by Kurt Fitzpatrick

Between now and Rogue Festival 2014 we will be featuring several of the performers who will be at this year’s festival, so keep watching for more! Also, we have a preview of the Festival itself in today’s issue. And if that wasn’t enough, we will have show reviews and video interviews during this year’s Rogue Festival. So keep an eye on our Arts & Entertainment section to catch them all! Also check out our Rogue Performer Event page for fliers and press releases for more of the performers!

Last May at the Orlando Fringe Festival, I was telling Tommy Nugent about what we could do as a joint show. When Tommy heard the word “joint,” he was interested immediately. I proposed that we each do thirty minute solo pieces, and package them together as one show. While we were discussing this, our friend and fellow performer Tanya O’Debra spoke up and said, “No. That’s not what the people want to see. They want to see the two of you on stage together.”

We were mystified and had no idea what we, as solo performers, could do on stage together. Recently we came to the realization that Tanya was messing with us, but it was too late. We had already entered the Rogue Festival and had actually written a show. For a long time, we didn’t know what to do with the script. It would sit on a table and Tommy and I would simply stare at it like it was a newborn baby. We even called a pediatrician and asked what we should do with it, but he told us that even though we stare at it like a baby, it doesn’t mean it actually is a baby. That made me feel better, because I was wondering why the breastfeeding had been so difficult.

Tommy Nugent and Kurt Fitzpatrick, Bromance

Then, surprisingly, the anticipation began–or maybe not surprisingly! See, in certain square miles we are major stars and one of those square miles is in the Tower District. Once we go a few blocks out, things change dramatically, but within that glorious space, we own it. When we appear on Chuck Leonard’s talk show, it’s like the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 –or at least, that’s what we assume because Chuck doesn’t have a studio audience!

Last year I sold out my solo show Cathedral City, and two years ago Tommy sold out his show OCCUPY This! Tales of an Accidental Activist. Still, we have considered ourselves B-listers on the touring circuit and Tommy was actually considering retiring, but you, Rogue Festival, have continued to support us. You have embraced our punk rock DIY spirit of performing. You have become a fan base for us and are ultimately responsible for this two-headed comedy behemoth called Bromance. Think of that when you sit in Strummers laughing your butt off and slowly and horrifyingly asking yourself the question, “Dear Lord, what have we done?”

Bromance plays as part of the Rogue Festival at Strummers, 833 E. Fern Avenue. Saturday, March 1 at 3:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 5 at 9:30 p.m., Friday, March 7 at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, March 8 at 3:30 p.m. $10 Rogue Bucks. Rogue Bucks must be purchased at Tower Theater or Livingstone’s. Learn more on the Rogue Festival website: www.RogueFestival.com.