer after performer go up there, the voice got louder. Suddenly, I started getting this nagging feeling that I HAD to go up there. If I didn’t, I would regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Soon. And for the rest of my life. I turned to Christel and spoke out loud: “I have to go up there.” Her smile was wide and encouraging. “Do it!”

I walked over to producer Jayson McDonald. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no material planned but still I asked: “Do you have room?” He sent me over to the host with an urgent “If you want to do it, do it now.”

The host, Kristian Reimer looked amused by my request. I still didn’t know what I was going to say. Then I caught the current performer talking about vampires and the Twillight phenomenon. Bingo! I had my opening bit. “I have to go up now.” Ian MacIntyre from Approximately 3 Peters was wrapping up his set. “Ok,” Kristian said, “you’re up.”

I think I threw up in my mouth a little.

I was announced, there was music, I made my way up to the stage and set my beer down on a stool like every professional comic I’d ever seen.

Taking my cue from the previous set, I started: “I think vampire slaying would be a very difficult career move.”

There’s a chuckle. I’m awkward but in a completely adorkable way.

“I mean, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to stab someone in the chest before…”

Guffaw!

Guffaw, really? Someone guffawed? And I was off!

I talked some more vampire slaying and Dustbusters and ideal careers and Princess Leia and my new found obsession with the King. It was surprisingly easy to flow from topic to topic. It was like writing a blog post, but out loud.

I finished on a good note. People clapped and some more funny people took to the stage, bringing down the house. It was a grand evening. I got a lot of really great comments and feedback throughout the night from people I absolutely adore and respect. For my first attempt at any kind of stand-up, it was not bad. Not bad at all.

Today’s the last day of the festival (already?) and I’m now off to enjoy as much as I can. There’s still time for you to check out a free panel discussion with some of the performers, a show by Uncalled For (my former billets who won Best Ensemble with this one at the Ottawa Fringe), a sketch comedy triple bill, an improve triple bill and finally an IMPROV CAGE MATCH!

For all the details, check out The Big Comedy Go-To website.

Something Wicked This Way Come

And by wicked, I mean wicked cool! ...

Sorry. I'm writing this right after a performing a preview performance with the Fools and I've got a bit of Mackers on the brain. But you know what else is on my brain and one of the many sources of my current delight? The Big Comedy Go-To!

You may remember from last year (and if you don't, just clock on both those links for a refresher) that I attended this most awesome of festivals. In fact, my picture, to my delight, has actually made it on to the official festival website.

I'm thrilled that the festival survived it's inaugural installment and is now back for it's sophomore year, though not bigger, definitely better than ever. Last year was amazing, but I'm really glad some improvements have been made. For instance, no shows overlap this year (which unfortunately spreads out your audience), it's been trimmed down by a day to end on Saturday (better for those folks who work on Monday mornings), and it finally has its very own website.

But what exactly is the Big Comedy Go-To? Let me put it this way: take all the best, funniest, most jaw-droppingly cool shows you've ever seen at any Fringe Festival and throw them together to form a megawesomesuperfunhappytime festival. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the Big Comedy Go-To.

And how good is it? Well, I am going to be driving from Ottawa to London (ON) FOR THE WEEKEND just to be able to indulge in some of the awesome.

Checking out the lineup (producer Jayson McDonald has an eye for the funny), it's definitely not going to disappoint. It all starts tonight, which I will unfortunately miss, but at least I've already seen The Boneyard Man and Boatload in the past (in fact you may remember that Boatload constantly makes my many Must See at Fringe lists). So, if you are anywhere near London (and even if you're not, trust me, it's worth the trip), you should definitely head on down to check those out this evening.

I'll be arriving tomorrow and you can be sure I'll be keeping you posted on all the happenings right here and on Twitter (which I only now realize I didn't have at this time last year... wow).

In the meantime, you might be wondering what I'm so far excited to see the most. Well, as much as I love Jimmy Hogg, Paul Hutcheson, and those boys from Uncalled For and Sex T-Rex (is there a movie they can't dismantle?), my heart is currently going pitter-patter for The King himself.

Sigh. I think I still have the scarf he sweated on and threw at me last year.

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!