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Update – Extended Through Aug 28th!

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All of the Calgary Fringe’s On-Demand shows have been extended through Saturday, August 28th. If you haven’t had a chance to catch the show, you can watch it at https://watch.calgaryfringe.ca/en/c/lord-of-the-files-lesley-tsina.203

Thanks to everyone who’s viewed the show – It’s been great to hear from people and to be able to bring the show to friends who don’t live in LA or near one of the Fringes I’ve done. And special thanks to all the people who decided to watch it again. I really appreciate it.

Calgary Fringe Interview

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The live portion of the Calgary Fringe starts tonight! Here’s an interview I did with the Fringe:

2021 CALGARY FRINGE SUMMER ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

TODAY’S FEATURE ARTIST: Lesley Tsina

SHOW: Lord of the Files https://tickets.calgaryfringe.ca/event/366:18/

WHAT DRIVES YOUR PASSION AS AN ARTIST? My brain is very full at any given moment. It’s crammed with trivia, obsessions, memories of terrible jobs, arguments I did not have or did not win. And in general, I’m too polite to say what I’m thinking a lot of the time. So basically, I do comedy and tell stories to keep my head from exploding.

BIGGEST INFLUENCER(S): Josh Kornbluth, Lauren Weedman and Brian Finkelstein. All great solo performers in different ways. Also, Claudia Shear for writing “Blown Sideways Through Life,” which is just the best solo show title.

SHARE ONE THING ABOUT YOURSELF WE DON’T KNOW (AND WOULD SURPRISE US TO HEAR): I am the author of a fake oral history of Windows 95 titled “Restart Me Up: The Unauthorized, Un-Accurate Oral History of Windows 95.” I watched the Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston 30-minute infomercial for Windows 95 all the way through, twice, in order to write it. If you have not heard of that, you are…fortunate? Anyway, it’s frighteningly well-researched for a funny book and also quite short, so you should read it.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE BREAKFAST ROUTINE? I feed the cats first (always) and then make instant coffee and toast with some combination of butter/jam/peanut butter/almond butter/honey/mascarpone on it. I eat breakfast in the living room in front of my laptop and get meowed at until I let the cat smell the toast and lick butter off my fingers. Once the cat gets his butter snack, the day can begin.

TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS: go to www.calgaryfringe.ca#yycfringe2021

Calgary Fringe This Summer – Online!

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It’s been a while, but the show is coming back, this time to the 2021 Calgary Fringe Festival. I was scheduled to perform in Calgary in 2020, but the Fringe was postponed because of the pandemic. This year, I’m participating as part of Fringe 2020 Hindsight, a lineup of online shows by touring artists. I’m presenting a pre-recorded performance of Lord of the Files that was filmed live at the Vancouver Fringe. The show will be available on-demand on Calgary Fringe’s Digital Playhouse channel from July 26th to August 14th. It’s a strange way to “tour” but I’m excited to make the show available for a new audience. Tickets are available at https://tickets.calgaryfringe.ca/event/366:18/

Lord of The Files at Swarthmore Alumni Weekend

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lotf-alumni-weekend

Photo courtesy of Swarthmore College

I was lucky enough to perform the show at Swarthmore College Alumni Weekend in June. It was great to be back in the Frear Theater after so many years. Belated thanks to the Alumni Office, Geoff Semenuk, Alison Emmerich, Wendy Waltman, Scott Burgess, Tara Webb and the staff of the Lang Performing Arts Center. And thanks to my fellow alumni for packing the house and making this an incredible weekend.

Q&A with The Solo Performer + Dallas Solo Fest opens this week!

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I did an interview with The Solo Performer where we talked about the development of Lord of the Files. The Solo Performer is cool blog and a great resource for performers.

http://www.thesoloperformer.com/2015/05/q-anda-with-lesley-tsina.html

Dallas Solo Fest opens this week. The lineup for week one is awesome. I am bummed that I won’t be able to see a couple of the shows because I’m not in town until week two. My show opens on June 11th. Tell your friends!

New workshop at Dallas Solo Fest

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If you’re coming to the Dallas Solo Fest, I’ll be teaching a writing workshop. You can sign up by emailing audacitytheatrelab@yahoo.com

In the Weeds: Getting Unstuck While Developing Your Show

There’s an interesting, and often endless-seeming middle ground between the raw idea for a show and a show with a shape. This is a workshop for getting unstuck. We’ll do group writing and performing exercises to figure out what’s important to the story, and to you. And we’ll talk about strategies for finishing and next steps. Please bring ideas, notes, sections, outlines, sources of inspiration and other half-finished thoughts.

Dates/Times: Saturday, June 13 @ 2:30 pm
Workshop duration: 2.5 hours
Intended for: Writers/performers
Cost of workshop: $30
Class limit: 10 people maximum

More info here: http://www.dallassolofest.com/workshops-2015.html