The 2024 IndyFringe Festival is in full swing. The IndyFringe Festival brings music, magic, drama, dance, and more to the Mass Ave Cultural Arts District and to Fountain Square. This year, 70 unique shows fill six stages for 250 performances in a vibrant, genre-defying theatre experience. Laugh, and experience the wonder of Indy’s silliest, strangest, and most celebratory performing arts event! The number of performances in a festival of this kind can be overwhelming, so Crossroads is looking to help you out – specifically with some improv and other alternative comedy recommendations. Some of these I have seen in previous festivals whereas others have simply caught my eye. This is by no means an exhaustive list. For the full festival list of performances spanning all genres, you can check out the festival website here.
Designated Debaters. Designated Debaters is a hilariously interactive debate show where your favorite fictional friends argue the hot topics provided by YOU, the audience… and the loser has to drink! Coke or Pepsi? Disney or Universal? Are hotdogs a sandwich? Our cast verbally dukes it out to find the answers in this sloshy, silly slugfest. YOU choose the topics, YOU pick the winners, WE stagger home.
I saw this show last year during the festival and it was hilarious. When I saw it the debaters were Alexander Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera. Those will be the same characters tonight, but what they do, debate, and sing will be completely different. Plus, you can catch Crossroads instructor Ana Eligio Hammersley in the show this year! Tonight is the last show for a bit, so don’t throw away your shot!
719 E. St Clair Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
ACT A FOO IMPROV CREW. Act A Foo is an audience interactive, short form, game based, comedy group that uses the audiences suggestions for every game!! At the end of the show, you’ll know that everything was UN-Scripted, UN-Rehearsed, and UNBELIEVABLY FUNNY!!
This is a group that I have not yet seen, but one I’m looking very forward to seeing. For those that don’t know what they mean when they say “short form” just think of Whose Line Is It Anyway? That is a short form improv show. Crossroads does what is called long form improv.
719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis, IN 46203
NETFLIX ROULETTE: WHAT IF…? Movie Trailer Narrator Voice – In a world full of spin-offs and Alternate Universes, only Behind the Couch Improv has the courage to rise above what has been and ask the most important question of all… WHAT IF…? Right before your very eyes, improvisers from across the land of Indianapolis will show you scenes from beloved movies like you’ve never seen before by taking that well-known scene and changing something about it. Hold on to your boats, we’re going to need a bigger butt!
When I saw this show last year they were performing new episodes of classic sitcoms. On the night I went it was Full House and was a blast. Looking forward to seeing them stepping into the multiverse. I’ll only be slightly disappointed if there’s no Oatu the Watcher guiding us through these worlds.
719 E. St Clair Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
TIME CAR: THE IMPROVISED PARODY. An eccentric scientist and a high school student must navigate the perils of time travel when a DeLorean car becomes their ticket to the past and future, as they race against time to ensure their own existence and set history right. What’s more? The audience can write their own lines of dialogue that our improvisers will SEAMLESSLY incorporate into the show… The beloved 1985 film plus YOUR suggestions. What could possibly go wrong?
Mixes improv and one of my favorite movies. Of course I’m going to see this. We’re not getting an official Back to the Future 4, so I’ll take what I can get. Not for nothing, but I particulaly love the tag line and would see it for that reason – “Scripts? Where we’re going we don’t need… scripts.”
719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis, IN 46203
VILE. Are you sad? Me too, bestie. Let’s stuff our faces with girl dinner (patriarchal pepperoni pizza pie) and order some face masks for self care (from Amazon because we need them TOMORROW) and watch some tv (that we’ve seen before) while we scroll tiktok (to judge a stranger’s Target haul) – all to make sure that we absolutely DO NOT have a feeling (or a memory, or a critical thought.) In Vile, Francesca Montanile Lyons brings you a solo performance that rides the line between pleasure and disgust, where clown and buffon hold a funhouse mirror to the artist’s self. Here, the laughter is tinged with nausea, and the nausea is tinged with relief. Ingredients include: the decay of late stage capitalism, a skewering of rape culture, the hilarity of depression, plus greasy toes, a balloon penis, extra cheese, and a side of bdsm.
I haven’t seen any clown related comedy in Indy just yet, so I’m really going to try to catch this. I know of Francesca from my time in Philly where she was in a hilarious music group called Girl Poop. There’s content warnings on this show and it’s recommended for 18+ so be sure to check the full description for more info.
719 E. St Clair Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
HISTORY OF THE WOMEN’S WORLD. This is a sketch show about women, starring the talents of Meg McLane, Kait Burch, Jetta Vaughn, Jamie Rich, Robin Kildall, Tracy Herring and Courtney McClure-Murry.
I have yet to see a sketch comedy show in Indianapolis, s0 this is another one that’s on my list. If you’re unfamiliar with sketch comedy, this is a scripted comedy show of short scenes.
719 E. St Clair Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
CAMP SUMMER CAMP. It’s the summer of 1984, and a group of rag-tag counselors rally to save their Canadian summer camp from the brink of closure armed with only love, laughter, and show-stopping choreography. This original musical comedy has everything you want in a Fringe show: love triangles, ghost stories, serial killers, boat safety, earworms, and a group of actors in their 40s playing teenagers (Just like in the 80s!).
As a child of the 80’s and a lover of cheesy movies and musicals it seems as if this show was made with me in mind. Hope to catch it in its final weekend.
719 E. St. Clair St., Indianapolis, IN 46203
That’s just a few of the many, many shows happening with IndyFringe this year. For the full list you can check out the IndyFringe website, which includes info about all the shows across all genres as well as information about the acts, planning your visit, and more. Whether you see one of our recommended shows or one of the many others – thank you for supporting the arts in Indy!
