There’s a reason some people call it “the Cringe Festival.” Regulars at the New York International Fringe Festival know it’s a crapshoot — emphasis on the first syllable.
For every success like “Urinetown,” which went on to Broadway, or “Silence! The Musical,” which just extended its off-Broadway run, there are literally hundreds of hopeless also-rans that make you wonder what didn’t make the cut.
Before the 15th edition kicks off Friday, with 192 entries through Aug. 28, here are a few shows that caught our eye.
MOST PROMISING PERFORMERS
* The hilarious Harriet Harris, above, (“Frasier,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie”) rises again in “Yeast Nation,” a new musical from the creators of “Urinetown.”
* John Amos (“Good Times,” “Roots”) heads the cast of “Felony Friday,” about an imprisoned crime boss in a holding cell from hell.
* Rodiney Santiago (TV’s “The A-List”) and “Saturday Night Fever” babe Karen Lynn Gorney collide in “Parker & Dizzy’s Fabulous Journey to the End of the Rainbow.”
BOLDFACE NAMES
* From headlines to headliner: “The Legend of Julie Taymor, or the Musical That Killed Everybody!”
* Jessica Sherr promises to tease and unease in “Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies.”
* “Jersey Shoresical: A Frickin’ Rock Opera.” For some, too much Snooki is never enough.
HIGH CONCEPTS
* “Dystopia Gardens,” billed as the “abandoned bastard child” of downer sci-fi flicks of yore (“Brazil,” anyone?).
* “Is Dolores smuggling cabbages in her pants?” The answer lies in the Upright Citizens Brigade’s “Heads.”
* “The Bardy Bunch”: Shakespeare, the Brady bunch and the Partridge family walk into a bar . . .
TOO MUCH INFORMATION?
* “Mama Juggs”: Let’s hope ’rie Shontel’s solo show about breasts isn’t a booby trap.
* “Carnival Knowledge”: Naomi Grossman, below, reveals her freak show of a dating life.
* Maire Clerkin fesses up in “The Bad Arm — Confessions of a Dodgy Irish Dancer.”