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69 Moments of Life
Actor, You're Killing Me
Air Tight Security
Almost True Adventures ...
Amazing Improvised Musical
Animal Farm
Ballerina on a Horse
Beautiful Man
Berserker
Caffe di Amore or ...
Check the Box
Clearing Hedges
Corned Beef
Countless
Crime & Variations
Death Blow II: ...
Demon Pope
Diagnosis: Jew Pain ...
Disco Prophecies
Ethan's Gift
Far From Springer
Fixed Boundry
Forty Love
Got Water
I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Idiot Machine: ...
In Cahoots
John Muir: Watch, Pray, Fight
Late Night Talk Show
Ludlow and Canal
Magic at the Fringe
Man 1, Bank 0
Marx in Soho
Mixed Signal
Mother: A Modern Buddhist ...
Naked Inqisition
nEO - surrealists present: ...
Neon's Crazy Blue
Nharcolepsy
Original Action Pack
Park - N - Ride
Passages
Sandwich
Scabaret!
Searching for God in Kerala
Seventh Game of the World Series
Shadow Kissers
Strobe Vision
This World is Not My Home
Total Improvisation - ...
Train Stories
Tripping on the Equator ...
Twinspeak
Play: I Can't Believe They're not Oriental!
Reviewer: Paul Hurr
Reviewer Email: planetasia415@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Great show! its a must see! very funny, awesome skits! alot of them you
wouldnt understand if your not asian. but im sure everyone loved it. hope
they win this year! go OPM!!!! (Opium....mmm)
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: Sara Meeker
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
This show was pretty good. They started off very strong with the rap song
and Li'l Kim Chi was hilarious (although the music was a little loud and
I missed some of the lyrics). Overall, they had great ideas. I just wish
these guys would get some better actors (and director), then the ideas would
be better executed. Most of the cast was ok, but it's the (new) weak ones
that keep this show just ok as opposed to fabulous. I get the feeling they
think since it's sketch, it's ok to over-act and be campy. Allright, sure,
but you still have to do that well. Stop it with the forced facial expressions
already. Take an acting lesson and learn to be honest onstage and don't
force the funny on us. Just because it's sketch doesn't mean you shouldn't
create a committed character. If you're going to play an older person, really
be an older person -not just a young person in a wig -and it'll be much
more satisfying to watch. One girl in particular was so uncomfortable on
stage that she couldn!
't look up or speak up. I hate to pick on anyone, but if you're gonna do
sketch you can't be afraid. I don't mean to sound like a pretensious critic,
it's just that this show could be so much better if it was just tightened
up and cared for a little bit more. The ideas truly are funny and some of
the old cast is still right on (the priest giving sex advice you are hilarious
and psycho-neurotic girl you are adorable), and I did howl a lot of the
time. I guess the audience who comes to see these guys could care less about
how well the actors execute the show. I'll try to lighten up more the next
time I go to see them.
Play: I can't believe they are not oriental
Reviewer: henk smits
Reviewer Email: henk@garlic.com
Rating: 3 Stars
three stars for the smashing enthousiasm of a group of amateurs.
but there's a difference between doing a workshop and working out some lose
ideas and creating a play!
of course this becomes a hit again, because the space was filled with asian
people who recognized themselves.
But this is no artistic creation.
Where does the fringe stand for?
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Reviewer: Pat Chan
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Reviewer: John Lee
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: Paul Kim
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!
60 minutes of hilarity!
Play: I Can't Believe They're not Oriental
Reviewer: Carl Thelin
Reviewer Email: parchedcamel@yahoo.com
Rating: 4 Stars
Hilarious light-hearted sketch-comedy on the whole. The young couple getting
pre-marital sex counseling from the wacked out minister and the Taiwan love
boat sketches were my favorites. A couple of the other sketches seemed a
bit stale or the humor was a little forced, but these are energetic, vibrant
performers who give you for the most part a terrific show, making in easy
to forgive a few misfires.
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: Puffgilly
Reviewer Email: fobbertime@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
This was truly a sublime and moving performance. The exploration of the
changing perception of Asian American identity is woven intricately into
the various presented social constructs leading inevitably to discussion
of Shakespearean themes and on occassion, a chuckle or two. The works delve
deeply into the crisis of the human condition and the tragic themes which
have plagued humankind and superheroes since the time of Adam and Eve, allthewhile
admonishing Asian Americans of their need to protect their identity long
seperated from their respective motherlands. In watching this riveting work
of art, I could not help but feel like a feather, much like the one my mother
brought with her from China, symbolizing her dreams and aspirations in the
new country.
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: H. Kiddie
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I'm positive that I did not get all of the cultural referances, but still
I launghed through the entire show. Well done. Perfect balance of comedy
and paridy.
Play: OPM - I Can't Believe They're not Oriental!
Reviewer: Darryl Henry
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 3 Stars
Actually, 3.5 stars. Some of the skits were hilarious, others went on a
bit too long. Even if you're not Asian, you should "get it". If
you don't, there's uh, always Adam Sandler movies, I guess. Riffs on Asian
sterotypes - singing, rap, dancing, skits. A versatile troop. Sex shop skit
- way too long. Elderly Asian skit - great!
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: Charles Belov
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
Oh. My. God.
I bust a gut laughing. There was not a bad skit in the bunch. My body aches just from watching the self-defense sketch; I can just imagine the poor actors. Outrageous fun.
Some of the jokes will not make sense if you haven't been reading Asian Week for the last 5 years, but most of the comedy is quite accessible. They definitely weeded out the clunkers.
Play: OPM - I Can't Believe They're not Oriental!
Reviewer: gray jeng
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 5 Stars
HA! HA! HA! I laughed so hard that I nearly peed in pants! These people
are hilarious! Extremely witty, yet balanced with a dash of in-your-face
shut-yo-mouf' type of humor. I want MORE, MORE, MORE!
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Reviewer: Alan Ostri
Reviewer Email: aostrike@yahoo.com
Rating: 3 Stars
I'll say at the beginning that I'm not Asian so it's possible I missed some
of the cultural references. But just as sketch comedy, this show is pretty
standard. The show I saw, the laughs really tapered off towards the end,
which I think was due to how long the sketches were, and how they seemed
to cover pretty well-worn cultural territory. Making fun of white guy-asian
girl relationships is like soooo late nineties! But the performers are engaging
even if the direction is sloppy. And the gay love scene was pretty interesting.
Play: I can't believe they're not oriental
Reviewer: Janice
Reviewer Email: expressive@verizon.net
Rating: 5 Stars
the best show i've seen yet ... at the fringe. good job everyone...i've
heard nothing but good things.
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental!
Reviewer: tara
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
Get ready for some great character work and brilliant stereotype-skewering
in this tight sketch show! Some of the endings don't quite hit right, but
when they're on, they're on! My personal favorite: K-Town Girls!
Play: I Can't Believe They're Not Oriental
Reviewer: Brandon
Reviewer Email: brandonrulestheworld@earthlink.net
Rating: 3 Stars
I laughed a few times despite myself, but this show could've been better.
The cast's energy and enthusiasm keep things entertaining, but the show
is plagued by weak writing and some amateurish directing. Too many characters
thrust their crotches back and forth to show how horny they are. And how
many jokes can you make about someone's stinky kimchee breath? Turns out
two is two too many.
The best piece was the one with the students visiting Taiwan, because the acting was good and it actually surprised me. The homeless woman sketch was also hilarious. The one with the stereotyped actors was cute, but we've seen that joke done before (and done much better in the movie "Hollywood Shuffle").
The sex shop is a classic example of a funny scene that goes on too long. The rap song was cute but needed more movement. The superhero sketch was by far the weakest of the bunch, and an unfortunate way to end the show.
Then again, the girls were really hot, so it was worth my 8 bucks ..
Play: OPM: I Can't Believe They're Oriental
Reviewer: Dave Wong
Reviewer Email: djfanac@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Have to watch this show! One of the best in the fringe festival! Brings
asian lifestyle out in a funny way. It was funny cause it was true!
Play: OPM: I Can't Believe They're Oriental
Reviewer: Dave Wong
Reviewer Email: djfanac@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
Have to watch this show! One of the best in the fringe festival! Brings
asian lifestyle out in a funny way. It was funny cause it was true!
Play: I Can't Believe They are not Oriental - OPM
Reviewer: Laura Chou
Reviewer Email: lauraachou@yahoo.com
Rating: 5 Stars
The second time I've seen them and they are still piss in my pants funny.
Please come again! Thank you!
Play: I Can't Believe They're not Oriental
Reviewer: Alan
Reviewer Email:
Rating: 4 Stars
I had a great time at this show. I just wish some of the sketches had stronger
endings. They were really funny, but just sort of ended. Either that or
they tried to end on a funny tag line that just didn't do the sketch justice.
See it though! You'll laugh you're ass off.
Play: I Can’t Believe They’re Not Oriental!
Reviewer: Vince Vitale
Reviewer Email: WorldGazer@aol.com
Rating: 5 Stars
OPM (can you say Opium?), is a one-of-a-kind Asian-American sketch comedy
troup, intent on laughing at itself from the inside out. Since last year
(which was good enough) they’ve tightened up their act with wall-to-wall
laughs, adding lots of sexual humor, while taking all their usual pot shots
at Asian family structure and expectations. The skit about the two gay guys
who meet on the Taiwan-for-Asian-Americans over-the-top-hetero love boat
is a welcome addition to their repertory. They tackle issues of cultural
assimilation with their comic-book-style Dr. White skit. This talented very
attractive team is a must see at the Fringe. Hint: If you don’t understand
the title, you need a good dose of OPM!