Monday: A walkout, the worst job interview EVER, and my boys Jimmy and Noah. With guest appearance by chocolate

by Kate Hoff | 8/4/09 • About a year and a half ago, Bob and I won Timberwolves tickets in a silent auction (at a Fringe fundraiser, as a matter of fact). I’m not a huge sports fan, but enjoy the occasional live game. We went to the Target Center, had some beer and hot dogs and watched the Timberwolves stay consistently and significantly behind. With five minutes left on the clock, I’d had enough basketball and insisted that we get out of there to avoid a pileup in the parking ramp. It had been a lovely afternoon.

The next morning, getting ready for work, the radio was abuzz with excitement about the Timberwolves’ shocking and thrilling last-minute win. Big Al Jefferson had been named MVP of the universe, it was the most incredible comeback of all time, etc., etc. And, because I didn’t want to sit there any longer, we missed it.

As you can imagine, Bob reminds me of this often. Any time I want to cut out early, I’m forced to think about Big Al and what a terrible mistake I made that afternoon in January.

So it’s true I have a history of not waiting for the end. I wander off before the brilliant conclusion. And sometimes that’s my loss. I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever walked out of a Fringe show; well, before yesterday, that is. It’s possible I missed a stunning conclusion – but it’s also possible that I rescued 30 minutes of my life that might have been forever lost.

Crabby crab crab. Brit Jimmy Hogg’s Like a Virgin helped improve my mood. I love Jimmy’s annual visit and look forward to his shows. He’s shaking things up with costume changes this year. Jimmy is a frenetic, hysterical storyteller…only two shows left!

As I walked over to Rarig I was debating between seeing The Tenth Muse or Livelihood. Livelihood (by Urban Samurai Productions showing at the Rarig Thrust) won…mostly because a cute guy was handing out Livelihood postcards to the crowd leaving Jimmy’s show. That’s how I make my decisions, folks.

I got to Rarig in plenty of time to grab an Equal Exchange chocolate bar before the show. I had been prepared for the show’s intensity, which it delivered…I liked it a lot. (That applies to Livelihood and the chocolate mint bar.) Livelihood is the story of the worst possible job interview. Perfectly acted, which is particularly impressive – the cast found out they got into the Fringe just two and a half weeks before they opened the show.

I ended my evening in a happy place, watching Noah Bremer lope around the stage in his solo work Untitled Duet with Houseplant at the U of M Rarig Proscenium. Like a thoroughbred or a Great Dane, Noah is angular and lovely just standing around…but he really shines when he’s got some room to move. The Proscenium has a large stage, and Noah fills it up with his impossibly long limbs and utterly endearing antics. One of the most charming shows of the Fringe.

Ahhh. Full moon. That gives some explanation for my wildly fluctuating mood, and my desire to alternately bludgeon and snuggle those around me.

Kate Hoff is a fundraiser, printmaker, and alternative-theater denizen. Her prints were included in the Visible Fringe show in 2004—also the year she began blogging about the festival. A few years, countless blog entries, and a hundred-some Fringe shows later, Kate joined the Fringe board in early 2008. The views expressed here are hers alone and do not represent the official position of the Fringe (unless noted).