listersgirl | Fringe Day 3: Oy. (Reply)

Yesterday started with me getting all excited about going for brunch, and then discovering that nothing around me opens until 11am, and it was 10:30. Yeesh. At least it got me out of the house and buying groceries. I spent some time revising my Fringe schedule, and then headed off to my first show:

Cheapskate

One of the reviews described this as a live action version of Friends, and that's somewhat accurate - 3 guys, 3 girls, complicated interactions. Very funny, though, and it didn't feel derivative. About dating, relationships, first impressions, friendships and the importance of 15 cents. (

vestra, one of the women played Janet in that production of Rocky Horror we saw a while ago. Which I was glad to read in the program, because I'd spent much of the play trying to figure out why she looked so familiar.)

After that I wandered over to the Celebrate Toronto street festivals, where

sarcasma and

mystery_diva spoonfeeding opera to the masses. They were both awesome. Despite everything. :D

Then I was an idiot, and instead looking at my schedule, I believed myself when I told myself that my next show wasn't selling tickets until 7:45, and I went home, instead of heading downtown with everyone. At about 7:15 I got ready to head out the door, checked to see where my show was, and discovered that the show actually started at 8, not 8:45. I tried, I really did, but of course by the time I got there tickets were sold out. I was so mad at myself. And THEN, on the bus ride back, I made a new plan, and went to the box office to buy an advance ticket for a show (because the new plan was complicated and didn't allow much time between a couple of shows) and I got there just as they closed the door! Right in my face. I was very cranky at that point, so I went home, instead of heading back to the street fest with

mystery_diva (who I actually ran into on the street - I love it when that happens).

However, I was not to be defeated, so at 10:15 I actually left the house again, and went down to another show. It's weird - I was literally the only person in the audience who wasn't there with a group of people. It's always like that at the late night shows. It is odd being out that late by myself, but luckily I could just go hang out in a coffee shop after buying my ticket.

Pajama Men in "Stop Not Going"

These guys - formerly known as Sabotage - are just so random and bizarre. But funny! I can't quite tell if the shows are scripted or improv: the flow, and the way they return to the same characters, definitely resembles sketch comedy, but sometimes one of them will do something, and you can see the other one giving him a look and trying not to laugh. Whatever, it works. My favourite bit (besides the bizarre version of Marco Polo that was played with the lights off for the first part of the show), was a throwaway bit about the 5 evolutionary stages of men's beards ("Now, what is stage 4, when it's big and bushy, and comes halfway down the chest?" "Hell's Angel! Or Rabbi!"). Definitely worth seeing. And yes, they are wearing pajamas.

So yay for a good show to wipe away the crankiness. And more shows today!