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This article was published 24/07/2012 (4850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LIKE LIGHTNING

YerStory

MTC Up the Alley (Venue 2) to Saturday

YOU know that story about the tormented rock star that was in the program? This isn’t it.

Due to a very late cancellation, the show is now slam poetry followed by a short improvised skit on a similar theme. Friday night’s show was performed by poet/actor Steve Currie and Caitlyn Curtis. The rest of the run will feature other guests or just Currie alone, depending on the date.

For two people who had only one day of rehearsal, the results were understandably rough in some spots, but actually pretty decent. The standout skit was the opener, depicting the awkward meeting of one-time high school lovers, one now a lawyer, the other working at Walmart.

Uneven, but given the situation, a good try. And Currie’s poetry is clever. ‘Ö’Ö1/2

— Janice Sawka

THE INSOMNIAC’S TENANT

Aztec Theatre

WAG — Muriel Richardson Auditorium (Venue 12), to Friday

THIS creepy psycho-thriller written by Winnipeg’s Chris Sabel and Alison Vargo tells the story of a reclusive superintendent whose life is changed forever after mysterious new tenant, Walter, moves in.

Sabel’s intense, wild-eyed portrayal of the reclusive caretaker, who obsessively strolls his building’s hallways during the night as a way to counter his insomnia, walks its own razor’s edge of madness. The suspenseful tale never lags, with vivid imagery, strongly evocative language and nightmarish detail.

The recount of Walter’s dinner party will make you never want to eat chicken again. The only weakness is that the 60-minute dark comedy ends too abruptly, leaving the audience on the edge of their seats wanting more. But in theatre, that’s not a bad thing at all. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Holly Harris

THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE

Looking Glass Productions

Ellice Theatre (Venue 22) to Sunday

IT’S 1949. A harried radio actor (Marc Moir) must perform an entire live broadcast by himself when the cast doesn’t arrive at the studio. So, backed by the sound effects man (Garry Moir) and one musician (Laura Turner), he puts on a great Jimmy Stewart impersonation and becomes Harry Doyle, Private Eye and 10 other characters.

It’s amazing to watch Moir at the microphone seamlessly switching voices. He is easily one of the most talented performers at the fringe. And it’s visually neat to watch a convincing 1940s radio broadcast happen live before you. (The cast are all dressed in ’40s garb). The lone quibble is the villain’s explanatory speech: While fine for the 1940s, contemporary audiences will find it too long and complicated.

Otherwise, outstanding. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö1/2

— Janice Sawka

TAZZY’S ANGELS

Bipolar Buddha Productions

Gas Station Arts Centre (Venue 18), to Sunday

WINNIPEG funnyman Big Daddy Tazz returns to play host at his own fringe comedy club. After his own slick opening monologue, he introduced his first “angel” Aisha Alfa. Her hilarious musings on her name, background, and female waxing issues included a few timely jokes about IKEA. Second angel is the “world’s funniest optometrist” Rachel Sommer, Tazz’s real-life eye doctor. Her deadpan confessions about her patient’s eye exams had the crowd in stitches. New this year is a different, featured “mystery guest” each night with Friday night’s crowd regaled by Winnipeg’s Jon Ljungberg.

In the male-dominated comedy world, female comedians are still considered a relatively rare breed. Hearing these two fine, funnywomen for the price of one is a bonus – and a giggly treat. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Holly Harris

THIS TOWN

Found in New York Productions

John Hirsch Mainstage (Venue 1), to Saturday

HALF-BAKED theories about the murder of a crusty piemaker consume the citizenry in New York writer-performer Carol Lee Sirugo’s twisted comedic tribute to Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.

Sirugo and Jonathan Kaplan portray 12 characters who air their suspicions on the anniversary of the piemaker’s death. Kaplan gives a tasty turn as a gin-soaked floozy, Sirugo is devilish fun as a librarian given to hysterics and both actors take comic turns as the baker, an accident-prone hunter and other townsfolk, one of whom knows a dark secret lurking behind their white picket fences.

Solid performances, fun props, a sweet plot and deft-pacing add up to a winning recipe for this 2002 fringe hit. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Pat St. Germain

AERIAL ALLUSIONS

By Azana

Shaw Performing Arts Centre: MTYP (Venue 9), to Sunday

ANY show billed as a “fluid journey of the soul” has a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, this melting pot of dance, aerials, clown and theatre doesn’t deliver, winding up as flaccid as its hanging (albeit still glorious) purple silks.

San Francisco’s Azana Pilar and Jason Morneau loosely explore gender roles, relationships, and the games people play. Monologues — intended to share deep philosophical musings about life and love — are riddled with ponderous clichés. As the two come together, Morneau’s “beating” Pilar seems to suggest this is all just part of a healthy normal relationship. Their clowning is marginally more effective. However, the powerfully strong Pilar’s gravity-defying twists and drops on the silks still impress – and would easily have been enough. ‘Ö’Ö

— Holly Harris

THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE MOUSTACHE

Puppy Ranch

Conservatory (Venue 20), to Sunday

THIS one-man comedy is (almost) everything you wanted to ask about moustaches but were afraid to ask. Toronto’s Kristian Reimer — sporting a ’70s retro ‘stache of his own — gets the lecture/demonstration rolling with a fascinating slideshow of moustaches through the ages.

He then shares historical snippets, while weaving in his own reminisces about growing facial hair for the first time as an awkward teenager.

Despite Reimer’s buoyant stage presence, the show too often drifts towards dry didacticism. It’s also hard for him to balance objective facts with personal stories, with the latter coming across as irrelevant — especially when the audience doesn’t know the actual players involved.

But, as he sweetly polls the crowd at the end about their views on lip-warmers, he even won a few converts. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö

— Holly Harris

IL DUO: WORLD TOUR

Il Duo Productions

Augustine United Church (Venue 19), to Saturday

THEY have the voices of angels and their venue is a church, but Edmonton singers Ron Long and Clint Hagel are mighty irreverent throughout this 60-minute musical comedy.

Feigning blindness, Hagel enters with the aid of a cane before the opening song, blind tenor Andrea Bocelli’s hit The Prayer. And he gives a decidedly non-PC salute when their musical world tour touches down in Berlin.

But with straight man Long providing a chastening counterbalance, all sins are forgiven.

And the pair are note-perfect on the musical front. A classical medley during a puppet spoof of the Twilight movies is a hit — as are a few audience participation numbers — and the finale is truly glorious. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Pat St. Germain

TWO CORPSES GO DANCING

Two Unruly Gentlemen

WAG — Muriel Richardson Auditorium (Venue 12), to Sunday

Based on a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, this 75-minute musical drama reminds us that life is short. Ironically, the show from Saskatoon seems to last an eternity, but that’s its only problem.

A mischievous demon resurrects two corpses who wasted their lives the first time around and offers them a second chance to get it right. Much dialogue ensues, and it’s often engaging, funny and even poignant.

There’s no shortage of talent among the six-member cast — a few are terrific musical standouts. But the script is repetitive, dispensable peripheral characters sap life from the central plot and the tale unfolds at a funereal pace. Zombies move faster. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö 1/2

— Pat St. Germain

PILGRIMAGE: WHY I’M NOT AN INDIAN

Elaine Magree

Red River College (Venue 11), to Saturday

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL monologues are all over the fringe, and the stories are often more meaningful to the person performing them than the audience.

Not so with Elaine Magree’s beautifully woven tale — it’s not for everyone, but you don’t have to be a lesbian abuse survivor of uncertain First Nations heritage to relate to her mission of coming to terms with her past. The California performer is a warm presence as she craftily ties together flashbacks to childhood physical and sexual abuse with the violent history of her exploited ancestors, scenes that act as a bitter counterpoint to the road trip she takes with her ex-nun partner to scatter her mom’s ashes.

Pilgrimage is not a barn-burner — it could use a bit of tightening up, dramatically — but it’s utterly engaging and genuinely moving, with moments of real artistry and humour. ‘Ö’Ö’Ö’Ö

— Jill Wilson