Fringe Play Reviews
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Fruitcake
19/07/2009 4:08 PM
| Comments: 1
Our Rating: 
I took poor notes on Rob Gee’s latest fringe offering because I didn’t want to miss a second of this lanky, fast-talking Brit’s anecdotes.
This is Gee’s third time (at least) at the Winnipeg Fringe and this year’s show is one big star better than past ones. That’s because he’s draped his poems, anecdotes and riffs over a real theme — his years as a psych nurse in British and Australian mental hospitals. The stories and characters range from the hilarious to the ghastly, and it’s Gee’s command of the quirky, fine-grained detail that gives each anecdote its kick. Running under it all is the idea that we’re all just a few unreliable brain chemicals away from the looney bin ourselves.
The only downside is a muddled ending — an extraneous lounge song seemed like the end of the show but wasn’t. The denouement needs work.
— Mary Agnes Welch
From the official Fringe Festival program:
The UK’s verbal dynamo. Comic, poet and reformed psychiatric nurse, Rob presents an idiot’s guide to finding out how mad you are.
"Brilliant…the most hilarious hour of the Fringe! *****" - CBC
"Boundless reserves of whacked-out material…I was bowled over! ****½" - Edmonton Journal
"Dr. Seuss for adults…unmissable! A " - Uptown
(Based on previous shows)
RobGee.co.uk
Warnings: Subject Matter, Language,
RECOMMENDED:Mature Audience
60 min.
Venue#11 Red River College 160 Princess Street
Tickets: $9
Discount Tickets: $7 for Students, Seniors, Unemployed
Under 18 not admitted.
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1 User Reviews
Posted by: Joanne
July 19, 2009 at 1:59 AM
Superb empathetic characterization of dire human troubles so as to be humorous. Rob Gee's real life stories from his days of nursing have an awful lot to say.