Minnesota Fringe Festival

True stories about life in an Iron Range town, this story cycle opens up the secrets of the mysteries of those odd sounding, hockey loving northerners. John's storytelling style, and occasional piece of music, will tell you why Iron Rangers love their home towns and won't put up withanyone putting them down.

John Berquist

The Saga of Nick Drillbitz and Other Hometown Heroes: Stories from Up on Da Range

Fri., Jul. 31 @ 5:30 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 2 @ 8:30 p.m.
Mon., Aug. 3 @ 10:00 p.m.
Wed., Aug. 5 @ 10:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 9 @ 4:00 p.m.

Venue Ritz Theater Proscenium
For ages 12+
Created by John Berquist
From Rochester, MN
Web site http://www.johnberquist.com/
genres Solo, Spoken word
subjects Multicultural, Historical
features Regional premiere (Minneapolis-St. Paul), First-time Minnesota Fringe Festival producer

Overall rating

User reviews

Ah, childhood
by William Ronchak Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
A generally fun filled evening with hometown stories. The stories move between as if in stream-of-consciousness. Very good performance and true feeling behind the words. Great job!

Real + Surreal
by Phil Platt Follow this reviewer
Rating 5 kitties
If you've never been to the Iron Range, these stories might feel surreal. If you have been to the Range, they are both real and surreal. John does a fine job making us laugh, cry, wonder, empathize, and imagine. I will probably go again before the Fringe is done.

Heart felt entertainment
by larry mahlstedt Follow this reviewer
Rating 4 kitties
I reeally enjoyed this production. He did a great job of letting his passion and honesty shine through in the story telling. There was some bumps but I enjoyed the journey.

Enjoyable
by Richard Heise Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
Charming but average Fringe performance, didn't "wow" me. If you like storytelling it's worth seeing.

Charming But Uneven Storytelling
by William Marth Follow this reviewer
Rating 3 kitties
Saga of Nick Drillbitz is far from polished, far from tightly structured, but it still has its own charm, thanks to John's love of the subject matter.

It feels like sitting down with your funny uncle and hearing him talk about stories from his childhood. Just like those stories, many of the stories in Drillbitz fizzle without proper resolution, others abruptly jump from subject to subject. But there is a caring nostalgia there, and it comes through throughout the length of the piece.

The audience the day of the performance I attended seemed to be half Iron-Rangers, which helped matters.

PS: Don't expect any guitar like you see in the above photograph. Do expect another instrument, though.

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