Fringe 2010: Fringe-For-All #2—A kids’ show loaded with great Fringe vets

Another Fringe-For-All preview that pleasantly surprised me was…

Story Time Time Bomb

Snikt! Bamf! Thwip!

“Noted children’s book authors Tim and Chris must write and illustrate their next book before the show is over and they are going to need all they help they can get, including yours!

This interactive improvisational show will engage the children in the audience in the process of creating the show. What will the hero will be doing? Who will she be meeting? What obstacles will she have to overcome? Kids finally get to write their own fringe show (with a little help).

When the show is over, they won’t just have a brand new story, they’ll be able to see the cover of the book that goes with it!

Tim Wick and Christopher Jones have been writing comedy sketches together for nearly ten years. Tim is a local comedian and musician and Christopher is a professional Comic Book artist with DC and Marvel. This is their first full length show for their production company Snikt! Bamf! Thwip!”

This was a pretty funny preview. Very meta, “OK, in the amount of time I just had to take to explain that to you, we now have 2-1/2 minutes left of our preview time”

Art on a deadline. Christopher has a nice drawing style (since he’s a comic book artist, that shouldn’t come as a surprise). He and Tim have a great way of bantering with and playing off of one another. Since they have their roots in improv, it all seemed very natural and believable, not the least bit awkward or staged. When Tim stalked off after Christopher had screwed up the audience’s suspension of disbelief, Christopher’s harried excuse for exiting, “He’s my ride. I gotta go!” was a fun way to conclude things and get off stage.

What surprised me on further investigation was the all-star cast of supporting players on this one. You’ve got the wonderful Amy Rummenie of Walking Shadow in the director’s chair. You’ve got improv comedy guru Butch Roy on sound. You’ve got Matt Alex who was part of the ensemble of Streaming Twin Cities back in Fringe 2007. And the inexhaustible Jenn Scott, doing not one, not two, not three, but four Fringe shows this year. Damn. Bonus points, Tim and Matt are also heavily involved in Vilification Tennis. Ah, Vilification Tennis. My old Fringe-For-All buddy.

The kids shows are really bringing out the big guns this year. Good for the kids, and making us adults a little envious. Well done.

They did an interview with Behind The Fringe. Wow, another Fringe offshoot to follow? This theater thing we’ve got going will not be contained.

Their Fringe-For-All preview




Their facebook page

Their Fringe page