Minnesota Fringe Festival 2024: "5 Episodes of Minnesota Tonight; 4 Minnesota Fring3, it’s Minnesota 2Night’s 1st Time at Minnesota Fringe."

Day: 8

Show: 24

Title: 5 Episodes of Minnesota Tonight; 4 Minnesota Fring3, it’s Minnesota 2Night’s 1st Time at Minnesota Fringe.

Category: Comedy / Improv / Audience participation / LGBTQIA+ Content

By: Denzel Belin Presents

Created by: Minnesota Tonight

Location: Mixed Blood Theatre

Summary: A late night style show featuring stand up, sketch comedy, music, and interviews.

Highlights: This is a great idea for a show, and host Denzel Belin does periodically it throughout the year, but this was my first time seeing it. Unfortunately Denzel wasn't there the night I saw it, but fortunately guest hose Bailey Murphy was a delight, as was musical guest James Rone singing and playing guitar (who knew this great improviser was also a musician?!). Before the show started we had a warm up comedian, as you actually do at such shows. I didn't catch (or retain) her name, but she was fun and easy going and returned for a few bits throughout the show. The real show began with comedian Emily Bradley, also very funny, and then proceeded to Bailey's desk monologue. All the typical elements of a late night show are there - guest interview (esteemed Fringe artist Ariel Pinkerton), sketch comedy (by the funny and feminist troupe Smartmouth Comedy), banter, and bits. There's one final performance of this fun show on Sunday, and it'll be different from any of the previous shows. Follow Minnesota Tonight for news of shows post-Fringe.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"Family Dinner" and "The Mess" at HUGE Theater

Have you heard the news? HUGE Theater has moved into a new space, and not only that - they own it! For more about the significance of an artist-led organization owning their own performance space, listen to Episode 2.7 of the Twin Cities Theater Chat podcast, in which we interview Executive Director Butch Roy. For a virtual tour of the new space, including classrooms and behind the scenes, watch this YouTube video in which John Gebretatose, Director of Diversity & Inclusion, shows bloggers Kendra from Artfully Engaging and Rob from The Stages of MN around the space. Or better yet - go visit HUGE in person! They've moved just a few blocks north on Lyndale and across the street (tip: plenty of free street parking on Aldrich, one block west of Lyndale). The new HUGE feels more spacious - from the lobby to the performance space, with more improvements coming soon, including a bar and risers to improve sightlines in the audience. HUGE currently has shows Wednesdays through Saturdays, with three-show line-ups on Fridays and Saturdays. I made my first visit to the new HUGE last night to see my all-time favorite improv show Family Dinner, which continues every Saturday through the end of the year. See the full schedule here and make your plans to see some improv this holiday* season.

"Family Dinner" and "The Mess" at HUGE Theater

After pivoting to a very 2020 Zoom version last year, everyone's favorite improv show Family Dinner is back at HUGE Theater where they belong! Where we can watch a delightfully dysfunctional family reunite for a holiday* dinner and actually eat it, live in front of us! I saw the show last weekend with my blogger friends from Play Off the Page and The Stages of MN (and then stayed to watch the also hilarious improv troupe The Mess), and laughed harder than I have in a long time. Family Dinner is hugely popular and often sells out its twice-weekly shows from mid-November through the end of the year, because everyone can relate to that awkward family dinner, even if this one is a bit more extreme in awkwardness and drama. But it's never mean-spirited, you get the sense that this improvised family loves each other, even whilst driving each other crazy. The final two performances this year are on New Year's Eve and Day - get your tickets now! While you're on the HUGE website, check out what else is going on, with live shows six days a week.

"Family Dinner" and "The Mess" at HUGE Improv Theater

Family Dinner is my favorite show at HUGE Improv Theater in Uptown. It comes around this time every year, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays all through November and December, most of which sell out. Now in their eighth year at HUGE, it's basically the Guthrie's A Christmas Carol (as creator Molly Ritchie said). I attended with my Twin Cities Theater Blogger friends old (Minnesota Theater Love, Twin Cities Stages, Bite-Sized Beet) and new (The Stages of MN, The Global Dig, and Millennial in the Mezzanine), and a good time was had by all. HUGE is a great option for a fun outing this time of year, or any time of year. Buy tickets for one show only, or save on a two- or three-show pass. And you will want to get your Family Dinner tickets in advance - they will sell out.

"Off Book" and "The Mess" at HUGE Improv Theater

"Life is better when you're laughing." Or at least that was the sidewalk chalk wisdom I saw on my morning run today. But there definitely is truth to it, and if you're in need of more laughter in your life, there's no better place to go for consistent laughs any night of the week than HUGE Improv Theater, a home for improv in Uptown Minneapolis. HUGE hosts a variety of improv troupes, with shows almost every night. Most shows are about $10 per ticket, and if you go on a Friday or Saturday night, you can see multiple shows at a discounted price. A small price to play for a lot of laughter.

"Family Dinner" and "The Mess" at HUGE Improv Theater

It's been too long since I've enjoyed some improv at HUGE Theater in Uptown. But thanks to the appeal of the annual hit Family Dinner, I made a visit last weekend. And since I was there, I also stayed for the 9:30 show (I'm afraid a 10:30 show is more than this morning person can do, sorry improv-ers). Family Dinner has Friday and Saturday performances for the next two weekends but is virtually sold out. But the other show I caught, The Mess, performs Saturday nights and is also a great option. In fact, just about every night there is something funny going on at HUGE, so check it out sometime to experience something outside of the usual #TCTheater world.

Fringe Festival 2016: "In the Time of Spies"

Day: 11

Show: 51

Title: In the Time of Spies

Category: Comedy

By: Ferrari McSpeedy Theatrical Productions

Created by: Joe Bozic and Mike Fotis

Location: U of M Rarig Center Thrust

Summary: A loving spoof of '50s and '60s spy TV shows, complete with opening credits!

Highlights: In this really funny broad sketch comedy, chock full of physical humor (crazy exaggerated fight scenes) and sight gags (one of those grabber things as a hand), we meet a team of spies working for the CIA. Typical TV show spy tropes like a mole in their midst, long lost mothers, Russian bad guys, and love triangles unfold, as described and introduced by chanteuse narrator (Anna Hickey). The hilarious cast (also including Joe Bozic, Mike Fotis, James Rone, Rita Boersma, and Jason Ballweber, most of whom come from the improv/sketch comedy world) plays every moment to the hilt. Two "episodes" of In the Time of Spies are presented, and as a TV junkie I loved the "previously on" recap and the silly opening credits that they repeat at the beginning of each episode. It's ridiculously good fun.