Fringe Review: AMERICAN'T
- Septimus & Carmunist
- Aug 29, 2024
- 2 min read
Dates: Aug 21, 2024 - Sep 1, 2024
Location: Metro Studio (Fringe Venue 1)
Artist: Jon Bennett (Portland, USA)
Duration: 60 mins
Rating: Ages 16+
Genre: Comedy, Storytelling
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Jon Bennett is back with another highly entertaining and poignant performance. From getting stuck in California by the pandemic to lockdown in Australia, he takes the audience on a ride into some of his darkest days and happiest moments.
We would give every other show by Bennett five stars, but we're only giving this one four. Sorry, Jon. We still thoroughly enjoyed it, but it just didn't hit the same levels of awe as Pretending Things Are a Cock, How I Learned to Hug, and Playing with Men. That said, AMERICAN'T is still very funny and even more touching.
At one point in the show, Bennett reveals a survey of Australians that ranked artists as the least essential of all professions, and quite understandably, this was difficult for him to swallow. Clearly Fringers weren't the ones ticking that survey box, but it still needs to be said: we need you, Jon Bennett. The world needs art more than ever, and the brave artists who bare their souls at the Fringe and on other small stages are the beating heart of the theatre world.
But hold on a second—why the hell wasn't this performance sold out? We caught the Wednesday show at 9 PM, and apparently that is too late for most Victoria Fringers to leave the house. How bizarre. Jon Bennett is a gem. Anyone who missed AMERICAN'T needs to reevaluate their Fringing priorities!
The Victoria Fringe Festival, presented by Intrepid Theatre since 1986, has become a cornerstone of the city’s arts scene, known for its unjuried, anything-goes approach to performance. For Carmunist and Septimus, Fringe is the highlight of the year. We’ve been involved as volunteers for more than a decade, and more recently, we’ve opened our home to performers as billets. Reviewing Fringe shows is something we’ve talked about for some time, and now we’re putting our experience as fiction editors and theatre stans to work, offering our thoughts and workshop notes for as many performances as we can attend.
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