101 Rules for Dating (of which you will hear 20 or so...)
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Running Time: 55 minutes Venue: Art Academy of Cincinnati Sun, 06/05/2011 - 05:00 Mon, 06/06/2011 - 09:15 Wed, 06/08/2011 - 08:45 Fri, 06/10/2011 - 08:15 Sat, 06/11/2011 - 08:00 |
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For when your relationship needs a hero (that's us!)
From: Venzin-Althaus EXPLOSION!
Most Fringy Thing: We know our show will appeal to anyone who has ever loved, and we're hoping to get to those D&D kids too. It's real, crazy honest, and (in our humble opinion) WAY better than SPIDER MAN on Broadway (Bono works on that). Not Fringy enough? That's not what Leslie Nielson said. (RIP)
Brief Description: Our show is an instruction manual on the dos, don’ts, and things to watch for in the ever-changing world of dating. In the last year, we got ourselves educated. We’re doctors now, and that means everything we say is valid, and accurate. After getting our PhDs in love, the next logical step was to write a show that’s been 24 years in the making. Grab your notebook and pen because we’ve got enough time to share a quarter of the valuable information we’ve learned (and not enough notebooks and pens to go around). We’re doctors, after all, not millionaires.
Artist/Company Biography: Megan Venzin and Emily Althaus met at Western Kentucky University, shortly after forging a friendship they began performing together (or maybe the friendship came after? who remembers now?) After graduating and embarking on separate journeys into "the real world" the dynamic duo met up once again, this time in New York City. The Venzin-Althaus Explosion was formed in an outer borough, birthed of love, passion, but most of all the need to make people smile.
Previous Fringes: 2010 Cincy Fringe (A Night Of Well Adjusted Ladies)
Critics' Reviews
Review: The Examiner
by Richard O Jones
One fourth of everything you need to know about dating is revealed in "101 Rules for Dating (Of Which You Will Hear 20 or So...)," another Fringe show in the guise of an educational seminar.
Click here to read the rest of the review
Review: Behind the Curtain
Megan Venzin and Emily Althaus are funny and charming as they recount personal dating misadventures that led to the creation of 101 RULES FOR DATING. A slide show of graphics and personal photos adds a fun, visual element to their storytelling. This format works well and creates many laugh out loud moments.
Click here to read the rest of the review
Review: CityBeat
by Julie York Coppens
Rule #20: Start things off with a compliment. 101 Rules for Dating (of which you will hear 20 or so…), a relationship seminar from the crack comedy team Megan Venzin and Emily Althaus, will make you laugh. An Art Academy lecture hall, complete with flip-up desks for note-taking, is the perfect setting for this informative yet cozy confessional led by a couple of love experts whose credentials seem dubious, despite the fact that they’re both wearing lab coats. Rule #4: Have a relationship to begin with. Seems obvious. But think about it: a show like this only works if the performing pair has a deep well of shared experience and comic sensibility upon which to draw. Improv partners have to trust one another, really listen, and build on one another’s contributions. Venzin and Althaus, longtime friends familiar to Fringe audiences for last year’s Well-Adjusted Ladies, always do.
Click here to read the rest of this review
Review: The Conveyor
When you are looking for help on how to avoid making mistakes on a topic, say dating, who else is better to turn to than someone you trust and someone who has made far more dating mistakes than you will ever make in a single lifetime? The Venzin-Althaus EXPLOSION's newest production of 101 Rules for Dating (of which you will hear 20 or so...) gives not only one lifetime of bad dating experience, but two: Megan Venzin and Emily Althaus. The comic duo is back from last year's CincyFringe hit, A Night Of Well Adjusted Ladies, with a high energy self-help seminar spoof that offers up a hilarious romp through the dos and don'ts of dating.
For the full article check it out on theconveyor.com.
Reviews
Emily and Megan Rule with Dating
Again, my rating system (and I am stuck on it.)
1*= Sorry I saw it; 2*= Glad I saw it; 3*= Recommend it;
4*= Would see it again
Last year I added the adjectives-
Fringy (solid Fringe wierdness/entertainment),
Fringier (unusual even in a Fringe context), and
Fringiest (weird in any context)
101 Rules for Dating Fringy
Suzana 3* Randy 3.5* Ross 3.5*
Emily and Megan did a very funny show last year,
so I was hopeful with this new show, and was
pleased to see that they are better than ever.
It was pitched as a 'How to' lecture but all the
humor came from the foibles and pitfalls we have
all faced in dating. They varied the presentation
using stories, slides, video, improv, and audience
interaction. They handled each phase well and
kept us laughing. I am a sucker for good laughs.
Fringey?!?
This was an enjoyable show - with two very talented, likable, and charismatic performers. They were a great deal of fun - and they were genuinely funny.
But was this "Fringey?" Did it expand my mind (or my beliefs) about relationships? Did it make me FEEL anything about my relationships with the opposite sex? Did I learn anything about art? Did I learn anything?
I learned that improv is an artform that can be tricky, but the ladies clearly have the requisite skills to pull off. I learned that references to 90s pop-music can be amusing. I learned that interviewing New Yorkers about relationships in Central Park is probably a pretty fun way to spend a couple of afternoons.
I can't say, however, that I was particularly blown away by any new insights about relationships, art, performances, or much else. It was good cotton-candy... but I really wanted steak. The topic surely had enough meat!
ALLSTAR-SCALE from 1* (please don't see this) to 10* (please PLEASE see this)... As a Fringe-piece, it's probably a 2*. As a piece of fun, entertaining club-improv/stand-up, it's a 7*.