Just standing in line for a Fringe show is an adventure in itself. As usual at leas half of the people were fingering their cell phones sending texts or checking Facebook statuses. Many of the people in line were also actors which can be surmised from their feather boas and loud Hawaiian shirts. Well, I also saw them perform later that evening. One of the young astronautics from “Cat Women on the Moon” dances up and down the line in slow motion as if weightless. He handed out Cat Women on the Moon fliers to anyone who would take one.
Before I was fully finished of course everyone filed into the theater. After I finished up enough washes, I followed them in. This twenty first Century digital age moves a touch too fast for me to be sketching it using methods used back in the Renaissance. The only way to keep up is to ignore the final polished look of things and just let go and get sloppy!
Fringe Merchandise
The Fringe box office was a constant whirlwind of activity. Before you can even purchase a ticket for a show you must first get a Fringe button. I was running late to one show and had managed to forget my Fringe button at home. My button was tied to the backpack I had used to go camping for Brian Feldman’s Fringe of Nature. So I come running up to this table with just seconds to spare and I ask to buy a button. The kind sales lady informs me I can return the button after the show. I pull out my wallet and I don’t have enough cash. I rush up the ramp to an automated teller machine and withdraw some money. I rush back get the button and then rush to the box office to get the ticket. The ticket sales lady says, “I’m sorry the doors are closed already.” The Fringe is a tightly oiled machine. Show doors close on exactly the specified hour and then no one else can enter. I decided to return the newly purchased button and then I drove home to get my button and Artists Badge. I would see more shows that day, just without the rush and hassle.
The vote signs are so audience members can vote for their audience choice awards.
Cody Rivers Show
The Cody Rivers Show, starring Mike Mathieu and Andrew Connor, had me laughing out-loud for a solid hour. I had seen this comic pair last year and I had to return for more this year. Sultana Fatima Ali and I sat in the front row and at times I leaned forward and grabbed my camping chair, fearing it might get trampled in all the physical humor. A ping pong game with an invisible ball and table relied on nothing but sound effects to bring the scene to life. The game could be played as fast as the speed of sound and such limitations as gravity and realistic timing could he ignored. This could be said of so many of the fast paced skits.
The sketch depicts a Mummenschanz like moment where the actors hands function as eyes and a mouth. Different arrangements of hands portrayed different characters.
The pace of the show was fast and furious. At times I was laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath.
If you go into this show with no expectations you will be blown away. I left the theater in high spirits and every time I bump into someone I know, I tell them they have to see this show. I am telling you the same. You will thank me if you go.
Fringe – Outdoor Stage
Mark Baratelli, the editor and chief of thedailycity.com, took to the outdoor stage for two nights. Mark didn’t have a prepared script, he simply took to the stage and started talking. He started talking about waiting in line for the Cody Rivers Show. I was in line with him along with Sultana. Someone told Mark that he had parked in a construction site and he would be towed if he didn’t move his car. The line started moving and people poured into the theater. Mark didn’t have enough time to move his car and still get back for the show. He decided he had better move his car. He said this loud enough for everyone around him to hear. 
I didn’t think he would get towed and I told him so. Finally he decided to move his car. He was locked out of the show. He had made the right decision since a tow truck had been sent to the site.
Mark continued telling everyday anecdotal stories for more than an hour. This sort of relaxed conversational tone is very similar to blogging . He bought up a good point when he said that the outdoor stage is underutilized. There is a stigma to the outdoor stage where people assume only bad acts would perform outside. Mark thought it would be a good idea to have a panel discussion outside with all the out of town acts. This seems like a great idea. It would be a way for the Fringe audience to learn more about the performers and producers. It would be awesome if a hint of the creative process could be unearthed and mined. He particularly wants to find out more about some of the amazing one man shows like “The Bike Trip.”
Ironhead
I went to several rehearsals for Ironhead. Ironhead is a fun quirky play about a group of friends who get sucked into a vortex after rippinq an original Ironhead instruction manual. The protagonist, who later plays Ironhead, Josh Geoghagan, just had a child with his wife and he felt playing video games was a waste of time. The friends find themselves inside the video game battling for their lives. Their objective is to find the Evil Lord of Evil Darkness and kill him.
The group of friends battles foe after foe. A particularly memorable scene happened on the Island of Cat People. Here everyone was offered cat nip as a diplomatic sign of friendship. Soon everyone is writhing on the floor together in a state of ecstasy. After rehearsing this scene, Sarah Lockhard said, “I couldn’t find an opening.” The unintended double meaning had everyone in the room laughing to the point of tears. This scene alone is worth the price of admission.
This action packed play was written by Marcie Schwalm and directed by Christian Kelly. The rehersals were held at Sleuths Mystery Dinner Theater on International Drive. When I arrived, the actors were standing in a circle. An actor would shout out another actors name and then the two actors would change places by crossing inside the circle. The pace picked up until the director asked them to just use eye contact to initiate the exchange. In another exercise the actors walked freely on the stage using peripheral vision to avoid running into one another. At one rehearsal Sarah Lockhard and Josh Geohagen arrived late because her car overheated. After an acting warm up the director asked an actor what he was thinking of. The actor said, “I was wondering when my turn would come. ” The director turned to Sarah, in tears she said, “I was thinking about my car.” That girl couldn’t lie if she tried.
Bottom line, this Fringe play was a fun filled romp.
Poetry Vending Machine
Analog Artist Digital World
Sometimes a sketch
is all you get
a flashbulb freeze-frame image
at the stop light dams
in the river of rush hour,
the elevator climb,
the go-getters
raising their cell phones in an endless salute.
and meanwhile
down in the grass
with the grace of the snakes,
there are dancers
making angels with no need for snow
singers
following the wispy string of their voice
as the sun pulls it free
there are people
stopping in the street
against all odds
waiting on a cloud
to match that shape of their dreams.
Let the management speak
of community,
hammer those ends with gavels
mark off the moments,
The deadline of the eye is stricter still.
Sometimes a sketch
is all you get
and if you look in the right place,
all you need.
-Tod Caviness
Green Lawn of Fabulousness
Between shows I relaxed on the “Green Lawn of Fabulousness” and did a sketch of the beer tent and crowd. Someone had a mini TV tuned in to the Magic playoff game which was going on that night at the Amway Arena. She usually attends the playoff games, and she sacrificed going to the game in order to see what Brian Feldman might do for the “Creative Mind Experiment.” Jessica Mariko is the mastermind behind the “The Creative Mind Experiment.” She invited over twenty different artists to all listen to the same clip of music and then build a performance based on what they heard and felt. The music clip is three minutes and thirty-three seconds. I took part in the project during its first performance, playing a video which had several hundred of my drawings edited together to build a sort of storyboard about life in Orlando.
I used an LED book lamp in order to see what I was doing while drawing this sketch. Several people stopped by to see what I was up to. And I am always surprised and delighted when strangers walk up to me and compliment me for the blog. The green lawn is the perfect rest stop between shows. This night there was a nice cool breeze and the sky lit up with stars was crystal clear. Every now and then as I drew, Sultana would shake her fist in the air and shout, “Defense, Defense!” In the end, the Orlando Magic crushed the Celtics.
I did not try and sketch Brian’s performance. I knew I only had three minutes, so I just sat back and enjoyed. Brian walked out on the empty stage and pulled a vegan candy bar out of his pocket. He gently unwrapped it and took a bite. He then took a second bigger bite. Soon the whole bar was in his mouth and he struggled to swallow. Before he had it all down he opened a second candy bar and shoved more in his mouth. The audience could not stop laughing. He then devoured a third candy bar and started to gag. He turned his back to the audience and hunched over. He took a few steps towards the back of the stage and went down on his knees. On his hands and knees he finally swallowed the three bars. He got up, took a bow and walked off stage. The audience was hysterical. When the show was over the audience voted for three acts in three categories. The coveted prize was a candy bar!
T-O-T-A-L-L-Y
T-O-T-A-L-L-Y a one woman show Directed by Paula Killen and performed by Kimleigh Smith packed an inspirational one two punch. The show begins with Kimleigh reliving her young days as an energetic and virginal college cheerleader.He valley girl interactions with her girlfriends is high energy and reminiscent of the cheerleader skits on Saturday Night Live. The tenor of the high energy humerus piece changes as she relived an evening where she decides to go out with one of the football players. What was remembered as a pleasant evening is suddenly recounted at a horrible gang rape party. She looses touch with feelings in the lower half of her body and eventually has to to to a therapist. She points out that if you analyze and break apart the word it is “The Rapist”.
Slowly she regains control of her life and her sexuality. As she recounts how she started finding a Lover on Craig’s List she had the audience laughing out loud the whole time. This show is life affirming demonstrating how to take control of your life no matter what hardships or obstacles need to be overcome. She exercised and lost weight then dressed in a sultry bathrobe. Her spirit takes flight like a super hero when she discovered and rejoiced in her inner strength. The bathrobe acted like a hero’s cape. By the end of the performance I was left wanting to cheer myself. I showed Kimliegh Smith the sketch I did of her after the show and asked her to sign it for me. She was just as enthusiastic and inspiring off stage as on. She wrote on my sketch, “Be the Superman you are!”
Friday May 28, 11:45PM
Sunday May 30, 11:00PM
Julie Bunny Must Die!
This Fringe show in the Pink venue was a fun comical musical. A graphic artist and comic named Adam Chase, played by Bert Rodriguez, grapples with the superficial and insignificant nature of living as a freelance artist. His one true love is a comic character he created as a child named Julie Bunny. The bunny is an international spy whose arch nemesis is an evil Chef, played by Michael Colavolpe. As an artist I am enthralled by the idea of this musical. Some of the lyrics fell a little short but on a whole the songs were fun and creative. While trying to please a corporate ad executive Adam finds himself overworked with insane tight deadlines. With so much work on his plate he can not find the time to write his beloved comic. The comic characters unite and try to write their own back story on their own. Penny a blond bombshell, is consistently ignored every time she opens her mouth. Her song, where she laments people never taking her seriously is a highlight of the show. It turns out she had all the answers all along.
Adams girlfriend, played by Stefanie Clouse, doesn’t understand his obsession with the comic character while a fan who dresses in furry costumes to go to comic conventions understands perhaps too well. The girlfriend tries to convince Adam to take the safe graphic arts jobs which pay far better than an underground comic. Julie bunny, played by Laura Hodos is on stage as the girlfriend is looking at the comic. When the girlfriend utters, “Its not exactly your best work.” The bunny raises her toy gun and shouts “I will cut you bitch!” I laughed out loud and my watercolor wash splashed across the page in the wrong direction.
This was a really fun show don’t miss it!
Tuesday, May 25th 10:25 PM
Friday, May 28th 9:50 PM
Saturday, May 29th 4:45 PM
Sunday, May 30th 4:40 PM
Fringe of Nature
I had camped out with Sultana Fatima Ali at the Orlando Fringe box office in order to get a ticket to go on Brian Feldman’s overnight primitive camping trip, “Fringe of Nature.” Sultana got the first ticket and I managed to get the second ticket. I was going to join Brian and Sultana on the first night, but Terry decided she would like to come along for the camping trip so we changed the date to my birthday, May 22. Only two people are suppose to go out on the hike each night, and only 10 tickets are available to this unique Fringe performance. On the trip to the Shakespeare Theater Terry stopped at a Publix and got a coconut frosted birthday cake. I thought this was a strange item to try and bring on a 3.5 mile hike into the woods. We sat down in the patrons room and waited for Brian to arrive. Terry cut up the cake and set all the pieces out on paper plates. Sultana stopped by with her mom, Mary Beth, who is an artist herself. We kept offering cake to people who walked past our table and soon Dewey Chaffee, Douglas McGeoch, and Anna McCambridge, Sultana, Mary Beth and Terry were all singing “Happy Birthday.” Their voices resonated and echoed in the patrons room and this workaday song suddenly sounded angelic. When I hear this song in a public restaurant I always let out a groan. But when the song has my name in it, the song is suddenly beautiful. At home, the amazing number of Facebook birthday greetings left me humbled wanting to cry.
Outside, Brian drove up in a brand new 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman which had been supplied by Orlando MINI for the project. Matt Simantov joined our group and we soon had everything packed and set off into the wild unknown. I knew the drive was only maybe 45 minutes so I rushed to get the sketch of Brian driving. His hat hid his eyes and he said, “This is the first time I get to look like Beetle Bailey.” I really like the circular flowing lines of the MINI Cooper. Since my Xterra is starting to age less than gracefully, I need to start thinking of a more fuel efficient alternative.
When we all arrived at Wekiwa Springs State Park, we parked the MINI Cooper and Matt’s car in the parking lot. There was a restroom but it was way in the distance, about a quarter mile away. We arrived at about six or so and it was still very hot. A small dirt service road soon branched off into a narrow path through palmettos and shrub. Matt and Terry joked about walking through the deserts of Tatooine from Star Wars. Terry started singing, “I’m happy when I’m hiking, pack upon my back…” This was an old Girl Scouts song and none of the three guys knew it. At one point, a large animal made plenty of noise as it rushed into the palmettos. We shouted and tried to look big, which is advice given if you should startle a bear.
The sun was starting to turn orange and was very low on the horizon when we reached “Camp Cozy.” Brian and I set up the six person tent and Matt and Terry started gathering wood for a campfire. I managed to light the fire using maybe six matches. A large log which had been eaten by termites offered a nice starter. Matt and Brian put headlamps on and I had a cheap one which stopped working after half an hour. We didn’t cook anything but just ate sandwiches we had bought at Publix. Then we roasted square vegan marshmallows.
Matt kept using a huge bowie knife he had strapped to his leg to cut up a log which helped keep the fire burning. I sliced open my left thumb by tugging at a dry palmetto frond. The palmetto stem had jagged edges; thank god I had my Jesus bandages, which had been a gift from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I also bought along a very flat LED light which Brian placed inside the portable marquee which allowed it to illuminate at night since we couldn’t find a darn plug. Brian had a package of square vegan marshmallows and I tried one. It didn’t burn like a regular marshmallow and I took my time waving it in the open flames until it was a perfect golden brown. It actually tasted really good. It was as good as the real thing without the animal by-products.
As I sketched, I heard the high pitched whine of millions of mosquitoes all circling around me and waiting to find an opening in the insect repellent that covered every inch of my body. I was the first to get in the tent for the night. At three in the morning, I ventured out and marveled at the bright half moon with pitch black pine trees sweeping up to meet it. In the distance, a mist made the far trees a subtle blue gray and the stars were bright and clear. I understood why Van Gogh painted Starry Night.
At sunrise, I convinced Brian to join me for an eight minute run along the trail. The sun was just piercing the verticals of the trees and the path weaved left and right. Huge dew covered spider webs would cross the path forcing us to duck in order to avoid them. Running along a tight path with trees flying by makes it feel like you are running a lot faster than you are. We all agreed to go to the springs when the camp was broken down. On the hike back, Brian lost patience with the slow pace of the person at the end of the hiking column. He named this hiker iPod, since the hiker never went a moment without listening to and sometimes singing along to the songs on their iPod playlist. Brian marched out at a quick pace. I stayed with the slower hiker and suddenly the three of us were faced with a fork in the trail. There were no trail blazes on either trail. I called Brian using my cell and got his answering message. I said simply, “Left or Right?” A few minutes later Brian called back and said, “Left.” The parking lost was less than a quarter mile down that path. A parking lot never looked so enticing. The air conditioning in the MINI was delicious.
On the drive to the springs, a beautiful deer silently strutted across the road in front of the MINI Cooper. Brian stopped to watch her and she tilted her head to the side to look over her shoulder at us. The silent staring contest lasted just a moment before she quietly walked into the woods. At the springs, the water was a refreshing 72 degrees and I was in within minutes. I swam across the springs once and then got out to do a quick sketch. Brian and Matt floated around in the middle of the springs for a long time talking. There are two more chances to experience this unique Fringe show for yourself. Get a ticket before they are all gone.
Thursday May 27, 5:30 PM
Friday May 28, 5:30 PM
