Victoria Fringe and Other Events

Well hello there friends in blog land. It's been a while, but unlike most of the time, it is not for lack of trying. In fact, I've got several blog posts sitting half-finished on my desktop, just waiting for me to get back to them and I will! But in the meantime I've been very busy, as usual.

• I have a post about the Winnipeg Fringe, which was awesome as usual.
• Another post is about Christopher Nolan's movie Inception, which you should definitely see before reading, so you've got a little more time to do so if you havn't all ready. I mean, seriously, go see it.
• I've also got a little post about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a fantastic movie that is sadly getting it's ass handed to it at the box office. So, go see that too.

Anyway, all of those posts will have to wait since I've got more projects on the run then I can currently handle. I've got a script I've been working on that is due at the end of the month, preperations for two shows at Aqua Books in about a month, and of course, the fact that I'm currently in Victoria for the Victoria Fringe. Oh, yeah, I guess I should talk about that a little, huh?

I'm currently sitting in the Center Branch of the Victoria Public Library, taking full advantage of the free WiFi and airconditioning which is only fair considering how many people I deal with on a day-to-day basis who are doing the same in Winnipeg. Victoria has been pretty awesome so far so here is a quick recap (May not actually be quick):

Tuesday was the longest day of my life. I was heading out on a 6:30am flight so the plan was to get there for 5:30 and therefore get picked up by my ever obliging father at 4:30. I decided that since a few hours of sleep would probably do more harm than good and on top of that I still had tons of work to get done on my various projects that I'd simply stay up all night. I managed to complete a short demo reel (which can be seen at www.brenthirose.com) and do a few more things, although around 3am my brain was clearly not doing its best work. I finally got picked up and we headed down to pick up Kami, my co-star for Unequal Havest.

The flight out was more or less uneventful, with the exception of a very confused kitty who managed to escape his carry-on carrier for a few seconds before being picked up by a stewardess. I slept pretty much through the whole thing, including a stop over at Edmonton. That was nice, but only ended up being about 3 hours of sleep, on top of the fact that by the time we arrived it was only 8 in the morning.

We got picked up by our billet Lee who graciously came in to greet us. Chatting on the way over, she reveals that her father had died that very morning, which made Kami and I more than a little worried about imposing by being all over her living space. Once we settled in we went about doing the usual: Scouting the neighborhood, buying stuff that we neglected to bring, signing in for the festival, picking up posters. I'm standing in the middle of staples cutting up my handbills when Kami calls me to let me know that we're moving: Things are just too crazy with Lee so the fringe managed to find us a new space.

I head back to the main Fringe grounds where our new billet Betty arrived to pick us up. We went down to Lee's to pick up our things and to let her know that we understood her decision. Graciously, she still offered me a bike that I had asked to use, which I gladly accepted. It was a good thing too, as when we finished loading up the car there wasn't any room for me anyway!

I'm not concerned: I'm a commuter cyclist! I can handle this! Five klicks away? No problem! Well... except for the hills... Yes, my prairie living has done little to prepare me for some of the crazy inclines around Victoria, and while I manage all right most of the time, when the angle starts heading past 25 degrees my resolve is duly tested.

But, I arrive and am more than happy to find that our new billet is a fantastic little house on the coast of West Victoria. Kami and I spend a bit of time just enjoying the beautiful view from the deck while working on some show prep. Betty is also quite lovely, as can be expected of anyone who is willing to put up two strangers at a moments notice. Quite the lucky break!

That night Kami and I check out the Fringe block party, an event in Center Park to kick off the festival. It's nice to bump into a bunch of familiar performer friends: Jayson & Megan, Yanomi, Rob G. and others. The block party itself is kind of a wash as far as promotion goes, since most of the people are just there to see the bands. Most of the performers leave early as they all have had similar days to Kami and I. After a little bit we're gone too, and we decide to walk home, picking up some groceries along the way. This is an ill advised move at our current level of fatigue and when we finally, FINALLY arrive back at our billet we both agree that we will not be doing that again.

The next morning is a busy one- Kami and I are up early to get ready for our tech rehearsal at 10, although our ride is set to get us in for 9. Tech goes well, although I'm a little surpised to see that the venue isn't completely set up yet, with lights and rigging still lying around in places. Towards the end of the tech we're met by a reporter for a radio interview, which goes quite well. Then I'm off to pick up my posters (whose order had somehow not gone through a week before) and head off to the tech for When the Killer Mutant Lizards Attack. Again, the stage is not quite set up and frankly neither am I. The tech was all right, but with several projection effects not working out quite right I realize that I've got a bit of work to do before opening on Saturday.

Now the bike Lee had lent me was a godsend, but also a little bit of an adjustment for me, as it's post and handlebars were set super high, cruiser style. This is fine for leisurely pedaling around, but not very useful for getting more power while standing. The angles just didn't work well with my arms. However, the Fringe organisers pointed me towards Capital City Cyle, a great downtown bike shop who were happy to lend me a bike for the duration of the Fringe at the cost of a six pack of beer. That is some charity for artists that I can get behind. If you live in Victoria, I highly suggest you check them out.

After picking it up, Kami informs me that the Fringe Artist party has kicked off at the headquarters of a local micro-brewery. Free beer and pizza is another godsend and suddenly my day is looking better and better. From the party, most of the artists headed down to the Fringe Preview performances, which turned out to be a packed house of die hard fringe goers who were more than ready to watch all the signed up companies put in a two minute (theoretically) snippet from their shows.

The final results were a mixed bag: Some people definitely sold some tickets, and others did the opposite, but I was really happy with the event in general. All the people I knew did very well- Kami in particular really won over the audience with her bit from Unequal Harvest which is a difficult show to sell. I was happy with my own performance too, so hopefully I'll have did a bit of work towards negating the sting of being the ONLY replacement show in the festival.

It's hard being the only show that isn't in the printed program: People don't really know about you, particularly those newcomers to the festival who arn't as hip to the room with all the various twitter/website/newsfeed ways that Victoria seems to have embraced. I'm interested in seeing how this all translates into audiences; if word of mouth, digital or otherwise, works out for us, I think we'll do just fine. I guess it's up to the audience's reaction really. Our prep is done; it's showtime.

Today has been all about last minute prep- Putting up a few posters, getting all our ducks in a row. Had a nice nap and now I'm enjoying the library. It's a beautiful city, like a bigger Kenora with money and salt water. Jayson MacDonald told me that Victoria is a lot like Winnipeg, except instead of drunks they have junkies. This was never more evident then when I went to the public wash room here and saw that it included a box for safe needle disposal. Yikes! But, now it's time to think about the show.

Speaking of which, it's 6:15, and Kami and I are to meet in 15 minutes to get ready for our 7:30 show tonight. I'm ready to open this sucker... here we go!