"Swords & Sorcery" by the Bearded Company at Theatre in the Round

One of the most popular longtime Minnesota Fringe shows is playing at Theatre in the Round this season (and just announced - next season too). The Bearded Company's improv show Swords & Sorcery is always a fun time, even if you're not into D&D. In fact, everything I know about the game known as Dungeons and Dragons (which I still don't understand) I've learned from Bearded Co over the last nine years. This "campaign" (as they call it) runs in rep with The Hobbit this weekend only, with four shows of a continuing story that began last night. You definitely don't need to see all of the shows, or have any familiarity with this group or even D&D, to enjoy an episode of Swords & Sorcery, but you can also go back multiple times to continue the fun, and see a completely new story created before your eyes. And there are two opportunities to see both The Hobbit and Swords & Sorcery on the same day - Friday night back-to-back, and Sunday with a dinner break at one of the many nearby restaurants in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. So if you're visiting Middle Earth this weekend, stick around for more fantasy fun. And if you don't have tickets for the virtually sold-out The Hobbit, it's definitely worth going to TRP to enjoy a little improv (click here for info and tickets).

"It's Not the Heat, It's the Stupidity" by Brave New Workshop at the Dudley Riggs Theatre

The common refrain: "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" can be heard frequently in a Minnesota summer. For their newest clever title, Brave New Workshop is playing off of this phrase with It's Not the Heat, it's the Stupidity (which is perhaps even more true). The longest running comedy theater in the country is doing something different for the summer. Typically their shows feature written comedy sketches, followed by a short improv section at the end. For this show, it's all improv, all the time! As host (and "boss" as the performers referred to him) Caleb McEwen said, there are just too many stupid things happening right now, and this way they can react to all of them daily instead of having a static script. Although there wasn't a lot of current events in the show I saw (yours might be different), just a lot of hilarious, clever, and delightfully stupid comedy. Each week's cast is pulled from a large group of some of the best improvisers in town, truly making each show different. The show plays every Friday and Saturday at 7:30 through August 5 (plus occasional matinees - click here for details).

Fringe Festival 2016: "Couple Fight II: Friends and Family"

Day: 6

Show: 28

Title: Couple Fight II: Friends and Family

Category: Comedy

By: Weggel-Reed Productions

Created by: Anna Weggel-Reed

Location: Theatre in the Round

Summary: A return of last year's hilarious Couple Fight, with all new real-life fights between funny people who love each other.

Highlights: This is another simple premise that works. Fringe favorites reenact a real-life fight they had with a loved one - spouse, parent, friend, sister. Created by Anna Weggel-Reed, directed by Tom Reed, and written by the cast, it's the first Fringe show that brought me to tears of laughter. Sisters Angie Martin and Casey Haeg fight about nothing and everything, the way sisters do. Improv buddies Andy Hilbrands and Katy Kessler fight about (what else) the election. Lacey Zeiler fights with her 3-year-old daughter Lila (hilariously played by her husband John Zeiler) about bedtime. Married couple Rachael Davies and Andy Kraft fight about football, and who's more of a man. BFFs Sulia Altenberg and BriAnna M. Daniels fight about race (awkward!). Friends Anna Weggel-Reed and Richie McLarn fight about smoking on the U of M campus. And last but perhaps best, Emily Schmidt and her mother Pat reenact a scene at Target when Emily was a precocious 7-year-old. It's nicely put together with intro and ending scenes that include a snippet of all fights, and each scene is introduced like a boxing match (perfect for the in-the-round setting). And then little Lila shows up for the curtain call and steals the show.