Ottawa Fringe 2009, Day 9: Satan’s Anus Hot

My god it’s hot. Real hot. Damn hot. No fun kind of hot. Sweat in your butt crack kind of hot. Satan’s anus hot.

And the storm refuses to break. The storm has been threatening to break for almost 24 hours, all black and angry and crackling up against the horizon. If that storms breaks, the humidity will break, but that damn storm won’t break.

It may have rained at some point, but I missed it; sleeping, I think. And now it is hot again. A hot humid soup. Not quite as thick as pea soup but not as runny as mushroom.

When the storm finally breaks, maybe all the anticipation will make it even more delectable. Maybe grown folks will run into the streets and dance under the chain link downfall and splash in the Thousand Island puddles. Maybe. Maybe.

Good thing the venues are well air-conditioned, however, the dressing rooms at Academic Hall are another question all together. For Oreo, we store our costumes and gear in the air-conditioned backstage. The up-stairs dressing rooms in Academic Hall are so hot that my first costume felt noticeably cool and refreshing when I put it on. I found myself prepping for my scenes backstage, a little earlier than normal.

We had a large and responsive audience. Quite easily the best audience yet. And we was working it. It went over great. Later, a couple told me and WWSP that they had seen sixteen shows and they thought Oreo the best.

Off to the beer tent for a quick drink before the next show. The lamb wrap was back and, if that is not enough, they added mussels to the menu. Oh my god! I wasn’t going to eat but when I heard “fresh mussels” I was all like “fire them up!” And, oh, they were good. The food guys regularly make my day. I am starting to think they should win best in festival.

Through the kind of comedy of errors that would be impossible to repeat, I managed to spill a great quantity of beer on WWSP and into her bag.

Then, it was off to catch Wild Abandon at Saw Gallery. Zach Counsil (who also turns in a great performance in Satanic Panic) finds some good moments in this funny and dark MacIvor Script. If you enjoy MacIvor’s mojo, you will probably enjoy Counsil’s take on it.

Then it was off to see What Comes Around, which we only narrowly managed to get to on-time. If you came of age in Ottawa in the 90s, then Saturday night was Bleu Nuit night. If you feel like re-visiting a PG theatrical version of one of those Bleu Nuit soft porns that never took itself too seriously, this may be the show for you.

Then, back to the tent for a quick beer and  … wait for it …. wait for it … an early night. Yes, an early departure from the tent, right about the time I first noticed the crackling horizon and the rush of a cool storm wind.

A good night’s sleep, a lovely breakfast, and then some work on my English accent. I’ve got three auditions in the next three days, a volunteer shift, two performances (and possibly three), and, of course, a pack-out. Plus, I hope to catch a few more shows. Busy bee. Buzz, buzz, buzz.

I should also post this great review of Satanic Panic, courtesy of Wayne and (Cult)ure Magazine. Click here, for the review. Team Satanic Panic seemed pretty satisfied with the night’s performance and audience. Here’s hoping this review helps get even more receptive folks into the seats.

No performances tonight. One short volunteer BYOV box office shift. Then, a few beers and probably early to bed for tomorrow’s audition.

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