The FairyFales team have been presenting stand-up storytelling at FRINGE WORLD over many years.  In their latest incarnation they put to the test the stories adopted and adapted by the clever people at Walt Disney Studios.

The five members of the team each took a turn in centre stage to offer us their own take on various Disney stories and it was nice that their styles were all so different:

• Leigh – offered the strident, hyperactive in-yer-face style,
• Jamie – seemed to adopt the meandering shaggy dog story style of narrative,
• Felix – demonstrated a fondness for innuendo and double meaning,
• Beck – presented for the most part in the manner of the bedtime storyteller, and
• Courtney – showed more of a ‘boots and all’ approach, sparing on the subtlety. 

Ridiculing the ways in which Disney has butchered so many classic and not so classic stories in the name of commercial appeal is a great idea but unfortunately the FairyFales team failed to realise the potential.

There were a lot of ‘in-jokes’ which seemed to have their fellow presenters (on stage throughout) in stitches but which fell completely flat for the patrons.  The paying FRINGE WORLD customers should be the target for the humour or it all becomes rather self-indulgent and alienating for the audience.

I think the team need to take a critical look at what they are presenting.  There are definitely some funny bits while other parts are just not funny at all.  Presenting their material to a (non-sycophantic) test audience during the writing and rehearsing stage may allow the team to produce a show which has a wider appeal.

In the smallish space at the Belgian Beer Café not all of the storytellers actually need to use a microphone – well directed voice projection would be sufficient.  And I would question the overuse of expletives.  Just saying the f word doesn’t necessarily make something funny or accessible.

All of the presenters showed great energy and were clearly knowledgeable about their subjects so there is little doubt this can be a successful FRINGE WORLD show with some judicious editing.  At present though it is probably one to be enjoyed by devotees only.