Spencer Ruffian
A clown-trained performer whose show 'Oh, Nuts' uses hazelnuts to explore his own heterosexuality.
Highlight Bits & Quotes
15My Messy Exes: A Religious Rom-Com
Chanty Featherbutt describes his edgy solo show where he portrays various religious deities as toxic ex-partners, including a controversial portrayal of Muhammad that he justifies as 'pushing boundaries.'
"I basically come out as every single god you've ever heard and I perform as some sort of messy ex."
"South Park has gone limp and it's time for me to step in."
"Religion to me is a sex cult."
Oh, Nuts: The Quest for Straightness
Spencer Ruffian explains his clown-based solo show involving buckets of hazelnuts and lube, which serves as a soul-searching journey to confirm that he is, in fact, straight.
"Ultimately really it's like this funny like clown show about like nuts but really what it's about is like am I straight?"
"At the bottom of the nut bucket it says not gay."
"I had to get through all of the nuts to realize I'm straight."
Rat Number One and the Dentist Dad
Sydney Keeler-Mothamer describes her solo show's 'Rat Number One' piece, where she portrays her accusers as dirty rats. The panel is shocked to learn that her dad being a dentist wasn't just a character choice, but her actual truth.
"I portray them as dirty little rats."
"Your dad was a dentist for real? That wasn't just for the show?"
"I've been to the dentist. That's insane that your dad's a dentist."
The Solo Show to Broadway Pipeline
The performers discuss the various formats their solo shows have taken, including zines and 'verticals'. Sydney reveals her show is doing a three-week drop-in at the Gershwin Theatre on the set of Wicked.
"What if all of our solo shows could be combined into one vertical?"
"They're letting me sort of do a drop in for about three weeks. Same set."
"Big Bang Theory started as a one-man show."
Spencer's Seven Interesting Shows at HBO
Spencer announces an overall deal with HBO for seven 'interesting shows' because executives find his performance too raw to put in a box. The group pitches increasingly bizarre ideas for these dark, interesting shows.
"I have an overall with HBO now to do seven different type of like kind of interesting shows with them."
"Execs can't put it in a box, so they need it and they need seven of it."
"What if she's Mother Mary and she's breastfeeding so much her nipples are bleeding?"
The Notes App Dramatic Reading
Daisy Man reads a deeply poetic and depressing monologue from her notes app about the smell of rain and a balloon of grief, which she claims is how she knows she is straight.
"The last remaining crewman on a pirate ship abandoned at sea."
"God. And like literally that's how I know I'm straight."
"I don't trust Canadian women. There's something going on there."
The One-Word Takeaway Exercise
The group attempts to summarize what they've learned from their solo shows in a single word, leading to revelations about 'suffering', 'justice', and Chanty's obsession with Hazbin Hotel.
"My word is suffering. God, surfering. More like surfing."
"I realize how much I love my wife talking about this."
"Clear your browsing history now. You could be arrested for that."
The Final Line Challenge
The panelists attempt to improvise the profound final lines of their fictional solo shows, resulting in a mix of existential dread, bizarre non-sequiturs, and aggressive outbursts.
"I guess after all this time, the only nuts I like were mine."
"I pray the Lord my soul to fuck up the birth."
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT AND YOU'RE ACTUALLY FUCKING UGLY."
The Bible Piece and the Dumpster Video
Daisy Man discusses her 10-minute Bible reading segment. The panel questions a video in her show that appears to be her pushing a woman into a dumpster in reverse, which Daisy denies by claiming birds aren't real.
"I think you prove it in your show by reading the Bible for 10 straight minutes."
"Why is that bird going back? Well, birds are not real."
The Goth Girl Car Play
Quinn introduces her solo show, a 'car play' where the audience sits in the back of her actual car for 45 minutes while she drives to TJ Maxx. She discusses the 'naturalism' of using a real car as a stage.
"It's a car play. So you get in the car with me."
"When I see a real faucet on stage, I'm like, that's what our forefathers wanted theater to be."
Marketing with Lube and G-Strings
Chanty Featherbutt explains his aggressive marketing strategy involving dressing as a nun and hiding flyers covered in lube inside his G-string. He claims the lube represents the 'sluttiness of religion'.
"I lift up my habit and I'm wearing a G-string and my flyers are in the G-string."
"The flyers they're covered in lube."
Charlotte the Passionate Wife
Chanty discusses his wife Charlotte, who attends every show and makes charm bracelets for all the performers. The panel debates whether Charlotte is illiterate or just ran out of letters for her 'Billy' (Bully) bracelets.
"She comes to every single show and she busts a damn gut in the front row."
"It says Billy question mark. But Billy is spelled wrong."
The Immersive DoorDash Play
Amelia pitches a show that only hungry people can attend, which eventually evolves into a one-woman show performed through a Ring camera while delivering food.
"I think they could only come see the show if they're hungry."
"I'm doing like a one-woman show for you at your house. You don't have to open the door."
The Showbiz Sign-Off
The hosts break character to thank their guest Caitlin Reilly and descend into a repetitive, manic chant about their love for solo shows and the Hollywood Fringe.
"We've done them. We've done them. We've done them. We've all done them."
"I did Lysistrata at the Hollywood Fringe in 2014."
The Solo Show Artists Assemble
The panel of solo show performers introduces themselves, immediately bonding over the isolation of the craft and their 'biggest critics,' which range from tech cues to Jesus Christ.
"Who's my biggest critic? My journal."
"I think my biggest critic is probably Jesus Christ."
"I can feel the artist's energy in the house tonight."