Caleb McEwen, Mike Fotis and Jason Lemay are betting that their Fringe Festival juggling show, "Comedy = Tragedy + Someone Else," will do well on the large Rarig Thrust stage / Photo by Carlos GonzalezAs they prepared to take applications for the 2011 Minnesota Fringe Festival, executive director Robin Gillette and her staff decided to take a chance this year. So they tweaked the beloved random-lottery system that the performing arts festival has long used to select its acts.

"We'd always done sub-lotteries as a way to be sure of some diversity," says Gillette. "But it put us in a weird position of having to ask artists to categorize themselves and to then enforce the accuracy of those categories" -- for example, whether a show was for kids, or whether it was by artists of color.

So this year, there were only three lottery categories: for large, medium and small venues, with the producers choosing for themselves how many seats they wanted to try to fill.

Fringe veteran Mike Fotis is behind two of the 21 shows that applied for large venues -- all of which were automatically in, because the festival had reserved 22 slots in that category. Fotis is confident that both of his shows, the juggling-oriented "Comedy = Tragedy + Someone Else" and the "historical western comedy" "Once Upon a Time in the Suburbs" (with the Ferrari McSpeedy troupe) will do well on the University of Minnesota's big Rarig Center Thrust stage.

"It's word-of-mouth more than anything" that makes a show do well, Fotis says. "Rarig has so many stages in one place, people are able to talk and spread the word."

Seth Lepore is at the other end of the spectrum: a Massachusetts performer taking his one-man show "Losing My Religion: Confessions of a New Age Refugee" on a national mini-tour of three fringe festivals. Lepore's was the first show selected in the small-venue category.

"Minnesota has a really, really good reputation on the fringe circuit," he says. "It's incredibly well organized, and they're enthusiastic to help out-of-towners."

"This ain't your grandma's fairy tale," promises the description of "Red Resurrected", a show that sets the Red Riding Hood tale in an Appalachian setting. It's presented by Isabel Nelson, who created last year's stunning sleeper favorite, "Ballad of the Pale Fisherman." In "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Jekyll", funnyman Tim Uren portrays a scientist who goes on an addled bender after drinking a decongestant.

Storytelling is meat-and-potatoes Fringe material, and a few returning favorites are taking the stage again this year to unspool their yarns. Rob Callahan and Allegra Lingo promise "stories from the edge of insanity" in "Callahan and Lingo Present: The Last Ditch". Mike Fotis, perennially one of the Fringe's biggest draws, is combining a trio of jugglers with storytelling for "Comedy = Tragedy + Someone Else".

Fringers looking to get more adventurous might look to book seats at "Losing My Religion: Confessions of a New Age Refugee," a solo monologue about the eccentric spiritual journey of Bay State performer Seth Lepore. Rebekah Rentzel, a recent Minnesota transplant who's been active behind the scenes at several local shows, takes center stage -- alone -- in "Tales of the Perilously Grounded!," a show about "finding home on your own terms." Both are playing at Augsburg Studio.

The Twin Cities' quietly burgeoning standup comedy scene will be represented in "I'm Making This Up as I Go", a rotating showcase of comedians curated by Sam Spadino. "Underneath the Lintel" at Rarig Center Arena -- a returning audience favorite from last year -- stars Pat O'Brien, a local actor best known by non-Fringers for his role as Mr. Dewey on "Saved by the Bell."

Gay is always timely, but rarely more so than in this year of proposed amendments. Savage Umbrella's "Ex-Gays" at Intermedia Arts takes satiric aim at attempts to "cure" homosexuality, with audience members cast as visitors to Camp Str8-N-Arrow. "Cedar Rapids Famous" (Augsburg Mainstage) sets its fictional story of Andy and Barney, Iowa's first legally married gay couple, during the 22.5 hours in 2007 when that state officially recognized gay marriage. (It's presented, of course, by "The Really Nice Gay People From Iowa.") Les Kurkendaal's "Nightmare in Bakersfield" (Huge Improv Theater) is about a guy who accompanies his boyfriend, Mike, to a high school reunion in the small town where no one knows Mike is gay. Drama!

Kids who enjoy hearing stories are likely to be captivated by the Black Storytellers Alliance recounting the adventures of "Anansi, Br'er Rabbit and Other Wily Creatures". Kids with a well-developed funny bone will appreciate Live Action Set's adaptation of "Fletcher & Zenobia Save the Circus (by Edward Gorey)" at Mill City Museum. Star Noah Bremer is just back from touring with Cirque du Soleil, so he knows whereof he clowns.

For teens, the Young Artists Council of Youth Performance Company presents "Damn You Auto Caress!". The title isn't even the edgiest thing about this show with a "Hangover"-like premise in which a high schooler wakes up surrounded by Russians and wearing a wedding dress.

As always, this year's Fringe includes a diverse group of dance performances. Last year, Zenon Dance Company's Tamara Ober yielded her spot to a coomedy show; this year, she's kept the slot for herself and presents the provocatively titled "Flesh," a series of solos by dancers from Zenon and James Sewell Ballet. "Buckets and Tap Shoes" will please fans of "Stomp," and "Longing for Qeej" -- a joint production of the Pan Asian Arts Alliance and MN Sunshine Dance -- is a colorful Hmong dance drama that's been 10 years in the making. All three shows are at the Rarig Proscenium.

If there's one thing Fringe audiences love, it's pop-culture satire -- and this year's lineup delivers it by the truckload.

Want to see "Disney Dethroned"? Tom Reed ("Bite Me Twilight," "Parry Hotter and the Half-Drunk Twins") has you covered at Mixed Blood. Looking for a nostalgia trip to the small screen via the small stage? Blue Umbrella Productions is there for you with "Those Were the Days: A Tribute to Television Themes" at Minneapolis Theatre Garage. Hoping there's just a little more mileage left in James Bond parodies? If the unfailingly funny Four Humors Theater can't squeeze any water out of that stone with "You Only Live Forever Once", no one can.

More serious satiric stuff comes from Ferrari McSpeedy, whose "Once Upon a Time in the Suburbs" is a historical comedy about an all-female suburb of Chicago circa 1890, and Milliepadd Productions, which presents the stereotype-skewering "Uncle Tom's Condo".

The sexiest show in this year's Fringe is almost certain to be "Green Eyes," the regional premiere of a Tennessee Williams play about sparring newlyweds, featuring hot (in multiple senses) actors Matt Rein and Jaimi Paige. Less hot, but more bothered, is "Ten Reasons Why I'd Be a Bad Porn Star" by May Lee-Yang ("Confessions of a Lazy Hmong Woman") at Intermedia Arts. A show that's sure to draw crowds if only for having the year's most marketable title is Clay Sushi's "The Folly of Crowds: A Heterosexual Buttsex Play".

Amid all that crazy sex, you might almost have forgotten you're in the Don't-Hug-Me State. Plenty of shows in this year's Fringe will happily remind you. Foremost is "Minnesota Middle Finger" by Ben Del Sal, whose "A Nice Guy's Guide to Awkward Sex" was one of last year's best-attended shows; and Down in the Holes' "Renny Decker: Rise and Fall of the Boat King", for people who gloried in the long, hard fall of a certain alarmingly tanned local auto dealer.

Do buy a multi-show pass. The five-, 10- and unlimited-show passes will save you money -- and once you start popping Fringe shows, you may find that it's hard to stop.

Don't assume you'll get into every show just by showing up. Multi-show pass holders can reserve seats for only $1 a show -- a smart investment for shows you'd hate to miss, especially those at small venues where full houses are likely.

Don't underestimate how long it will take to get from one venue to another. With Central Corridor construction in full swing, this is a good year to hunker down in a single neighborhood on any given day of Fringing.

Do connect with fellow Fringers. With Bedlam Theatre having been booted from the West Bank, Fringe Central is now at Moto-i (2940 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls.), where the rooftop deck will be full of buzzed Fringers raving and ranting about this year's shows.

Don't play it safe. Take chances and see at least a few shows you know absolutely nothing about. That's the Fringe spirit.