Winnipeg: Fringe Along With Us

This is OBNH in Winnipeg. Winnipeg is about 1000 degrees Celcius and humid this time of year. If you took away the cars it could still be 1936. In other words, Winnipeg is the Cuba of the Prairies.

The first thing you do in Winnipeg is take your six double rolls of packing tape and poster everything in the city that doesn't move. Pete is aiming high with his ideals and with his postering - after all, all the eye-level spots have already been postered.
Trev balances on some iron spikes in order to get the job done. He also tries not to fall over onto those lovely patrons below, who are enjoying the 10000 degree heat on the patio of the landmark King's Head Pub. This is a pub AND a venue! It is also host to an annual late night fringe cabaret later on in the week. It is also the Overflow Venue for when the beer tent closes at 1 am.
Things that don't move that have been absorbed by fringe postering:

1. Benches.

2. Tables.
3. The sidewalk. Ummmm...I don't have a picture of that so you'll have to close your eyes and IMAGINE it. C'maaaaahn. Do it. DO IT NOW! ....okay thanks.

NEXT: Make friends with the Production Manager of the Festival by arriving 3 hours late for your tech (but one hour early for your festival in Vancouver...three months from now). Um... on second thought, DON'T arrive late for your tech EVER. Nonetheless, we still managed to beg mercy from THIS MAN, who's name is Geoff, and who saved our asses. Thanks, Geoff!

NEXT: Check out your venue. This is ours. It's in the loading dock by the dumpster behind the theatre. I'm only half kidding. This is the ENTRANCE to our venue, which is actually on the stage of the Playhouse Theatre. This is a monitor on the inside of the theatre keeping an eye on a separate dumpster out in the same alley.

PEGGER TIP #1: Always leave your van locked, and try to load it with so much garbage that even the crack heads that will inevitably break in and rifle through everything will be disappointed. "What the ---? 6 empty Tim Horton's cups, an old bag of chips, 4 magazines, and a TOP HAT? I can't buy crack with that!" Joke will be on them.

NEXT: Here is backstage at the Playhouse (on stage). Our venue is LITERALLY on stage. The Playhouse looks like the set for Phantom of the Opera, and since most fringe shows won't be able to pack a thousand seats or have use for a giant chandelier, they block off the house and put audience seats on the stage. We can still seat 110 in our venue --- however the stage is so wide that the seats are only three rows deep...and 100 feet across. This is me posing with a ladder that also looks like a prop from Phantom...

NEXT: Take advantage of EVERY opportunity you have for self-promotion. This is the FREE-FOR-ALL, where each group that signs up gets 2 minutes to wow the family friendly audience laying on the grass in front of this gazebo by the beer tent. Heinrich is here establishing that our show is NOT what you were expecting.

NEXT: FLYER! FLYER! FLYER!

I don't have any pics of this because we were TOO BUSY FLYERING! Flyering includes:

• Chasing lineups at hit shows and handing people little colourful photocopies to add to their ever expanding piles.
• Hitting up people at the beer tent or buying tickets at the box office or wandering around carrying fringe programs with sticky notes already earmarking the shows they want to see.
• Meeting as many other fringe performers as possible in order to get their password to go see their show, and make sure they see you in the audience so that they pitch your show at the curtain speech at end of theirs.
• Meeting as many other fringe performers as possible in order to give them your password to get them to see your show so that they can be wowed by your brilliance and hopefully pitch your show of their own free will at the curtain speech at the end of theirs.