Brooklyn-based gay storyteller and "drag clown" Dandy Darkly was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one delighted when his latest show, Myth Mouth!, was drawn via lottery to win a spot in the 8th Annual Chicago Fringe Festival.
"When the lovely lady who drew my name read it, she let out a cackle," said Darkly, who asked to go by his performance name. "She'd seen my previous show Dandy Darkly's Pussy Panic at the New Orleans Fringe Festival, so she knew my work."
The Chicago Fringe Festival returns once again to Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood through Sunday, Sept. 10. Of the 50 participating artists in nearly 200 performances, some performers hail from as far away as Greece and Ireland.
Darkly was glad to add a Chicago debut to his decision this year to touring to American festivals after spending previous summers at the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland ( and recently receiving three nominations for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards ). Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth! has already played Tampa and Orlando in Florida, Provincetown in Massachusetts and even Portland, Maine.
"This particular show focuses on storytelling and our queer pantheon of luminaries like Paul Lynde, Keith Haring, Divine, Langston Hughes, Willi Ninja—all these beautiful, beautiful people who create the mythology we ascribe to as queer people" said Darkly of the allegorically filled Myth Mouth! "Coming of age in the '90s ( I don't want to give away my age, of course ), I was very influenced by the AIDS crisis and so all of my stories I produce focus heavily on themes of sex and death—in particular how the two weave themselves together."
Another gay performer making inroads to Illinois for the first time is Jeffrey Robert from Seattle. Robert won first-time lottery admission at both the Chicago Fringe and the subsequent suburban Elgin Fringe Festival for his queer pop culture-filled show The Gay Uncle Explains It All For You.
"My show comes from a monthly Seattle show I used to do called The Gay Uncle Time," said Robert, adding that the topics ranged from disco star Sylvester to sex and sailors. "What I was trying to do was to pass on stories from the generation of gay men—my generation of which so many are no longer around to tell these stories."
Robert officially came out in 1977, and likes to find interconnected strands between typically frivolous pop cultural trends and fashions to larger issues of queer life in general. By doing so, Robert hope to bridge a disconnect between younger gay men who might eschew the knowledge of their elders.
"I try to present things that I feel passionately and have good memories about and that are symbolic of things that I think influenced my life and the lives of gay men my age," Robert said. "I loved coming out, I loved every minute of being gay and I lost almost everyone I know to AIDS and it was horrible. But I do not regret one single thing about the life I led."
At the Chicago Fringe, Robert is keen to soak up the atmosphere and to meet up with other performing artists. For instance, Robert is looking forward to catching up with former Seattle comic Jilberto Soto. His show, Even Got Knew I Was Gay, is being imported from London.
On top of the LGBTQ artists involved with the Chicago Fringe Festival, executive director Anne Cauley notes that year's festival features lots of other variety including dance troupes, the magician Danny Dubin and even self-billed mind reader Mark Toland.
"I anticipate more political work coming in 2018, because applications for this festival went live in December," Cauley said. "There are some boundary pushing shows this year, but I'll be interested to see what happens next year. A lot of artists are still processing what is happening."
"Fringe festivals are so important," said Darkly, emphasizing the benefits of ones that operate on a lottery system like Chicago. "It really gives an opportunity for people who maybe have never stepped a foot onstage, but have this dream to do something crazy or poignant or write something and perform it. If they're in, they're in."
The 8th Annual Chicago Fringe Festival continues through Sunday, Sept. 10, at five different venues within walking distance of Fringe Central at Weston's, 4872 N. Milwaukee Ave. There is a one-time purchase of a Chicago Fringe Festival Button for $5, and then each subsequent performance is $10 each. Kids Fringe tickets for youth ages 12 and younger are $5 each after button purchase. Multi-show passes are available, while an unlimited pass is $175. For a full list of shows and venues, visit ChicagoFringe.org .
Dandy Darkly's Myth Mouth! plays seven shows between Thursday, Aug. 31, through Friday, Sept. 8, at the CCJP Gym, 5320 W. Giddings St. The Gay Uncle Explains It All To You plays three shows between Friday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Windy City Music Theatre Blackbox Studio, 5340 W. Lawrence Ave. The Gay Uncle... also plays four shows at the Elgin Fringe Festival between Thursday to Sunday, Sept. 14-17 ( ElginFringeFestival.com ) .
