In 1982, Edmonton became the testing ground for a European phenomenon that had never been seen in North America. Twenty-five years later, the Edmonton Fringe Festival is one of the world’s largest fringes (second only to the Edinburgh powerhouse), and Calgarians have made the annual trip north to get their dose of fringe mania.  Despite a couple of kick-start attempts, it long seemed as though Calgary would never have its very own festival. Things have changed.
The Calgary Fringe Festival exploded onto the scene last summer, with theatre, film, visual art, acrobatics, body art and burgeoning street-side excitement.  Now, the fringe is back, running August 10 to 19. You can visit www.calgaryfringe.ca for a full lineup, but readers of this column will be particularly interested to hear that this year’s festival includes a couple of poetry-themed shows!
The Fugitives, a spoken word band from Vancouver, have hit Calgary several times over the past three years, wowing crowds with their blistering verse.  Barbara Adler and Brendan McLeod, half of the Fugitives quartet, return with The New Art of Poetry Clubbing, an explosive poetry concert that snagged five-star reviews at the Winnipeg Fringe earlier this summer.
Though this is their first Fringe tour, Adler and McLeod have toured together for over four years. “We see more of each other than we see of our families,” Adler laughs. “Touring can be pretty amazing, because you see people at their most generous.  Barriers are down and you can get to know people really well in a single night, which is great because we’re usually leaving the next day.” The pair, either solo or with the Fugitives, have taken their poetry across North America and Europe – though, of course, not every gig is a winner. “We call the low nights ‘Power Plays,’” says McLeod.  “Those are gigs where we outnumber the audience.” 
The fringe show combines the most successful elements of their Fugitives career: high-energy poetry, standup comedy, folk songs and surreal adventure stories. “We try to make poetry accessible and fun to people who might never have liked it before,” says Adler. “In a show, we try to win people’s trust with something accessible and funny. By the end, we can destroy the universe with poignancy.”
The New Art of Poetry Clubbing has five shows at the Glenbow Museum (130 9 Avenue S.E.) during the fringe fest: August 10 at 5 p.m.; August 11 at 7:30 p.m.; August 12 at 5:30 p.m.; August 14 at 8 p.m.; and August 16 at 1:30 p.m. Tickets $9.
You can also get your fringe poetry fix with Stand Up, Monkey Poet!, a down-and-dirty tour of sex, politics, religion and death from England’s Matt Panesh.  He, too, can be seen five times at the Glenbow Museum: August 10 at 9 p.m.; August 11 at 2:30 p.m.; August 14 at 6 p.m.; August 17 at 2 p.m.; and August 19 at noon. Tickets $10.
Full Depth: The Raymond Knister Poems, Micheline Maylor’s first collection of poetry, investigates the mysterious death of Canadian poet Raymond Knister.  To help celebrate her book launch, Richard Harrison joins her for a poetic evening at McNally Robinson (120 8 Avenue S.W.) on August 9, 7 p.m.
Stephen Shawcross has made a name for himself as Calgary’s poster boy for self-publishing, and he’s back once again to read from his debut novel, Runaway Summer.  You can hear his tales of hoods, greasers, piss-tanks and dinks at McNally Robinson on August 16, 7 p.m.
The dates for filling station magazine’s annual Blow-Out Festival have been announced!  A whole flock of Calgary authors will appear at the Carpenters’ Union Hall (301 10 Street N.W.) on September 14 and 15. Watch this space for more details!