Fringe Festival 2017: "Spec"

Day: 2

Show: 5

Title: Spec

Category: Something Different

By: Ben San Del Presents

Created by: Ben San Del

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A one-person storytelling show in the genre of speculative fiction, "narrative fiction with supernatural or futuristic elements."

Highlights: If you've seen Ben at the Fringe before, you know he's a great storyteller - natural and funny. The stories he tells for this particular show are really interesting - funny or disturbing or poignant. Topics include high robots, a man binging Netflix on his couch defending his lifestyle to his ancestors, a supernatural encounter in the woods, a cemetery in which pushing a button on a headstone allows you to hear the deceased's thoughts, and a world in which the only jobs not replaced by robots are slam poet and stand-up comedian. In short, Spec is a series of smart, thought-provoking, compelling stories about the world we live in or may at some point live in.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

Fringe Festival 2016: "Apple Picking"

Day: 10

Show: 43

Title: Apple Picking

Category: Comedy

By: Ben San Del Presents

Created by: Ben San Del

Location: Ritz Theater Proscenium

Summary: A pleasant afternoon of apple picking turns sinister when the two couples turn out to be on opposite sides of the law

Highlights: In this hilarious dark comedy, mobster's daughter and hitwoman Candy (Mo Perry) brings her boyfriend Johnny (Jason Ballweber) to the family orchard to dispose of him. Red (Natalie Rae Wass) and Robert (Christopher Kehoe) appear to be on a date, but are actually undercover FBI agents. A mad chasee ensues, observed by a pair of trees (Rachel Petrie and Joshua English Scrimshaw, the funniest trees you've ever seen whether silent or speaking in a drug-induced halucination). It's really funny and the cast is fantastic, thoroughly enjoyable start to finish. Which is probably why it won the encore slot at 8:30 pm today.

Minnesota Fringe Festival: Five-Fifths of Titanic at Illusion Theater

Hey theater friends, did you know that the Minnesota Fringe Festival is less than three months away? I don't know about you, but I'm excited for 11 days of theater binging, standing in lines, eating trail mix for every meal, and little sleep, especially after attending the annual Fringe fundraiser Five-Fifths. The subject of this year's show, in which a popular movie is split into five parts and re-imagined by five different theater companies, is the 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic. Confession: when it came out I was in my early 20s, so pretty much the target audience, and I unironically loved it. I bought the soundtrack and may even still have the VHS tapes (kids - VHS tapes are how we used to watch movies at home before DVDs or Netflix were invented). Now of course I can see that Titanic is an overblown melodramatic mess, but a part of me will always have a soft spot for this make-believe doomed romance set admidst a real disaster. Last night's Fringey interpretation of the movie represented everything we love about the Fringe, and set the stage for another great festival to come!

Fringe Festival 2012: An Agony of Fools

Day: 2

Show: 6

Title: An Agony of Fools

By: Ben San Del

Written by: Ben San Del

Location: The Southern Theater

Summary: A stand-up comedy routine from the playwright of last year's Fringe favorite Minnesota Middle Finger.

Highlights: I went to see this show for something different (I don't see much stand-up, except for Louie), and because I really enjoyed Minnesota Middle Finger at last year's Fringe. Since I'm not an expert on stand-up I don't really have much to compare this to, but I found Ben to be very funny, relatable (even if I did come out on the wrong side of the morning vs. night person and cat vs. dog person jokes), and likeable. So if you're looking for a few good laughs, this show is a good choice. And for me, that's what the Fringe is for - seeing some things you don't normally see.

Read more of my fringe fest reflections...

Fringe Festival: "Minnesota Middle Finger" by Ben San Del Presents at Theatre in the Round

As you can see in the picture to the right, if you flip someone off while wearing mittens, the effect is lost on the recipient.  They just think you're waving and don't recognize the rage behind the gesture.  Such is the premise of Minnesota Middle Finger, in which three virtual strangers are trapped together at the end of the world, which of course in Minnesota takes the form of a 100+ inch snowstorm. Florence and Adam are neighbors who attend a neighborhood party together, mostly because Florence can't think of a good excuse to turn down Adam's proposal.  They wake up the next morning hungover to discover that they're alone in the house with a stranger named Thomas.  The three of them get to know each other quickly whether they want to or not, and must figure out how to survive.  It's a bleak situation, but this play is anything but bleak.  Filled with Minnesota humor, it's sharp and funny and ends with a cliffhanger!

Florence (Leigha Horton) is the good girl who never swears and has her life planned out, but finds something somehow missing.  Adam (Tim Hellendrung) is the nice but slightly nerdy guy (he played trombone in the high school marching band) whom pretty women always overlook.  And Thomas (John Middleton) is argumentative and slightly crazy - he carries a gun around, which fortunately is only a BB gun.  Flo and Adam don't recognize him from the neighborhood, so he eventually admits that he used to live in that house until he fell on hard times, and came to the party with thoughts of hanging himself in the bedroom.  But since the end of the world appears to have arrived, he decides to stick it out.  The three entertain themselves by playing board games, eating pop tarts and pancakes, and arguing with each other.  The truth comes out when the world is ending, and it's not always pretty.  They eventually decide to do something about their situation.  The ceiling is threatening to cave in, so they yell and make noise in attempt to get it to collapse, and then hope to find a pocket of air somewhere on the edges.  That's where the play ends, and we never know if they were successful.

This three-person cast is great, very natural and funny and with great chemistry.  It was also a popular show; it won the encore award, meaning it had the most ticket sales at the venue.  Which I don't disagree with; personally I loved the beautiful opera Twisted Apples, but Minnesota Middle Finger is more accessible and audience-friendly.  A fun exploration of the Minnesota psyche, relationships, and something we Minnesotans are familiar with - being snowed in.

See all of my Fringe reviews.