MEG MCLANE is one of those self-described “crazy” folks who love living on the Fringe. “Sometimes I wonder, Why do I keep doing this?” she laughs before adding, “It’s pure magic for 10 days.”
The 37-year-old Indianapolis resident is referring to the IndyFringe Festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary when it kicks off Thursday in venues along the Mass Ave corridor. It’s among the 36 “anything goes” fringe fests across the country that showcase comedy, dance, drama, magic, and music … including at times colorful language and adult themes. The one hard and fast rule? Keeping any performances between 45 and 60 minutes.
McLane got her first taste of Fringe in 2006 as a senior at Cathedral High School when she and three friends took part in Fringe Next, a separate event for high school students. Already involved with ComedySportz, she was hooked.
So, after college, she took off for an internship in LA and later moved to Chicago to study at the renowned Second City. McLane loved it, but it didn’t pay the bills. She ultimately moved back to Indy, where she’s the artistic director for an ad agency, now able to make a living and “make theater.”
In 2015, McLane collaborated on her first IndyFringe show and kept coming back. Her genre? Comedy, 100 percent. “I love making people laugh,” she says. “That’s where my heart is, and Fringe is the place where you can let your hair down.”
Previous shows she was part of include Haul & Oatz: Time Traveling Detectives, Volleybrawl The Musical, and History of the Women’s World Part 1.
This year, McLane is flying solo, producing her one-woman show called Antiques Homeshow 2525. She describes it as a 50-minute, nonstop performance where she alternates between five characters “trying to discover where humanity will be 500 years from now through the appraisal of antiques by experts.”
Talk about a workout. It’s like running a marathon without stopping for water or port-a-potties.
There are no auditions for Fringe. The shows are selected in January via lottery. Max McCreary, associate executive director of IF Theatre, home of the IndyFringe Festival, says, “Anyone who has a story and needs a stage can apply, but the pitches have to align with the kind of shows and space available.”
Performers get 70 percent of their ticket revenue minus fees. What they earn depends on the size of their venue and how hard they hustle to fill the seats. McCreary says an individual artist who does well might walk away with $1,500 to $2,000, but “none walk away financially rich, which we’d like them to.”
Given all the prep and time commitment, McLane sometimes wonders why she keeps coming back. But not for long.
“It’s that magic that happens.… all of us collectively trying to make things,” she says. And for Fringe goers? “It’s an hour of your life. It’s just a show, but you saw it and had a great time, or maybe it sparked something in you.”
