[FIPS WAS THERE...] Cringing at Freddy’s on 5th

Last Thursday night, I stood up on a small stage at Freddy’s Backroom and read a super-secret “YM” (your man) quiz that I wrote in high school for my BFF, whom I called Little Snow Foot. I also read poems about slamming the door to my bedroom, the end of the world, secret love, really deep stuff. The audience was cringing and laughing at me, well, the 16 year old me that wrote them. Why would I do this? For Cringe, of course.

Park Slope is full of nightly events from trivia nights to bocce ball to listening to your neighbors colicky baby set a new six-hour wailing record. My favorite night, by far is Cringe, where people read from their adolescent writings. The result is deliciously cringe-worthy. It makes you squirm, gasp and sometimes want to hug the teenager that was and tell them it’s going to be all right…probably. Comedy is tragedy plus time and that’s what makes Cringe so, well so freakin’ hysterically gut wrenching.

Among the readings from Thursday night were:

• A sheltered 12 year old’s diary entry about discovering the perfect words to describe her feelings for her crush Jason in Debbie Gibson’s “Lost In Your Eyes.” Later, she delved into breast hickeys.
• A15 year old’s dark experimental play about an onion and wrist slitting.
• A teenage boy’s diary entry that speaks highly of his proudest accomplishment after being left alone on a weekend for the first time: making his bed
• A devout Catholic tween’s letter to a friend demanding an apology for her profane language. Later she reads from her high school freshman diary, which is heavily sprinkled with “FUCK!!!!” and refers to classmates as “commie dick lickers.”

Sarah Brown, who started Cringe 8 ½ years ago at the old Freddy’s on Dean Street (now in on 5^th Ave), and later at The George in London, explained its universal appeal:

“Cringe has been done in different countries. 65 year olds have read at Cringe. It transcends generations. Everyone has the same adolescent perspective. Everyone is worried about the same three things: how you’re perceived, parents being unfair and does the person you like, like you back?”

The next Cringe is December 12^th. Will you dare to bare your adolescent soul? Did your parents toss your old shit? Have you had the superb tater tots at Freddy’s?