Playing the Lottery

Because the Boulder International Fringe Festival is a 100-percent accessible and unjuried event, its organizers decided the only fair way to pick the participating artists would be to pull their names from a hat. But just because the Fringe lottery is random doesn't mean it comes without fanfare.

Tonight's Big Fringe Lottery Party 2008 will be like an awards show, with artists in the audience anxiously awaiting their names, says Dayna Himot, aka Marguerite Fondue. Co-hosting the festivities will be Fondue herself and Pierre Jean-Pierre St. Pierre, from Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret. The energy between the Quebecoise and French characters should be very funny, "almost delicious," Himot says. The hosts will lead the audience in games, and Orange Peel Moses, square product theatre and Angie Yeowell will perform. "I think whenever you get a lot of performers on stage together, you never know what's going to happen," Himot says. "That's what I love about the Fringe."

Last year's Fringe showcased seventy artist groups in 350 shows at fifteen venues; this year's festival is scheduled for August 14-25. The Big Fringe Lottery Party starts at 7 p.m. at the Laughing Goat Coffeehouse, 1709 Pearl Street in Boulder; admission is free. For information, go to www.boulderfringe.com.
Thu., Feb. 21, 7 p.m., 2008