We’re back for Fringe 7! Writers & Books is proud to be a venue for the 2018 KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival (September 12 – 22). We will host a collection of performances ranging in genres from comedy, music, multidisciplinary, theatre, and spoken word. All shows will take place upstairs on the second floor in the Performance Space.
Writers & Books will also have a bar set up in the bookstore area for festival goers to purchase beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) before seeing a show. Come enjoy a beverage at The Raven Bar, a Poe inspired setting in our bookstore, during the Fringe Festival this year. We’ll have raven postcards (we’ll cover postage!), writing prompts, books to peruse, and more! Come for a spell before taking in one of our Fringe shows or just drop in for a beverage with friends during the festival.
“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.”
― Edgar Allan Poe
This year’s line-up:
50 Shades of Gay
After completely selling out his run at the 2017 Rochester Fringe, award-winning comedian Ike Avelli brings back his HIT Adult Variety Show, 50 SHADES OF GAY! Join Ike and his fabulous guests, Recording Artist Tym Moss and Drag Superstar Viki Villainess, as they shower you with costumes, wigs, comedy, music, and most importantly: AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION + GIVEAWAYS!!
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $15.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: Mature Audiences Show Dates: Sept 19 at 9:00 pm, Sept 20 at 9:00 pm, Sept 21 at 10:00 pm, Sept 22 at 8:00 pm
Art Lobotomy
Songwriter Victory and comedian Tripoli (TripVictory) host an interactive performance showcase, inviting a fellow Fringe performer to join them. Each presents a piece of their art – a song, a joke, a dance. After each performance piece, the audience becomes a part of the show by asking questions, proposing critiques, and offering their perspectives. Every show is different!
Show Length: 45 minutes Ticket Price: $10.00 Genre: Multidisciplinary
Ages: 18 and Over Show Dates: Wednesday Sept 12 at 9:00pm, Thursday Sept 13 at 9:00 pm, Saturday Sept 15 at 8:00pm
Becoming Grandma Kat: One Man Show
A young man witnesses a crime and is placed in the Witness Protection Program (WITSEC). Trapped in his new persona, he faces several encounters that test his ability to keep his true identity hidden. This hilarious spoof will allow audience members to ask Grandma Kat questions about her journey in the WITSEC program. Written and performed by Keith Banks; directed by Krissy Garcia.
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $10.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: 13 and Over Show Dates: Thursday Sept 20 at 7:00 pm, Saturday Sept 22 at 2:00 pm
FRANKENSTEIN BEMSHI!
The 1910 horror film, FRANKENSTEIN, mixes and mashes with original libretto, music, soundscape, and poetry in a real-time performance by Dave Esposito (a.k.a. Solomon Ramada) and G. E. Schwartz. FRANKENSTEIN BEMSHI! is a tale of science, mysticism, and dark mystery that speaks to the challenges of technology and life itself, while bringing to life this story for its 200th anniversary!
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $7.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: 13 and Over Show Dates: Saturday Sept 22 at 4:00 pm
Jesus Was No Sissy
JESUS WAS NO SISSY is a comic storytelling show about how Good Christian Girls Who Might Be Boys Inside learn about masculinity and femininity through the wonders of The Lord’s Boot Camp (motto: Get Dirty for God, Go Lay a Brick), Christian finishing school (“From Grubby to Grace” for girls and “God’s Gentlemen” for boys) and a subscription to the Sugar Creek Gang series of Christian fiction. Written and performed by award-winning comic Kelli Dunham.
Show Length: 45 minutes Ticket Price: $10.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: Mature Audiences Show Dates: Saturday Sept 15 at 10:00 pm, Sunday Sept 16 at 3:00 pm
Left For Dead Improv
Left For Dead, a Rochester-area, improv-comedy group made up of performers who are age 50 and above, originated in 2011. With more than four centuries of life experience, this team performs short and long-form improv, stand-up, and sketch comedy. They can still chew their own food and they’ll chew yours too.
Show Length: 45 minutes Ticket Price: $10.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: 18 and Over Show Dates: Thursday Sept 13 at 7:00 pm, Friday Sept 14 at 8:00 pm, Saturday Sept 15 at 2:00 pm
Not Her Again!
An evening with Miranda Marie Sugarbaker, featuring Kevin Markman. Come for the damn show and enjoy the style, the swagger, and class that fills your heart and your soul with laughter and sass. One night only!
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $20.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: 18 and Over Show Dates: Friday Sept 14 at 10:00 pm
The 24-Hour Plays
What do you get when you take a group of actors, writers, directors, and producers and give them 24 hours to create, rehearse, and “tech” a handful of short original plays? Something uniquely amazing. The experience is profoundly exhilarating, cumulating in a thrilling performance with lights, sounds, props, and costumes for a live theatre audience.
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $18.00 Genre: Theatre
Ages: 13 and Over Show Dates: Monday Sept 17 at 7:00 pm, Monday Sept 17 at 9:00 pm
The Choirs among the Wolves! More Supernatural Tales from Native American tradition in Western New York
Most Native Americans have a keen awareness of their ancestral traditions, especially in regards to the supernatural. THE CHOIRS AMONG THE WOLVES! is a gripping, spoken-word performance that profiles ancient Six Nations’ supernatural/spiritual traditions, then turns to the accounts of contemporary witnesses in which the old figures seem to live: witches, ghosts, shapeshifters, and those curious, ambiguous “Little People.”
Show Length: 75 minutes Ticket Price: $15.00 Genre: Spoken Word
Ages: All Ages Show Dates: Wednesday Sept 19 at 7:00 pm
The Geriactors Present!
The Geriactors return to Fringe with more world premieres by local playwrights, accompanied by OLD songs from the Rochester Songbook (published 1910). Each short play is a take on the modern world both urban and rural, usually comic, always true, often from the unique perspective suggested by our name. The hundred-year-old songs are a treat.
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $15.00 Genre: Theatre
Ages: 13 and Over Show Dates: Tuesday Sept 18 at 7:00 pm, Wednesday Sept 19 at 2:00 pm, Thursday Sept 20 at 2:00 pm
CANCELLED: Tom Willard: A Comedian You’ve Never Heard Of
Tom Willard started doing standup comedy in 2016 at the age of 58. Having gone deaf while growing up, he talks and signs in his act. He’s performed at more than 25 venues in 10 cities including Toronto and NYC. He doesn’t expect to become the next Jerry Seinfeld, but “plenty of comedians you’ve never heard of make a good living in comedy, and so that’s my goal, to become one of those comedians you’ve never heard of.”
This show has been cancelled.
Tym Moss A- Live: Fun! Fabulous! Flamboyant
“One of the best cabaret shows in town.” –Michael Musto, LOGO NewNowNext. Tym Moss brings his critically acclaimed New York City cabaret show to the Rochester Fringe! His story is brilliantly told through familiar songs (with new interpretations) as he takes you on his life’s journey. YOU will laugh, cry, and sing along during his tale of survival and inspiration.
Show Length: 60 minutes Ticket Price: $15.00 Genre: Music
Ages: 18 and Over Show Dates: Friday Sept 21 8:00 pm, Saturday Sept 22 6:00 pm
With The Cows
… with the cows… may as well be with the angels or the seagulls… have the fields been planted? Guitar, drums, percussion, keys, scrapes, vocals, text, tones, and the ghost of electricity. Poetry & Music. Joyride. The boys of chorus include Phil Marshall, Roy Marshall, Arpad Sekeres, Chris Zajkowski, and Rick Petrie. Stirrin’ ‘n’ steppin’ with the elements. A few stories and a few beautiful breaths.
Show Length: 50 minutes Ticket Price: $10.00 Genre: Spoken Word
Ages: All Ages Show Dates: Saturday Sept 15 at 6:00 pm, Sunday Sept 16 at 5:00 pm
You are No Match for Me
They say you need to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. Well, Erin has had her fair share of frogs. For a look inside the sometimes hilarious (and sometimes hideous) world of online dating, join Erin for her highlight reel of the last five years. Finding the perfect match is a lot of work. Written and performed by Erin Julian.
Show Length: 30 minutes Ticket Price: $10.00 Genre: Comedy
Ages: 18 & Over Show Dates: Sunday Sept 16 at 1:00 pm, Saturday Sept 22 at 12:00 pm