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Amish Guide to Fucking tickles non-puritanical funny bones
See this one with an open mind
My suspicions were confirmed last night when Kurt Braunohler took the stage: He's one awkwardly hilarious guy. The Amish Guide to Fucking, Braunohler's one man show, takes the audiences on a campy journey through his failed relationship with a girlfriend of 13 years. At least that was how he had dubbed it. In hindsight I'd say the show was more like a series of stand-up jokes, interrupted by bursts of dialogue.
One Man Lord of the Rings rules
Bow to your inner hobbit
With wildly impressionistic flair, Charles Ross' superlative One Man Lord of the Rings manages to distill Tolkien's most famous work into an hour-long celebration of Middle Earth mania.
Kurt Braunohler on how the Amish led him astray
Risky Rumspringa
Spoiler alert: There are no Amish people in The Amish Guide to Fucking. We know, you're devastated, right? Nothing says comedy like 60 minutes of bonnet and carriage jokes. But alas, this story is not about the Pennsylvania Dutch. Instead, Kurt Braunohler relates what went down when he and his girlfriend of 13 years decided to take a Rumspringa, the term for the time in an Amish teen's life when they are allowed to sow their wild oats. Or in Braunohler's case, an opportunity he and his girlfriend took to try and get laid by someone besides each other.
Paul Gertner charms with old-fashioned sleight-of-hand
The magic man
No one was sawed in half at Paul Gertner's magic show at the Village Playhouse on Saturday. There were no dramatic sound effects or explosions or flashing lights. However, with nearly two hours of classic, and some original, sleight-of-hand tricks, Gertner kept a diverse, full audience enthralled for most of the show.
Mandy Schmieder offers a heart-breaking but humorous show about divorce
Letting go
Divorce is never a funny thing, but when Mandy Schmieder was faced with the disintegration of her marriage, she decided to write a one-woman comedy about it. Although the end result is deeply personal and at times feels something like a shrink session, Schmieder has succeeded in creating a humor-filled yet thought-provoking show about relationships.
Martin Dockery takes audiences on a wild, uplifting ride
Bike Trippin'
Staging an entire one-man show around the theme of LSD may sound like an unnecessary sequel to Hair. Luckily for audiences at Theatre 99 last night, they found that was not the case.
National Theatre of the World puts on a splendid show
Canadian troupe creates a comedic play on the spot
Improv comedy is always an impressive thing to watch, but the National Theatre of the World takes it to another level altogether. They'll be channeling different playwrights throughout the rest of their local run, including Tennessee Williams (June 1), Oscar Wilde (June 3), Sam Shepherd (June 4), and Anton Chekhov (June 5). Theater nerds and comedy fans alike shouldn't miss the chance to see this talented group in action.
Upright Citizens Brigade members take on annoying couples and disease
Double Your Pleasure
Fringe favorites the Upright Citizens Brigade return from Chicago for a spate of shows this season. While their tour company will be doing their typical improv thing, audiences can also choose to see a moving two-parter that promises to be just as funny as the regular show. The C Word is Pam Murphy's one-woman show about surviving breast cancer and Baggage is a sketch comedy starring real-life couple Jordan Klepper and Laura Grey that mocks the fun and foibles of a modern-day relationship.
CofC grad Mandy Schmieder finds humor in her darkest hour
The Dilemma
Mandy Schmieder could have drawn from any number of life experiences to write her first one-woman show: her formative years in Atlanta, her struggles as a Brooklyn-based model and comedienne, or her adventures in the world of independent theater and film acting. Instead she picked something far more painful to discuss — her break-up with her husband of six years. And she somehow managed to make it funny.
Paul Gertner chronicles his path to master magician
Abracadabra
Paul Gertner is an old-school magician, and not just because he started practicing decades before a woman named J.K. Rowling penned a few popular novels about wizardry. His signature style doesn't require complicated technology or Vegas-style glitz. He prefers card tricks over levitation.
Paul Brittain and Jet Eveleth get sketchy
Bizarro World
What do Saturday Night Live, a drunken maid of honor, and an hour in the dark have in common? They're all pieces that make up the Piccolo Fringe show Ted and Melanie. Ted is played by Paul Brittain. You may recognize him as a new SNL cast member who's made a name for himself doing impressions of Harry Reid, Johnny Depp, and James Franco. Meanwhile, Melanie is played by Jet Eveleth, a Chicago iO Theater alum that Spoletians might recognize from I Live Next Door to Horses, which appeared at 2008's Fringe festival and went on to win the 2008 Del Award for Best Scripted Show.
Martin Dockery wants to change perceptions about LSD
Great Expectations
On April 19, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was riding home on his bicycle after a long day at the lab when the strangest thing happened to him: He was tripping balls. Earlier in the day, Hofmann had decided to test a new chemical he had invented called lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.
Charles Ross lords over Lord of the Rings
Hobbit Talk
Wickedly nerdy. That's what Charles Ross' show One Man Lord of the Rings has been called. But if you're a Tolkien fan, wickedly nerdy means one thing: This show is gonna be hotter than the fires of Mordor.
The Shock T's are a pitch perfect musical-comedic threesome
Not even a flight delay could faze these guy
What makes Shock T's so fun to watch? Their infectious onstage presence, for one. Their song "Threesome" was introduced with the glib statement, "This is a song about us."
The Shock T's return to town with a catchy, sometimes creepy set
Simply Shocking
Three fresh-faced Chicago youths shocked Comedy Fest crowds this past January with a set of songs about threesomes gone awry, roving penises, and mediums with the munchies. The Shock T's were the sleeper hit of the festival, and they're back for Piccolo with a slightly more sanitary act.
A trio of Canucks puts a literary spin on comedy
Improv This
It takes a unique breed of person to perform improv comedy — they have to be quick, sensitive to others, and, most importantly, really smart. Toronto-based improv group National Theatre of the World takes things a step further with their show Impromptu Splendor, which is inspired by the works of famous playwrights.
Martin Dockery wants to change perceptions about LSD
Great Expectations
On April 19, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was riding home on his bicycle after a long day at the lab when the strangest thing happened to him: He was tripping balls. Earlier in the day, Hofmann had decided to test a new chemical he had invented called lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD.
See Also: Comedy Archives
Intermezzi IV: great end to terrific series
Sweet Sound and Period Performance
Under the deft baton and communicative gestures of English maestro Harry Curtis, an ensemble from the Spoleto Festival Orchestra pleasured a substantial crowd at the Grace Church on Friday with attractive works by G. F. Handel, Igor Stravinsky, and Josef Haydn. And they had some stylistic tricks and treats for us up their collective sleeve.
Osvaldo Golijov fearlessly navigates the world of music
Music is the theater of life, distilled into sound
Osvaldo Golijov seems to know no musical boundaries. He negotiates styles, genres, and aesthetic directions with no attachments whatsoever, joggles high and low-brow material, mixing in the vernacular, ethnic, exotic. His refined, comfortable manner carries the weight of the European art music tradition with elegance and oomph. Proudly carrying the torch of an important thread of Argentinean contemporary composers, he has developed a voice that seems to be heard everywhere these days, from the concert stage to the big screen.
Eleganza enchants
Duets and dueling cats charm at Piccolo
When Eleganza's Rhiannan Giddens and Cheryse McLeod Lewis glided onto the stage wearing satin ball gowns, they looked like fairy tale princesses. They then launched into three sacred duets beginning with Vivaldi's "Laudamus Te," which immediately showcased the beauty of these two divinely matched voices.
A sublime choral-orchestral concert
Flummerfelt does it again
Monday evening's choral-orchestral extravaganza delighted and exalted a substantial Gaillard crowd with three spiritually potent masterpieces. In this annual event — long a cherished Spoleto USA highlight — the Westminster Choir (WC) and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus (CSOC) join forces to form a meaty mega-chorus.
Elizabethan Bandstand serves up Shakespeare-style rock 'n' roll
Deep Cuts
Early Music Series founder Steve Rosenberg thinks that the music you'll hear at the Elizabethan Bandstand would fit right in at a bar or tavern — in Shakespeare's day.
Rhiannon Giddens Laffan returns for a classical duet
Hitting the High Notes
Eleganza is gearing up for its Spoleto debut, but the festival is nothing new for member Rhiannon Giddens Laffan — she performed as a member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2008 and 2010. The Grammy-winning musician teams up with opera singer Cheryse McCloud Lewis for Eleganza, Laffan's side project that performs classical vocal duets.
A crazy good Chamber Music program
Diverse, eclectic
Eclecticism, imagination, and brilliant execution are regular features of the chamber music series at the Dock Street Theatre. As Geoff Nuttall, the director of the series, put it in one of his informative and engaging comments prefacing each work during Sunday's concert, this was a "crazy program," with diverse instrumental and vocal music from the Baroque period to the present. The program held together, if nothing else because of the consistently imaginative and virtuosic level of performance.
A late friend inspires John Kennedy's Music in Time series
Open Ears
To really enjoy new music, you have to have open ears. It's a quality marked by curiosity, wonder, humor. It's what conductor John Kennedy's long-time friend Edwin Gardner had in abundance. The late Gardner, who was killed in a bicycle accident last summer, was a regular attendee of Kennedy's Music in Time (MIT) series, usually sitting in the front row, mesmerized and delighted by whatever new piece of music Kennedy decided to present. Indeed, Kennedy might even describe Gardner as the ultimate MIT audience member.
Geoff Nuttall bounds into his second season as Spoleto's chamber series director
Pumped Up
It didn't take a psychic to see that Charles Wadsworth had been grooming Geoff Nuttall for several years to take over the Spoleto Festival USA's Chamber Music Series. Wadsworth was obviously nearing retirement, and he'd often turn the stage over to Nuttall to explain the musical selections of his St. Lawrence String Quartet to the audience. Not only did Nuttall share his mentor's passion for chamber music, but he also took a delightfully laid-back approach to it. Still, their respective styles and brands of humor were often quite different.
See Also: Concert & Choral Archives
Cédric Andrieux is funny, warm-hearted, and enlightening
Love until it hurts
Conceived and directed by French choreographer Jérôme Bel, the eponymously named performance piece Cédric Andrieux is an hour-long live documentary of sorts.
Circa pushes the limits of the human body
Step right up for this awe-inspiring acrobatic show
Circa had many audience members on the edge of their seats, as they performed one incredible stunt after another.
Annex Dance Company finds a foothold in Charleston
Encounters of the Dance Kind
Life is a series of encounters — big and small, chance and planned. We meet through friends, fall in love, or walk by each other sharing a sideways glance that, for a moment, means something. Kristin Fieseler, artistic director and choreographer of Annex Dance Company, is fascinated by such run-ins.
Shen Wei's brainy Re-Parts is a journey worth taking
Be prepared for a long night talking about this stunning show
Shen Wei Dance Arts at the Galliard is provocative in the best sense: almost too intelligent for its own good in places but ultimately a stunning tour de force when it gets out of its head and finds its soul.
See Also: Dance Archives
See Also: Spoleto 2011 Archives
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Craftsmen Kitchen and Tap House
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Rezoning the Sergeant Jasper apartment building will have a big effect on what replaces it
Up or Out?
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CJO stages an outstanding reimagining of Porgy & Bess
Our only complaint: It was for one night only
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The Film Incentive Bill hurts you and me
TV Casualties
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Putting together a night to remember is easy when Spoleto's in town
Show and Place Pairings
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Steve Martin and Edie Brickell are a match made in bluegrass heaven
Love Has Come for Them
