Toronto - Yeah, it is a bit shallow of me to review the fringe fest after seeing only two shows. But if you’re from Edmonton, you know that most people who goes to the fringe there don’t even move past the fire breather/juggler, candy floss and carved candles. Street fringe is fun, but there are only so many tricks you can stomach before deciding to keep your $5. So this year I watched the plays. Apparently the Toronto fringe doesn’t even have a street-side to it - so all the more convenient. I went to see Sherlock Holmes & the First English Gentleman, and The Movies (abridged) - first at the Robert Gill theater (hidden in UT’s student center), the other at Theatre Passe Muraille.

Sherlock Holmes has always played the 2nd fiddle to Arsene Lupin for me. He’s never as much fun, charming, or daring, and he always took to himself for information. That is, much of the clues you’d expect to find while reading the cases will not be there, because Sir Doyle didn’t want his hero surpassed. This is a tradition followed strictly in this fringe play. As the story progressed from the initial museum robbery in Paris to diamond theft, next to the British Museum fighting with their own naturalist on a immitation homo ancestralis (erectus, habilis, ergaster, whatever it was). Although it never seemed dull (there was even a point where all 3 actors broke out in full song and dance a la Broadway or too-much-sugar), you really need to take the story in hand and analyze it as you go along, otherwise the jokes and developments become orphaned. Although this were not one of the shows where they posted stars after, I’d say it’s solid entertainment.

The Movies abridged, however, WAS one of those with stars as if Tweety had hit it with a 100lb ACME mallet. This was an non-stop comedy, kind of like the one I watched at the Fringe in Edmonton, a Marx Brothers imitation. The backdrop was that of a Blockbuster clerk who needed to undergo a re-education of all movie genres in order to get his promotion. In the process, the trio of actors makes fun of an array of movies. Elan Farbriarz and Josh Levine handled much of the physical comedy, while the bald-english-sounding-dude (okok Rob Gee) handled the voice. Don’t be disappointed if your favorite movies are not mentioned or parodied - that’s not the point here - the play’s a commentary on the state of North American film industry and how its success has ironically destroyed its roots. Nothing really new to those of you who’s reading this blog anyways… but you really want to listen to the long poem-reading by Rob about horror movies and everything else that is much more horrifying. It’s a thousand words long and his syllables were as solid as Japanese. There’s a reason this was starred - ’tis good.

Btw, whatever happened to “The Adventures of”?