A review of Dorks ‘n’ Orks – Live, Fringe 2023

Dorks ‘n’ Orks – Live should have been in my comfort zone, but I was apprehensive about approaching The Three Sisters, where the comedy-meets-D&D event was hosted.

Edinburgh Reviews’s sister site Geek Native caters to dorky orky people. I’ve been happily covering comedy here and during the Edinburgh Festival season. What was up? Why was I apprehensive?

I realise now that it was the venue. It was Three Three Sisters. I’m not a student chasing cheap drinks and pretending that I have a chance of meeting a girl. What was I doing going to The Three Sisters? It felt out of place as I approached the popular venue.

I need not have worried. The Three Sisters was an excellent venue for Dorks ‘n’ Orks. We had great audiovisual, a huge screen for the machinima that animates Dorks ‘n’ Orks, and we sat in an underground vaulted chamber that would have been great for a Vampire: The Masquerade LARP.

DISCLAIMER: Although Edinburgh Reviews are supporting PBH’s Free Fringe with an ad in the ‘wee blue book’, we are reviewing shows from both Laughing Horse and PBH’s Free Fringe, all of which will be reviewed fairly and without bias.

In our Dorks ‘n’ Orks adventure, a Tomb with a View, four comedians, Philip Simon (who played an archer), Emily Bates (a goblin rogue), Kate McCabe (a sorcerer) and Seymour Mace (an orc barbarian) took on a vampire BBEG.

What to expect

You’ll get a good view as there is almost no bad seat in the house (sorry, again, Sisters – for our one-shot adventure, you rocked).

Dorks ‘n’ Orks is a mostly cooperative effort to steer a group of adventurers through a linear mission. It’s not D&D in the purest sense, but a d20 gets rolled to see if the action the comedian hopes their hero will do is successful. A d20 is a twenty-sided dice, so if the hero has to roll higher than ten on a dice with 20 possibilities, that’s a 50/50 chance. It’s a toss of a coin but with more drama.

Who decides the target number of even determines when the dice is needed? That’s the comedian, host and GameMaster Gary Colman.

Gary Colman has the challenge of trying to herd a group of our novice RPGers, each with shows to promote, through an adventure in front of a large crowd. The audience will want some progress but won’t want to think the comedians have been railroaded. Freedom of choice is important.

Expect some swearing too. In the heat of the moment, someone will let some foul language fly and Dorks ‘n’ Orks is rated 12+ unless it’s a late-night pub gig.

There will be a winner. It might be the villain, but Gary Colman is awarding points on a whim as the Dorks ‘n’ Orks adventure unfolds. Ultimately, one comedian gets a little more limelight as we reveal who earned the most.

Vibe and Performance

I’m a theatre of the mind gamer, but I see the attraction of the Dorks ‘n’ Orks machinima approach.

Machinima is the technique of using a computer game graphics engine to power an animation. Dorks ‘n’ Orks uses it to draw scenes and the heroes. This gives the show a bit more wow factor; it reminds the cast of what’s going on (not that they can see the screen easily) and gives the audience something else to look at.

Machinima is also connected to Edinburgh. It’s a turn coined by the late Hugh Hancock of Strange Company.

I enjoyed the four comedians grappling with the tasks at hand. All four are intelligent, quick-witted and embrace the mission at hand. All four seemed to be new to the game. The adventure started outside a dungeon door; no one thought to try the door to see if it was unlocked and randomly shot bats out of the sky to see if any might have been carrying a key.

GM Colman did seem to run low on patience at times. A stern dad, one or two escalations from shouting, voice was used now and then to get the gaggle to roll dice, focus or otherwise move on.

Overall

Despite the risk of swearing, perhaps because it is, I think Dorks ‘n’ Orks is an excellent show to take tweens to. If you have D&D curious kids, then this is a critical hit.

Also, despite my apprehension, The Three Sisters is a fine venue for a tabletop RPG show.

Feeling dorky? I think you consider levelling up and multi-classing to Dorks ‘n’ Orks.