When going to the Fringe show, Brain Bros Presents: Urber Chronicles, I imagined I might experience a show that showcased the unexpected insights gathered from candid and insightful conversations with Uber passengers.
The show was part rap and much stumbling. A phone alarm started going off in the audience. “Who’s phone is that?! He shouted. People looked around in confusion. It turns out it was his phone. He made his way into the audience and grabbed it. It was just a strange unrehearsed moment of chaos.
Beats were provided by Fryemixes who was seated in the audience. When he stood and explained how he was mixing the beats, I wanted to hear more. I wish he was also in front of the audience. His creative process was fascinating. I liked that Brain Bro had a large photo of his dead dog Cooper Thatius leaning up against a flat of a taxi.
He wanted audience participation and this group of seasoned Fringers were more than happy to play along. Since he wasn’t great with the dance moves, he asked several audience members to get up and act as his back up dancers. The two dancers did an awesome job swaying to the beats and even ventured to try and do a moon walk. Part of the appeal of the show is the fact that it is such a train wreck. I admire the effort, and perhaps the show will find it’s feet over the course of it’s Fringe run.
I was surprised that COVID did play a part in the show monologue. Usually any mention of the C word is certain death in entertainment. People prefer to pretend it didn’t happen and certainly they don’t want to think the pandemic is still ongoing. He said the pandemic experience changed him forever. However he referred to the pandemic in the past tense. Based on the show flats, it would seem he must have been in NYC during the worst wave of the NYC COVID deaths at the start of the pandemic. The Fringe program however points out that he is an Orlando performer. Is his name Brain Bros? Probably not. Observations about the pandemic were cursory, all he seemed to gain was some patience at stop lights where he peruses his social media.