If I were a rich man...

After spending the majority of the weekend Fringing it, I find myself at a bit of a loss about what to say/recommend. Incredibly, I liked everything I saw. Sure, some plays/performances were better than others, but, on the whole, I was more than happy with each thing we went to. In fact, the only terrible, pretentious crap I had to sit through were the other Fringers in line trying to pass themselves off as cultured and refined. "Oh, we saw that company four years ago, and they were all right... if you like that sort of thing."

It was incredible to watch this group of 5 or 6 strangers try to one up each other with references to past Fringe shows and bemused indifference to all the plays they had seen and the plays other people mentioned. "Oh, that didn't make 'The List'." (NB not "my list", but "The List). And what was even funnier was that they all seemed, when it was all said and done, to have taken each other's advice on what NOT to see.

All right, some things I'd recommend:

"A Woman of Independent Means" - flawless acting, engaging story, but, if I'm honest, too long and traditional for a true Fringe show. This easily could be at MTC or PTE.

"Was THAT My 15 Minutes?" - Susan Jeremy can hold an audience in the palm of her hand. Plus, some awesome old-school break dancing.

The Alix Sobler/Jason Neufeld plays: Honestly, I thought Alix's play was tighter and more interesting, but Jason's is certainly worth seeing. A brilliant concept for a series of plays. I'd recommend seeing his play first.

"The Feel Goods": My soon-to-be-official family ties to the writer notwithstanding, this was a very good and very funny play. It got a really good review from CBC (four bars!) and compared it to Wes Anderson The Royal Tenenbaums.

"Giant Invisible Robot" - Jayson MacDonald's touching and funny one man show about a guy's relationship with a Giant Invisible Robot (or GIR). Hard to sum up, but easily one of the most inventive shows at this year's Fringe.

"The Problem" - Mentioned in my last entry, this short play got a 5 star review from CBC. I really hope that translates into ticket sales. The audience of 12 I saw this play with certainly did not reflect the quality of the work.

"The Genghis Khan Guide to Etiquette" Poetry-cum-stand-up. Rob Gee is an engaging and insightful performer.

"Who the Devil are You?" Chris Gibbs' "play" about self-discovery. Gibbs is one of the best acts on the Fringe tour. His rapport with an audience is second to none. Worth seeing for his monologue and asides.

"Decameron:" South Africa's Erik de Waal's take on Boccaccio's 14th century masterpiece. de Waal transfers the setting of the framing narrative to a house of ill-repute rather than the rural Fiesole. I was a little surprised that he began with Boccaccio's bawdiest tale, a tale so off-colour that translators used to leave that particular story untranslated. De Waal is a master storyteller, who handles the tone of different stories well.

Sound and Fury's Cyranose: I read one review that criticized this much-loved troupe of being too bawdy. This "critic" either hasn't been to many Sound and Fury shows (that's their humour) or is very easily offended (most of their "bawdy"jokes are merely suggestive). What I like about Sound and Fury, besides their anarchic sense of humour, is that the actors actually greet you as you come in to the theatre. They talk to you, joke with you and even help you find a seat (their shows sell out).