Thursday night I was at the SF Fringe Festival to check out this one-man show parodying motivational business speakers. Bill Bernat, casually dressed in blue jeans & wearing a headset mic, stood at a lectern & introduced himself as a Microvational Speaker, explaining that he would motivate us...but just a little. For the next hour, with the aid of PowerPoint slides, he described a catalog of stress-inducing co-workers & told Dilbert-like stories from his days as an IT manager. The show is a series of bullet points rather than a theatrical experience. Mr. Bernat is frank about the inherent competition within corporate environments, where in order to get ahead you may need to sabotage your own coworkers. There was something disturbing about his own admissions of his nettlesome workplace behavior.The EXIT Theater spaces are cramped, & the show was well-attended. The enthusiastic Fringe ushers encouraged us to purchase beverages to bring into the theater, & a good proportion of the audience did so.
§ Microvation
by Bill Bernat
EXIT Theatre
Thursday, September 8, 9:00 PM
Also:
Saturday, September 10, 1:00 PM
Sunday, September 11, 2:30 PM
Wednesday, September 14, 10:30 PM
Thursday, September 15, 7:00 PM
Saturday, September 17, 6:00 PM
§ SF Fringe Festival 2011
September 7 - 18
2 comments:
Thanks so much for coming to the show! I make fun of some of my stupid, embarrassing past office behaviors to make it easier for others to laugh at theirs. I believe that when become more self-aware we can freak out less, and be less like the menacing “job stress supervillains” in the show. But mainly, it’s just fun to laugh about the things that stress us out at work:) - Microvational speaker Bill Bernat
I should have mentioned how important it is that you now freak out less! To me the uncomfortable part of the show is having to consider what evil co-worker behaviors I may have committed. Thanks for making my 1st Fringe show an entertaining one.
Post a Comment