Posted from Katie Ball's Facebook Note, The Ibex tent at Fringe is THE BOMB.

The Ibex tent at Fringe is my new favorite place. Last night I spent well over an hour creating what director Mike Marinaccio dubbed “Bad Bunny Ears”. Good/Bad, not Evil ; ) Made with pipe cleaners, fabric, hot glue, feathers (and with a good bit of guidance from puppeteers Heather Henson and Marsian), I felt my already low blood pressure drop further still.

If you aren't into making ears you can make a kite! It's free, folks, great great fun and free. Go make something awesome and then take it to Ibex's interactive Goblin Party. I want to get a big posse together for that, who's game?

Posted from Katie Ball's Facebook Note, And so it begins... Fringe's Opening Night!

Last night's opening was a quiet one but still so great. Missed the ribbon cutting because it was still so damned hot, so my buddy Emily and I had the contingency plan of drinking at Peacock first : ) Though we were both very well behaved because we knew we had a long night ahead of us and wanted to be in shape for it. The bartender had never heard of Fringe, and while I never like to be one of those clutch the pearls “You've never heard of...?” people, this one continues to surprise me. But it also kind of excites me because there are so many more people the regulars can help bring into the fold. The bartender and dred boy next to me sounded pretty well sold when I talked to them about Schave and Reilly's show, with the dred guy saying 'It's not every day someone talks about Buster Keaton at a bar.'

Posted from Katie Ball's Facebook Note, “The Bike Trip”

So “The Bike Trip” is kind of where words fail me. I was such a fan of last year's “Wanderlust” that I almost didn't want Dockery to come back. Odds were he wasn't going to top it and there was the real possibility that we had seen the best he had to give. So I entered the Silver venue with mixed feelings - hopes for the guy, but worried.

Lights up, he's on, and then away we go.

Posted from Katie Ball's Facebook Note, Choosing Fringe shows, it's a science (no really).

Some basic decision-making tips that have delivered a pretty decent rate of success for me. Doubtless you have your own methods and I'd be interested in hearing your ideas!

(In no particular order)

1. Past experience – you rocked last year you'll probably rock this year.
2. Canadian - Unlike South Park I do not blame Canada and usually love every production that heads this way.

Posted from Katie Ball's Facebook Note, Why Fringe?
One of the best things about Fringe is that it's a big old soup pot of all kinds of people, both on stage and off. You get to see Joe Banker and Deena Drag bonding at the beer tent – only to learn seconds later that they've been going at it for years. Oh yeah and there's also some pretty spectacular theater and dance going on...

Taken from Facebook, local public radio personality, and author of Any Cool Music? has written a blog post on Facebook about several Fringe shows that "require no introduction".

Mark Baratelli and the gang from the Daily City will be producing the Audience Choice Awards at the 2010 Orlando Fringe Festival. The awards are independently organized, and all of the awards were created by local artists. This year's show is curated by Fringe veteran Jeremy Seghers, who also curates art for Dandelion CommuniTEA Cafe.

You can get involved and vote at AudienceChoiceAwards.com.

Edit: Lately I've been thinking Battledecks would be a great addition to the Fringe. The Pecha Kucha mentioned below is pretty similar.
Edit 2: The short slideshows will be held at the Outdoor Stage on Monday, May 24th, around 7PM.
Edit 3: We have a facebook event for Small Talk at Fringe: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=364435458753

Update: Elizabeth Maupin has launched an independent Orlando theatre blog.

After almost 26 years on the staff of the Orlando Sentinel, Elizabeth Maupin has been writing and creating community togetherness. For my part in this game, I'd like to congratulate her and wish her the best.

Above: Maupin with Boris the Robot at the Orlando Fringe. Boris is a retired robot. As of this post, Maupin is a retired Journalist.