So last night we finally got to see our good friend Mark Baratelli and his show, the infamous Improv Caberet.

The big thing to understand about Mark, above all else, is that he's a huge LIAR!!! Don't believe ANYTHING this man says! Ryan and I know!

Show: Improv Caberet
Venue: Blue
Times: 5/20 @ 2:25pm, 5/21 @ 5:00pm, 5/22 @ 8:25pm, 5/24 @ 6:15pm, 5/25 @ 9:45pm, 5/27 @ 3:45pm, 5/28 @ 12:00pm
Price: $7 - $2 discount for Fringe performers
Suggested to: Particularly to lovers of musical theatre.

As the Blogging Fringe faithful can attest to, we sat down and had a long conversation with him about everything and nothing, from bad segs to fellatio. He led us to believe that he wasn't sure his show was going to be good. Some might call that humility, I call that an outright LIE! Mark has more talent that meets the eye, but plenty that cannot get past the ear.

The question on everyone's mind is obvious: how the hell do you improvise caberet? A show such as this from a first time Fringer? Impossible! Making up songs and stories on the spot? Improbable! Such a show being a packed house in the steaming hot and humid Blue/Bitch Venue and becoming a huge hit? Unlikely!

Well, if you agreed with the former three statements, you'd be wrong wrong wrong. With his right man musical man Jim Rhinehart by his side, Mark can't go wrong. Despite the fact that the show was entirely improvised, every word, every musical phrase, every everything, it was practically seamless. And Mark kept on key/in tune better than other Fringe singers who had done the same show four times that week already.

You might also look in the program and think that Mark's show is gimmick ridden - caberet, improv, gay? He pulls all of it off. He jokes about his sexuality without being cliche or dipping very far into stereotypes. He anticipates the key changes, and even suggests a few of his own. And although he's not soaked to the bone at the end, his contained energy shines. What can we say? Mark is a star in his own right. Even some audience members might have been afraid that the transition into the pregnant cat on Broadway with glittering nipples hanging down toward her babies seemed to be a bit much, he pulls it all together beautifully. He plays to the audience without ever pandering. Altogether, Mark has made his, well, you get the picture. Please don't make me finish.

He told Ryan and I a week or so ago that if this show didn't work, he would disappear into the Orlando Nether Regions. But don't worry. By the way this stimulating chuckle-fest is hitting it off with Fringe audiences, he won't be going anywhere.