Philly’s Tribe of Fools and Brian Sanders’ JUNK to Compete on Reality Show


Brian Sanders' JUNK promo image for Fake Off.

Brian Sanders’ JUNK promo image for Fake Off.

Philly performance troupes and FringeArts mainstays Tribe of Fools and Brian Sanders’ JUNK will be two of 10 teams competing on the second season of TruTV competition series Fake Off.

A description of the show from TruTV: “Fake Off takes viewers into the visually stunning world of ‘faking,’ a mix of theater, acrobatics, black light and illusion. In each episode, teams are challenged to reimagine iconic moments in pop culture to see who’s got the skills to be named America’s Fake Off Champions and walk away with a $100,000 cash prize.”

The show will kicks off on Wednesday, May 6th at 10 pm. It will comprise eight episodes with a couple teams performing each night until the grand finale when the winner is named. Tribe of Fools and JUNK will perform for the first time on May 13th, so set your DVRs.

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Tribe of Fools promo image

Tribe of Fools Artistic Director Terry Brennan tells me they’ve already taped all the episodes, down in Atlanta where the show takes place. They had a chance to perform two pieces: one with a ‘90s-toy theme, where they dress up like their favorite toys who break out of a toy box; and the other is history-themed, in which they went for a Cold War-commentary piece about the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Though taping has been wrapped on the show, the contestants don’t know who won. I asked Brennan what Tribe of Fools would do with the $100K prize: “There would be a certain amount we’d distribute between the performers who traveled to Atlanta. The rest would be rolled back into the company to expand production—and offer higher pay scales for the actors.”

So does he feel like he has a chance? “We had a really positive experience,” he tells me. “I think we actually have a shot.”

The series is hosted by actor/dancer Corbin Bleu (High School Musical), Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), actress/choreographer Laurieann Gibson (Making the Band) and actor/choreographer Beau Casper Smart (Big Bang Theory). Check out Tribe of Fools and JUNK’s introduction videos for the show below: