Just trust me here. This is your chance to try Fringe without having to think too much or do hours of research on shows. These are all winners. Results may vary, but I am personally vouching for each and every one of these. I’m telling my friends to see them. Check out my previous post on a great lineup at the Rarig Center tonight. The important thing to know is that you just need to show up — no need to reserve in advance or plan ahead. These shows (so far) haven’t been selling out, so if you show up a half hour before showtime, you’ll almost certainly get tickets with no problem at all. And I’m grouping them by location, so that there’s no frantic running from venue to venue, re-parking the car, etc.
Maybe you’d like to start your Friday night with dinner or drinks downtown (if you park in the City Center ramp, you get a discount when you present your Fringe show stub!). I’ve got a hot schedule for you! Start with Green T’s 2001: A Space Odyssey at 5:30 at the Illusion. If that’s too early, and you haven’t yet wrapped up Happy Hour and/or dinner, go for Failure: A Love Story at the Illusion at 7 (get there at 6:30). Or, kitty corner across the street at the New Century Theatre, catch Stairway to Kevin at 7 (also get there at 6:30). Both venues have beer/wine available for purchase, FYI. Happy Hour all night long!!
How to choose between Failure: A Love Story and Stairway to Kevin? Failure is a great story with really excellent acting — A “Fringy” production with no naked Shakespeare recitations or anything else remotely challenging or uncomfortable. The three Fail sisters all end up dead by the end of the show, but I’m not giving anything away. And no bloody murders or anything graphic or unsettling. Stairway to Kevin is a solo performer who is a sizzling hot gay man talking about turning 40 and reflecting back on some of the twists and turns his life has taken that make him the reasonably happy and well-adjusted person he is today. He mingles funny storytelling with lovely songs, accompanying himself on his grandfather’s guitar. Some swears, references to sex but no graphic reinactments…you choose. Both shows are winners.
Whatever you decide for the 7:00 slot, follow it up with From Here to Maternity at the Illusion at 8:30 (get there at 8). This show is presented by two of the funniest comic actors in the city, Joshua Scrimshaw and Shanan Custer. I guarantee hilarity even if you have no personal experience with pregnancy.
Don’t want to stop laughing? Head across the street to New Century for Ben San Del’s Fiddlestick Conundrum at 10:00. Standup with time for some longer, very funny, stories. Ben is a pro.
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