Sarah Franken: Who Keeps Making All These People

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A few months ago, Will Franken made the brave decision to no longer live 'in the closet' and began to perform as Sarah Franken, announcing her transgenderism at a handful of previews. Brave both on a personal and professional level, Franken had performed as Will for some 15 years, and is even billed as such on many of the websites and media for the Fringe this year. For a character comedian it is an even more tricky step – an audience that has seen her switch gender, ethnicity and species with aplomb might be left to wonder whether this is just another carefully sculpted character.

She breaks the fourth wall on this subject at the beginning, something unfamiliar to those who might have caught a Franken show in the past. With this out the way, the satirist moves swiftly on to bludgeoning the audience with her equal opportunity offensiveness. She goes mostly for the Christian right, with a smattering of Islam thrown in for good measure. She merges from one character to the next at breakneck speed and fluidity. Not all the pieces work, and some jar much more than others. But such is the pace of the transitions that there’s always another skit waiting in the wings.