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Fringe Blogs
Womb with a View
Saturday, August 5, 2006 at 2:36 AM
Porn! Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dong
Filed under Reviews
ET Light was painful to watch for being so deeply heartfelt -- here's a show that was painful to watch for exactly the opposite reason.
They certainly seem to have a foolproof formula -- corny jokes and slutty girls -- so where does it go wrong?
The script, for one thing. It seems poorly constructed, short blackout scenes that lose their way and peter out without finding a punchline. The technical aspects of the show were catastrophically bad -- light changes, missed cues, flubbed movie clips -- which drew a few laughs at first that rapidly faded as they continued well past a forgiveable level. The script contained some jokes that were funny -- if formulaic -- but they fell flat, usually because of what seemed to be half-hearted delivery on the parts of the performers.
The show also relied heavily on self-deprecating humor. This is very funny when pulled off well. When executed badly -- especially in conjunction with a show that often feels like it's falling apart at the seams -- it reads as a kind of instinctive laziness, a way of attempting to deflect criticism that instead ends up validating it.
I found the material with the audience reviews -- "No one accused the Fringe of having a sense of humor!" -- to be in particularly poor taste, not because it was attacking their critics (of which, obviously, I am one) but because I have so little patience for artists who adopt the attitude that anybody who dislikes their work is clearly inferior. It claims to be making fun of elitism, but is itself elitism of the worst kind.
The troubling fact is, the self-mockery comes off not as charming and playful, but as bearing contempt for their audience. I recognize that this isn't the intention, but, unfortunately, that's what I walked away with.
In addition, the show ran over time, which did not ingratiate them to me. Another show that I'm afraid I can't recommend.
-Phillip Low
"Another show that I'm afraid I can't recommend!" - Phillip Low.
That's the quote that's going on the top of our show description on our Fringe page tomorrow.
Womb with a View
Saturday, August 5, 2006 at 2:36 AM
Porn! Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dong
Filed under Reviews
ET Light was painful to watch for being so deeply heartfelt -- here's a show that was painful to watch for exactly the opposite reason.
They certainly seem to have a foolproof formula -- corny jokes and slutty girls -- so where does it go wrong?
The script, for one thing. It seems poorly constructed, short blackout scenes that lose their way and peter out without finding a punchline. The technical aspects of the show were catastrophically bad -- light changes, missed cues, flubbed movie clips -- which drew a few laughs at first that rapidly faded as they continued well past a forgiveable level. The script contained some jokes that were funny -- if formulaic -- but they fell flat, usually because of what seemed to be half-hearted delivery on the parts of the performers.
The show also relied heavily on self-deprecating humor. This is very funny when pulled off well. When executed badly -- especially in conjunction with a show that often feels like it's falling apart at the seams -- it reads as a kind of instinctive laziness, a way of attempting to deflect criticism that instead ends up validating it.
I found the material with the audience reviews -- "No one accused the Fringe of having a sense of humor!" -- to be in particularly poor taste, not because it was attacking their critics (of which, obviously, I am one) but because I have so little patience for artists who adopt the attitude that anybody who dislikes their work is clearly inferior. It claims to be making fun of elitism, but is itself elitism of the worst kind.
The troubling fact is, the self-mockery comes off not as charming and playful, but as bearing contempt for their audience. I recognize that this isn't the intention, but, unfortunately, that's what I walked away with.
In addition, the show ran over time, which did not ingratiate them to me. Another show that I'm afraid I can't recommend.
-Phillip Low
"Another show that I'm afraid I can't recommend!" - Phillip Low.
That's the quote that's going on the top of our show description on our Fringe page tomorrow.