Orlando Fringe 2023 review: ‘Action Figure Archive’

Whether you’re a Brony or a Barbie girl, you’ll want to add this show to your collection

By Seth Kubersky on Fri, May 19, 2023 at 7:54 pm

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Courtesy photo

Whether you’re a Brony or a Barbie girl, you’ll want to add this show to your collection

Avid action figure collector Steve McLean was declared the 67th best comic at the Edinburgh Fringe, a high honor considering that fest fields approximately 3,300 productions. Now, he’s arrived for his first time in Orlando with a crate full of vintage collectibles, a head full of hilariously useless toy trivia, and a total disregard for the GDPR’s privacy regulations.

If you know your Transformers G1 Volkswagen Bumblebee from Michael Bay’s copycat Camaro, or can distinguish whether a Kevin Costner figure is from WaterWorld or Prince of Thieves at 30 paces, this is the perfect show for you. (What, am I the only one?) Between hilarious rants about Optimus Prime’s big dick energy and the decoding of not-so-hidden gay messages in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, McLean skewers anti-woke attitudes while sharing his own late-in-life “hetero-skeptical” sexual awakening.

This show is an amalgamation of McLean’s “greatest hits” from earlier scripts, and he was still trying to fit the puzzle pieces together during his press preview, which devolved from a structured show into an anarchic happening with unfettered audience interaction.

I can honestly say that I laughed harder at McLean’s exasperated efforts to regain control of his stage than at any show so far this Fringe, as he deftly handled heckling that would have cratered any lesser comic. Unfortunately, I can’t guarantee he’ll get a house that hysterically unhinged at every performance.

My only real complaint is that McLean never got to the discussion of Kenner’s classic Star Wars line that I was most anticipating, but I guess that will have to wait until the next episode.

Until then, whether you’re a Brony or a Barbie girl, you’ll want to add Action Figure Archive to your collection while it’s still mint in the box.