Fringe-worthy: Laughs with chick flicks and a lightweight

I’ll get to the Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest reviews in a moment, but first I have to tell you that someone I encountered on Thursday’s opening night has had some serious cosmetic “work” done.

It appears that Fringezilla has gone under the knife, or sewing machine I guess. The mascot for Kids Fringe appears even cuddlier now than in previous incarnations — fewer teeth, for one thing, and a shorter tail more suitable for wagging than thrashing.

Fringezilla’s new look was unveiled Thursday at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center, where Orlando Fringe executive director Alauna Friskics spoke about the theme for the May festival, in which Loch Haven Park becomes home to two weeks of short, often avant-garde theater, music, comedy, dance and magic shows.

“Raise a ruckus!” will be the rallying cry for the festival, which will encourage the use of art to influence change, Friskics said.

Friskics spoke before the first performance of “Six Chick Flicks,” one of nine new-to-Orlando shows in the Mini-Fest lineup. “Six Chick Flicks” is the first show ever to sell out its entire run before the festival even opened, and ticket holders are in for a treat.

Written by Kerry Ipema and Fringe favorite TJ Dawe, “Six Chick Flicks” parodies movies such as … well, I’ll let the show’s subtitle speak for itself: “A Legally Blonde Pretty Woman Dirty Dances on the Beaches While Writing a Notebook on the Titanic.”

The show effectively makes its point about the lessons these cultural touchstones instill in women (and why), but not by being preachy. Even on such well-trod paths of parody as these, the script is witty. And performers Ipema and KK Apple convey a dollop of affection for these movies, even as they see their flaws and send them up.

Each of the six skits overflows with laughs, but what had me in stitches was watching Ipema and Apple spoof Bette “I’m Jewish!” Midler and Barbara “My face doesn’t move” Hershey in “Beaches.” If you don’t have a ticket, don’t despair: The show will return for the May festival.

Willi Carlisle’s “The Lightweight” gets all its nerdy pop-culture references just right, from Tom Bombadil to nerfherders, the Mines of Moria to death eaters. But Carlisle also poignantly captures the details of a world of loneliness, shyness and the fear of standing up for oneself.

In the capable hands of performer Lindsay Taylor, this is no pity party, though. It’s a story of female empowerment that ends on an uplifting note: “Jab! Jab! Jab! In real life, you don’t get doovers.”

And what to make of Jon Bennett’s “It’s

Rabbit Night!” The Australian performer of such poignantly comic works as “Fire in the Meth Lab,” which is also playing at the Fringe, here just goes for plain silliness.

If you’ve ever watched cute animal videos on YouTube … while drunk … and listening to a funny friend share stories of sexual exploits … while he’s wearing fuzzy, pink rabbit PJs … well, that’s kind of what “It’s Rabbit Night!” is like. The thing is, Bennet has the charm and comic smarts to pull this off. Just watch his dejected face when he realizes the audience doesn’t know the Rabbit Night rules.

One of those rules is “You do not talk about Rabbit Night,” so I shall say no more — except that if you’re looking for an only-at-Fringe experience, hop on over.

Find the schedule and tickets for the Fringe’s Winter MiniFest, which runs through Sunday, at OrlandoFringe.org.