#Fringe Fest

[kamehamehamlet]

Play-Dot Archives: Poster PPG

Last week I shared two posts about posters we put up for KamehameHamlet in 2015.

But dare I share the poster we put up at Convergence in 2017...

Play-Dot Presents: Mayor Lear May (week)

For this last week of May, I'll be sharing some archival images and more from our 2017 award winning* show Mayor Lear of Townsville!

Remember if you have questions about Kamehamehamlet or Mayor Lear, you can always stop by our weekly rally stream on YouTube!

[ladycharles]

New Fringe Pick! Hope you liked the last one, this is another piece that's at the Ottawa Fringe right now 💖

It's Angel, Baby!

In 2019 I visited Athens, Greece and happened on a queer performance festival. Unmoored from North American ballroom standards and US puritanism, the performances were in turns subversive, earnest, vulgar, virtuosic, exhibitionist, and absolutely hilarious. It is rare in my cozy little government town to get the same feeling of witnessing truly subversive, truly mind opening art.

To my absolute luck, Angel, Baby ended up being one of those rare shows that leaves me in awe, and does so in way that is uniquely charming.

Exploring the concept of kissing booths as a vehicle for their audacious comedy, Victoria gives a charismatic and deeply funny performance as the skits turn increasingly bizarre and extreme. Audience members are asked to involve themselves in some desperately uncomfortable situations, and yet never once is the humour mean spirited or the audience members made the butt of a joke. In fact, seldom have I seen crowd involvement done with such care, even when the situations themselves are completely off the wall.

This is a show that does not waste time with exposition, creating a disorienting feel and a dramatic tension that amplifies the humour. Despite this, there is a cohesion and thematic completeness to what’s could otherwise seem like a bunch of random skits if one didn’t pay attention. For one, Victoria's characterisation is strong enough that exposition isn't necessary - we know exactly who Angel, Baby is from their awkward charisma and the earnestness of their delivery. For two, the baffling structure of the show itself is quite an important component of the humour. This is not a show for those who cannot fill in blanks, but for those who can give over their full attention and trust in Victoria's comic instincts, the rewards are bountiful.

There are things here I have never seen an actor attempt, things that could derail the entire show, things that could turn traumatic even, and yet Victoria maintains control with a comic charm and commitment to their character that keeps the unscripted moments compelling. The most fascinating facet to this is that as it unraveled the audience participation moments began to take on a quiet, dramatic beauty - the effect is so immersive that the lines between script and improv may as well not exist.

There is a certain awe to watching such a great actor take big risks with the audience, Iike the theatrical equivalent of juggling fire. Shows like this make Fringe Fringe, they are the lifeblood of artists like myself who crave not just great escapism but to see art destroyed and rebuilt in our images. Victoria has destroyed comedy and rebuilt it in their image, and it is a devastatingly effective transformation. Definitely recommended!

[drew-g-smith]

KC SCREENWRITERS SHORTSRAVAGANZA!

A short film screening I organized for KC Fringe 2023. Two separate blocks showing July 14, 16, and 17, 2023.

In addition to organizing the screening I also cut this trailer and did some interstitial animations to introduce each film.

Trailer Link: https://youtu.be/fCMnu8rriVk

Event Link: https://kcfringe.org/2023-films/kc-screenwriters-shortstravaganza/

[manchesterau]

OMG your Phan sims are THE CUTEST THING <3 <3 <3

thank you <3333 i legit was studying their faces to make this perfect, this is them all close up (sadly they have to have the same hair one day i will find the perfect dan fringe but this is close enough!)

ALSO I FREAKING WORKED SO HARD ON THEIR PARTY OUTFITS IT'S GIVING....NEW YEARS EVEN PARTY

[kindahoping4forever]

Via When We Were Young Fest on IG

[peculiarradio]

So excited to announce that Peculiar Radio is officially an award winning show!!

"The scores were ridiculously close this year, but with all the votes in and the numbers crunched, we can proudly announce that the winner of the 2024 Atlanta Fringe Audio Critics’ Choice award is ...

Peculiar Radio by Lengthy Tangent!

Here’s what our judges had to say:

- “Professional level all around. What a weird, beautiful universe you've built here.”

- “An excellent production with good writing, acting, and top-notch sound effects!”

- "Something I specifically liked about the show? Everything. Y'all so fun.”

On top of earning their $200 prize, the show will now be submitted to the prestigious Signal Awards for a chance at national recognition."

Peculiar Radio also won/tied in several categories..

Best Writing:

- “There were moments when I got so lost in the story that I thought I was actually tuned in to the radio.”

Best Sound and Musical Effects: —with a perfect 5 out 5 score!

- “The sound design and mix was impeccable. Well done!”

- “Top-notch sound effects!”

Best Mixing -

- “An excellent production!”

I am so beyond proud of everyone involved and thank you to everyone who has tuned into Peculiar Radio!

[drowsy-quill]

Also hello all my UK/euro mutuals, I am studying abroad this semester so I finally see Tumblr in another time zone without being a victim of insomnia.

Follow up question, what side of the sidewalk are we supposed to walk on?

[nakedcomedy]

Our first show for the Hollywood Fringe Festival was a big hoot!! Don't miss our next 2 shows this FRIDAY 6/21 at 9:30pm and this SUNDAY 6/23 at 5pm, each with ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LINEUPS! Get tix to either show for 50% off online with code ALLY: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/10829?tab=tickets

Both shows will be at the Los Angeles LGBT Center in the Davidson / Valentini Theatre! Please check out our little map to help you find us when you arrive at the LGBT Center (we are across from the main center in their theater and gallery area.) Near showtime the small green door to the left of the main theater signage will be propped open, and then our theater is straight ahead, to the left of the Gallery.

See you this weekend #HFF2024!!!

[careless-with-your-heart]

Today is AU day! Whooo! I write AUs!

HOPE EVERYONE GOT A GOOD SLEEP IN AND RESTED THEIR FINGERS BECAUSE ITS TIME FOR ANOTHER DAY OF COMMENTING!

TODAYS THEM IS AU'S: MODERN AUS MAGIC AUS SCIFI AUS REGENCY AUS MEDIEVAL AUS AND ANY OTHER AUS YOU CAN FIND! READ THOSE FICS AND GET TO COMMENTING FOR #JUSTLEAVEACOMMENT FEST!

[flibbertygigget]

Scotland, PA, Fun Home, AND Passion? The Lehman Trilogy AND Cabaret? Purple Rain musical premiering pre-Broadway plus the Parade and Kimberly Akimbo tours? And these are just random theatre season announcement emails I've gotten, I haven't even done actual research for the next Twin Cities theatre season yet lmao

[forensicbec]

Joey Richter from Starkid wants to start beef with me this year but it's hard because he's so damn nice

[anguilliforme]

sorry guys big week for me, patron of the arts

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

if I remember right, a year or two ago you made a list of recommendations for the Edinburgh Fringe. Any recommendations for this year? Already got Steffan on the list, obviously

I did! Okay, okay, here's what I've got this year. Caveat: I personally have not been up there yet (I'm going in a few days), but these are things I saw in preview/have heard great things about.

Steffan Alun: Free Standup, but at What Cost

Venue 156: PBH's Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth - Banquet Hall, 21.30-22.30

Back again! Eighth Fringe, this. The show is an hour, but that includes a 15 minute warm-up act, then Steff for 45 mins. He does this so that reviewers won't come and ruin the vibe.

Anyway this year he talks a bit about being Welsh and how he is therefore grumpy with Bristolian Tesco self-checkout machines

.

Jake Baker: Rule Breaker!

Venue 78: PBH's Free Fringe @ Canons' Gait - Lower, 16.30-17.30

I love Jake, he's lovely. He's a gentle soul and has an excellent delivery style; very warm and deceptively witty. Normally he goes with Just The Tonic and is given a searing hot basement in the sky that smells of mould for a room, but this year he's in Canons' Gait, which is much much nicer.

His blurb: A rule-breaker, a risk taker, a wave-maker and a convention-shaker – all phrases never before used to describe Jake Baker. But when a frustrating game of Alan Turing-themed Monopoly leaves him questioning the laws of the game, he finds himself turning that analytical impulse to bigger things.

.

Stephanie Laing: Rudder

Venue 300: Underbelly, George Square - The Wee Coo, 14.50-15.50

This show is particularly Tumblr-friendly, actually; it's described as 'neurodiversity-led'. However, it's a show with a content warning, although all the ticket page is saying is "themes" (insert Stephen Fry meme here); so, <SPOILER> she talks about withdrawing consent while sleeping with a FIB, and him continuing anyway. She talks about it in a very gentle way, avoiding Big Words, and it's very heavy on aftercare </SPOILER>

Her blurb: A comedy dance show about balance. Stephanie has a history of falling over a lot, accidentally kneeing herself in the face, and falling in love with total kn*bheads. In this show she uses a mixture of stand-up and dance to talk about bodies, sex, dancing, liking yourself, consent and healing. Also, there are cartoon bears and burlesque.

.

Erin McKinnie: The Faff Chronicles

Venue 108: Hoots @ The Apex - Hoot 4, 16.50-17.50

An Edinburgh local! Good solid standup for those who like such things. New-ish, but one to watch, she's very good. Don't be surprised to see her take off

Her blurb: What a faff! Erin McKinnie, a rising star on the Scottish comedy circuit, talks about faffing through early adulthood – from rogue adventures to living the "below-deck life" on cruise ships – she finds the funny in every bizarre encounter in this uplifting show that asks: Do we really need a life plan? Or... are we all just winging it? A brilliant, snort-worthy giggle-fest about exiting your 20s, facing life indecision and chasing answers for those big questions, all the while trying to convince your mother that this is a real job...

.

Alexander Bennett: Emotional Daredevil

Venue 24: Gilded Balloon Patter House - Coorie, 18.20-19.20

Dark feelings show with a really positive, optimistic message and a fun concept. It uses audience participation, but that's not compulsory, you're safe.

Blurb: I'm the emotional daredevil, and for my next feat, I need someone's help. A show about risk, for the unsatisfied and traumatised, from a Chortle Award nominee

.

Alex Franklin: Gurl Code

Venue 61: Underbelly, Cowgate - Delhi Belly, 20.25-21.25

Alex does a fun thing each year where she takes her publicity budget and rather than spending it on publicity, she hides it somewhere in Edinburgh and then reveals a clue to its location every day. This tells you something about her, I think

Her blurb: In 2024, trans girl Alex (me) started HRT. Now she (me) feels the most alive she's (me's) ever felt; and she wants to make you feel alive too, or die trying. A ludicrous, musical, chaotic, joyful show about the colours of the world becoming slowly brighter and giving people furniture via the tube. Also being trans.

.

Character Building Experience

Venue 49: Bedlam Theatre - Bedlam Theatre, 20.00-21.00

It's a D&D show - the MC Sasha Ellen makes a bunch of 40-minute simple campaigns and a selection of pre-rolled characters to do them, and then gets three comedians each time to play them. You know the drill. Good quality fun, and different each time, since you'll never see the same campaign/comedian mix.

.

2 Truths, 1 Lie

Multiple venues and times (search the EdFringe app or website to see them all), but I recommend catching the 3pm show on either the 25th or 26th August at Venue 108: Hoots @ The Apex - Hoot 1 for reasons I shall not share here (ooh, mysterious)

Fun panel-like show! Often MC'd by Steff, especially if you catch one of the 3pm shows. The format is:

Three comedians each declare a statement. Two are true, but one comedian is lying. The MC doesn't know the liar, nor does the audience. The audience gets to ask questions of the comedians; at the end, they vote on who they think the liar is.

(The prize for winning is a smug sense of satisfaction.)

.

Anyway, once I'm up there I will possibly have more, but currently, that's my list

[opal-owl-flight]

A rousing victory on all fronts!!

You can hear the team chanting the Sploon1 victory theme from here.

This is the best outcome that 3 could ever have hoped for. A Splatfest they were allowed to fight in, AND theyre winning team? Its a dream come true.

And Team Past winning is a message that they had hoped to hear for reasons that hit close to home.

On the more personal side, they chose this team because they had one good memory, one good year, and that single point in their life is going to keep them going. Theyre going to work so they can make more of that experience for themself.

Theyre a nostalgic soul. They want things to be simple like when they first turned 14 and left home.

But thats not all.

They believe that there has to be a return to form between the nations that participated in this fest. Long ago, they were all in harmony until the waters rose. Now that the nations are together again, they want them to just think of the music, the art, the food, the culture they can share with each other instead of fighting all the time.

Team past winning could be a show of a similar sentiment. Bury the hatchet. Lets hold hands like how we did it back then. Fucks sake -- most of Inkadia isnt even aware of Octaria. They were kind of just forgotten.

Inkadia is willing to open their arms again. Octaria is still a lil skittish but itll get better. They have reason to be, anyway.

Thing abt the two nations is that -- for several years now, migrations and travel have been more or less commonplace. Lots of Octarians in Inkopolis now, thanks to the platoon's help. Most people have relations with an Octarian. Inkadia didnt notice it at first. When they did though, there was apprehension. Thats where 3s peace talks come in.

Beyond the powers that be, regular Inkadians saw no reason to fear the Octarians (unless theyre part of those idiot fringe groups similar to Cuttlefish before). Theyve known these guys for years now, theres no harm.

The grandfest is Inkadia finally shaking hands with Octaria officially. Now even Octavio feels safe in bringing the dome dwellers up. Only reason he was strict with travel in the first place was his fear of Inkadians being nasty to his people.

Admittedly...yes, they were nasty to his people for a while. There was this subconcious bias/expectation that the Octarians should act a certain way to be accepted. To leave behind what made them Octarian, to blend in, assimilate. More passionate Octarians were usually excluded. There have been movements to bring light to these issues, which the platoon also participates in, and slowly but surely things changed for the better. Its not 100% perfect yet but its still moving forward.

And then team past wins?? Its like Inkadia is saying "we fucked up. Were sorry. How can we make up for it?"

It wasnt about returning to the past, (though the past that these winners fight for is a past when the two nations were in harmony) its all about learning from their mistakes to make a better present and future.

The win meant that society is acknowledging that theyve made mistakes and are willing to make up for it.

Its the best result for 3, really. They want Inkadia to face the fucking facts while they make up for everything theyve done wrong. They are an agent that relies on previous experience to get better. They observe past actions, they look at previous mistakes bit too much Ill say and think of how to improve themself (and others.)

To get better, you have to study the past. This is true for battle, and also personal growth.

3 has so much hope for the future bc of this, and they never thought theyd ever hope again.

Knowing that Inkadians are willing to do that effort really makes them believe in their nation more.

Their peace talks with the powers that be and their efforts of helping Octarians integrate with the surface Inkadians have paid off at last,,

Bc Inkadians tjemselves said that they want to make things better than how things were before

Theyre not alone in that fight anymore.

The Grizzco raids that stole a billion eggs back from the corporation was the first sign...and this win confirms their hopes.

---------

THIS IS SUCH A LONG ONE BUT YEAH!! 3 IS UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY FOR ONCE!!!

[drarryspecificrecsdaily]

2024.09.23

Complete fics posted on AO3 this day

1. Chromatic Aberration by @lemonlimelea [T, 6k]

Hogwarts is acting strange, Potter is not being subtle, and Draco is oblivious.

2. Harry Potter and the Snake in the Park 'Round his House by @sillspore [M, 30k]

Harry Potter was anything but normal. This was abundantly clear by the fact that there was a snake hissing at him from the ground and he understood it perfectly.

3. Infairitance by @toxik-angel [T, 61k]

It's August 1999, and Harry only plans on returning Malfoy's wand to him in his weird little potion shop. The Malfoy he meets there is not the Malfoy he expected. He also was not expecting to see Fred's... unanimated corpse.

4. Love at it's Kore by @sightedkarma [M, 39k]

Draco's half crup - half muggle lab has fallen ill, and none of his spells or potions are working. When Pansy and Ginny suggest he take her to their Magi-vet, he hadn't been prepared for it to be Harry Potter. Anything for Kore.

5. Matagot Matinee by @multiimoments [G, 1k]

When Draco takes Scorpius on a monthly outing, he's excited for a fun day with his beloved son. He doesn't expect to run into a certain someone he hasn't seen in five years.

6. A Naked Professor by HunterRapunzel [T, 3k]

Prompt: “Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?”

---

Fest/Exchange

1. Creature Comforts by Anonymous [M, 86k]

When Draco is turned into a werewolf, he does not expect to be given a postbellum bedroom in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, nor does he expect to find a whole new set of friends. When Harry is turned into a werewolf, he does not expect to make a whole new set of friends. He could have anticipated, however, falling even harder in love with the stubborn, acerbic, workaholic prat who’s been hovering at the fringes of his life for the past seven years. This is exactly what happens. ★ Unleashed! Fest 2024 | @unleashed-fest

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

by: Beck Levy

“Maybe now vocalists will finally start bringing their own mics,” I tweeted in the first days of March 2020. My virtual audience was mostly friends I met by participating in subcultures in and adjacent to the DIY tendency of hardcore punk rock. In those early days, we on the cultural fringes shared a sense that the pandemic, in its capacity as a social intervention, could meaningfully disrupt the oppressive ruling order.

When I booked and played shows before COVID-19 hit, I tried to harness energy and rally when crisis arose. Touring band is lost on the road? I was ready to DJ to keep people from leaving between sets. No one came to unlock the club? Let’s play in the parking lot. The last show I’d played, just weeks earlier during Mardi Gras, was on a trailer being pulled by a dump truck. We’re responsive to shifting circumstances, right?

I couldn’t get a clear look at the new terrain through the brutal haze of my first-wave infection. I was disoriented, waking up breathless, fevered, delirious from nightmares about drowning in my own blood. I could not fathom taking any action that would contribute to COVID-19 circulating, and my symptoms made me believe I would be a risk to my community. With home tests scarce, every flare had me conceiving of myself as though I might be a biological weapon.

Friends texted their fears to me frantically: “Is music over? Are shows done?” I thought back to informal and unconventional gigs, the freedom and potentiality those moments held, and reassured my friends, sequestered in our separate biomes. I said and believed: “Music always finds a way, youth culture always finds a way, underground culture always finds a way.”

Slowly, reimagined, remote, and socially-distanced events returned. In lieu of Jazz Fest, New Orleans radio station WWOZ charmed us with “festing in place” on the airwaves. I did a solo set in a virtual anniversary showcase for my old record label. Another friend live streamed a show from a cavernous church. I’d guessed performances mediated by technology might salt the wound, but desperate for connection, I treasured those experiences.

I watched my place in the world creep away from me. There were rumors of scandalous secret shows during lockdown. But the first real sign was pictures on Instagram of people traveling and touring again. Scroll to that last image: a row of COVID-19 tests, all negative, smug. Or positive, chagrined but only a little; a mismatch to the scale of: “For fun I traveled as a disease vector and personally participated in the proliferation of an airborne pathogen that can kill or maim.” Was it a character limit? A limitation of character?

The world passed me by, carouseling through normalization phases, like COVID-19 tests phasing their way out of tour posts. I watched scenes regroup from my new vantage point in biopolitical exile. Pandemic gloom catalyzed a spate of reunions, which is wholesome and beautiful except for the fact that at least one band knowingly toured with a member who tested positive.

Was I overreacting? While COVID-19 left me with an immune system that attacks my body, my mind attacked itself with this question. I’d traded amps for this mental feedback loop. The counterargument was implicit: people need unfettered access to music more than we need safety.

Live music came back. It just didn’t bring me with it.

I didn’t see a critical mass of bookers, venues, or bands advocating for COVID-19 safety with measures like outdoor shows, improved ventilation, livestream options, or just adding tests and masks to the earplug bin at the door. Some hand disinfectant; a little hygiene theater at conventional venues. The will just wasn’t there. I thought our deal was fuck the state, we’ll do it our way. I found myself slipping through the subcultural safety net that exists for outcasts who are slipping through the cracks of mass culture and late capitalism.

Of course, punk was already inaccessible to some. And I actually believe a certain amount of gatekeeping is necessary to protect punk from posers, jerks, and cops. But among the nebulous community clustered around shows, the sexism and racism people have experienced has always been very real, to the tune of entire zines, books, films about that exclusion. I monitored my heartbreak, critically. Resource-scarce, informal, and underground operations often exist at a quagmire of conflicting access needs. Was the sting of betrayal just this painful because it affected me, directly? Can the subaltern mosh?

There was a brief period where my baseline had plateaued, and I enjoyed medium-functionality between flares. Clinging to my modest recovery, a memorial service was my first congregant risk. That was the last time I tried to play guitar. I got the twisties, psychic vertigo from grief and from the contradiction of my setting and my experience, but the band played on, complete with a brass section. And at that otherwise beautiful event, I was ceremoniously reinfected by an asymptomatic tuba player. My health has been steadily deteriorating ever since.

Isolation is hard: it can feel like rejection, it can feel real personal. I struggled to adapt. I know I can have a persecution complex, but I also know I’m materially being made surplus. So what do I tell the complex? Are people being thoughtless, or do they explicitly not give a fuck about immunocompromised people like me?

Life is never totally safe, danger is often exciting, sometimes risk is the point. I know that. I’m not (just) a joyless scold. In the era of potentially deadly airborne pathogens, we’re playing with other lives when we make “individual” health decisions—I thought we’d learned that, but there was no such reckoning.

Punks accepted the sociological production of the end of the pandemic, moving in lockstep with the state, sacrificing medically vulnerable people on the altar of pleasure, just as the state had sacrificed us on the altar of capital. I thought our ingenuity would create new forms of shows. Instead, it exposed our limits under duress. To quote the band Allergic to Bullshit, “If this is what we’re for, this is what we’ll get.”

Maybe my shock seems naïve—after all, there’s a difference between “subculture” and “counterculture”—but there’s a reason I expected better. There are visionaries with love, passion, and fearlessness who organize shows in strip malls, caves, skateparks, churches, parking garages; shows with immediacy like distributing free Narcan, and conviction, like benefits toward Palestinian liberation. I await, with diminishing faith, the eruption of that tendency in the bioethical arena.

Since immune ableism is hegemonic, congregating is a question of building a realistic threat model, making decisions with people who are directly impacted by your actions, and taking all possible precautions. I’m encouraged by radical formations with accessibility modifications, particularly those connecting social abandonment, climate crisis, and genocide. I see this reflected in art book fairs that require masking, outdoor Shabbatot, test-first leftist reading groups. Queer and drag events are making adjustments. Mask blocs and clean air clubs collaborate, with limited resources, to make spaces more accessible. These are people who insist on collective health, demanding freedom to live and breathe clean air.

For those of us with severe Long COVID, exclusion from live music represents a profound loss of humanity. This disconnection feeds into my daily despair; in medical terms, my depersonalization/derealization. Having hoped this crisis would push us closer to communism than complacency, I feel whiplash, what Naomi Klein calls “political vertigo.” Millions of Americans with Long COVID have disappeared from the workforce. Data on the underground music scene are unavailable. It’s hard to count ghosts. I’ve wanted to ask: Have you noticed that some of us are gone? Do you ever miss us?

Four years later, I still can’t even make it to a well-filtered show. My last recreational outing ended in hospitalization from merely ascending a steep hill. I hear about shows from my roommate, the only person I see, who is also the only masked person at them. I tell myself I could try to go to an outdoor gig one day, maybe, if my governing health planets aligned. Instead of being an active musician, I pretend I’m like Jandek, a reclusive genius, but really I’m too clumsy and unfocused to play at home.

I do what I do with everything: act like I’m in a different world. It’s not difficult, because I am. The Well do their thing out there, I do mine in here. I moved across the country in search of better healthcare and, homebound, routinely forget I’m not still in New Orleans. Either way I am inside. I gave up and I don’t fight the world leaving me behind. I am back here, rolling the boulder of my body up steep hills.

In spite of everything, I’m glad shows continue. It’s bittersweet comfort knowing freaks are getting raucous in basements, with noise made by other freaks, sprayed with wet yells, aggressively jostling with teens; in a reprieve from control, experiencing music together. I’d die for your right to do that. And thanks to you, I just might.