FRANK THE MIND-READING HOTDOG
Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland
10/02/2015 - 14/02/2015
03/03/2015 - 06/03/2015
NZ Fringe Festival 2015 [reviewing supported by WCC]
Production Details
LESS SAUCE, MORE MIND FREAK
Frank, the Mind-reading Hotdog, is the only mind-reading hotdog in the world! He’s a fast-talking, glass smashing, mind-encroaching kind of dog who performs the most amazing feats of mental dexterity.
He can predict cards, recreate drawings, pluck words from your head and, as a climax, will solve a Rubik’s cube completely blindfolded.
Last year Frank, performing as Matt Penny, was nominated for best Cabaret show with “Experiments in Mind-reading” and the year before his show, “Micro Magic”, was nominated for the best multi-media award, both at Perth’s Fringe World.
Matt has been performing as a magician, actor and part time Karma Sutra model for over 20 years and this is the first time he has taken a show on the road. The Auckland Fringe is part of a 5 city, 2 country tour.
Matt regularly plays piano for silent movies at the Perth Cultural Centre Screen and been a writer, theatre director and animator (Claymation) in the past.
Frank, the Mind-reading Hotdog
February Tues. 10th – Sat. 14th @ 9pm
Q Theatre, 305 Queen Street, Auckland
Tix $15 – $25
Auckland Fringe 2015 is an open access arts festival where anything can happen. It provides a platform for practitioners and audiences to unite in the creation of form forward experiences, which are championed in an ecology of artistic freedom. The 2015 program will see work happening all over the show, pushing the boundaries of performance Auckland wide from February 11 to March 1. www.aucklandfringe.co.nz
NZ FRINGE 2015 (Wellington)
Venue: Paramount Theatre
3-6 Mar 2015
7.30pm
A$25.00 | C/Stu$20.00 | FA$20.00
Theatre , Solo , Magic/Illusion ,
Mentalist in a Bun
Review by Tim George 12th Feb 2015
Going into this, I had no idea what this was going to be about. Everything from the title to the press photos to the description seemed perfectly designed to give you absolutely nothing. For Fringe, that seems like the right idea. After all, the whole point of the festival is that anything goes. It may go right off a cliff but that’s the risk you take.
As it turns out, when you go see a show called Frank the Mind-Reading Hot Dog, that is exactly what you get. Frank is a mind-reading hot dog. The show itself is like an episode of ‘The Mentalist’, only with more magic, mind-reading, and if the protagonist was a very sweaty man in a hot dog costume. [More]
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
He’s great company
Review by Heidi North 11th Feb 2015
After much anticipatory music, out steps Frank (Matt Penny), a grey-haired guy in an uncomfortable looking hotdog suit. And crocs. I don’t think anyone’s going to accuse him of being a hipster. Nor would he want to be. Penny is a guy doing just his thing. The hotdog suit… well, that’s just a bit of weird (with a long-winded morphic psychic energy explanation).
Penny is a mind-reading hotdog/magician, with an eclectic bag of tricks. While it’s not fair to detail them here, suffice to say, this isn’t formulaic and the small audience is impressed.
It’s difficult to judge a show like this without the energy needed from a bigger audience (this is a show that requires participation, after all) but Penny handles it. Essentially, he’s great company. With a slew of self-deprecating jokes we can’t help but be on his side. It could have been a train wreck, instead, we all cling together and survive; even managing to relax and enjoy ourselves.
He’s seriously uncool, his jokes are dorky, his fashion sense lacking, but you can’t help but have fun anyway.
It’s the Fringe. All the way from Perth, Frank deserves a bigger crowd.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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