PartyBoy

This show is why we go to Fringe. It's unique and personal and that's what I want to see! ... full review

One of my favorite shows of the fedt for sure. So much nuance and specificity, so many laughs in the poetry of recognition. And strikingly performed. Both surprising and contained... full review

A truly unique experience and unlike anything I've seen at fringe so far. Breaks the form of what a show is and invites the audience into a gentle and loving social neurosis. Like playing a cozy game interjected with dance and poetry.... full review

A delightfully bizarre party with the party boy... full review

Adam Smith’s Partyboy feels less like a play than an absurd, hilarious conversation with the audience. Framed around Smith’s attempt to learn how to throw better parties, the show quickly becomes an intensely interactive experiment in connection. Audience members are asked to play rock, paper, scissors with strangers, offer up knock-knock jokes, and turn to their neighbors to decide which of them is more likely to be vulnerable in public. The tone of the show flips on a dime. One moment, Smith is doing the “Bunny Hop,” a dance he learned from one of the instructional cassette tapes he plays throughout the show. Next, he might be sitting on the ground eating a brownie while suspenseful music swells. Between the sillier bits, Smith occasion... full review

Smart, funny, sweet and touches you right in the dang heart. ... full review

A contemplative and strange examination of social gatherings. Darkly funny and completely committed. Masterful use of restraint and silence paired with the unplanned. I felt like I was in an anxiety dream and I loved it. ... full review

Charming, quirky, and utterly original. Adam Smith has a really oddball sense of humor, and you can feel all the intelligence and thought and warmth behind it. The overall experience reminded me of going to a kid's birthday party as a kid and being surprised by all the weird things the kid was into. ... full review

Required viewing for all wallflowers! I'm not sure exactly what this show was, but I really enjoyed it. Partyboy was silly, surreal, charming, and secretly deep. I've never seen anyone eat brownies as menacingly. I left feeling confident that my presence there helped Adam be better at parties.... full review

This is a front runner for best show of 2026. ... full review