MN Fringe interview with KC Fav Timothy Mooney
Check out this great interview from Minnesota Fringe as Timothy expresses his thoughts about KC Fringe, IF (Indy) Fringe and our Midwest Trifecta! I once asked touring artist Tim Mooney a question while we sat around at Fringe Central years ago. Knowing that he was constantly on tour to be both a performer and a proselytizer for the good words of Shakespeare and Moliere, I wanted to know how many one-man shows he had in his head ready to go at that very moment should the opportunity arise to bring one out. I think my jaw dropped when he went quiet and started to do internal calculations. He had to count on fingers. And then he ran out of fingers. “Right now? Eleven,” he said, “but with a day to prep, maybe fourteen.” This guy’s been everywhere all the time and he’s gone beyond tour-sperienced into tour-mastery. So when I was looking for an artist to tell me about KC Fringe (Kansas City), I know one performer that was guaranteed to have made the rounds there. Hey there, Tim. How many fringe festivals have you done now? I’m currently at NINETY-FIVE fringes, and am looking to hit 100 either this year or next. Still waiting on those lottery balls to fall my way! That’s beyond impressive, dude. Well, let’s start here and see which shows you’ve done here and where MN Fringe audiences might know you from….whoa. 2006: Criteria 2007: Moliere than Thou 2008: Karaoke Knights 2010 & 2022: Lot o’ Shakespeare 2011: Dancing Nude 2012 & 2013: Fringe Orphans (with local producing company Navel Gaze Productions) 2012: The Greatest Speech of All Time 2014: Shakespeare’s Histories 2015: Breakneck Hamlet 2019: Man Cave, a One-Man Sci-Fi Climate Change Tragicomedy 2020 (virtual, Covid year): Tim’s Paranoid Delusions 2021: Breakneck Comedy of Errors 2023: Breakneck Midsummer Night’s Dream 2024: Breakneck Twelfth Night Holy balls, Tim. Phew! You’ve performed in Minnesota Fringe more years than I’ve worked here. Hell, beyond that, the first time I performed in the festival was 2009, so you’ve got me hella beat across the board. What show have you brought to KC Fringe? Oh wait. It’s you. What SHOWS. Plural. Well, I’ve ALSO done most of the shows that I did in Minnesota at the KC Fringe, but last year (the year that I got pulled for the Midwest Trifecta) I brought my 6-person Breakneck Midsummer Night’s Dream to KC. Midsummer had its World Premiere at MN Fringe, but with 6 people to manage, I don’t want to do that one more than once a year. It won Best Ensemble at the KC Fringe and I’m hoping to bring it to Indy this year! Congrats on those wins!!! Color me not surprised. Well done, friend. So KC Fringe is just as much a home for you as Minnesota it seems. By now, I feel like I sometimes LIVE in Kansas City. I’ve got a very reliable billet who I’ve been friends with for almost 20 years, and I always drop in on them when I’m passing through town, whether or not the fringe is on. Love a good billet. That’s something that our
