Handicapping the Fringe

Just when the San Diego International Fringe Festival seems like it’s becoming predictable it slides off in yet another direction, confounding expectations…

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Fringe Flashes: Herstory, Specific Gravity

Fringe artists take the risk of getting political … and it doesn’t always work. In “Specific Gravity,” brilliant circus skills have to compete with a preachy message. In “Herstory,” the message is softer, and nothing can take away from the flat-out awesome dance.

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Fringe Flashes: Incandescent, Escape, Nations of San Diego

I saw Cirque du Soleil early on, before it got over-produced and Vegas-glitzy, and it was magical; it wasn’t just about gasp-worthy circus skills, there was a sense of tapping into the collective unconscious. Lighthouse Circus Theatre delivers that kind of thrill in “Incandescent,” my first San Diego Fringe “Find.”

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Laughter and Controversial Subjects at Fringe 2017

As could be expected for a late Thursday afternoon, the 2017 San Diego International Fringe Festival didn’t start with a large attendance. Several shows had less than five audience members, which is something that I’ve rarely experienced at any theatrical event.

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‘Buddy Holly’ and the Crickets –Oh Boy

Wearing signature black-rimmed glasses, Paul Swensen Eddy conjures the ghost of Buddy Holly in tunes like “That’ll Be the Day,” and “Maybe Baby.”  He cranks on his Fender Strocaster guitar (stolen twice in 1958…)and he argues with mentors and band mates…

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