Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

#txtshow (on the internet)

 
Johanna Makelainen Review by Johanna Makelainen 3 Published: 10 Aug 2021 Camden Fringe Digital programme Show Dates: 2 Aug 2021-29 Aug 2021

Do you think that most fringe shows are utter rubbish? That you can write a better script? Well, here’s your chance! In #txtshow, if you don’t like the script, just blame yourself – you wrote it. Welcome to the dada reincarnation of 2021 – live on Zoom, where else?

#txtshow either sinks or swims depending on audience participation.

#txtshow is a crowdsourced, immersive performance, where your designated actor ‘txt’ recites live on Zoom whatever you and the other participants write in the chat box. The 45-minute show kicks off by ‘txt’ sitting down at a desk staring blankly at you. It’s time for some puppet master action! After some initial clumsy attempts at a conversation, the rules seem pretty clear. ‘txt’ would read out everything I wrote in chat – even a children’s poem in Finnish – but ignored requests to move. At least I couldn’t get ‘txt’ to twerk for me. Yes, I did try. No, I have no shame.

As can be expected, #txtshow either sinks or swims depending on audience participation. I attended the show on a quiet Monday night, so there wasn’t much going on – except my own contribution. Actually, it was highly amusing just to watch ‘txt’ slouch at his desk looking bored when I didn’t give him any impulses. After the show I thought of many hilarious things I could have made him read, so perhaps some prep is advisable. The show relies heavily on spontaneous ideas coming from the audience, so the dadaesque idea can only be achieved when a lot of people feed ‘txt’ nonsensical lines.

The screen name ‘txt’ belongs to Brian Feldman, the American fringe theatre performance artist. Feldman's performances can be best described as experimental time-based art, often making use of repetition and endurance. Some of his previous work includes leaping off of a ladder 366 times over 24 hours, marrying a stranger in support of marriage equality via a game of spin-the-bottle, hosting a weeklong read-a-thon on a library rooftop and performing Broadway musicals over the phone.

Brian Feldman is a born performer and a master of physical comedy. His emotions run from devastation to ecstasy, as he squeezes out the very last drop of meaning from every word he recites. If you want to get all philosophical, I guess the show is all about agency. If you’d have full control over someone’s expression, what would you make them say? And what would that say about you? In the end, the show reveals more about the people writing the lines than the performer delivering them.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

As a prelude to his Edinburgh debut (‘#24hourtxtshow (on the internet)’ on 24 August), performance artist Brian Feldman brings his critically acclaimed, award-winning project to Camden Fringe. This crowdsourced, immersive, multiscreen performance features a mysterious character called txt who recites a script written anonymously in real-time by a live audience (on the internet). It’s the best show you’ll write all year. “Such an intriguing and innovative concept, it’s far more than the simple, one-way online broadcast performances that have substituted themselves in place of real-world delivery in traditional theatres... ‘#txtshow (on the internet)’ is easily the best Zoom call I’ve dialed into during 2020.” – The Greater Manchester Reviewer Created and performed by Brian Feldman, this LIVE, interactive performance takes place on Zoom, originating from his home in Washington, D.C., a 2-mile walk from the British Embassy. Advisory: This LIVE online theatre show* relies on a high level of audience interaction. Audience members must keep their camera and microphone on the entire time they are in the show. *If it’s not live, it’s not theatre. Instructions: j.mp/txtshow_program