Review: (Ottawa) Burnt at the Steak (Fringe)

Burnt at the Steak or 'The Best 10 Dollars You Will Ever Spend"

by David Currie

See Burnt at the Steak. Go see it, tonight.  Why are you still reading this, you should be watching Burnt at the Steak.  From the life experience of Carolann Valentino, comes the greatest musical comedy I have seen in years. This is a delightful play.  Every joke lands, you get to see song Parody at its finest.  This is why people like one woman shows.  This is a show with a very simple message “follow your dreams,” and it doesn’t feel trite in the least.

The story centers around Carolann’s life managing a very classy New York City Steak House.  She performs as 18 hilarious characters.  Her personality carries you through an exciting evening that has the audience laughing and looking around to make sure other people are laughing. She invites audience members to join her on stage and uses them in her stories.  The musical numbers are perfect, an exquisite use of musical theatre. They are all parodies and, again, the audience is invited to sing along. With titles like “No Nickers” and “Big Fat Daddy” it is hard not to.  Carolann only allows herself one moment to indulge in saccharine sentimentality and then quickly pulls back and ends the show by doing what she does best, tell jokes.

This is going to be the best show of the Fringe Festival, see it as soon as you can - so that you can see it a second time.

June 19 - 29

Review: (Ottawa) Wunderjammer (Fringe)

Wunderjammer or I Banged Your Doppleganger (for over a half century)
by David Currie

It would be interesting to see what playwright Richard Hemphill and his cast could do with some of these sketches in a longer format.  As it is, this sketch comedy uses stock jokes and stock characters quite well, though it certainly breaks no new ground.  It is an enjoyable show and revisiting the same characters throughout the show does bond the audience to them but the show is something of an exercise in diminishing returns. 

There is a Aristocracy sketch, in the vein of Monty Python that tickled me, I don’t think I laughed out loud but I did like it.  Then there was the Bunnyland, children’s park sketch that goes dark quickly and was the highlight of the show for me.  The directing often feels happenstance, and the acting is good though inconsistent.  Each one of the actors at times seeming confused by their comedic function within the sketches.  All of this is ok, the show works - it gets laughs if you are in the mood to laugh.  Good.

The problem with Wunderjammer, and I find it difficult to bring this up, is that it looks for comedy in uncomfortable old places.   One sketch has women trying to sell men to a horny middle easterner.  There isn’t really any context given for this, so it just comes across as an uncomfortable cultural critique.  Then there are the dumb-girl model sketches.  The writing in these is incredibly good, one- liners soar through the air but at the end of the day, it seems sexist.  Especially, as that sketch is paired with a sketch about dumb girl scientists. Both sketches feel like they have been pulled straight out of the 1950s or 60s.  There are countless gay jokes and the play ends on a transphobic one-liner.  And that’s the problem, Wunderjammer at times feels like watching a minstrel show.

The brilliance of Bunnyland and the potential of the Aristocracy sketches get washed a way in a sea of tired homophobia, sexism and one instance of transphobia.

June 19 - 29

Review: (Ottawa) Silent Party Interlude (Fringe))

Silent Party Interlude or Counting Breaths

by David Currie

If you are in your 40s and own at least one copy of “Eat, Pray, Love” (in any format) this show will appeal to you.  If you aren’t, well, it is still kind of a nice way to spend an hour.  The well told story of a woman who becomes an ascetic for 10 days, Silent Party Interlude can be extremely compelling.  It can also be funny.  It was also pretty annoying. The problem Silent Party Interlude (besides the impossible to remember title), is that every time the play gets into a narrative track and one begins to share in the meditative experience of its performer, the very talented Devon More plays a song.

Let me be perfectly clear, this is not a musical. These songs have little to do with the action on stage.  These songs force a broken-up concert, by a talented musician, into quite a good show - seemingly with the objective of selling CDs. 

That being said, there is a lot to like here.  The very deliberate use of props and lighting was exemplary.  The props so well chosen so minimalist that they blend seamlessly into the theme.  The lighting fluctuating perfectly with the moods of the protagonist.   The acting in this thing is superb, Devon begins by pushing histrionics well beyond what is considered safe and then slowly through out the show dials it back.  The dialing back, I believe, is why by day two of her meditation experience I not only wanted her to succeed but felt like I was watching a friend.  Which is good, because at the end of the day this play is just an exercise in narcissism that you either forgive and buy into and follow on a journey of self discovery through meditation, or you sit for an hour counting your breaths.

June 19 - 29

Review: (Ottawa) Against Gravity (Fringe)

Shadow Puppet Musical
by David Currie

There should be a disclaimer before this show - Warning: Show Contains Absolutely No Narrative Flow.  If you understand that in advance you might enjoy this shadow puppet musical a little better.  There also has to be a good audience, this show requires a high level of audience participation in-order to help suspend disbelief otherwise it will be an unbearably trite and a naive experience.

Which is too bad because Against Gravity obviously took work, thought and so much gumption.  It is the kind of show I really want to like.  Chloé Ziner and Jessica Gabriel are obviously very talented people.  Their sound design and puppetry choices were delightful, they are both charismatic and really brought as many people as they could through their art with them. Technically, this show is magnificent, charming even.

“Follow your heart.” said the Snail

“Ok, might as well.” said the man.

When the show begins, it feels like fun incarnate.  The performers introduce it as a “Sound blob Puppet show.”  For several minutes, I loved it.  However, the show stagnates very quickly. Evidently suffering from a lack of writing experience, the sounds and visuals do simply blob together. There is nothing really to care about.  No reason to be there.  And that’s when you realize you are watching two people play with a projector they probably stole from their high school.  When they finally get to their second act, completely abandoning the story they were telling, the hilarious antics of human being versus puppet cannot save the experience.

Look, these people seem wonderful, go support them.  Invite 20 of your friends, if you smoke marijuana then do that and have a fluffy, vapid shadow puppet show musical experience with your friends.

June 19 - 29

Review: (Ottawa) Dicky Dicky (Fringe)

Making People Feel Bad Is The Essence Of Comedy
by David Currie

Over the snowless peak of the tall bald man’s head sitting in front of me, I had my first great Fringe experience last night. Yes, it was the first play I saw but Dicky Dicky is a must see showcase of new work by funny people.  Billed as sketch comedy, to experience this play is closer to watching seven rapid fire one act plays by seven different playwrights and it is delightful.

Comedy duo Ray Besherah and Dave Brown have really done something with their latest work.  In the format they created they have guaranteed that their audience is active and engaged. With two tokens in hand, every member of the audience has the opportunity to vote for the best short plays.   At the end of the night, the playwright with the most votes gets a share of the profits. It is an unusual responsibility for an audience member to feel, so it is likely wise that to ease us into our role Dave and Ray begin their show with a penis-baloon-ballet.

It would be impossible to discuss all of the short plays individually so I will select my two favourite.  At the midway point of the show, after three short plays that while good (and they were good) left me wanting, Dicky Dicky took a Ionesco-esque turn with “Patent Office.”  Had I hated every other play but this one, Dicky Dicky still would have been worth the price of admission.  “How do tits improve a hat?” the play asks and yet, leaves each member of the audience to find the answer for themselves.

As a showcase Dicky Dicky finishes strong with “This is Not a Metaphor,” a tragicomedy that begins with the beating of an adult diapered son by his shirtless father and then turns, as one actor injures the other, into a conversation that questions the nature of theatre and acting itself, and then back into an adult diapered son being beaten by his shirtless father.  I know, this sounds crazy but see it. It is a master’s class in 4th wall playfulness.  It really is exceptionally good.

As is everything in Dicky Dicky, even the short plays I didn’t love, I liked because Ray and Dave liked them.  The respect these two bring to each of the works they present is infectious, a palpable feeling built into the staging and striking of each play.  I hope Dicky Dicky turns out to be something of a microcosm for this year's Fringe, see five things you like and two things you love, then go to the courtyard and get a beer.

June 19 - 29