Pittsburgh Fringe 2026
Krampus Gets Cramped
Jim Julien
Genre: Multimedia
Venue: Mr. Roboto project
Festival: Pittsburgh Fringe
Low Down
A multimedia performance with narration, music, and sound effects along with wild puppetry.
Review
Mr. Roboto Project, a barebones, gritty, industrial, intimate space was the perfect venue for Jim Julien’s Krampus gets Cramped as a part of the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival. The stage was set with chintzy red and green felt Christmas decorations and roaming red, green, and blue roaming pin lights playing on the ceiling and set. And dressed in a black t-shirt, jeans, and a Christmas hat, Julien is the rock ‘n roll master of ceremonies on our journey through music history with a hell of a flair.
Researched, written, narrated, maneuvered, and puppeteered entirely by Jim Julien, the story of Cramped follows the fictional plot that Krampus is chasing Lux and Ivy (who eventually found the band The Cramps) to punish them for sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll. The structure gives Julien the excuse to take us through a comprehensive journey of how they met, their relationship, and their musical and physical journey across the United States over the years.
The entire show was narrated over the sound system along with a musical soundtrack as Julien operated “cranky boxes” – handmade backlit scrim boxes that he cranked to show silhouettes as well as moving puppet silhouettes to tell the story.
The story was much less Christmas and more a superfan underground rock documentary – aside from the swearing and adult references, this would have actually made a kick-ass school report. It’s genuinely impressive how comprehensive Julien’s research into the detail of not just Lux and Ivy’s journey together, but also the evolution of rock ‘n roll throughout the time. Not only that, but Julien nearly seamlessly juggled cranking the scrim, switching cranky boxes, and maneuvering puppets while the narration never stopped. 3D glasses were passed out before the show that were utilized during the performance, but Julien recommended a Youtube Cramps performance of “Tear it Up” that will also work with the glasses after the show as audience was filing out.
There were a few times parts of the show dragged with too much exposition and not enough visual interest, and the most compelling part of narration is when Julien joined in live and spoke from the stage (though with all the moving parts he has going on, it’s unrealistic for him to do the entire narration live). I also felt that since he was on stage the entire time, he should either disappear behind his action or have more light on him so his motions and facial expressions looked more intentionally a part of the show.
The longer the show went on, the more it grew on me, and I left grinning. It was fun, friendly, unapologetic, engaging, unpretentious, and sincere, written and performed by a man who truly loved his subject. Cramped is a dark beauty of a love letter, a tribute to “true rock ‘n roll” as an answer to “corporate mediocracy” in music.
