Hey joe: The cast of Wawapalooza worship a cup of the brown stuff

Oh! What a Lovely Wawa

A Fringe show delivers some in-convenience-store truths.

by Joshua Valocchi

Sometimes it takes an outsider to remind us just how weird this town is.

For instance, recommend Wawa as a good place to snag some smokes and see if you don’t get the response: “What? Wah wah? Are you drunk?”

Naming a convenience store after a warbled Native American word for “goose” might seem odd to out-of-towners, but there are countless idiosyncrasies unique to our area. None rivals the inexplicable antics of diehard Eagles fans. Some of these numbskulls make gibbering TV money expert Jim Cramer look like a sleeping baby mouse.

Armed with years of experience and these self-evident truths, the gang at IdRatherBeHere Productions present their debut Fringe entry Wawapalooza. The hour-long farcical romp consists of six 10-minute segments dealing with purebred (or should that be inbred?) Philly topics via sketches, short films and a standup comedy rant.

Wawapalooza is a pretty ballsy effort for a bunch of first-timers. For starters, it covers a slew of topics that, though utterly ridiculous, are near and dear to native hearts. Toss in the fact that none of the members of IdRatherBeHere are Philly theater insiders, and the brew gets even bubblier.

Described as “a show that anyone within a 30-mile radius of the Ben Franklin Bridge can relate to,” Wawapalooza hits as hard and low as a bunch of screaming Eagles fans pelting Santa with snow and sludge balls. Among targets soundly smacked are football fanaticism, road rage, the cult of Wawa, Wal-Mart, strip mall customer service and South Jersey drivers.

“They say, ‘Write what you know,’” says cast member Augustus Milligan. “So out came an homage to the Philly and South Jersey region.” Plugged as “half Saturday Night Live and half Cherry Hill Mall,” Wawapalooza is laughing both at and with Philly.

“My mom is from the area, so I spent a good deal of time visiting Philly and South Jersey while growing up all over the country,” says IdRatherBeHere founder and co-creator Eric Balchunas. “I had a solid understanding of the inherent local quirks and oddities, but was also enough of an outsider to maintain an objective perspective.”

Whatever remained of that objectivity was surely quashed during production of Wawapalooza—especially through researching the Wawa segment.

“We visited several Wawas throughout South Jersey and just documented the customer activity,” explains Balchunas. “We interviewed people about the Wawa phenomenon. We talked to all kinds of people from headbangers to Jersey girls, and one really far-out lady.”

Naturally, no true documentary of the weirdness that is Wawa would be complete without a journey to the convenience store’s mecca—the town of Wawa, Pa. The crew made their hoagie hajj to the corporate compound and even managed to snag a cup of joe at the local Wawa. “That’s right,” beams Balchunas, “we got coffee from Wawa in Wawa in Wawa.”

Following their attempts at demystifying the Wawa experience, they tackle the eccentricities of Eagles fans through a fictional public access-type show Ehgels ’n’ Bagels. Supposedly filmed on-location in the Linc’s parking lot early one gameday morning, Ehgels ’n’ Bagels presents the Birds’ fanbase in its true colors (green, natch), offering a satirical view that hits way too close to home. When spoofs become believable, they also become uncomfortable.

“We’re talking about the same people who view the first guy to launch a snowball at Santa Claus as somewhat of a hometown hero,” saysBalchunas.

Touche, my friend. Just a friendly warning: Tread lightly on that ground, lest you ruffle the wrong feathers. Winter’s just around the corner.

Wawapalooza
Fri., Aug. 31, 7pm; Sat., Sept. 1, 9pm; Sun., Sept. 2, 3pm
$10
Red Room at Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St.
215.413.1318.
www.livearts-fringe.org