'Mae West': The Comeback Tour

My wife and I saw Wendi’s show “Famous Tonight” at the 2024 Fringe and she had us in tears of laughter for the entire 60 minutes. One of our highlights of the festival that year.

That is all to say, we had very high expectations going into this show and it did not disappoint! A chaotic hot-mess of a show. (I say that as a huge compliment.) She embraces the unknown and turns every “accident” into hilarious, brilliant comedy. Her ability for physical comedy is exceptional. In all of the madness, she manages to deliver a clear and articulate message in her performance.

Wendi Wynazz is probably one of the best clown performers I’ve ever seen. I hope attention to her continues to grow because she absolutely deserves to be one of the most hyped performers at Fringe. She will forever be on our must-see list!

I was really looking forward to seeing this show as a fan of Old Hollywood, but I left confused. Although a great premise for a historical fiction show about Mae West, I found the show really chaotic and hard to follow. It just didnt quite land. There were some great physical conedy bits interspersed, and its an admirably risky show as it depends on a lot of audience participation, but its all over the place, - more than a little "ADHD". IMHO, this show has the potential to be Absolutely Fabulous, but needs a lot more (nail) polish and workshoping. All the handwritten cue notes were confusing and make the show come across as amateurish. Mae needs to tighten her corset and cues a bit and her come back will be 5 Stars.

Loved it--Mae comes through as a sexy wild woman heroine! Good physical clown work too, though the last 10 minutes were a bit of a mess.

Did Mae West really ever die. If you know nothing about the iconic actress, Wendy make sure that there are many connections to her in the modern entertainment scape. Icons like Cher and Madonna Have all lifted from her playbook of being Unapologetic Women who are not afraid of their sexuality. We get a delightful mix of humor and history, but we also get this amazing big personality that plays out better as the crowd Work builds throughout the show. If an audience member doesn’t deliver, what Mae is looking for, She reminds us “ We’re still taking meetings” And moves on to another audience member to fill the role. I feel like this show will never Feel the same with any two performances except for that big diva energy that Wendy delivers. Go see the show!

It's only in true Mae West fashion for everything to go wrong. Although Wendi Wynazz had a chaotic opening night, the show did not shy away from being a memorable and fun event. Even with props in the wrong places, a crazy wardrobe change, and running a bit late, it never seemed to faze Wynazz. I often asked myself if the mistakes were real or not because Wynazz did such a wonderful job improvising. Wynazz's crowd work had everyone laughing and allowed for a personalized experience, with every showing offering something different. "A bold and sexually unapologetic leading lady" is one of many ways to describe Wynazz's portrayal of Mae West. Hilarious, engaging, and witty are just some of the words I'd use. I often found myself forgetting to write notes because I was so engaged. If you're looking for a fun-filled night of laughter and some chaotic history, this is a show I wouldn't miss.