Erik Blair

I'm going to try and give a more normal review here. But fair warning--this experience lends itself to repeated thinking and alternative ideas. If you have ever been involved in truly immersive theater or been to an escape room, you have SOME idea of what you might experience here. SOME idea. Now envision an immersive theater or an escape room where you are the only audience member, the only person in the room. Can you envision this in your head? Now remove the entire idea of it being a... full review

There was a time when I went to Sacred Fools' Serial Killers on a pretty constant basis. Part of what I loved about the idea was this ongoing cliff-hanger show narrative nature. So when I heard that one of the winners from that ongoing scenario had be reworked into a full-length show and was going to be at Fringe, I was excited. A chance to see what one of these became when turned into a continuous play? Great idea...maybe. Yep, great idea. My first instinct was absolutely correct! All T... full review

Surge was a late addition to my schedule for Sunday the 5th and it turned out to be a welcome one. Let's be clear that solo shows are not my personal favorite type of show. They can often be self-indulgent. They can be too determined to be edgy to be coherent, too focused on getting a specific message across to allow anyone to shape the entire narrative correctly. This isn't true of the best solo shows at all, of course--but it's true of many. So I always approach solo shows with a little bit of ... full review

If I watch Ghost Hunters or Destination Truth, I expect a show that purports to find monsters out in the wild. And that's what the five women in this show are trying to do as well--find a monster in the wilds of New Jersey. And as illuminated by you (and about 50 other people, all of whom have far too over-bright LED flashlights like you now) in the same theater, that's what this show starts as being about. Almost immediately, however, the show turns into something else. It turns out that ever... full review

I should point out at the beginning of this review that I absolutely adore the type of entertainment known as an "Escape Room". This is the form of entertainment where an audience of 6-10 people enter a space and are given a set of time to attempt to solve puzzled to get OUT of the space before that time is over. So I'm very familiar with scenarios that include the idea of solving puzzles/problems before time runs out or "bad" outcomes will befall you. That is the general premise of this partl... full review

The Toxic Avenger is one of Troma's great films. This particular musical is one that's already been traipsing around before coming to Fringe, so it has the advantage of having been tested and tried in previous scenarios. But that also means that Fringe audiences should expect better because of that--and in this case, they will NOT be disappointed, because this show is fantastic. Really, truly fantastic. From the first number which truly set the tone--including how much profanity, what the lev... full review

Last year's Alien vs. Musical was one of the highlights of the festival for me, so when I heard that a longer, full version of the show was happening this year--let's just say this was one of the first tickets I snagged when they went on sale. I wanted to be thrilled all over again. I wanted the additions to be as exciting and surprising and fun as I had found the original show to be last year. And, frankly, I wanted to see how much I enjoyed the original show parts the second time around. ... full review

Catherine Waller should be world-famous right this moment. This is not hyperbole. She should be known around the world right now for being an actor capable of creating vastly different characters who are so incredibly different from each other than you can't remember that she's the same actor. She's as talented with her physical body as Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany is with facial mannerisms--capable of changing herself 100% into someone or someTHING else simply by changing how she stands,... full review

Improv is a staple of Los Angeles theater, so companies that can find a new way to approach it or a new wrinkle to the game are worth checking out. Enter The Human Test Subjects, an all-women improv group comprised of very talented ladies who all deal with some form of mental illness (from anxiety to depression to PTSD and so on). Watching their preview performance, I was struck by many different reactions. First and foremost--they're damn funny. As you want an improv group to be. In any impr... full review

Let's get this straight up front--this is a show for people who are fans of Game of Thrones. I think you really do need to know the show to have any real chance of enjoying what's happening here. But if you ARE a fan, boy is there a lot to enjoy about this parody musical. The costumes are fantastic. The casting choices are almost unanimously great in look, voice and characterization. There are inspired choices in staging, such as the various dire wolf attacks throughout the show. It's enormous... full review