The Vancouver Fringe Festival runs until Sept. 18.
2 Ruby Knockers, 1 Jaded Dick: A Dirk Darrow Investigation
September 10, 14-16 and 18 at Waterfront Theatre
Trench-coated Tim Morley is back from Down Under with another noir-ish whodunit about a dame, a dead body, a couple of ne’er do wells and Dirk Darrow, a “jaded private dick.” Ruby Knockers is so named — not, Darrow tells us, because of her physical attributes — but because she has a fetish for those door-knocking Jehovah Witnesses. Morley throws in card tricks, sleight of hand, mind-reading and a whole load of terrific run-on similes like the one that starts, “As cold as a grizzly bear’s testicles” and on and cleverly on. Morley confessed the show was the sloppiest he’s done in years, but I was OK with that; it shows just how quick a performer can cover his ass and Morley is a master ass-coverer. “Hanging on by a thin thread” was how he put it when it looked like the “volunteers” were going to take over. Dirk Darrow doesn’t disappoint.
Windy Wynazz: Rich and Famous
Sept. 10, 11, 15, 17 and 18 at False Creek Gym
San Franciscan Wynazz isn’t rich and famous yet and I don’t think the Vancouver Fringe is going to do it for her. It was a rough opening with tech problems and a very small, unresponsive audience that hadn’t had enough to drink. This show needs a late night, a small cabaret setting and a well-stocked bar not a gym with a basketball hoop. Billed as “a blend of camp, seduction and insanity,” it just barely got off the ground the night I attended despite a gut-busting performance including dirty dancing, acrobatics, puppets and wigs. What resonated most with me was Wynazz’s onstage persona telling us, “You don’t know what it’s like for people like me.” We don’t. And on a night like this one, it would be our worst nightmare: working it, working it. A+ for guts and gusto. Great reviews elsewhere.
For details, go to vancouverfringe.com.
