AT THE ST. LOU FRINGE - THE DOCTOR SHOW

Something different. Jared Schwartz is a real licensed physician. He finds it convenient to wear two stethoscopes over his lab coat, over his scrubs. The premise is a game show hosted by St. Louis Magazine executive editor Sarah Fenske. Odd medical questions were projected on the back wall. Dr. Schwartz would comment on them and state whether, in his opinion, the premise was true or false. A panel of two comics and Fringe executive director Matthew Kerns discussed the matter and voted on whether the doctor was right or wrong. The question on the wall behind the first photo shows the tone.

THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY WARM-UP

Does your city have a Fringe Festival? When one of the most prestigious arts festivals in Europe re-started after World War II, they would not admit the odd, the experimental and the out-there. So those artists said bleep you, we'll have our own. And thus was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival born.

And now there are offshoots all over the world. The St. Louis Fringe Festival takes place in mid-August. I'm the house photographer and a member of the board of directors. It's the highlight of my image making year. We just had a taste last weekend. Our executive director, Matthew Kerns (MFA, mind you), starred in a production of An Act of God, assisted by actor-comedian-pediatrician Ken Haller. It's a provocative comedy by longtime Saturday Night Live writer David Javerbaum. Matt, as God, has had about enough of us and visits to announce a new set of rules relevant to what we have become. It made you laugh and think.