TheatreInLondon.ca
June 18, 2014, TORONTO — After receiving critical praise across Canada, Winnipeg raised writer/performer Sharilyn Johnson brings her autobiographical solo show Fake News Fangirl home to The Winnipeg Fringe Festival from July 16 -27 at Prairie Theatre Exchange’s Colin Jackson Studio (3rd Floor Portage Place, 393 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB).
Daily Show host Jon Stewart is the long time object of Johnson’s fandom affections. From her ‘90s teenage crush developed in the basement of a suburban Winnipeg bungalow, to close encounters with her hero in New York City, Fake News Fangirl shatters audience perceptions of celebrity idolatry through humour, honesty and tales of outrageous fan behaviour.
Photo Credit: Krissy Myers
In Fake News Fangirl, Johnson recounts the thrill of meeting Stewart, the startling experience of coming face to face with the real Stephen Colbert and her ill-advised hotel tryst with a Daily Show correspondent. Once swimming in fandom’s deep end, she finds herself in danger of sinking, a struggle anyone who’s ever loved something too much can relate to.
Fake News Fangirl is directed by Laura Anne Harris (of 2010 Fringe hit Pitch Blond), with creative consultant Molly Prather (How I Met Your Mother, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson).
Winnipeg Fringe performances:
Wednesday, July 16 – 10:00 pm
Thursday, July 17 – 6:00 pm
Friday, July 18 – 3:45 pm
Saturday, July 19 – 10:30 pm
Sunday, July 20 – 3:45 pm
Tuesday, July 22 – 8:00 pm
Wednesday, July 23 – 3:45 pm
Thursday, July 24 – 5:30 pm
Friday, July 25 – 10:30 pm
Saturday, July 26 – 3:45 pm
Sunday, July 27 – 5:45 pm
About Sharilyn Johnson
Toronto based Johnson is a journalist and creative writer whose credits include CBC Radio’s LOL, Naked News, the Toronto Star, NOW Magazine and the Huffington Post. She is originally from Winnipeg.
She has her own comedy news site Third Beat Magazine and is currently co-writing a book about the Colbert Report, to be released in the fall of 2014.
She has trained in improv and comedy writing under the likes of Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live), Lennon Parham (Best Friends Forever), J.R. Havlan (The Daily Show) and Tom Purcell (The Colbert Report).
