Every year at the Edmonton Fringe, for myself, there is a show... a show that I did not intend to see but I am able to see and it surprises me both in how it entertains me and how I happen to be able to watch the work of the artists that I have yet to interact with on the Fringe Grounds.

After working days at the fringe, my mind is poor and I had misplaced an earbud case during my fringing and performance for the day. I had time to explore multiple venues and after seeing Fear Fables at the Next Act Theatre I returned to what I HOPED would be the venue for my earbud case. Alas... it was not.

However, as I was about to walk out, one of the performers had seen one of the shows that I had worked at and they had a phenomenal time. They also said such kind words about myself which surprised the heck outta me: Being a performer, I know that the last couple of minutes are when you want to get yourself focused or, at least, when there is an expectation from your creative heads to be focused. This wonderful person took time away from their focus time to say not only kind things about myself, but my whole company's production and also shared an interest to speak more when the show concluded.

Rather than walk out to the next venue I said, "Well that was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me before a show.... I might as well support theirs as well!!" And BOY what a show it was!

Stroke of Genius is a show that many people get within the first 5... minutes?... seconds??... But what I liked is that main speaker of this lecture (Shane Mayforth) does not approach this lecture's subject topic with a plodding feeling of, "It's about Masturbation, I know it, you know it, here are the jokes about it, and we are done." The excitement, appreciation, and severity that he has with the class at moments reminding us that we must participate or be docked marks kept me on my toes and focused throughout.

You start to actually study the intricate details of the lectures topic which would be a glowing review if this was a serious lecture but, with the topic being that of masturbation, what you are intently focusing on makes you feel absurd and then you find yourself laughing both at the very clear gestures, short-hand, and diagrams being shared and laughing still because you need to make sure you put it to memory so as not to fail your grade score average.

Vulva Va-Voom does a great job in probably my favourite moments in the show which were the examples used in the lecture showcasing masturbation pantomime through the silent era of select silent films. These moments were utterly hilarious particularly one involving a tragically lost film that just had me in stitches.

At the risk of losing a new friend (should they read this) I want to share three things that I feel, for me could have contributed positively to the plays intended effect, at least as far as I can interpret what the effect of certain moments were.

The first one is in the lecture tone. I think the entire lecture structure is great, no notes (Even the magic number for the last slide was perfect.) My only observation was that there were moments when I felt there could be more passion behind the analysis.

There was intention and a direct pacing to clearly deliver many of the masturbation jokes, but the passion that comes from a raw presentation - the kind of presentation that is 'I need to talk about this or I will die' - was last for me at moments.

The second and third thing are connected: The antagonistic force that threatens the presentation and our Professors hard work did not feel as stakes heavy as I felt it could be mainly because it is auditory. Using my knowledge from the lecture (of which I now have a certificate) the believability of the stakes was much lower for me.

I think this could have been remedied with an on-stage, in-person individual walking onto the stage to address the professor directly. It would have had the same stakes level that I think any professor has fear of when their administrator walks in PLUS it would add a level of humour to having someone walk in while you are (pantomime) masturbating.

Those are major moments, yes, but no enjoyment of the show's central premise and goal was ruined for me. Any notes I have are not criticisms of the main driving force of this play which is, again, a Professor making you appreciate the manufactured history on one of the most shameful things many junior high, high school, and (still) adults ever could admit. Putting this in a classroom setting is straight from the Monty Python class of comedy and while elements could certainly be tightened in it, it was a wonderful play to stumble into and well worth the time to pay attention to; especially when my fellow performers took the time to watch the goofy nonsense I got up to this festival 🤣🤣 🙌