40:46 - Is that the doorbell? Oh, it’s just UPS with a PACKAGE DELIVERY.

Yup. Like a set of clacky balls. The theatergoers seated in other areas of the round may have had a better view.

The four short pieces here were fairly shallow and half-cocked. The humor certainly got a rise out of the predominantly gay male audience, but this breeder didn’t find the material stimulating.

Just an aside: I feel uncomfortable at a show like this, not from any sort of homophobia, but from the feeling that humor like this is the “Amos & Andy” of GLBT culture. Is the pervasiveness of gay stereotypes, from gay writers specifically, something I should laugh along with?

I did find the title of one sketch, “Killer ‘Mo,” fairly amusing.

4 kitties.

Fourth-wall breaking meta-references that attack the Fringe are like sweet, sweet candy to me. This show placed me in a diabetic coma.

The plot is barely existent, but the laughs come in such a succession that it doesn’t even matter. “Carousel” tells the noir-esque tale of down-and-out insult comic Herschel Doucheberg. Sam Landman shines as a foul-mouthed racist/misogynist/misanthrope who somehow remains lovable.

Seriously, there’s no reason Doucheberg should still smell like roses (or rosewater cologne) by the dénouement. It’s Landman’s utter charisma that makes this a winning show. When the middle of the show begins to drag, it’s Doucheberg who keeps the show engaging.

5 kitties.

Not a traditional show, but a concert. And a concert the likes of which you’ve probably never seen.

The drummers from Mu Performing Arts, as well as their guests, where nothing less than talented, enthusiastic, and thrilled to demonstrate the art of traditional Japanese drumming, as well as illustrate its evolution in style and its influence an adaptability from many other cultures and musical genres.

I was moved to my feet twice by the superb caliber of this performance.

5 kitties.

Let’s get this out of the way. Yes, this is an improvement over Matthew Kelly’s laughably awful 2009 Fringe entry, “The Nightmare Man.” But not by much.

Kelly’s growth from show-to-show mirrors Trent Reznor’s growth from “Pretty Hate Machine” and “Broken” to “The Downward Spiral.” Kelly’s thematic elements have moved from misogyny and self-loathing to pondering the rejection of society and questioning the motives of organized religion. Only “Destroyer of Dreams” takes a shallow approach at attacking Christianity/Catholicism.

Let’s look at the djinn, Iblis. He spends much of the show gleefully quoting from the book of Revelations. What he wants is to bring about Armageddon in order to reign over men with evil. But the Biblical scholar recognizes that this evil would only last 1000 years. It is brief. Finite. For a show that meditates on the necessity of evil, it is a mistake to ignore how easily, according to the mythology this show is derived from, it is trumped.

Cool lighting/costume design, tho’.

2 kitties.

It begins with an overwrought and overlong dream sequence that has no place in the narrative. It ends with a corny torch song, half of which is delivered in a vaguely racist accent.

What happens in between is actually a fairly interesting story about a young man’s first trip to Japan. William Schaffhausen’s recounting of ten days he spent there on business are descriptive, but there’s an empty feeling by the end of the narrative, as if something epic should have happened, but didn’t.

2 kitties.

casebolt & smith made a guy who hates dance shows love a dance show.

Why did I like this? Was it that I shared their condescending tone as they parody modern dance? Was it their recognition of what I hate about dance shows singled-out and spotlighted?

Or was it that, as they performed a deconstruction of the deconstruction of the “Amen Break,” I finally felt like I understood the art of dance?

I don’t know. I don’t care. This show is brilliant.

5 kitties.

56:14 - It is accomplished.

Timothy Mooney urged us to know him Biblically, and unashamedly presented himself to us an danced. And what amazing audience participation, especially three specific “audience members.”

I remained the consummate voyeur.

5 kitties.

50:02 - Undraped.

This nudity isn’t titillating, like the cheap thrills of a dance show. Kathy Jensen’s nude figure is artistic and empowering, and therefore unexciting to a pervert like me.

3 kitties.

4:00 - Toplessness on video

10:08 - More toplessness on video

18:18 - Even more toplessness on video.

19:23 - Payoff! Exposed breasts on stage! Soon followed by video of man-ass.

30:46 - Man-ass!

49:38 - Wang on video.

56:58 - Video of topless women in swimming pool.

I thought I’d have to give this a 1 for pre-recorded nudity, but Christine Maginnis’ troupe delivers where it counts. Erect nips for the fellas, tight asses for the ladies. And the, uh… other fellas. And upskirt enthusiasts, this is your show.

As dance shows go, this one had some solid unifying themes. Too bad one of those themes was “ruin a Leonard Cohen song.”

5 kitties.

The sci-fi fan in me couldn’t pass this up. A robot apocalypse? And a comedy? Every year there seems to be a show tailored to my tastes, and this sounded like it.

This show may have fallen flat were it not for my basic knowledge of the musical “Oklahoma!” Many in-jokes, and the climax, hinged on knowing the characters and plot parodied here.

I thoroughly enjoyed the songs, best described as Rogers & Hammerstein-meets-Kraftwerk. I liked this show perhaps in spite of its ties to “Oklahoma!”, as I just wanted to see a show about the robot apocalypse, and I got my wish.

4 kitties.