Orlando Fringe 2024 review: ‘Inner State Stories’

Few things induce fear faster than the thought of being forced to watch a friend’s vacation photos — much less a complete stranger’s — but don’t flee when you see “slide #1 of 3240” on monologist Errol McLendon’s PowerPoint projections. If you do, you’ll miss out on the closed museums and dead-fly motels he encountered during the cross-country road trip he took to memorialize his late mother, the queen of roadside attractions whose spirit cheers him on from the passenger seat.

McClendon segments his step-by-step travelogue, which takes him from Chicago to Mississippi by way of Cleveland, with flashbacks to his youth in the segregated South and self-reflection about how he missed the red flags of his mom’s mental decline. Tales of two-headed goats and a one-eyed pig are amusing, but the heart of the show is really about the power of memories and the pain of losing them. Along the way, you’ll learn pearls of his mom’s wisdom (“Drive like you don’t want to die”) and uncover poetic gemstones (“I felt the sickness of the unknown in my stomach”) among his prosaic prose.

With his unassuming plaid flannel and soothingly folksy drawl, McLendon isn’t as flashy or fringey as other festival offerings, and his direction (by Kim Morris) could stand to elevate the emotional intensity a little more, but don’t overlook him. McLendon is the kind of performer you’ll want to sip rum & cokes with at the bar afterwards, if only to hear more stories about Stuckey’s or his favorite petrified forest.

Orlando Fringe: Tickets and times for “Inner State Stories”

This article appears in May 15-21, 2024.