Heeb...Dweeb.

Heebs and Dweebs rehearsal in Minneapolis, 6/09

"Heebs" in rehearsal, Minneapolis, 6/09.

"Heebs" in rehearsal, Minneapolis, 6/09.

"Heebs" in rehearsal, Minneapolis, 6/09.

"Heebs" in rehearsal, Minneapolis, 6/09.

"Heebs" in rehearsal, Minneapolis, 6/09.

"Heebs" in rehearsal, Minneapolis, 6/09.

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Minneapolis actor/writer and frequent Fringe fave Amy Salloway (“So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz!”, “Circumference”) breaks her solo-show-with-a-plotline tradition for a moment to offer up "Heebs and Dweebs" -- a casual and eclectic batch of Jewish, true-ish stories that you definitely don't have to be a Yid to enjoy or relate to! From a short-lived conversion to Catholicism in first grade to high school life stuck at the "Math Boys" lunch table to a meditation on the sacred intersection of Guilt and Food, Amy shares her personal highlights of Jewish dorkiness.

"Salloway is smart, funny, fearlessly candid, and generously endowed with talent" - The Georgia Straight.

"Endlessly clever and accessible" - Cincinnati CityBeat.

"...disarmingly intimate; a comic tour-de-force." - The Ottawa Citizen.
Upcoming Performances:

Guess what? HEEBS AND DWEEBS is getting an amazing and exciting renovation, and is going to appear at both the Ottawa JCC AND the Ottawa Fringe Festival this summer, with a DIFFERENT combination of true-ish, Jewish stories in each location! (Think of the Ottawa Fringe "Heebs and Dweebs" as the general release, and the JCC "Heebs and Dweebs" as the Director's Cut!) Because the show was originally designed to be a rotating collage of stories, there's enough Heebiness and Dweebiness to spread around! :-D Come to one show, or BOTH!

The TEST RUN! of the all-new "Heebs and Dweebs" will happen:
Sunday, June 14th, 2 pm
NOT at the Sabes JCC anymore -- but at --
Hillel on the U of MN Campus!
1521 University Ave. SE
Minneapolis, 55414
(Please remember that this is really an open rehearsal, with no lights or sound, for the purposes of getting audience feedback. Thanks!)

"HEEBS" at THE SOLOWAY JCC OF OTTAWA (Salloway at the Soloway! How can you beat that, people?)
21 Nadolny Sachs Private
Ottawa, ON
Tuesday, June 16th, 7:30 pm
http://www.jccottawa.com

"HEEBS" at THE OTTAWA FRINGE FESTIVAL
Venue 3, Studio Leonard Beaulne
Thursday, June 18, 6:30PM
Friday, June 19, 8:00PM
Saturday, June 20, 5:00PM
Sunday, June 21, 3:30PM
Monday, June 22, 9:30PM
Tuesday, June 23, 8:00PM
Tickets $10.00 with a Fringe button
(613) 232-6162
http://www.ottawafringe.com


"Heebs" at THE WINNIPEG FRINGE FESTIVAL (just added!)
Venue #8, Rachel Browne Theatre in the Crocus Bldg.
211 Bannatyne Ave., Winnipeg
Thu July 16, 1:00 PM
Fri July 17, 11:45 PM
Sun July 19, 7:00 PM
Mon July 20, 6:45 PM
Wed July 22, 10:45 PM
Thu July 23, 1:45 PM
Fri July 24, 9:45 PM

$9.00/ $8.00 students/seniors with a Fringe button
MTC Box Office -- 174 Market Ave.
Call 204.942.6537 or Toll free 1.877.446.4500
http://Www.winnipegfringe.com



NOTE:
"Heebs and Dweebs" replaces "My Sister Used To Be Anne Frank" in the Ottawa Fringe Festival; "Anne Frank" will debut at a later date.

Past Performances:

Spirit In The House Festival, February 27-March 8, 2009

Part of the Spirit In The House Festival of faith-related performance, with sponsorship from the Rimon Jewish Arts Fund (thanks, Rimon!)
February 27-March 8, 2009
www.spiritinthehouse.org
Www.amysalloway.com

Ottawa Citizen Review, June 20, 2009:

To feel like an outsider is nothing remarkable — we’re all misfits in our own ways. What is remarkable is how effortlessly Amy Salloway turns an apparent lifetime of outsiderdom into an hour of very funny, occasionally poignant storytelling/performance that’s at once about her and about all of us.

Heebs and Dweebs bounces from grade school through adolescence and into adulthood as Salloway careens from narratives about cruel classmates and a stepfather who mindlessly twirls his jungle of belly hair while watching television to an anxiety-riddled vignette of dropping her gelato on a city street, a vignette that has somehow shifted to the death of Mama Cass before you realize where the fleet Salloway is going. The show, as Salloway disarmingly states, is a work in progress, so you forgive her the odd weakness. At Studio Leonard-Beaulne until June 23. -- Patrick Langston


Press Coverage for "Heebs and Dweebs" from the Winnipeg Fringe, July 15-26th, 2009:

Winnipeg Sun, July 15th, 2009:

Advance Orders
We're already sold on these Fringe Factory productions
ByLINDSEY WARD
We've had our eye on the following 10 shows even before most Fringers picked up their employee handbooks (or programs, which are $5 at the Fringe site, if you have yet to get yours). So before you head down to the 22nd annual alternative theatre operation's downtown site in and around Old Market Square, take a look at what shows won't have us sleeping on the job.

5. Heebs and Dweebs

Venue 8, Rachel Browne Theatre

Shockingly enough, we haven't heard the last of Amy Salloway's embarrassing, awkward-dork horror stories. Turns out the self-deprecating Minneapolis native has more to tell, as she follows up her 2006 romance So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz! and last year's weighty comedy Circumference with this Jewish-themed monologue. Oy!


Winnipeg Sun Review, July 17th, 2009:

No one likes to be called names. Especially when it's an acronym that stands for Little Plushy Thing.

That's what Fringe favourite Amy Salloway's teenage crush used to call her. And it's only one of the many true-ish tales Salloway tells in her one-woman play about growing up an overweight, Jewish kid who was almost converted to Catholicism in the basement of her friend's house in first grade.

Salloway effortlessly bounces in and out of characters (including her stepfather, Sid, a Holocaust survivor who refuses to buy anything from Germany) and manages to make light out of a childhood in which she was apparently made to feel constantly like an outsider. Her tales are interjected by short musical cues as the lights fall and rise, which proves a bit jarring. But Salloway's playful delivery ends up the winner and, by the end, you can't help but cheer for the underdog. - Sabrina Carnevale


Uptown Magazine, July 16th, 2009:

Uptown's Fringe Fest acts to watch for

Marlo Campbell, John Kendle & Jen Zoratti

AWKWARD MOMENT PRODUCTIONS

Performing: Heebs and Dweebs

Venue 8, Rachel Browne Theatre

Minneapolis funny girl Amy Salloway is back with a brand new show - a collection of 'true-ish' Jewish stories that no doubt deal with Amy's favourite subject: awkward moments. Salloway also penned the one-woman Fringe hits Circumference (Best of Fest in 2008) and So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz! (Best of Fest in 2007), and her fearless, self-deprecating physical comedy is not to be missed. There's no doubt that this one will sell out quick.

- JZ

Uptown Magazine Review, July 19th, 2009:

Amy Salloway's' Heebs and Dweebs is, admittedly, a work in progress - but so what? As my Fringe companion said after the show let out, "I could have listened to her tell stories for another hour." Chock-full of the hyper-descriptive detail and self-deprecating humour we've come to know and love from the Minneapolis performer, Heebs and Dweebs is a smart, funny and thoroughly enjoyable collage of stories inspired by Salloway's youth. These four 'true-ish' Jewish tales will strike a chord with anyone's who's ever felt fat, ugly, unpopular, awkward and alone - which is pretty much everyone. Finished or not, it's an accessible, honest, warts-and-all portrait of adolescence - and the monologue concerning a dropped cup of gelato is worth the price of admission alone. It's still a bit rough around the edges, but a promising show nonetheless. -- Jen Zoratti

CBC Manitoba Review, July 17th, 2009:


Watching the solo show Heebs and Dweebs is kind of like reading four short stories by David Sedaris, but from the perspective of one Amy Salloway.
Each depiction of her formative years is strung together with feelings of “jewishness” and being outside the norm, things such as feeling fat, or being rated the third ugliest girl in school…your typical teenage fears. Against a backdrop of school concerts, Fruit Roll-ups, and the Brady Bunch, Salloway takes you on a tour through the disparity between who she wanted to be and who she actually was.
Salloway notes that Heebs and Dweebs is still a work in progress, and you can sort of tell, but there are plenty of sweetly self-deprecating jokes, impressions of her family members and smart writing to keep you interested. --Sarah Michaelson



AUDIENCE reviews from Spirit in The House, The Ottawa Fringe and the Winnipeg Fringe:
"It’s the first show of the Fringe, and I am front row centre. I am surrounded on three and a half sides (the house is so packed, several audience members have spilled onto the floor in front of me) by a sea of loyal, adoring fans. We are all here for the same reason: our collective years of Fringing experience have taught us that Amy Salloway’s shows are a must-see. While I’m aware that the hype intimidates Amy, who recently confessed in a blog entry, “I’m terrified of the expectations people have of me, and of not living up to them,” I remain confident that I am about to witness something beautiful.

And I’m right. As the performance unfolds, I find myself wishing that I could buy her script so that I could read it out loud and feel the words tickle my tongue the way they do hers. Between moments of laughter and held breaths, I begin writing my review in my head: heart-wrenching, heart-warming, vividly insightful, hilariously funny, shockingly honest, masterfully written. But none of these clichés begin to do it justice.

The fact that Heebs and Dweebs is still a “work in progress” is a gift. It means that Ottawa will get the rare opportunity to see this piece shift and grow (although, the notion that this show could get any better is doing a number on my brain cells). Each show will be a unique experience and I only wish I could be there for every last one." -- Ottawa Fringe Audience Member

"If you don’t love Amy Salloway, I have one question: What is wrong with you?  This woman is a natural born story teller and a gifted performer. By her own admission, Amy has not brought “Heebs and Dweebs” to Ottawa as a finished, polished piece. She has a music stand and a script from which she reads a collection of stories about the painful reality of not fitting in.

I barely noticed the stand. Amy is riveting on stage. She exudes openess in her face, with her body language. She uses language deftly, setting the scene so that I feel as though I’m there. Her delivery is honest such that I can’t help but empathize and sympathize with her everyday battles.

The only negative thing I have to say about Amy is that she lives too far away. Being based in Minneapolis means we in Ottawa only get her a few days each year. That’s not nearly enough Amy for me!" -- Ottawa Fringe Audience Member

"It doesn’t matter that this is a work in progress, it’s already superb. I know it will be even more fun with all of the gestures, but the performance is compelling even with the script on-stage.

Best in Fringe? It may well be." -- Ottawa Fringe Audience Member



"Amy Salloway is not to be missed! Her stories are funny, sad and she has a great ability to turn difficult events of her life into humor. She is an engaging and accomplshed performer. Get your tickets now because once word gets around there will probably be a full house." -- Spirit In The House Audience Member

"Amy Salloway doesn't perform very often in town (because she's in so much demand all over the north American continent), so you should catch her when you can.
She's adept at finding humor in the most unlikely places, and painting a compassionate picture of some mostly unlikeable people."  -- Spirit In The House Audience Member

"Every time Amy puts together her material what emerges is different, and a delight. She has the rare ability to create a coherent, new performance each time she walks onto the stage. There is an ongoing semi-serious artistic rivalry betwen spoken word artists (generally younger) who use scripts and "traditional" storytellers (generally older) who do not. Traditional storytellers argue that you can't interact with the audience, make eye contact, and respond to them, when you have a script. Spoken word artists point to vague, rambling performances that go past time and are rude to other performers and say no thanks. Amy is the rare artist whose script never gets in the way of her audience connection, who is disciplined and spontaneous at the same time, and who gives me something new, beautiful and rewarding every time I attend a performance. On Tuesday night, I heard two stories about two fathers, told with humor, courage and yes, there's that word again - compassion. I needed this. Thank you."  -- Spirit In The House Audience Member

Actor

http://www.youtube.com/user/IlaughedIcried 

Some Stuff About Me.
Circumference
So Kiss Me Already, Herschel Gertz!
Heebs and Dweebs
Does This Monologue Make Me Look Fat?
The Advice People
Teaching and Workshops