Fringe update and NFSE (not safe for eardrums) videos of the Jonas Bros at Much Music...
FRINGE UPDATEYou can register the pulse of the Fringe depending on how quiet or loud (or more typically, inebriated) the activity is at the festival beer tent outside the
Tranzac. Last night, everything was rather quiet, with only a handful of volunteers and dipso comedians circling the dancefloor, as well as ominpresent Fringe Festival president
Derrick Chua (or at least one of his many robot duplicates). Once the anxiety over early reviews starts to dissipate, however, the Fringe usually starts to relax and party; expect much bigger things tonight and over the weekend, possibly involving shouting and bad comedy.
After a couple of (ahem) technical difficulties,
Eye Weekly finally has its
Fringe site up, and it's gratifying to see that one of our cover stars has gotten a
positive review for their show already. (It can be a gamble putting someone on the cover for the Fringe when you haven't seen their show yet.) So far we've given out more than a handful of
five-star ratings: Sean Kelly Keenan called improv comedy show
Blastback Babyzap "flat-out brilliant," and also gave a great notice to
The Three Magic Wishes, a children's show starring the stand-up comedian (and previous EYE WEEKLY cover star) Katie Crown.
So the report so far is that, er, there's not much to report. I'll actually be taking the evening off the Fringe tonight to watch Steely Dan at
Casino Rama (I've been growing a small pony tail especially for the occasion), and even the
Globe's perceptive fringe blogger
J Kelly Nestruck has
buggered off to Niagara-on-the-Lake to watch the Shaw Festival. Spare a thought, then, for Torontoist's theatre writer
Johnnie Walker, who got picked on at
Jimmy Hogg's show
A Brief History of Petty Crime just for being ginger.
JONAS BROTHERS UPDATEAfter
waiting for more than two days in the rain, teenage fans finally met their idols the
Jonas Brothers for a short interview outside the Much Music building. "Ew, it's like I'm in the middle of bubblegum lane," commented one passer-by, as she watched a few thousand tweeners scream at the tops of their voices, but really, there's no need for such snobbery. We didn't get to learn much about the Jonas brothers in the interview, although apparently Nick would like to tour with
Elvis Costello and
Prince at some point, which strikes us like an excellent idea.
Videos from earlier today follow below, although you may have to watch the volume control on your monitor. There is a certain amount of screaming.