BY PHILLYGRRL I’m sorry, but smooth-talking subway Philly boys ain’t got nothing on the international student. I’ve come to this conclusion based on the inordinate amount of time I spend every week at the Cecil B. Moore stop by Temple University. And now exclusively for Phawker readers, the results of my extensive research. (I’d show you my graphs, but I’m saving them for the white paper.) The thing Philly guys get wrong is, they think they have to pretend to know everything to get girls to talk to them. They affect this worldly air that might work in a smaller […]

BY LINDSAY HARRIS-FRIEL Step into the cozy, welcoming Murph’s Bar at 202 East Girard. You’ll find it’s been commandeered by Applied Mechanics, a theater company that “creates original performance experiments in the environmental-installation-parallel-narrative style.” Sounds lofty? Get a drink and slide into a seat, or find a good corner. The characters are everywhere and their conversations are contagious. The circus has burnt down, the big cats have been sold for food, and all that’s left are the performers, drinking, reminiscing, planning their futures or burying their dreams. Following a character will give you more information, but staking out a space […]

BY LINDSAY HARRIS-FRIEL FRINGE CORRESPONDENT FATEBOOK: Avoiding Catastrophe One Party at a Time is a party and a show and a maze and a puzzle. Be prepared to walk. New Paradise Laboratories has created a show that forces you to negotiate plot as you negotiate space. As you travel the maze of projection screens, you follow different characters in an attempt to solve a murder mystery. Or maybe you’re witnessing a theft, participating in a drug deal, or a story of ideal romantic love. You’ll notice yourself multi-tasking and processing text and images as one, listening for sounds you hadn’t […]

“If Lenny Bruce was embodied by Zero Mostel and played by Louis Armstrong the result would closely resemble Mike Daisey.” — BROADWAY WORLD Mike Daisey has been called “the master storyteller” and “one of the finest solo performers of his generation” by the New York Times for his groundbreaking monologues which weave together autobiography, gonzo journalism, and unscripted performance to tell hilarious and heartbreaking stories that cut to the bone, exposing secret histories and unexpected connections. His monologues, fourteen and counting, include the controversial How Theater Failed America (which he performed last weekend at the Live Arts-Fringe Festival), the six-hour […]

SOUTH PHILLY REVIEW: The victim who suffered a forking received a large scrape to his back, while the another victim sustained contusions and cuts to his head. Neither required hospital treatment and police said they do not know what ignited the brawl. The victims, a 24- and 25-year-old, were having a meal inside the establishment at 1501 Snyder Ave. when they became involved in a physical altercation with a group of about four other men at another table. According to investigators, Baldino was spotted striking the younger victim in the head with a metal napkin dispenser, while Emma was seen […]

Life is a Dream Aleksandra Berczynski PII Gallery is happy to host Aleksandra Berczynski again for Philly Fringe after a successful debut show last year. Inspired by the 17th Century Spanish playwright Calderón’s play, La Vida es Sueño, Berczynski presents a minimalist, 20-minute, one-woman show where she explores the world of philosophy and learns that beauty, reality and dreams dissolve together in disturbing ways. Will she discover her life is just a dream? PII Gallery 242 Race St $10 / 20 Minutes Sept 9, 11, 18 at 7pm Sept 12 at 5pm Sept 13 at 6pm  

BY LINDSAY HARRIS-FRIEL Mike Daisey may be one of the great thinkers of our generation. He speaks truth to power, sometimes roaring, sometimes whispering, always entertaining. I can only add to the praise that’s already been heaped upon his shoulders. He’s saying what we already know, but are afraid to say publicly. In his show How Theater Failed America, he’s pointing out not so much that theater has failed America, but that America is failing theater. What makes this magical is not what he says, but how. Daisey’s relentless, nearly two-hour monologue holds two interwoven stories. One, with the stage […]