Miranda Posse

Dedicated to everything Fringe! Only the best reviews and helpful hints for surviving the Vancouver Fringe!

[mirandaposse]

Day 11 recap

Well we did save the best for last. Josephine was everything we had heard it would be and more. How were we lucky enough to see a show like this at the fringe. This show was dazzling!

I can understand why people see it multiple times. Tymisha Harris has the most amazing stage presence and a voice to rival, well, Josephine Baker. This was a must see show and possibly the best show we've seen in years. We're so glad that our friend Diane was able to see it and the staff at the CULTCH were wonderful.

Next we saw Didn't Hurt. Also a very good show but it went way over time and we ended up running to our next show in the lab. The most massive woman was not our favorite show but they had some stiff competition from the 2 previous shows. We ended the nite with Destiny USA which was the perfect show to end the fringe. It was a great story which hit really close to home. It was funny and emotional and deeply vulnerable. We loved it. And then we had the beautiful full moon shining down on Granville island. Now the countdown begins for next year.

We will be seeing Rocky and Nakota on wed and The ballad of Frank Allen on thurs.

[mirandaposse]

Day 10 recap

Well sat was a mixed bag. We really liked Red. Two artists coexist in a painting studio, one older and firmly established but feeling like he's losing his relevance and the other his employer doing all his grunt work and carrying out his every whim but also challenging him to face his reality. It was very well done and both actors were fantastic. And we enjoyed In several times. It was an abstract interpretive dance production we quite enjoyed it. We also loved Bedwetter.

She had a problem, a big problem, until she was 14. She shared her secret and all it's challenges in a hilarious way and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Diagnose this , pretty beast and 4.48 psychosis we're not shows that we enjoyed although the second part of diagnose this did get better when she got more personal with her story. The cabaret was fantastic as always. Jem Rolls always does a great job of wrangling the actors into brilliant bits that we'll be talking about for years. The raging killer seagulls were great doing Martin Dockery's bidding to keep the next "solo" show idea all to himself. Martin doing his impression of Jem was great and we loved the dancing puppet chorus line. Loved the bit Dion Arnold did about flyering. We hope he comes back. Enjoyed the anti joke bit. Bad jokes. So much to laugh about. Things took a political turn at one point but quickly reverted back to the cabaret we all look forward to. It's been a weird year. Latecomers are strolling in sometimes 15 or 20 minutes into a performance and often climbing over things to get to seats. Practically every revue is reserving the entire front row for these latecomers and for self defined priority seating whatever that means. It's all been very disruptive and, I guess, if you want to sit at the front you need to come late. It's all very bizarre and no one seems to know what's really going on. Clear as mud. This fringe will be remembered as the year chaos and confusion reigned.

And what's with the extra 3 dollar charge for every ticket you buy on line. I believe 12 goes to the performer and 3 to the fringe already so what's the extra 3 per ticket . It only happens on line so no wonder the box off is packed. It's making it really hard to get newcomers to come try the fringe out. A couple has to spend 50 on just one show with the membership and then 18 per ticket on line. Anyway that's just our take on things. It's the last day and it's going to be great.

[mirandaposse]

Day 10

12:10 to 4:25 at the cultch. In several times, red and 4.48 Psychosis. Then down to the island for diagnose this, a real meal (yippee), bedwetter, pretty beast and maldoror and melmoths cabaret of bullshit! Raining again. That's what umbrellas are for. This is Vancouver after all!

[mirandaposse]

Recap day 9

What an educational evening. Tonite we saw Mx. We loved it as did the near sell out crowd. This was the biggest audience we've seen yet. The themes were varied from ancestry to race to sexual identity and how anyone can figure it all out. We'll be talking about this one and debating what it all really means. Damn sure it will be a pick of the fringe. And in keeping with the educational theme of the evening we took in Jem Rolls the walk in the snow. The true story of Lise Meitner.

Jem just loves these true stories and it really shows. Why oh why didn't we have a history teacher who could make this all so fascinating. Jem never disappoints.

We did start the nite off with a hilarious show. Becoming Magic Mike. And what did we learn at this one? That DK Reinemer can do a kickass impression of Mathew McConaughey doing Dallas in Magic Mike the movie and that he is a hell of a dancer! Super funny show!

And Bike face. We discovered that it is possible for a solo woman to ride a bike from Halifax to Vancouver and not get murdered along the way. It was a great story!

It was a totally great nite!

[mirandaposse]

Day 8 recap

Today we finished seeing 35 shows. And we continue to carry on our infatuation with Martin Dockery. We saw him in inescapable yesterday and loved it and today we saw his solo show You belong here and we loved it as well. Martin is so frantically funny and we loved his IKEA story. Don't we all have an IKEA story. We think Martin could make the phone book hilarious.

Then we went for our favorite dinner at Via Tevere. Polenta fries, pizza and beer. Perfect as usual.

We went to What Lab to see My name is Sumiko and it was worth it. She is a great clown and her Marie Kondo bit was fantastic. And I may never think of the titanic in the same way again. When we left Russ said his face hurt from laughing.

No laughs in Lights, Camera and odd jobs but it was an interesting show about trying to break into show biz and all the odd jobs along the way. All in all a great evening.

[mirandaposse]

Day 8

No I'm getting sad! Only 4 more days of madness and then it's back to that mysteriously growing pile of laundry. But wait, No! Next week we have pick plus. Yes yes. So today we are off island all nite. You belong here at Havana. Can't wait to see Martin's show. The food, yes, a meal. Maybe at via tevere. Then were checking out some clown action in my name is Sumiko at what lab and finally st 16 for lights, camera and odd jobs.

Haven't heard a word about it. Now off to do our 10,000 steps.

[mirandaposse]

Recap day 7

Feeling the fringe love today. Loved inescapable. Martin and John are wonderful together in an endless entertaining loop of frantic energy. Kevin king of Egypt was also great. Rob Gee does crazy people like nobody's business. And Carey OK was so super high energy and it's amazing to watch him assemble each song. Fantastic!!!

Tommy was not quite what I expected but was entertaining none the less. Haven't seen the movie in about 45 years so it was cool to see pieces of it projected as the backdrop while the performer did the entire album by himself. He was the "entire" band. Another great nite!

Bought more raffle tickets from our fave ticket seller Beau and

picked up some other merch!! Gotta wear your fringe!

[mirandaposse]

Day 7

Here's day 7 line up.

Inescapable. We've been hearing great things about this one. Kevin king of Egypt is also getting great buzz. Haven't heard anything about Tommy's amazing journey but Carey OK is reported to be a hoot. We'll be on Granville island all nite.

[mirandaposse]

Day 6 recap

We're past the halfway point already. The fringe is flying by. Tonite was a very interesting nite. There ain't no more capped off our nite. Willi Carlisle is one talented guy. He plays multiple instruments and multiple characters as he weaves a historical tale about an old folk singer as he approaches his final days. This is riveting fringy stuff and we enjoyed It!

Fool munn komming!

Wow! We could barely look away. Sam Kruger is amazingly flexible and supremely entertaining and confusing as hell. We often didn't know what was going on but we loved experiencing the whole performance and I'm sure we'll be talking about it for some time to come.

Monica vs the internet. Not really sure what to say here. Neither my husband nor myself felt comfortable with the direction the performer went at certain points but we were definitely moved by most of her stories.

[mirandaposse]

Day 6

No!!!! It's almost half over! What a great fringe we've been having. Today we are only seeing 3 shows

. We can barely believe it ourselves.

I slept in until 10 today so I should be bright eyes and bushy tailed today!

[mirandaposse]

Recap day 5

What a great nite! So many good shows. We loved the Robber Bridegroom. It was very Grimms fairytale with a spooky set and puppets and shadow puppets. The cast was fantastic and some unexpected things happen. Very fringy and very captivating. Do go see it. Tomatoes tried to kill me but a banjo saved my life.

This is our second time seeing this show. The first time was performance 8 and the show tonite was 85. It was great when we first saw it but now it's so much more polished and at the same time it actually feels more personal. Keith is a great storyteller and this story is totally real and absolutely sincere. Go see It!

Scaredy Cat was a lovely, funny and personal show from the endlessly charming Carlyn Rhamey. She is a recovering Scardey cat as it's still something she works at every day. Her tales are very funny and you should check her out.

We also saw after the beep which was an interesting premise about finding old tapes from a teenage girl's answering machine. Some of the messages were funny but we would have enjoyed more actual stories from the performer rather than just listening to all the messages.

It absolutely poured rain on the way to Granville island but lucky for us it cleared up by the time we got there. Had a great time chatting with our fellow fringe fanatics. We all have lots to talk about!

[mirandaposse]

Day 5

Today's line up takes us to Granville island all nite. After the beep, tomatoes tried to kill me, the robber bridegroom and Scardey cat. We're making sure that we get enough sleep. And stay hydrated!

[mirandaposse]

Recap day 4

Well today was a very fringy day. We saw a bit of everything today. Our top show of the day was operatic panic attack. TJ's shows are generally super personal but this was even more so. It really felt like TJ was baring his sole, just putting it all out there. Panic attacks are no joke and he does an amazing job of demonstrating what it feels like when you're having one. He's outdone himself with this show and got a well deserved standing ovation and many hugs!!

We also loved how to really, really love a woman. This show is exactly as the title describes in great detail. It's a show about loving the

pussy in painstaking detail. Very educational and very very funny.

The Russian play was our final show of the day and we are so glad we stuck it out at the Firehall. We were there for 7 hours! The main character in the show is very funny playing young Sonja and the older Russian flower shop owner. She makes you really care about her so when things go wrong and stop being so funny you really are sad for her. Well worth the wait and a great way to cap off the nite.

In between we saw Ingenue which was pretty good. The songs were very good and she has an amazing voice. The devil's daughter was a great little drama with the ominous father overshadowing his daughter's entire life in a disturbing way.

And finally R'n'J which was interesting but very very confusing. Still don't really know what happened but it was interesting to watch. But that's the fringe for you. A little bit of everything and not everyone feels the same way about it.

[mirandaposse]

Chase Breyer is awesome, too.

We're sorry to miss him. I really tried to fit him in.

[mirandaposse]

Day 4 schedule

Up today we have

How to really love a woman, the devils daughter, operatic panic attack, in gene, R'n'J and the Russian play. We start at the island for 2 shows and then head to the firehall for 4 shows. Really looking forward to TJ's show operatic panic attack.

Off for a real lunch and then dive into the day!

[mirandaposse]

Day 3 recap

We were so happy to see our friend Diane back at the fringe. And what a show to see for the first show. Guards at the Taj was so incredibly good. We were all so impressed. This show has been getting great buzz and it's totally deserved. It's so funny considering the subject matter and both actors are hilarious! This is a must see show!

We also loved Dissection of a mixed heritage woman. Nyla weaves a fascinating story about trying to reconcile all the parts of her multicultural background. She is a charming performer and a hell of a dancer. Her shawl dance alone is worth the effort. Only 2 shows left.

Zach Adams was a whole lot of fun and we thoroughly enjoyed his songs and the woeful tale of his love life.

Borderline A**hole was also very good. She's a great storyteller and her story about her mom's death was very moving.

All around it was a pretty good day. It was nice to see 2 food trucks show up tonite. Now if only there was a place to get coffee after the market closes.

Time to rest up for tomorrow!

[mirandaposse]

The triumphant return of Diane!!!!