God Bless Cambodia at the 2018 Fringe

Posted on by Thor

In God Bless Cambodia, Randy Ross is a chronically single man who decides to travel the world through four continents after the loss of a job. He hopes to change his luck with love. Yet as he highlights his many relationships it becomes clear why he is hopelessly single. His world travels world result in more sexual misadventures.

Reading a travel guide book he learns that you can travel cheap if you travel like a backpacker. On a trip to his local camping store he meets a colorful sales person. He asked for a 60 liter backpack with a waterproof cover, and the salesman had him covered. He added “I don’t know if your going to Bangkok, but if you are, I highly recommend a massage at a place called tugs.” Taken aback, He noted the info and decided to ask for a travel shirt. “In Ko Samui there is a body spa called the curious finger.” The salesman sniffed his pinkie to relive the memory. TMI but in the end Randy spent $500, but as he left the shop he decided not to shake the salesman’s hand.

Much of the show was laugh out loud funny. I can identify with this middle aged man’s desire for travel after the loss of a relationship. It was like Eat, Pray, Love, minus the praying and with high class literary sex instead of love.

Flash 2

Posted on by Thor

A second Flash Mob was planned to promote Orlando, The City Beautiful. Secret rehearsals were held at the Orlando Convention Center. I was happy there was Free parking available behind the West building. I don’t sketch many Convention events because of the price of parking. There was a long walk from the back entrance first up and then down frozen escalators. I followed a man who looked to be in his 80s and when I passed him, I followed two high school girls that looked like they knew where they were going. When I entered the convention room I was stunned by the vast empty space. The rehearsal took up less than a quarter of the space. When I entered, Randy Ross was speaking with all the volunteer dancers letting them know that they had to mingle and act natural prior to this flash mob performance. The last Flash Mob at the Millenia Mall, people stood around in a circle leaving the staging area wide open. It was painfully obvious that a staged performance was about to begin. This time they planned to do it right. Linda Elchak of NAO Dance then took over the rehearsal getting two large groups formed. This was the second rehearsal so most people quickly took their places. New arrivals were instructed where to line up.

I love the music they choose for these flash mobs, it is fun to sketch to. My favorite moment in rehearsal came when a group of about 20 retirees took center stage and shook their booties to Whoop There It Is! All the younger performers cheered and whooped. The youngest performer was the nephew of Linda Stewart and he held his own keeping up with the best dancers. Enthusiasm and a lust for life has no age limit. I decided not to publish the sketch prior to the Flash to keep the performance top secret. At one point Linda said, “Don’t go past the grid, you will fall into the water.” At that point I assumed they would perform at Lake Eola. I had to work during the time the Flash Mob happened. In hind sight it would have been an impossible sketching situation. If you went to Spring Fiesta at Lake Eola at the right time then you got to experience a high energy treat!