PUBLIC HUMILIATION

St. Louis leading comedian-provocateurs are at it again. Audrey Crabtree and Lynn Berg placed themselves in stocks of a sort, stood on a platform and invited the public to mock and jeer at them for any reason, or no reason. Hurling water balloons was explicitly permitted although I don't thiink it happened. What sins they might have committed to deserve this were left to the imagination, sort of a Rorschach test for persecutors. Maybe it was cathartic for the audience. Maybe it just built bad karma.                  

THE FRINGE CONTINUES - DEENIE GETS SYNCHRONIZED

You may be wondering about the full title of the show, Get Wet With Deenie Nast. During the performance, Deenie talked about her mastery of synchronized swimming. There was a video illustrating the point, which unfortunately is not on Youtube. Deenie pointed out that this can get complicated with other bodies flailing about.. Her solution was to do it by herself and add digital effects. I wish I had a shot showing that part but this will do for now.                            

THE FRINGE CONTINUES - DEENIE'S GOLD LAMÉ SHORTS

At one point during Deenie Nast's show at the Fringe, she reminisced about a pair of gold lamé shorts she had worn in a starring role in the James Bond film Right Between The Eyes. She still had them and, by God, she could still get into them! Well, it turned out to be a bit of work requiring the assistance of the whole team of male nurses. It may have been exhausting but it was successful in the end.                  

THE FRINGE CONTINUES - GET WET WITH DEENIE NAST!

I usually have a favorite show at the Fringe and this year it was no contest. My friend Audrey Crabtree, a gifted comic actress, has developed a character, Deenie Nast. Deenie is a former great star of Hollywood and the New York stage (possibly over the last century) who still loves her public and won't let go of her fans or her fondness for booze and pills. Check this video for the backstory: https://youtu.be/pbRn_6EXaXI

In Saturday's late night show, far past my usual bedtime, she staggered out of a wardrobe trunk and regaled the audience with stories and musical numbers. She's getting on in years, of course, and has a coterie of male nurses she recruited on Tinder to keep her propped up and supplied. The set has as many dangling pill bottles as corks on the brim of an Australian bushman's hat. This was fall out of your seat funny and we will see more of it, including the wet part..          

DEENIE NAST IS BACK!

Been offline here for a bit. I took thousands and thousands of pix at the Fringe festival, all of which has to be edited. Then a ton of regular work had the nerve to slap me in the face and I gotta clear my desk before Mrs. C and I head out of town on Tuesday.

So back to the shows. Artica regular Audrey Crabtree has created a hilarious character, Deenie Nast, a has-been Hollywood and Broadway star who still wants attention. The stories she tells and the images projected behind her are a little far-fetched. By the illustrations she could be over a century old. I think there was one B&W photo of her giving a peck on the cheek to W. C. Fields. 

She's lived a hard life, apparently with no regrets. Deenie regaled the audience with the wonder  of herself but couldn't keep up the pace. Medical attention of a sort had to be called to keep her off the floor.           

LOOK! THE FRINGE IS OPEN!

Opening night ceremonies Tuesday evening. We didn't really need someone pointing the way but the expression on the child's face shows the general enthusiasm. Impresario Matthew Kerns introduced many of the acts, including Artica regular Audrey Crabtree portraying a fallen Hollywood star trying, rather pathetically, to climb her way back up.  

Tickets for all Fringe shows are available at https://www.stlouisfringe.com/ .