One of the biggest performing arts festivals of the year is taking over the city this week: Vancouver Fringe Festival 2015, featuring dozens of shows by hundreds of entertainers in over 700 performances!

But with so much to see and do, what shows should you spend your hard-earned Fringe time on? The Fictionals are here to help you decide with our GYFO Picks. Whether you’re looking to laugh, cry, or laugh while crying, these shows are guaranteed to show you a good time.

Saturn Returns at Performance Works

• The Dates: September 11-19 with various showtimes
• The Show: Every 29 years, Saturn orbits the sun and lands in the exact position at the time of our birth, marking significant life stages: adulthood, mid-life crisis, and “golden years” of wisdom. It’s a tremendous time of change and reflection. Saturn Returns is an entertaining and moving collection of women’s personal stories. Come along for the ride!
• The Hook: Saturn Returns stars The Fictionals‘ Barbara Beall, Sarah Dawn Pledge and Jamie Chrest, plus recent Ladies Against Humanity stars Christine Lippa and Ellie Harvie. With the talented Jenn Griffin, Rae Clark, Jennifer Perrin, Briana Rayner and Sindy Angel also in the cast, this is truly a powerhouse show.

Nashville Hurricane at the Revue Stage

• The Dates: September 13-19 with various showtimes
• The Show: Chase Padgett (6 Guitars) returns as a manager, a mother, a mentor, and a guitar prodigy who all share their side of what really happened to the best damn guitar player you’ve never heard of… the Nashville Hurricane. Filled with comedy, music, and characters, this curious tale of finger picking fury will blow you away!
• The Hook: Chase is one of the most engaging performers we have seen on the Fringe Circuit. We met him through the Improv community via Vancouver TheatreSports League and Curious Comedy out of Portland, and were charmed by his guitars right away.

Hunger Games: The Musical at Pacific Theatre

• The Dates: September 10-20 with various showtimes
• The Show: A priceless pop culture parody of Suzanne Collins’ hit novel and its inevitable film. Watch as Katniss Everdeen takes a stand against the Capitol, while belting out twisted Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and Lorde tunes (to name a few). Experience a ridiculous ride through teenage angst. It’s all the fun of a dystopian death match, now with kicky pop tunes!
• The Hook: Hunger Games: The Musical stars The Fictionals’ Jennifer Pielak as Katniss Everdeen, so expect top-notch singing throughout the show. Lots of other familiar faces in this ensemble, so there will be lots of laughs in between the pop-culture references.

Mona Monae at the Havana Theatre

• The Dates: September 11-19 with various showtimes
• The Show: Lighting up a crowd with her luscious bubble butt Mona Monaé maniacally dances a tense tightrope between devilish provocation, ancestral shame, and childlike vulnerability. She invites self-healing through perversion and slutty-ness… and enjoys sharing. Mona Monaé is a necessary experience that you won’t forget. Enter at your own risk…
• The Hook: Our friend Jennifer Jordan is stage managing this show, and we trust her taste in art. Any show that straddles the generes of Queer, Weird, Naughty and Intimate is alright in our books!

The Situation at the Arts Umbrella

• The Dates: September 11-19 with various showtimes
• The Show: Sophie’s problem? Dating is hard. There’s no one worth getting dressed up for, or so it seems. She decides it’s time to join the world of online dating. It can’t be that bad, right? Will she find her Prince Harry? Or be in a state of panic as potential suitors reveal their quirks? How will she get out of “The Situation?”
• The Hook: We know Amanda from her great work in the improv world, so we are very excited to see her in a one-woman show.

Hip.Bang! presents WHITE PANTS at the Improv Centre

• The Dates: September 11-20 with various showtimes
• The Show: Hip.Bang! is a Canadian Comedy Award-nominated duo whose playful, bold sketch comedy has delighted audiences worldwide. WHITE PANTS is a sketch show that celebrates the majesty and raw beauty of white pants. Witness it and risk igniting a laughter fire in your gut that only a tall glass of sadness milk can put out.
• The Hook: Hip.Bang! are Vancouver Improv Fight Club Hall of Famers, and their sketch work is just as funny as their improv. Plus The Improv Centre is a gorgeous venue, so go and have a good time.

Peter n’ Chris Present: Here Lies Chris at Pacific Theatre

• The Dates: September 10-19 with various showtimes
• The Show: 3x Canadian Comedy Award Winning duo and Fringe favorites Peter n’ Chris return with an all new, hilarious adventure like you’ve never seen before! Does Chris die? Yes! wait, no, come see it. Peter n’ Chris have played in Just For Laughs, JFL42, and are numerous Vancouver Pick of the Fringe winners. They writers for CBC Radio’s The Irrelevant Show.
• The Hook: Some of the best in the business, with equal parts funny and charming. Do yourself a favour and buy your tickets early.

Buy Me Dinner First: A Sketch Comedy Show at The Cultch Historic Theatre

• The Dates: September 12-20 with various showtimes
• The Show: “Hey gurl, this club be bumpin’ tonight. What do you say we get out of here and find something else to bump and…” STOP. Has this happened to you? Feel used, abused, and forgotten? There’s no need to feel alone. Laugh with us. Buy Me Dinner First delves into the unpalatable world of dating. A sketch comedy show from the mind of Dylan Archambault.
• The Hook: Co-produced and starring Fictionals’ regular Clare Filipow, Buy Me Dinner First is shaping up to be a laugh-out-loud look at modern love. Plus it’s stage managed by our friend Amy Wilding so you know those cues are going to be as tight as heck!

TITUS: The Light and Delightful Musical Comedy of Titus Andronicus at the Firehall Arts Centre

• The Dates: September 10-20 with various showtimes
• The Show: Shakespeare’s grizzliest play renewed into the giddiest musical, exploring why violence is so darn entertaining. Appalled? Offended? But you know you want to see it. So tap and sing along to TITUS—more than a parody, more than an adaptation—it’s a bloody grand time. TITUS is a dark struggle for power and revenge—but why slit a throat when you can sing and dance right?
• The Hook: TITUS is inspired by Monty Python, Conan, ‘90s rock, Parker & Stone, and classic slapstick, so that’s already a big plus. Add in our friend Zach Wolfman as BASSIANUS and you’ve got yourself a deal!

Chris & Travis at the Carousel Theatre

• The Dates: September 10-20 with various showtimes
• The Show: What happens when anything can happen? Vancouver improvisers Chris Ross and Travis Bernhardt scribble outside the lines of improv comedy with their high-energy, hilarious, and surreal two-man show. Their extreme physicality, endearingly strange characters, and commitment to entertain by any means necessary have surprised and delighted audiences all across Canada. A spontaneous, provocative, rollicking good time!
• The Hook: Fictionals’ regular Travis Bernhardt is well known for his mind-blowing magic, but this is his first all-improv Fringe show. The advance buzz for this duo is building, and we can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves.

Alone in the Universe at the Carousel Theatre

• The Dates: September 10-20 with various showtimes
• The Show: After being launched into space to find the meaning of existence, Adam Pateman is forced to do a one-man sketch comedy show to save the entire universe from being destroyed!
• The Hook: Adam Patemen is an accomplished stand-up comedian with an excellent delivery. Forget Guardians of the Galaxy: Adam is here to save the Universe!

Oh the Humanity, and Other Good Intentions at the Firehall Arts Centre

• The Dates: September 11-16 with various showtimes
• The Show: A masterfully witty script, Oh, The Humanity, and Other Good Intentions examines the nature of human misery through a filter of jet black comedy. It is sure to hit you where it hurts—right in the humanity.
  
• The Hook: Fictionals regular Brad Duffy co-stars in this Fringe remount, and Oh the Humanity is produced by Jessie Award nominated Staircase Theatre. Plus we’re fans of anything with HUMANITY in the title.
  

Plays in Cafes at Cafe Deux Soleils and The Libra Room

• The Dates: September 12, 16 and 18 at Cafe Deux Soleils and September 14, 15 and 16 at The Libra Room with various showtimes
• The Show: Grab a cup of joe, catch a few laughs, and experience café theatre, serving up two play with a live musical soundtrack featuring Shelly and Frank in Shadowpath’s Vancouver debut. Shelly and Frank are the perfect couple, Frank thinks. After taking a quiz in Happy Lady Magazine, Shelly thinks she’s not a happy lady. Shelly has 37 magazine subscriptions.
• The Hook: Fans of Hot Improv Tuesdays know that Cafe Deux Soleils is a great venue for live entertainment, so Get Your Fringe On Commercial Drive!

All tickets for the Vancouver Fringe Festival shows are $14 plus a one-time $5 membership fee. Some shows have special half-price performances. For more information visit: www.vancouverfringe.com