Fringe Benefits

February – March 2015

Adelaide, SA hosts an amazing Fringe Festival every February and March. We happily took up this year’s theme, “Experience Something New,” by taking in the kick-off parade and seeing a comedic show and a musical show.

The parade was held on a hot, Friday evening. We made our way to King William’s street, where the parade initiated with recognition, through symbols, words and songs, of the Ghana and Kaurna people who are the ancestral tribes of the land now called Adelaide. It was full of colour, lights, music and confetti. The street was packed with on-lookers, who were introduced to the different genres of entertainment by Sirens. It was a new experience to view a parade during the night time and for the temperature to remain incredibly warm.

As the Adelaide Fringe runs for over a month, we had plenty of time to pick and choose our shows. We started with a comedic performance by five up and coming Adelaide Comics. The hour long show was held in the “beer garden” or rather a storage room off of the main Rhino Room bar which had had 2 roof tiles removed to create the illusion of being outdoors. The young comedians tried their best and did get a few laughs out of the audience of 12. Sean even had a moment of audience participation which added a giggle to the act.

After the show, we headed down to the main Fringe headquarters and enjoyed some food and crowd watching in “The Garden of Unearthly Delights.”

Venues are not restricted to the Central Business District. So for our second Fringe show, we stayed in the hills, heading to a musical show at Mylor’s Cotton Memorial Hall. We enjoyed playing cards before SourSob Bobb took the stage with his comedic and opinionated act. We were delighted by Courtney Robb’s performance as she teamed up with singer/songwriter Emma Woolcock. Courtney sang some of Carolyn’s favourite tunes and stopped to chat a while after the performance, remembering Carolyn from their first meeting in August 2014. Hopefully, Courtney will seek out opportunities to sing in Canada as her simple style and unique voice would suit the Folk Festival circuit. Fingers crossed!

Emu lighting up the night, Adelaide Fringe Parade, February 13, 2015

Flaming Kangaroo, Adelaide Fringe Parade, February 13, 2015

Sizzling Snake, Adelaide Fringe Parade, February 13, 2015

Parade Marshall, Emu lighting up the night, Adelaide Fringe Parade, February 13, 2015

Fringe Siren, Adelaide Fringe Parade, February 13, 2015

Carolyn and Sean Experiencing Something New at the 2015 Adelaide Fringe, February 27, 2015

SourSob Bobb and Guest Harmonica Artist, Mylor Cotton Memorial Hall, February 28, 2015

Emma and Courtney taking a moment to tune up their guitars, Mylor Cotton Memorial Hall, February 28, 2015

Courtney and Carolyn, Mylor Cotton Memorial Hall, February 28, 2015