Fringe 2012: Fishbowl
Photo by Tanja Tiziana
Mark Shyzer
Sunday, July 8, 1:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 11, 11 p.m.
Thursday, July 12, 7:45 p.m.
Friday, July 13, 1:45 p.m.
Saturday, July 14, 3:30 p.m.
Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse (79 St George Street)
Toronto actor/writer Mark Shyzer has had plenty of time to hone his one-man show since it premiered at Buddies in Bad Times in 2010, and though it may have been shortened for Fringe by about 20 minutes, it retains all of the biting humour that audiences and critics enjoyed the first time around. Shyzer establishes his four characters at the outset by undergoing a quick costume change for each, before simply relying on his voice and mannerisms to distinguish between the comic creations.
The structure and rhythm may be somewhat redundant after a while, but a slew of pithy one-liners keep things from ever becoming too stale. The writing is sharp and the performance nuanced enough that it would be a trial to decide on a favourite of the four roles he embodies, as they all possess their own hilarious idiosyncrasies. Though an attempt to weave all of the tangents together at the end feels like a bit of an afterthought, it barely detracts from the thrill of seeing a young talent like Shyzer come into his own.