Fringe Review

“Fact or Crap?!? It’s Your Call!” invites the audience into a lively game-show-inspired hour of storytelling, where longtime magician and carnival performer Rod Sipe recounts larger-than-life episodes from his colorful past. Inspired by the board game of the same name, the show asks viewers to guess if each wild tale is true or total nonsense.

Sipe’s stage presence is confident and affable, and his stories brim with detail and eccentricity. He clearly has a deep well of material to pull from, and there’s no doubt he’s lived an unusual and fascinating life. The best moments come when he leans into that storyteller role, drawing the audience in with charm and curiosity.

That said, the game-show format creates a few challenges. Since every story ultimately turns out to be true, the guessing mechanic loses steam over time. Titles are vague, making early guesses feel arbitrary, and revealing them before the story begins undercuts the surprise. These choices dilute the suspense and pacing that strong storytelling often needs.

There’s potential here to build a more engaging structure. Saving the audience vote until after the story—or mixing in a few fabricated tales—might restore the tension and keep listeners on their toes. Streamlining the delivery and giving the show a clearer arc or theme could also help connect the dots between stories, making the hour feel more cohesive.

Sipe has the charisma and material to pull this off. What “Fact or Crap?!?” needs is a format that supports, not distracts from, the real strength of the show: a seasoned performer sharing the kind of outrageous true stories that only a magician with a carnival background could deliver. With a little retooling, this could become a unique and compelling storytelling experience.