Dorina Brown

This might have been the wrong show to see the day prior to the anniversary of my dad's passing, and 3 days after a less than wonderful trip to the vet with my cat. It took me a couple hours to emotionally decompress.

But Adam Bailey is an excellent story teller (albeit sometimes maybe a little TOO rehearsed, if that's a thing) and each time I attend his shows where the topic is about his life, I'm always struck by how unique and complex his life has been.

I think he and Wendy from Mystery House should go out for coffee to talk about grief because I think that would be a very interesting conversation to be a fly on the wall for.

I'll tell you though, every March, for the rest of my life, I'm going to hear Adam's mother in my head telling me to file my taxes on time.

I absolutely loved this performance of Assassins.

The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that sometimes the sound was off - the band was louder than the performers at times so it was difficult to hear lyrics or a couple of times it sounded like perhaps an actors mic was forgotten to be turned on by tech. This is the ONLY reason I'm not giving it a full 5 stars.

But what really seals this show for me is how committed to their roles the actors are. There are no half-assed performance in this production, let me tell you. This production could easily be transported to the stage at the Citadel, it's that polished. Everyone from their eyebrows to the steps their feet take are IN the groove. That makes a production so much more rich an experience as an audience member because it's not watching someone trying to remember their lines - they know them. It's not watching someone trying to recover from being in the wrong spot - they know their marks. I watched thinking "God, they must of rehearsed this for months".

You also sometimes find with musicals varying skill levels. Man...not here. Everyone was in the pocket which, if you are a singer and you know Sondheim....that's not a simple feat. This crew did a phenomenal job of hitting the mark.

If you don't like mainstream musicals - like, if you get bored in something like Hairspray or Lion King - don't go. Sondheim can be an acquired taste because his melodic lines are intricate and his storytelling isn't always linear. But if you are a die hard musicals fan or shows like Into the Woods, Sweeny Todd, or Sundays in the Park with George are your cup of tea, you'll love it.

Please note there are a lot of guns. And a lot of gun shots. That shouldn't be surprising to anyone given the shows subject matter, but if that's triggering for you in anyway - steer clear.

I'll also say as a performing space, the building itself is super cool. Exposed bricks, high windows - it's a very cool vibe inside.

I think this show might be best with a larger audience to help us feed off each others energy for the show's jokes. The show I went to was a little thin for audience members so laughs were a little muted and may have been a more fun romp if the laughter of others had brought the joke energy up.

The actors committed well to their roles. I particularly enjoyed the gal playing the fight coordinator - watching her, her performance just felt super natural. Sometimes some actors it feels like you're watching an actor act and sometimes you feel like you're watching someone be the character and she was definitely the latter. The male lead really committed to the bit in the second half which could have come off much campier than it did, and it worked for the tone of the show.

It's a fairly predictable script with the tropes you'd expect. I did not expect to veer off into Wicked karaoke so that felt weird. But otherwise, while there's nothing here that's going to surprise you or introduce any new ideas to the zombie genre, it was a decent little show.

So just go in knowing it's exactly what you think it's going to be and enjoy the ride.

I've actually attended two performances and I enjoyed both.

As with any improvised performance, it's difficult to compare one show to another because they change every time. However, I felt the effort, jokes, and quality were on par between both that I saw.

I also find some of the funniest moments in improvised long form are when mistakes happen as it gives the actors a chance to flex that they take this all seriously but not taking themselves too seriously and their quick wit in how they recover and a couple of my favourite moments were born out of recovering from mistakes (like calling the character a wrong name or forgetting how one character acquired an item). Some of my favourite moments are in the facial expressions of Kelsey and Jenn. When you can illicit a laugh just from how you move an eyebrow or quiver a lip - you have comedy gold. But I loved watching all of them flex their individual talents.

This crew is obviously having fun together which makes it a fun experience for the audience. If you're not into gothic/horror(ish)/darker stuff, you might be more suited to Wit and Whimsy or Tragedy or Triumph, but if you like the gothic style, this is definitely worth checking out.

Everyone seems to love this show. I fell asleep in it.

Which I guess proves that not all shows are for all people.

I'm not sure if it's my lack of knowledge of the Ice Man Cometh or not, but I found Pan's never ending monologues in the same old timey sales man tone super difficult to stay engaged with despite him rolling around on wheelie shoes. It's my understanding that long monologues are part of the source material too so it was likely an intentional choice. I did find the performances of Smee and the Captain for the bits I was awake for to be strong and committed.

I wish I could tell you more about the play, but my lack of consciousness for most of the middle portion of the show shall not allow me to. The audience I was a part of were very boisterous in their applause at curtain though, so maybe take my experience with a grain of salt?

If you think you know what you're getting with this show, you're probably wrong. In the best possible way.

I was not expecting Keanu Reeves and the mannerisms and catch phrases from "Keanu" I think really set the tone for this mash up. Set in the midst of WWII, an increasingly drunk Orson Wells and the crew at Dayton Dayco Radio Hour create a visually fun spectacle in the retelling of the tale.

I think it would have been funnier if it was a trolly unable to go more than 15 mph (with a running gag of people mistakenly hearing 50 mph) to keep within the 1940's theme, but perhaps keeping it as a bus at 50 is a subtle hint at the "absurdisms" you're about to encounter.

I think the acting was incredibly strong and each played up their mannerisms authentic to the period (except Keanu who clearly is not in the 40's) with perfection.

I also found it funny to keep emphasizing the American Way when Keanu is Canadian. Not sure if that was intentional, but it was a bit of a high brow comedy nod that made me laugh.

This may not be as fun a ride if you've not seen the original source material, but that is just speculation.

Straight off the hop I have to say that as a storyteller, Wendy's delivery overall was excellent.

The show wasn't exactly what I expected when we took a detour into the world of Wendy not getting the writing jobs she wanted and into some Abraham Lincoln history. I think a stronger connection between the guns used during the civil war being the same guns Sarah (Sally) Winchester's husband made could have helped bridge that connection as Lincoln is a tool Wendy uses to connect the Mystery House to her own story of grief. While I understand the underlying connection she's trying to make about societal labels on women and expectations, the connecting threads at times could have been a little stronger.

I think some of the points Wendy has to make about grief are incredibly poignant, especially her point about how angry it made her to see social media posts after her father died. I strongly resonated with that as it's exactly how I felt after my own father died - that watching the world go on as if this huge thing hadn't just happened in my life made me angry.

I loved everything talked about in the show, I just felt sometimes like I was getting 3 shows for the price of 1 and that any of the key points she was making might have been even stronger if we were exploring those points one show at a time.

Where my biggest disappointment lies I guess is that I was expecting a show about the woman behind the legend, and feeling like Sarah's "a-ha" and "more than the lore" moment was more footnote than grand finale. I also could have done without Mary Todd as that felt like it came out of nowhere and I'm not sure if it added to the overall show. However, I'd love to see a separate stand alone show about Mary Todd, played by Wendy.

Overall I really liked the show and would recommend people see it - just keep an open mind and recognize that in exploring the larger themes you may not get to explore Sarah in as much detail as you'd hoped.

Make no mistake - Paul Strickland is a MASTER storyteller. And this nugget is unlike any other show I've seen him put on.

The storytelling was once again masterfully done with Paul simply at a microphone and only two little lamps for props. The use of the sound system to enhance sound effects and create atmosphere was done well, and the use of the lamps meant the theatre was largely in the dark for most of the show.

THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS POTENTIAL SPOILERS AS I MENTION A COUPLE OF TRIGGER WARNINGS: I didn't love the last two stories just simply due to the trope/trigger itself within the story (the first involving child abuse and death and the second animal abuse) and felt more sad than scared personally, but overall, still enjoyed them as both ended in a satisfying way.

Definitely recommend checking this show out if you love a good ghost story.

Side note - he mentioned that Erika is bringing a show next Fringe, so that was exciting news to hear :) It's been too long!

I have a confession to make. I am an addict. An addict for Taskmaster UK. So of course my love for Edmontask is biased towards the shows overall format and the general premise of local...celebrities?...making fools of themselves for our entertainment.

The August 17th show I saw this year I thought was stronger than the show I saw last year...but that's the nature of unscripted shows with every changing cast lineups.

While I want to give the show 5 stars, I think improvement could be made in the tasks themselves. While I appreciate budget constraints (Edmontask does not have Channel 4 money) and perhaps, editing constraints (20+ minute tasks would take a lot more effort to edit down to fit in the Fringe time allotment), I'd love to see more task options that provide contestants with opportunities for lateral thinking with longer time allowances or involve a little more complexity than writing a fortune.

I also think it would also be fun to have a Champion of Champions edition each festival where the winners face off.

But overall it was an absolute hoot of an hour and loved that it started my day.

Doll's House isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Unfortunately the show went in late due to tech issues, and that does factor into my overall rating, but I think it's a fun show for those into dark comedy.

Doll is both psychotic and likeable, playing off shifts between being menacing and cute, and you kinda feel for them in their quest to be the next big serial killer. Like, you kinda want them to succeed in their dreams and aspirations.

I think the actor did a good job of not letting the tech issues derail them or fluster them, and while I wish I could have seen the projections, I felt the story telling was strong enough to carry the show even with an important element missing. I suspect the failed tech would have provided everyone a close up view of Doll's dollhouse, because as it was, even though Doll brought the house right to me, I couldn't really see any details. So as a stand alone prop it missed the mark, but if the rooms were displayed on the screen, that would be a moot point.

I would have loved to have explored even more in depth the theme of what it means to create art. I thought there were some really poignant nuggets about why art exists and who it exists for and would have loved to have seen that flushed out even more in relation to the art Doll wants to create and who Doll wants to create art for. I also thought the ending was going to go in a different direction than it did, and would have preferred the ending I expected but overall, I think it's a really strong start for this show. While the show I saw was a fun romp that I was very engaged with, a little fine tuning and I think it would make a truly excellent dark comedy for those of us with twisted little hearts.