How to Become More Less Crazy
The Nest: September 10, 13 and 15, 2019
Tickets from vancouverfringe.com or at the door
Posted September 8, 2019
How to Become More Less Crazy isn’t likely going to be Pick of the Fringe but writer/performer Bill Bernat would win the Vancouver Fringe Festival Award for Courage if there were one. He’s now a Ted talker and inspirational speaker but he spent years, starting in early childhood, struggling with depression and, later, alcohol and drug addiction. Now 11 years clean (round of applause), he’s determined to “re-brand depression.” He’s still officially “Bipolar II” but he’s managing it, is gainfully employed and remains very high-functioning.
Bernat is still an awkward sort of guy but funny and engagingly self-deprecating and while he doesn’t promise to cure everyone with a mental illness, he’s sure got some great tips for making life just a little bit easier. If you follow his tips, you won’t love your life but you might like it. And, as a bonus, his tips work for eating disorders, weight loss and all sorts of other compulsive behaviours.
At 75 minutes, the show is a little long as we follow Bernat’s rollercoaster through Hell but, damn, if he can lose 100 lbs. and get off drugs – and give others the tools to kick their own addictions – he can take all night if he wants to.