Paul Bunyan Runs for President
presented by Vanderpan Enterprises
Showtimes
Sat., Aug. 2 @ 6:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 3 @ 10:00 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 4 @ 10:00 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 8 @ 8:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 10 @ 2:00 p.m.
Show details
Venue: Bryant-Lake Bowl
Duration: 60 minutes
Written by Jonathan Wemette
From: Lake Worth, FL
Genres: Comedy, Political
Overall rating
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I'd vote for him!
by Chuck Beeson Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
Paul Bunyan, by creating the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes, the Grand Canyon and the Mississippi River with just him his axe and his blue ox Babe, were banished to Greenland, because of all the people who died in these eventsâ¦that is the humorous premise we are set up with in Paul Bunyan Runs for President. Geeky, spectacle wearing accountant Johnny Inkslinger (Ned Hurley) goes on a mission to find Paul Bunyan to get him to run on his third party ticket for the Balance Party (Johnny failed twice to get elected). He convinces Paul (Kevin Albertson) to come back to America and run for President. The thumping soundtrack is Paul walking while he carries tiny little Johnny in his hands. Their first stop (besides getting shot at crossing the US/Canada border) is Lebanon, Kansas, the geographic center of the US, part of the I logical and boring strategy Johnny has for Paulâs campaign. With an ear piece in his ear, Paul repeats whatever Johnny tells him, but finds the policy messages Johnny crafted boring and so does the audience. When Paulâs ear piece cuts out at a rainy campaign stop, Paul establishes his own platform. The 3% share of eligible voters goes up to 91% as Paulâs new ads and approach (outrageous) wins by a landslide.
Actors are planted in the audience to ask questions of Paul. Some of the outrageous ideas that win votes are: send all the sick people to Canada, and wash the entire US with soap and water and they can come back when they are better; fill the Grand Canyon with soup and feed the poor with it; move all the hurricanes (in a hurricane proof bag) from the Gulf of Mexico to the Nevada desert, and build a Rocky Mountain range on the Mexican border (âeven rockierâ) and if any one can climb those mountains, âthose are the kind of people we want.â. Feeling his loss of power, the campaign manager sends an damning op-ed piece via his Blackberry and the story and the campaign have and interesting and heart warming end. Paul Bunyan is played with audacity and humor and the one sound cue that ran long while âthumpingâ along he explained, âHmm Iâll have to go to a special shoe store for thatâ which the audience went right along with. When the stumps he walks over constantly on stage wiggle, he just happened to be talking to campaigners in Texas and he took another jab at the Bush administration (called âthe Prohibitionistsâ), and his idea of terra-farming the moon was a shot at Bushâs idea of going back to the moon. All in all cleverly acted and a perfect venue to see this show in, audience members enjoying food and drink. The only obnoxious part were all the late people being seated where I basically lost ten minutes of the play by people trying to grab any available seat.
I hope Bryant Lake Bowl holds this production over because there is nothing like a little comedy and serious politics in an election year and this play can have a much wider audience, and with the acting and directing and multi-lingual press bites in blackouts and clever use of patriotic music during âstumpâ speeches, this little play could become quite a smash. Well done, Vanderpan Productions! Well done, Kevin & Ned!
My Funniest Show in the Fringe
by phillip low Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
All built on a single, really dumb joke -- if you've read the title, you know exactly what you're going to be watching. Incredibly lowbrow, but I couldn't stop giggling through the whole thing, and it definitely had the strongest laugh-to-minute ratio of any show I've seen in the Festival so far. Full review available at the Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Flapjack Fun!
by Hannah Weyandt Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
The script was very clever and well written. Albertson wins the hearts of the audience as the Balance Party candidate! Ned Hurley also was wonderful as the all-business campaign manager. This show encourages audiences to think about the country politically and have fun at the same time! Don't miss it!
PS:I loved that "The Lumberjack Song" was included in the show.
A BIG BIG BIG SHOW
by Fringe Guy Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
Jonathan wrote a big show about a big guy that could have tanked in a big way and thanks to a quirky script, good direction and a talented cast it did not. At first I was not sure how this show was going to work, but with Kevin and Ned's wonderful work together on stage and physical reactions makes this show come to life.
