(reviews by Cole)
Parry Hotter and the Half Drunk Twins by Tom Reed
As I said on the Fringe website, Tom is talented in more ways than I’d imagined, not only brilliantly funny, but capable of creating an entire series worth of clever and unique characters, AND he can sing. Boy has a pair of lungs on him. Well-prepared, perfectly executed, and charmingly accompanied! The Fringe should have attempted to shove more chairs into the studio for Tom’s performance.
The opening night, the Fringe accidentally oversold the studio space, and I experienced my first Fringe Faux Pas- saving multiple seats when the room is obviously over-filled, and your friend/spouse/landlord did not get in line early enough. Planning, people.
Tom was the first in many plays I saw this past week that poked fun of the tenets of the genre it embodied. Pointing out how “magic” would be vaguely used as an explanation for anything and everything nonsensical in the form of a song. Tom also took great pleasure in exploring the parody, becoming very different, very familiar, very funny characters who went to “Hogwart’s Community College”, and also explored the effect Rowling’s fame had on the content of her books later.
This is not to insinuate that Tom’s show was somehow overly thoughtful or serious. Pulling from pop-culture “I’ve had it with these m*****f**king snakes on this m*****f**king school”, poking fun at modern society “sexually transmitted curses”, and singing duets with himself, Tom is always fun. As over on the Fringe Website, I happily award Tom five kitties.
An Intimate Evening With Fotis Part III by Mike Fotis
I would venture to say that few people enjoy the pure act of storytelling as much as Mike Fotis, who occasionally gets so giddy that he shouts entire pages of prose. One of the Rockstar Storytellers, Fotis is a skilled storycrafter, linking three stories together with the subtle common thread of his relationship with his father. Accompanied by the not only comedically talented, but also apparently musically inclined, Jen Scott, Fotis splits sides unapologetically, and probably will need an angry bongo player too next year.
Fotis’s stories follow him as a boy scout, him as an ex-smoker, and him as the owner of a new puppy. Don’t be mislead by my description of his show- this man will call your toddler a “dull-toothed human sh*tter”, but you’ll probably laugh. He is excited, crass, and occasionally insecure, and I cannot wait to experience more of Fotis’ work in the future. I gave his show four of five kitties on the Fringe Website.
-Cole
Fringe is nearing its close! Get out and see some shows this weekend!
