Bill Stiteler does not want to see your play 08/08/2010 9:22pm

Editorial
The instructions we were given as Minnesota Playlist bloggers was not to review Fringe shows, but to talk about the experience of going to the Fringe. To give you our perspective of being at the Fringe as a thing unto itself, rather than breaking it down into distinct, separate pieces of theater. And part of that is knowing when to bugger off and spend some time far, far away. You know those movies where someone gets telepathic powers and it's all awesome at first? They get to hear their friend's embarrassing secret and what the hot girl is thinking in an attempt to get into her pants before realizing that she's really shallow 'n' stuff and you should really ask out the girl who's got her hair in a bun and wears glasses (and when she takes them off, she looks remarkably like this month's FHM cover model because she is). I was going somewhere with this... Oh yeah! What I love most about Fringe is the artistic cross-pollination as theater people see other shows and you start to get inspired and make connections with people and make connections with ideas and notice all the things you want to steal (all perfectly valid, by the way). But spending too much time is hazardous to my mental health because there are too many ideas floating through the air like big, invisible pumpkins waiting for heads to collide with, and my head is a magnet for pumpkins. Yes, it's a stupid metaphor. My head is too full of ideas. So I'm taking the night off from Fringe, and even more so from Fringe Central, which is my favorite part, bar none, of the process. I need some time to carve my brain open and scoop out the seeds germinating within. Then I'll carve a smiling face on and return with a candle in my mouth. Sigh... yes, it makes no sense. Too full! The other, less romantic reason is that by staying out too late, getting up too early and overstimulating myself I risk turning into a jerk, as I came too damn close to this morning. My apologies to the volunteers (who are uniformly doing a great job) whose only sin was momentarily confusing my (gold) Press pass for an orange Rush pass. This, more than anything convinced me I need 8 hours of sleep and to chill the fuck out.

Some housecleaning

Show Goons is a nerdy little comedy about supervillians who live and fight near Canada. I was able to catch their second show—or Beta Flight, if you will*—and it's an energetic romp about four working class villains (telemarketer, security guard, insurance rep, nerd) who decide to go pro as henchmen for a supervillain.
show_goons.jpg
The singing could be stronger (the actors are often overpowered by the three-piece band), but it's got a lot of energy. It is a musical about villains that never even pauses to consider heroism. It's got some guts to it. *Holy shit, did I ever just crack myself up. If you did too, see this show.
Headshot of Bill Stiteler
Bill Stiteler
Bill Stiteler does not want to see your play: What makes an audience member go to see a show? What is the odd mixture of title, picture, description, preview, and word-of-mouth that convinces someone to take a chance on a Fringe show? Writer/director (and longtime Fringe producer/volunteer) Bill Stiteler examines what made him want to see a show, and how it measured up to its promotion.