By Holli Harms
The Edinburgh International Fringe Festival is virtual this year which means anyone can go online, find a show and watch one of the more than 3000 without having to travel. It’s easier than having to run from venue to venue and choose between competing times.
What did I find staying at home? We Are Traffic written and performed by Jonathan Tipton Meyers, a joy ride, road trip, and clear view of life in the rearview mirror. This is standup meets storytelling and the best of the two.
He was an Über driver, joining at the very beginning when it was new and we were all a little nervous about driving and riding with strangers but also saw it as a way of sharing and reaching out and connecting however briefly during a short ride to our destination never again to see the person who got us there. For Jonathan, as the driver delivering those to their destinations some of the connections were so memorable he kept the story of their encounter and is now sharing them with us.
As Jonathan says, we are all just one left turn from being completely lost in our lives. This is more than a story of car rides, it is the telling of life rides and how we are all linked whether we want to be or not. Bad behavior, good behavior, humanity with all its beauty and scars right there in his backseat.
An Über ride is as Jonathan puts it, “Faith in an uncertain world.” Words of wisdom spill from the back of his car, hatred and stupidity spew from the intoxicated, as well as history lessons and artichoke risotto.
This is a fast-moving drive, words and thoughts and music, and mystery and a little dreaming slip by like the scenery. But the windows are down and so we get slapped in the face occasionally by what is passing by. Jonathan tells us at the beginning to put on our seat belts as he knows this ride is going to be anything but easy, it’s the roller coaster ride of life.
Along the way, Jonathan loses his business and his girl but gains an understanding of how we sidetrack ourselves from what we really want or think we really want. Maybe the sidetrack taking us down the other road is part of the whole plan? Maybe we’re all in the car we’re supposed to be in the whole time.
Beautifully directed by Harry Kakatsakis, We Are Traffic is a ride not to be missed.
I sat back and watched the story and scenery unfold, and I cheered and laughed and giggled and held my breath through the twists and turns that he took me on, not really caring when we got to our destination as Jonathan is lovable, affable, funny, raunchy and a great storyteller. Fabulous. A must-see that will remind you what is the good in us.
We Are Traffic written and performed by Jonathan Tipton Meyers, Directed by Harry Kakatsakis.
Go HERE to get your tickets.
