Here is the transcription of my fifth video blog:
(And here’s the audio on AnchorFM)
Well hey, friends! It’s Queen Mab, back for another exciting update. I’m going to go back to talking about Hollywood Fringe once again. I’m going to tell you about the two most recent shows that I’ve seen, and then I’m going to talk a little bit about the whole Fringe process of going to see people’s shows, and what that’s like in this COVID era that we’re experiencing.
So let’s start with the shows. The first show I want to talk about is “TransSetter” written and performed by Veronica Carey Matthews. And Veronica’s humor, first of all, is so cute and so self-deprecating, and it’s loaded with puns, and she goes on these tangents…like she’ll be talking about something, and she’ll stop, and she’ll go on a little tangent…and she’ll kind of dissect the tangent, and then she’ll do it, and then it’s really funny, and then she goes back to whatever it is she’s talking about. And it’s absolutely hilarious the way that she does it, and her show is a joy to watch, and I really learned a lot about the transgender experience.
And it was also really interesting and important that as she was going through her transition, she was also experiencing housing insecurity. And you would think that these would be, you know, horribly difficult and painful topics to digest…and I mean, they are! But with the way she delivers it, it’s like an hour of comedy, and only after stopping to think, “Wait, what was that show about that I just saw?” that I really started to think about how light and funny she’s able to make this really intense material, so I highly recommend “TransSetter” by Veronica Carey Matthew…Matthews!
Another show that I saw was called “RedeemHER,” and that was written and performed by Tatum Langton. And that show threw me a little bit for a loop, because I knew it was about her experience…she’s Mormon, and she got married real young, and then she committed adultery. And this is the story of how that happened, and a little bit about the aftermath. So I was thinking she was probably going to leave the church, but she didn’t – she stuck with it! And that was really interesting to me. And it was interesting, too, because you know, when I think about Mormons and the LDS church and all that, I tend to think of them as being very square and very straight-laced, and this show was NOT! Like one of the characters was her sex agent, who speaks on behalf of her sex life. And it was another chain smoking character – I don’t know, I feel like Detective Google and the Sex Agent should get to know each other. Anyways, but it was really another outstanding show.
And I’d like to commend both Veronica and Tatum because both of them were able to keep their shows to about an hour. Good for you! I really need to cut my show. I don’t know how and where I’m going to do it. It’s not so much an issue of “Oh, I don’t want to kill my darlings!” It’s more like I just don’t know how it’s going to make sense if I start cutting it, so that’s the challenging thing. Anyway, I have a director, and I can talk to her about that.
So I’m going to use my last couple of minutes here to talk about part of the Fringe experience, at least for me in the past has been not just doing my show, but going to other people’s shows. It’s a lot of fun, and I see a lot of really interesting theater…sometimes I see some not-so-interesting theater…but the point is, it’s part of it, and I love doing it. It’s also really stressful, because I’m afraid that someone’s going to come to my show, and they’re going to love my show, and I’m not going to be able to go to their show, and then they’re going to be mad at me, or vice versa…I mean…there’s a lot of stress and pressure, so I always really try to understand that everyone’s got different constraints. And I’ve especially got a lot of constraints this year because I’m in San Diego, and I’m not able to drive up for all these shows, so I’m watching them virtually.
Now, when I was watching virtual shows before at other theaters, it was literally just watching a virtual show; I couldn’t see the audience at all. But with the Hollywood Fringe shows, they’re happening live AND I’m also streaming it from home, so I’m also able to see the audience, and I’m not going to lie, there’s a little bit of that FOMO going on, you know…a little bit of that, “Oh, they’re there…and I’m this creeper who can see them…but they can’t see me…and I’m here!” And it sucks a little bit, I’m not going to lie. I had a lot of that watching Veronica’s show, because I could hear the audience laughing, and I could see my friends, and none of them knew I was even there.
So anyway, I want to issue an apology to anyone whose show I have missed who wanted me there. And you know, I really hope I get to see everyone’s shows in the future, and thanks for your patience with me. And we’re about at five minutes, so I’m going to stop talking. Bye!