IndyFringe

IndyFringe: Calder the Musical

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By Wendy Carson

This little show seems to be the early contender for biggest audience (move over, DK!). It’s a touching look into the life of a man who’s name most of us have never heard, but whose artistic output we are all familiar with.

Alexander “Sandy” Calder was a typical artist – a sensitive and misunderstood little boy, a wayward, searching young man and a misunderstood genius who is responsible for giving the world the mobile. Narrated by Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, we are taken to various times in the artist’s life that shaped his creations and legacy.

One thing to note, this script is being workshopped here in the hopes of being developed into a full-length show. However, what is presented does whet the appetite for more. The circus scene alone is amazing.

The production also presents possibly the largest cast and crew of any of this year’s offerings. I am bringing up this point because the caliber of talent involved so impressively high, I am unable pick out a single member of the team to focus on.

Just know that if you want to be able to experience this magic for yourself, you should go now and buy your tickets online at indyfringefestival.com. Every single performance so far has been a sell-out and that momentum does not look to subside. One performance remains: 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, on the Theatre on the Square main stage.

IndyFringe: Hair-Raising Hypnotist

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By Wendy Carson

Sadly, this show does not involve any witchcraft or voodoo. What it does have is a very talented hypnotist, Ray Adams, creating a hilarious hour of silliness for everyone involved.

While many people are afraid to be hypnotized, others find it refreshing. Your mind becomes very relaxed and allows you really break out of your shell. You will not do anything you don’t want to, but you will find yourself really, really wanting to do the things you are told during the show.

Ideally, this show best with a large audience and around 6 to 8 participants. However, the show I made it to barely had that many attendees; and yet it not only worked, our lone “hypnotee” was probably one of the best subjects I’ve ever seen. Fortunately, these attendance numbers are not typical and the remaining shows will be more like the opening night when the theater was packed.

Whether you’ve never seen a hypnosis show, or are an avid watcher of them, make sure you get out to catch this one while you can. It’s an enjoyable time for everyone involved.

Performances at IndyFringe Basile Theatre, Aug. 26 and 27. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: What’s a Wedding Got to do With It

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By Wendy Carson

This is the journey of a man — one who abhors the very idea of the institution of marriage and all it stands for — taking the plunge and actually getting married. The story is told  by Jeremy Schaefer in four parts, each of which illustrate the various rituals and ornamentations society demands be included in order for the ceremony to occur.

From the history of the engagement ring, the music choices for the reception, the guest lists, locations, scheduling and every detail in between; it’s a pretty overwhelming feat that anyone does this at all. Still, when the right person enters the picture and the legal ramifications of the bond hit close to home, he finds himself struggling to make sure that everything is perfect for her.

For a sweetly touching look at love, marriage and all of the traditions surrounding it, this show is a delight. Besides, where else are you going to get the opportunity to see someone wearing a wooden bow tie?

Performances are at ComedySportz Aug. 24, 27 and 28. Info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: C-

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By Wendy Carson

Your college years, they were fun — weren’t they?

You had a good time and the worries of the day-to-day working world were but a distant glimmer on the horizon. But now graduation is over 20 years behind you. What have you done with your life and what do you wish that you had been taught back then to better prepare you for your future?

This is the story of one man’s quest to reconnect with some of his frat brothers in order to discern the answers to those questions. Among those Eric Jaffe finds are his redneck buddy who went to college because his parents wouldn’t support his dream of being a “Rock God,” the disgraced athlete who let his scholarship slip through his fingers, and “The Sponge” who was always smoking pot but never bought any of it.

The stories are compelling and their messages are strong. In fact, I would hope that parents would try to bring out their high school-aged kids to see this and maybe learn some of the pitfalls that college offers.

However, the narrative was not at all linear, and this caused the individual characters’ storylines to be impossible to follow. With a little polish, this could be an amazing show that could be a useful teaching tool for college-bound students.

Even so, the message is important enough to make this show worth a look.

Performances are at the Theatre on the Square second stage Aug. 25 and 27. Info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: The Immaculate Big Bang

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By Wendy Carson

An irreverent night of comedy covering science, religion, relationships, philosophy and family, “The Immaculate Big Bang” by comedian Bill Santiago feels like what an episode of “The Big Bang Theory” would be like if it was written by George Carlin. The laughs are pretty constant, but some of the material might even make you pause to think or research one or two of the topics covered.

The material as a whole is not actually offensive, but some of it might not be to everyone’s taste. Basically, if you think the idea of telling Jesus a “Yo’ Mamma’s So Holy…” joke is in poor taste, then this show might not be for you. Otherwise, get out and see this show. Who knows, you might actually learn a thing or two from it.

Performances are at ComedySportz Aug. 25, 27 and 28. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: The Juniper Tree

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By Wendy Carson

Playwright Timothy Taylor presents a loving insight into three generations of women and their struggles with their personal histories. Our first character, Anna (or Bubbe), is the Grandmother. Her determination to connect with her past life and traditions, ripped away from her by antisemitism throughout her beloved homeland of Ukraine. Her stories are touching and sweet, yet sad and rueful. She brings forth the story of The Juniper Tree, which can grow and thrive anywhere they are planted. She is determined to be that hardy and bear fruit no matter how harsh her environment.

In a solid counterpoint, is her daughter, Cece. We see her as a typical, hot mess of a seventies woman. She’s visiting her friend’s shrink, mostly for valium to help her deal with her stress. Although she initially exits when she can’t get what she feels she needs, she eventually comes back to the doctor’s office and we are treated to a glimpse into what made her the way she is. I was utterly surprised at the depth of her story considering how shallow she initially appears to be.

Finally, we have Rachel, Cece’s daughter who has decided that she wants to reconnect with Bubbe, who she has not seen or heard from since she was an infant. She sends a tape recorder & tapes so that she can get a true oral history for her family’s past, as well as insight into what caused the rift between her mother & grandmother in the first place.

This show is a solid look at family structures and the small choices that can ripple through a lifetime and destroy that which has been so hard fought to preserve. Susan Bennett does an admirable job fully forming the characters into believable women and not just the stereotypes that they could have easily lent themselves to becoming.

While the opening night house was only half-filled, I hope that word-of-mouth will help increase ticket sales so that the remaining performances get the larger audience this show deserves.

Performances at the Phoenix Theatre underground Aug. 22,  26 and 27. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: Cody Clark, A different way of thinking

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By Wendy Carson

If you weren’t aware of it going in, you will certainly know before leaving, Cody Clark is Autistic. However, he has discovered a way to embrace that part of his being through his skills as a magician. The show is an autobiographical journey through his life up to now and how he has been able to overcome so many of the issues regarding his autism primarily through his study of magic.

Not only will you be delighted by the illusions performed, you will also be privy to a lot of data regarding autism and the day-to-day challenges faced by those inflicted.

Since autism causes a person’s brain to be literally “wired differently”, social interactions as well as physical or athletic abilities are a challenge that are often difficult to overcome. Luckily, Cody’s early passion for magic helped him develop not only the courage and confidence to believe in himself but the deft motor skills in order to perform.

Even if you take autism off the table, this is a very solid magic show by a young talent that is already making a name for himself. His takes on various standard tricks are creative and they embellish his story rather than detract from it.

The show is very family-friendly and even though most of Thursday’s sell-out audience were college students, the sheer delight that they beheld lets me know that this is the show you simply must bring your kids to.

One quick word of warning, though. There is audience participation and no area of the audience is off-limits to be drawn from. I know this might hinder some, but since the theme of the show is that it’s OK to be different, you will not be scorned if you choose not to go onstage. There will be plenty of other willing volunteers to take your place.

Performances are at the Theatre  on the Square second stage Aug. 22,  26 and 27. Get info and tickets at indyfringefestival.com.

IndyFringe: Victory for the Recycled Virgin

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By Wendy Carson

What seems at first to be just a funny little story about how a seventy-nine-year-old woman is still full of life and vitality, takes several surprisingly dark turns in order to fully hammer that point across.

Houston Robertson’s tale of just exactly how far she’s come and the hurdles she’s faced throughout her 79 years is vivid, touching and raw. She’s that Grandma you see on the back of a Harley cruising down the highway with her much younger boy-toy in tow, and she’s bringing us all along for the ride.

Coming from an era in which women were considered more of a decoration than an equal, her journey is far more impressive. She fights to further her education and find personal meaning despite her husband constantly uprooting her and foiling her plans. She even takes their inevitable divorce and the surprising situations surrounding it in her own stride.

You’ll laugh at her various turns through the dating scene: personal ads; one-night stands; vacation gigalos; etc. While you are aware that she will eventually “get her groove back”, the challenges she faced in doing so just serve to remind us all that we should be proud of the lengths that feminist trailblazers went to in order for us to have all of the opportunities we do today.

This show is sad, sweet, silly, crude, outrageous, and very compelling. It’s a testament to exactly what’s meant by “You’ve come a long way, Baby.”

Performances at the Indy Eleven Theatre on Aug. 22, 26 and 27. For info and tickets, see www.indyfringefestival.com.

Active August

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By John Lyle Belden

It has been a busy month, though you wouldn’t know that here. That should change a bit: GenCon was last week, and Wendy Carson and I will be giving more attention to the “games we play” portion of the blog with some reviews and info on the games we found at the convention.

Tomorrow (Thursday) also starts the IndyFringe festival, which will be a rich time for reviews and reports both here an at my “day job” with The Word (www.thegayword.com).

To all in the Indy area, have a look at the Fringe – we’ll be having a lot of fun and it would be a shame to miss it.

IndyFringe 2015 Wrap-Up

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We had a great time at this year’s IndyFringe. Though we didn’t see all the shows, we saw quite a few, so, here in one place are the links to all our reviews, for anyone wanting to look one up:

“4.48 Psychosis” by Savage at Last

“4Square” by AV Productions

“Acting My Age” by Matt Holt

“The Adventures of Les Kurkendaal” by Les Kurkendaal

“Auditioning for Swan Lake” by Lou Ann Homan

“The Best of Indy Magic Monthly” by Magic Taylor’d for You (Taylor Martin)

“Breakneck Hamlet” by Tim Mooney

“Bromance” by Farewell Tour Productions

“Cabaret of Puppetry” by Peewinkle Studios

“Ca-Ching” by Nomads Collective

“Camp Summer Camp” by Defiance Comedy

“Cocooned in Kazan” by Royal Kung Foolery

“The Comedy Magic of Oscar Munoz” by Oscar Munoz

“Dancing in the Mist” by RibbetRepublic

“Drosselmeyer’s Magical Bedtime Story” by No Exit Performance

“The Eulogy” by Michael Burgos

“Fruit Flies Like a Banana” by Fourth Wall

“Ghost Story” by Peter-John Byrnes

“Growing Up All Over Myself” by Mat Alanso-Martin

“Hannibal: LIAR!” by Chris Hannibal

“Hell’s Fourth Ring: The Mall Musical” by Casey Ross Productions

“Home Grown Originals” by Band O’ Leers

“An Indian Comedian: How Not To Fit In” by Krish Mohan

“I’m Not Gay” by Submatter Press

“Interrupting the Sermon” by First Hand Theatrical

“The Invisible Man” by What’s in a Name? Company

“Jason Adams is a God Damn Mind Reader” by Jason Adams

“Kill the Column” by MamaProductions

“Laughing Sober” by Rick Garrett

“A Little Business at the BIG TOP” by David Gaines

“Men’s Room” by MayDay Productions

“Mom?” by Box of Clowns

“Mr. Boniface, the Wise” by KT Peterson

“My Sister Diane” by Jim May

“Not My Baby!” by Dreadmelon Productions

“The Not So Secret Origin of Captain Ambivalent” by Captain Ambivalent

“ODDyssey” by Blair Godshall

“Orange is the New Black Keys” by ComedySportz Indianapolis

“Sarge” by Clifton Performance Theatre

“The Secret Book of Jesus” by Maximum Verbosity

“Shakespeare’s Ear” by Early Music in Motion

“The Shout” by In the Mix

“The Sibling Staircase” by Sally Perkins

“Speedthru” by Eclectic Pond

“Threads” by Tonya Jone Miller

“Tipped and Tipsy” by Jill Vice

“Top Shelf: Our Last American Tour – Again” by Betty Rage

“The Traveling Tap Dance Super Show” by TapMan Productions with Circle City Tap Company

“Ulysses Grant: A Fluxkit Opera” by Stephen Rush

“Up Yours, Indianapolis” by The Fleece Academy

“VELOUR” by Schedule C Productions

“Whisper in My Good Ear” by Vintage Players

“Who Run The World: A Madwomen’s Cabaret” by Main Street Artists

“The Wizer of Odd” by Gift of Gab

“Working Titles” by Jeremy Schaefer

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Earlham Theatre Department