"Nudge" at Open Eye Theatre

As part of their Guest Artist Series, Open Eye Theatre is hosting the long-form improv show Nudge once a month through December. I caught the show last night, before the #TCTheater season gets too busy. A small but enthusiastic crowd enjoyed one continuous story that played out in under an hour, completely made up on the spot. This talented troupe of some of our best improvisors (Tim Hellendrung, Katy Kessler, Taj Ruler, and Jen Scott performed last night, with Rita Boersma and/or Butch Roy joining them at some performances) created believable characters and situations that were funny, and awkward, and real. Since HUGE Theater closed last year, we need to go to different venues to see improv (including but not limited Strike Theater, Jungle Theater, and the Hive Collaborative), and Nudge is one that's definitely worth checking out in Open Eye's sweet intimate space in South Minneapolis. Their next show is October 20, followed by shows in November and December, with tickets just $12 in advance! Click here for all the details.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2025: "Clown Funeral"

Day: 9

Show: 28

Title: Clown Funeral

Category: Clowning / Comedy / Improv / Original Music / Physical Theater / Audience participation

By: Octoberdandy Productions

Created by: Jen Scott, Levi Weinhagen, Chris Rodriguez, Mark Benzel

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: Like the title says, it's a funeral for a clown.

Highlights: You've never attended a funeral this fun. These four clowns - Jen Scott as pastor clown Mads, Levi Weinhagen as lawyer clown Affa David, Chris Rodriguez as silent clown Pablo, and Mark Benzel as sweet clown Mo - lead us through the funeral for their friend Bongo J. Sprinkles, and it's a delight. We're given a program, with parts to sing, and the structure includes the usual funereal things like reading of the will, sharing of memories, songs, and readings. There's even a coffin (built before our eyes) and a body. But it's all super silly, very playful, and somewhat improvised. The cast is very playful with each other and with the audience (in a non-threatening way), with lots of (old) pop culture references and double entendres. And if you need your Reverend Matt fix at this year's Fringe, this is the place to get it, as the good Reverend (aka Matthew Kessen) makes a brief appearance in a banana costume to talk about the funeral practices of ancient civilizations. After a lot of goofing around, when sweet sensitive Mo finally gets to pay tribute to his friend with a lovely little song, it's surprisingly poignant. This is a very funny show about a very serious thing - death - that somehow makes it less scary.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here. 

"Cold Planet Warm Heart" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at Crane Theater

Fortune's Fool Theatre's new original musical Cold Planet Warm Heart is billed as "a warm-hearted, family-friendly science fiction tale that explores themes of immigration, inclusion, and the need to both discover and follow our heart's desire." I found it to be really cute and sweet, and definitely appropriate for kids (although I didn't see any in the audience on opening night). It's a feel-good piece for adults too, about community, and finding love in unexpected places, and creating a peace-filled world. Teaming up again after 2017's lovely The Lady with a Lap Dog, Daniel Pinkerton (book and lyrics) and Robert Elhai (music) have created a fun musical with great songs that are both comic and poignant. The six-person all-female cast, some of whom play multiple characters, give earnest, heart-felt, and funny performances and sing the at times intricate score well. Check it out, with or without kids, at the Crane Theater in Northeast Minneapolis now through November 19.

"The Bungalow Loft" by Fearless Comedy Productions at the Historic Mounds Theatre

Fearless Comedy Productions returns with a brand new comedy play by #TCTheater favorite Shanan Custer! Although maybe it's more of a dramedy, as it features two sisters discovering some secrets about their recently deceased mother and deals with themes of grief, loss, regret, memories, mental illness, and challenging family relationships. Presented in an intimate in-the-round (or square) space on the floor of the Historic Mounds Theatre, The Bungalow Loft is funny and real and brought to us by an all-female cast and creative team. 

"You Who I Always/Never/Once Loved" by Fortune's Fool Theatre at the Crane Theater

Last fall, Fortune's Fool Theatre presented a beautiful collection of storytelling pieces by local artists around the topic of having or not having children. They did it as safely as possible, but since the pandemic was still raging I watched the video recordings of To Breed, Or Not to Breed at home. Their follow-up this fall is stories about love in all forms, and since I'm comfortable going to see theater in a vaxxed and masked audience (as most are these days), I was happy to see the first weekend of You Who I Always/Never/Once Loved at the Crane Theater, which is another collection of beautifully honest stories. Performances continue through this Saturday, with another set of storyteller and stories next weekend (click here for details). After the run, they will also make the video recordings available to view online.

Minnesota Fringe Festival 2018: "Lakes 4"

Day: 5

Show: 19

Title: Lakes 4

Category: Comedy

By: Schmidtshow Productions

Written by: Emily Schmidt

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: In a play on the movie Oceans 8, half as many women from the land of 10,000 lakes plan a heist: to steal the cherry from the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry statue.

Highlights: This show wins the prize for most Minnesota references per minute. It's not the Fringe if you don't see at least one show that loving mocks Target, Perkins, traffic, and everything else we love (or hate) about our fair state. Emily Schmidt's clever and funny script delivers on that front, as well as creating a fun and fringey show. Suburban wife and mom Bridget (Samantha Baker Harris, who also directs) feels like she's lost that sense of adventure from her youth, and is bored sitting around the house with husband Dan (David Kappelhoff) all the time, so she decides to pull a heist just to prove that she can. She enlists her friend Grace (Jen Scott), their fitness coach Cheryl (Maureen Tubbs), and her friend Pam (Casey Haeg), an ace LuLaRoe saleswoman. They meet at Perkins to plan the heist, where waiter Jaden (ball of energy Aaron Vanek) overhears them and wants in. Of course the plans go awry, but the point is that Bridget rediscovers her inner spirit and sense of adventure. The cast is fantastic, the jokes are fast and funny, and the star of the show is the Cherry and Spoon. How could I not love it?!

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.

"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: "Celebrity Book Club"

Day: 4

Show: 18

Title: Celebrity Book Club

Category: Comedy

By: Outlandish Productions

Written by: Jimmy LeDuc, Dan Hetzel, and Sulia Rose Altenberg

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A mock TV show in which a host, producer, and assistant talk about books written by celebrities, with a different theme and special guest panel (comprised of Fringe favorites) at every performance.

Highlights: Funny people reading ridiculous books that probably only got published because the author is a celebrity. Simple premise, but it works, especially with the creative team of Jimmy LeDuc (the producer keeping the show going), Dan Hetzel (the genial and slightly smarmy host), and Sulia Rose Altenberg (the helpful and sometimes hostile assistant). I attended on "Celebrity Fiction or Poetry" night, so I enjoyed the poems of Jewel read by Avi Aharoni, Ally Sheedy's poems (some of which were written during her stint at Hazeldon) read by Joshua English Scrimshaw, Pamela Anderson's novel Star Struck, read by Jen Scott, and finally, selections from Touch Me: The Poems Suzanne Sommers, read by Eric Webster. It's a fun and informal show, kind of like a late-night talk show recurring skit, with the audience given the vote on each book whether to "shelve it" or "trash it." The thin premise succeeds because of the talent, humor, and charm of the regulars and special guests.