![\"GERALD,](\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/gerald-media-image-2-image-by-april-zabos-and-annika-schultz._304763265.jpg\" "\\"GERALD,")
GERALD
3 stars out of 5
Stage 20, Mile Zero Dance Stage 9931 78 Ave.
Whatever planet GERALD has come from, it must be hot there. The intergalactic power company has sent emissaries to earth to determine our compatibility and whether humans can be properly integrated into the giant corporate machine.
Literally. There’s a giant machine on stage with glowing blue lights and I grew worried that on top of the heat some unscrupulous audience member would be mulched for their energy and possibly nutrients.
But don’t worry, Bill and Gill are only here to submit us to tests, not to do any mulching. With their giant blue tubes (LED light strips) connected from their back to the central GERALD terminal, they will administer the tests. Like good co-workers, they will bicker the entire time.
What is GERALD, the show? Well, there’s some audience participation, but it’s not strictly an improv audience show. There’s some gross parts, though it’s not strictly a gross-out comedy show. Bill and Gill do some clown work, but it’s not a straightforward clown show.
So what we get is a hybrid clown, crowd-work, improv-ish comedy show about two alien co-workers trying to advance the agenda of a giant alien mega-corp. The chemistry between Lauren Brady and Edward McDonald is absolutely hilarious and fantastic, the aggrieved supervisor and the imbecile employee two roles that transcend intergalactic norms.
GERALD funny and cute, with just enough audience participation to keep everyone hooting and hollering, and it’s definitely not something I’ve seen before at the Fringe.