Impish??? Is that a good thing?

I don't have time to drag my laptop down to the Fringe area to update my website, so a blogpost at an internet cafe will have to do for now.

52 Pick-up was mentionned in three of the four major print medias in Edmonton so far...

Vue Weekly said:
IF YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO SEE ONE PLAY ...
Zombies (Screwed and Clued)52 Pick-up (Enigma)Stage 11
All Stewart Matthews and Natalie Joy Quesnel, generally better known as Screwed and Clued, seem to do is get rave reviews. Zombies has already picked up an Outstanding Original Work award at the Ottawa Fringe and five star reviews in Winnipeg, and 52 Pick-up, which features 52 scenes about a relationship selected at random from a scattering of the cards, promises to be one of the most wildly creative works at this year’s Fringe. Do yourself a favour and see both.

See Magazine quoted us in an article... "Siren song. Your fringe show will get you laid if..."
"...Dallas met her husband on the Fringe and her daughter was conceived at the Winnipeg Fringe. She also notes there are quite a few other "war brides," British performers who came to Canada for the Fringe, fell in love and stayed.
Stewart Matthews is one such. A member of Screwed and Clued since their first tour in 1998, he was determined in 2003 to "...have flings in every city." Enter Natalie Joy Quesnel, with whom he performs 52 Pick Up this year. They met at an improv show in Ottawa
"He yelled ‘Wankers!’ really loudly," says Quesnel, "I thought nothing of it other than ‘He sounds English; he must be from the Screwed and Clued group that’s always here and is so popular and all the girls love them.’"
In the heightened world of Fringe, things progressed extremely rapidly, says Quesnel. "Our first kiss I pulled away and asked him, because I had nothing to lose, ‘How many kids do you want?’ He said three. I went ‘great’ and we carried on kissing."
Matthews chimes in. "Two hours later we finally got out of the elevator. Yeah, our first kiss lasted two hours in an elevator." Three months later they were engaged.
STICK TO THE F WORD
For Matthews and Quesnel, it was a case of love at first sight and a bone deep knowledge they’d met the right person. However, says Matthews, the reality is a bit different for most Fringe artists. "The Fringe is a place for ummm... heightened relationships. Because you know people for a short amount of time, relationships move a lot faster because of that. To get something lasting from it is very unusual, it’s usually very quick, very short affairs... yes that’s the Fringe, a whole bunch of horny actors having torrid affairs!"..."

AND

"Picks from other parts
Greetings my ducklings. After a two week absence, yours truly is back at the Underwood, devotedly scouting out all the news that’s fit to print. A week in Saskatoon, mining their Fringe, was an interesting sociological exercise. Onwards and upwards!
Fringe Roundup
The Fringe is supposed to be all about risk and adventure, but I know many of you readers out there want a bit of certainty when it comes to your Fringe dollar. Therefore I comb the newspapers of other Fringe cities to find out the frontrunners–the shows dubbed "Pick of the Fringe" by my out of town colleagues. Of the ten picks in Saskatoon, seven are coming on to Edmonton. They are: Letters in Wartime, Canterbury Tales, 52 Pick Up, Teaching Shakespeare 3, My Morocco, The Excursionists, and Train Your Man. Advance tickets are available at the Fringe Box Office or by calling 409-1910."

And finally, Colin MacLean was quite kind to us, giving the show at FOUR STAR review before we've even opened.
"52 Pick-Up is a returning Fringe favourite. It was created a few years back by Uber Fringe God T.J. Dawe, along with Rita Bozi.
The premise is simple. Two actors throw a deck of cards in the air. Each card signifies a single scene. They pick up the cards in random order and read off the title – the ace of hearts signifies “first meeting,’’ the two of diamonds, “sex,’’ the queen of hearts, “there are so many things I love about him,’’ the five of clubs, “first impressions’’ – and so on.
They then perform a scene based on the title. Slowly, the pieces come together and the story of a romance begins to form. In other words, each performance is different and the audience has to work to form the pieces into a coherent whole.
In other iterations of the show, I found it mildly interesting – an actor’s exercise to which we were invited.
Not so this time around. First the acting is superior. Stewart Matthews is a member of Screwed and Clued, the English troupe that has brought us Trench, Fitch and Cabbage and EN-GER-LAND.
Natalie Joy Quesnel has had considerable stage training and experience. What makes it work so well is that both performers have the ability to take just a few words, a mini-monologue, a snatch of dialogue or a small scene and make it work emotionally and dramatically satisfying, even if its context has yet to emerge. He’s a solid actor; she has an appealing impish quality.
So, mixed up though the scenes are, you still experience the thrill of first meeting, their developing love and the later problems that face any relationship.
These attractive young people are married and it is quite evident they are completely at home with each other on stage. The two have loads of charm, chemistry and connection.
Will they end up with each other or will they be pulled apart by fate and mutual differences? You have to see each production to find out but Matthews and Quesnel make the trip involving and worthwhile.
– Based on performance at the Saskatoon Fringe"

So far so good. Zombies hasn't been reviewed yet but still opened at noon today with around 55 bums in seats. 52 Pick-up has its first show tonight at 6:45pm... keeping my fingers crossed.