100 Shows of All Time
From award-winning artists Joseph McManus (Rat Academy, Enrichment Hour) and Cadence Sullivan (COWTOWN Brass): Unique 2-minute shows get pulled from a ~normal~ bucket. Shows include music, comedy, poetry, and anything else you can imagine (excluding bodily fluids [sorry about last time {it might happen again}]).
FANTASTIC SHOW and amazing job by these 2 artists. I highly recommend them and I hope to see them again next year!
It is incredibly ambitious to randomly choose from 100 prepared bits over the run of a festival and perform them in unknown combinations of 10-12 per show. I think the concept is brilliant (especially the refusal to repeat a bit once it's been done in a show) and the actors' presentation of the concept deconstructs the very idea of a Fringe show in some ways.
That being said, not all 100 are going to be winners and the selection we had at the show I attended had some bits that just didn't land. The ones that did were really clever, refined, and had a point of view, but being interspersed with less strong bits waters down the impact unfortunately.
You can also tell it's a big source of pride among the actors that the festival had to audit their bits ahead of time this year given an incident from a prior festival season, but the constant references to that get old quick and show a lack of confidence – if you're going to be controversial just be controversial, you don't need to keep insisting what bad boys you've been.
Overall I think it's worth a watch, but be prepared to roll the dice on what you'll get and know that it may not be their best material on a given night (which I suppose is the point).
The format was a lot of fun and the performers were charismatic and engaging. Some of the bits were funnier or landed better than others, but I can say that I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish!
100 plays definitely had its fun moments but a lot of it depends on audience interaction. some skits were really funny some were not. the one skit with the full frontal nudity was unnecessary at a comedy show in my opinion. the uncomfortable moment kind of took away from the rest of the show and the audience as a whole seemed a little uncomfortable. no hate at the guy whatsoever just full nudity and nudity should be different warnings, i would not have personally bought a ticket and would have seen something less extreme. when i saw the nudity warning i assumed it would be partial or very brief. after coming on here a few days later i see it has been changed and now has a big red box saying full frontal nudity and I'm glad someone was made aware to update it appropriately.
Probably one of my favourite theatre formats to-date! Super refreshing to see an improv-ish show that takes huge risks and actually values the audience experience. I think way too many shows like this are more fun for the performers than the audience but Joseph & Cadence have found a great balance here. I'd go back for round 2!
I’m a big fan of the Neo-Futurists, who were cited in this show’s description and what initially drew me in. I don’t think it ever reached the high highs of bits I’ve seen from other shows this Fringe. Some bits were more prepared than others. The improv needed work. Even if something didn’t land, it was only a couple of minutes long, so it wasn’t catastrophic. But when there were several mediocre bits in a row it lost the audience. The show’s quality varies wildly depending on what gets pulled, but overall I think the quality of the whole was passable. I’d like to see them tighten up their work and get to a higher baseline quality across the show. They mentioned they’d done this show before in 2023, but it felt more like a new work. Shoutout to the tech for some fun sound cues.
Very spontaneous and hilarious. A great first show to start of fringe.
100 Shows of All Time isn't something you watch so much as you experience. Although only an hour, the audience is willingly grabbed by the hair by Calgary based co-hosts Joseph and Cadence and yanked through a plethora of short shows anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. If you like juggling, this show's for you. If you like saxophone, this show's for you. If you like body humour - really whatever you want to see, this show will have it. 100 Shows of All Time heavily relies on audience participation, so if you're someone that likes to be involved in what you're watching on stage, you'll love it. If not, that's fine too - Joseph and Cadence are nothing if not respectful throughout all their strange and mildly disturbing hijinks, and if you're not feeling the participation then you're more than welcome to just sit back and enjoy. With 100 hilarious ideas for shows, co-hosts with the relationship of unsocialized siblings, and a sound technician with frighteningly unlimited access to a soundboard, 100 Shows of All Time is sure to give any audience member a good time.
A "Best And Worst" Review
The Best: The sheer originality and variety of what you'll see on stage. I shall never forget the "Full PoohBear."
The Worst: I think, a few times, the two performers lost the audience. This probably has something to do with the randomized direction of the show segments, and maybe loss of control.
Overall: Every show will be unique and unpredictable. I'd see it again.