THE BABY SHOW: PUNK GRANDPA AND UNCLE PRETTY Comes to Hollywood Fringe

LaurA! and Jake Scruggs will bring their combo project The Baby Show to the Hollywood Fringe Festival.  When an 8 3/4 year old doesn’t fit into her family, church and school, her Punk Grandpa magically shows her that she doesn’t have to follow the rules all the time. Uncle Pretty continues on where Punk Grandpa leaves off and, as these two actors show, having children hasn’t much worked out for them since they are babies too. The Baby Show delves into identity, vulnerability and honesty while exploring the relationship of family. The show has toured festivals throughout the country for nearly a decade and will land for three performances at the Broadwater Black Box this June.

The Baby Show combines two hilarious and heartwarming shows into one. Punk Grandpa is a modern-day “Auntie Mame,” with genders reversed. It’s all about being different, not worrying about what others think and the value of the grandparent/grandchild relationship. The show is portrayed through storytelling, music, dance, a little bit of puppetry and vintage family movies and photos. Punk Grandpa also touches on the topic of Alzheimer’s (as Laura’s grandpa passed away due to Alzheimer’s and has been used as a fundraiser for The Alzheimer’s Association) and Big Band/Jazz music. It is followed by Uncle Pretty, the world premiere of Jake Scruggs’ one man show about acquiring the titular moniker from his adorable nieces. It continues the story of Punk Grandpa from the point of view of the minor character who marries the protagonist. He’s also a weirdo, has weird friends and some hilariously heartbreaking ‘adventures.’

LaurA! Force Scruggs is a produced, published and commissioned playwright.  She has her B.S. in Elementary Education, with a Jr. High/Middle School Theatre endorsement and M.A. in Communication, Media and Theatre.  She taught theatre for about ten years (ages 18 months - senior citizens) in a variety of environments.  She was a 2008 Golden Apple semi-finalist, as a middle school Drama teacher.  LaurA! was a Resident Playwright at Three Cat Productions in Chicago and a 2021 and 2023 Write On, Door County Resident Playwright.  She also produced and directed the documentary about the late Chicago toy store, Uncle Fun, and its creator, Ted Frankel, Uncle Fun: You're The Onewhich has been featured at several festivals and other venues and has won numerous awards, among them being a tie for Best Documentary at The Lonely Seal Festival. 

Jake Scruggs taught Biology, Chemistry, and Physics (but mostly Physics) at the high school level for the better part of a decade and has a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction from U. Of I. U/C. In the early 2000s he acted in a few Chicago Park District productions and switched careers into software development. Currently he works at a Fortune 250 company doing Platform as a Service on the Cloud Native Products team. Occasionally he pays money to do open mic standup comedy at The Hollywood Comedy on Melrose.