‘Toiley T. Paper: Roll Model’ at the Orlando Fringe
Toiley T. Paper is a superstar celebrity, at least in his own two-ply mind, so Orlando Fringe audiences should feel honored that this anthropomorphic bathroom accessory has agreed to entertain at our low-budget festival. Highly absorbent and deeply self-absorbed, Toiley regales us with tales of his showbiz career, from playing Baby Jesus in a living nativity to starring in a TMZ sex scandal. With an assist from his pal Pastey (a half-squeezed tube of Gleem who counsels suicide hotline callers by singing Van Halen’s “Jump”) and frequent Fringe presenter John B. deHaas playing sidekick on the keyboards, Toiley takes the improvisational talk show format to delirious new depths.
Toiley T. Paper: Roll Model!
Grant Baciocco – Hollywood, CA
5 DATES THROUGH MAY 28, 2016
Venue: Pink
Length: 40 Min
Price: $10 (Disc: FA | FV | MIL | STU | SR | Puppeteers)
Rating: 18 & Up – Language, Mature Themes
Buy Tickets
Puppeteer Grant Baciocco, a Jim Henson Company veteran who is featured in the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 reboot, performs exposed onstage Avenue Q-style, but it takes little imaginative effort to embrace the shrill, excitable Toiley as living individual. The puppet, built by Russ Walko of Puppet Garage, is a simple hand-and-rod figure that lacks even an eye blink function, but Baciocco is able to create a wide range of expressions just by tilting or scrunching Toiley’s cottony face.

Baciocco and deHaas, who developed their never-the-same-show-twice routine via Skype, have genuine rapport, dishing devastatingly snarky bon mots about the entertainment industry while they banter. At barely 40 minutes, including a bizarro audience Q&A segment, the show is barely long enough to scratch the surface of Toiley’s many layers, but by the time he sings Petula Clark’s “Downtown” with shitty new lyrics, you’ll count yourself among the legions of TP lovers.

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This article appears in May 11-17, 2016.