(toujours ivre)@le Fringe

Alanah and I picked the show closest to the beer tent as our first hit of the Fringe. La Derniere Enquête de L’Inspecteur Drive (Toujours Ivre), to be precise. In fact, in writing this post, I’ve realized I didn’t even know the title of the show when we went (had to look it up just now).

So, what can we say about this show? I’ll ask Alanah. (Alanah sits beside me now at the Indyish tent, an almost-drained plastic cup of Griffon in hand.)
Alanah: I didn’t understand!!

Good point, Alanah. I didn’t really understand it either. But it was really cool. Here’s what I did get.
Set in a rural Quebec casino, this 30-minute show is a spoof on the murder-mystery/crime-scene genre. It’s ripe with fabulous physical comedy, a really cute leopard-thonged male dancer, a really funky use of props, and a disturbingly accurate portrayal of a drunken Quebecois inspector.

Yeah, the cop was great. He slurred, he flirted, and he inspected the crime scene through the lense of his empty whiskey glass rather than the traditional magnifying glass. We just didn’t get why the other characters kept hitting on him.
Alanah, reading over my shoulder: Yeah, why were they so horny?
Sylvain, eavesdropping: Horny what?

But that’s the beauty of good physical comedy. You don’t have to understand a thing, you just have to laugh.