Philadelphia Fringe Festival: Our Top Ten Geeky Picks

Photo: A Tale of Two Brains

Ah, the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe. It’s that special time of year where people can paint themselves weird colors and dance around in front of projector screens, and can somehow live with themselves after calling it art. But experimental and post-modern rubbish aside, the Philly Fringe Festival has a lot of hidden gems this year that will appeal to you geeks out there.

From a ballsy sounding Top Gun and Shakespeare mashup to the touching story of two toothless zombies wandering Pennsylvania searching for the meaning of life… I present to you, Geekadelphia’s Top 10 Fringe Festival Picks.

10. Wawapalooza – This annual production put together by IdRatherBeHere is consistently hilarious year after year. And whilst the show isn’t riddled with geeky references, the self deprecating mockery of our fair city never ceases to be a riot. This year’s show promises “short films, plays, and artwork that parodies environmentalists, mustaches, Taser victims, sex, vegans, and awkward run-ins with exes in Wawa.” Mocking vegans? We’re in.

9. Zombies Are Forever – Rainbow Destroyer, a zombie-pop duo, are hosting a night of karaoke… and you’re invited. Can you handle it? We bet Alex Hillman from Indy Hall could, with those pipes of his. Zombie karaoke. How could this not be on the list?

8. Jester’s Dead – Sure, The Outfit is an ensemble from New York… but we won’t hold that against them. They’re blending Top Gun with Shakespeare, packing it full of “swordfights, songs, and text from every play in Shakespeare’s canon.” Awesome.

7. Hello From the Children of Planet Earth – “Two NASA scientists fall in love as an astronaut and his wife slowly drift apart.” This one sounds slightly deeper than a lot of the other picks I’ve got listed, as the description claims the show will remind “us that even when the universe looks terrifyingly infinite, we are never truly alone.” Hard not to love a show taking place in space though.

More Picks After the Jump!

Superheroes Who Are Super, Photo by James Introcaso

6. Groundhog Hour - A show inspired by a Bill Murray film? Sold.

5. A Tale Of Two Brains - Thank goodness, the zombie apocalypse has been averted… however, two zombies that are missing their teeth wander the Pennsylvania landscape, searching for the meaning of life. Oh, and it’s done with PUPPETS. And to quote Forgetting Sarah Marshall… puppets f*ck my sh*t up!

4. Dead Air: The Final Broadcast of the Zombie Apocalypse – Yes, that’s right. More zombies. Deal with it. The zombie apocalypse, shown a la Orsen Welle’s War of the Worlds. A brilliant idea.

3. Dracula - A new look at Dracula, mixed with science, produced at my favorite Philly theatre… the Lantern.

2. FLASH – Remember classic flashmobs? Before the media (sup Philly.com) screwed up the name, and confused them for kids gathering together and breaking stuff? People used to dance, freeze in place, do all sorts of neat stuff. The Philly Fringe aims to take back the flashmob. And we applaud them.

1. Superheroes Who Are Super – Superheroes? In costume? With special effects? And the Hulk smashing things? Awesome. Read up about this one, it sounds great.

Have a blast at the Philly Fringe kids. To scope out the rest of the shows, visit their official website.