On the Fringe

I just got back from my first volunteer shift at the Ottawa Fringe Festival. I got to see two free shows, and I didn't even have to use up the free ticket I obtained for the shift, as they were shows that were open admitance to volunteers. The Rap Canterbury Tales was a spoken word solo show that was a modernized version of Chaucer's A Canterbury Tale, where the stories are told by rappers on a tour vehicle rather than.... uh, I don't know the original verion, to be honest. I like how this show presented some deep thematics in a way that was accessible to the general public. Next I saw Burden of Proof, which was about a nervous, self-depricating, sexually-frustrated clown. The act caught my eye because not only am I an aspiring clown, I also have a ukulele just like this clown did. As much as this act did make me laugh it also made me want to cry too. The clown was conciously asking for love in her life, yet every chance she got, she sqeamishly evaded intimacy.... until the end ... but I won't spoil it for you.