OMG YOU GUYS LIKE SUPER TOP SECRET FRINGE PREVIEWS

I stumbled across the opportunity to examine two more previews that most of the Minnesota audience will not.

Demo Tape presented by Philip Simondet

During their official preview, one of the performers ran through the audience with a stack of CDs. I flagged her down and managed to get my hands on one. When I hopped into my car and lit out for the Kansas City Fringe, it’s the first one I slipped into my CD player.

It was enjoyable! Also, short: three songs. Melodies were pleasant, even a bit melancholy. Humor seems to come largely from playing that against very tongue-in-cheek, self-referential lyrics (shades of the Dirty Curls). By self-referential, I mean that the songs are mostly about being songs. There’s one about being on an open-mic stage; another one about recording a studio album. They’re clever enough, and enjoyably puncture the oddities of the music world; not terribly deep, but not trying to be. I would cheerfully sit through an hour of this.

“Mom?” A Comedy of Mourners presented by Box of Clowns

There’s two other acts at the KC Fringe moving on to MN – Breakneck Hamlet was on shortly before me, so I wasn’t able to see his preview, but I caught this one.

Short! Funny! Simple! Their trailer didn’t do much for me, but this certainly did – a straightforward gag that involved them mixing up a series of placards. Their ability to find a self-contained physical joke that fits within three minutes – and also made me grin – goes a long way for me.

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