Edinburgh Festivals

Twelfth Night

By my troth, an afternoon delight (if you’ve got the energy)

27 Aug 2010

The small cast composing this year’s C Theatre production are really enjoying themselves. They transport Twelfth Night’s faraway kingdom of Illyria to a sexy 1930s London scene, and complete the look with boater hats, black lace, cigarette holders, and…

Following Wendy

Unconventional take on the Peter Pan story

27 Aug 2010

When a young girl Wendy disappears from a house party she has thrown in the absence of her parents, (through an upstairs window and accompanied by a boy with no shadow apparently!?) her friend Sebastian is arrested in connection. Following an argument…

Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange

Timeless novel given female makeover

27 Aug 2010

Anthony Burgess’ timeless novel is given an unconventional makeover with an influx of girls and an examination of the rise of the female gang. With the delightfully eccentric Amy Brangwyn playing the violent protagonist Alex, and taking full advantage…

Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist a strong gathering led by Bo Burnham and Josie Long

2010 awards puts two women on shortlist for first time

26 Aug 2010

According to Nica Burns, producer of the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, 2010 is ‘a vintage year for comedy,’ and the shortlist for the main award ‘reflects the enormous changes in the comedy landscape’. Of course, this might just be the kind of…

Tim Vine delivers the Fringe's best one-liner

Pannel of judges votes on best, and worst, cracks of the festival

25 Aug 2010

Comedy shows are a great place to try out a new one-liner and this has turned Edinburgh into the genre's Petri dish. While many experimentations end up botched, quite a few can be certified gold. Some of the performers even managed to get jokes onto…

Edinburgh Comedy Awards shortlist announced

Bo Burnham, Greg Davies and Sarah Millican head up 2010 shortlist

25 Aug 2010

The shortlist for the 2010 Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards has been announced. The acts nominated are: Bo Burnham, Greg Davies, Josie Long, Russell Kane and Sarah Millican

Henry Rollins

Fast-paced spoken word from the punk-rock raconteur

25 Aug 2010

Henry Rollins hates inactivity. His opening salvo – and this is surely the only term to use, as his stream-of-consciousness rants hit home like artillery-fire – concerns his need to exercise earlier in the day, despite it being his scheduled day off…

Winner By Submission

Self destructive ethos

25 Aug 2010

A play based on the self destructive ethos which seems to be felt by many of the current generation of American youth. With little to no direction in life, including no signifying rituals as right of passage to adult hood, many are finding solace in…

The Horne Section

Late night jazz comedy shambles – in a fun way

25 Aug 2010

‘We’re combining music and comedy – we’re pretty sure this is the first time it’s ever been done!’ announces Alex Horne, taking on compère duties this evening at the head of a live jazz band. There’s a bit of audience participation, some snappy music…

Lip Service

Matter of fact and moving study of human emotions

25 Aug 2010

Bravery, authenticity, vulnerability. It seems these are three things that Becki Gerrard wants to prove during her autobiographical solo show. Her theatrical device – being totally naked throughout, and making it very clear just quite how comfortable…

A Midsummer Night's Dream

More hood than wood (but still not good)

25 Aug 2010

This year at the Fringe, the young and award-winning Shed Theatre Company give our favourite Shakespearean rom-com a contemporary twist. Poetic couplets become edgy rap rhythms and an urban dub-step dance-off is choreographed into the fairies’s scene.

His Name Is Tim

A melancholy understanding of first love, lust and desire

25 Aug 2010

The story of the affable young man Tim is a compelling one; we are taken through his early teen years of fantasising about school teachers and falling in love with girls at the supermarket, smartly incorporating this to explain how he now sits at his…

Tim Vine: Joke-a-motive

Quickfire pun-slinging and silly songs

25 Aug 2010

You know what to you expect going into a Tim Vine show: the man has built a reputation on the rapid-fire delivery of one-liners, even going so far as to secure a Guinness World Record for the most jokes told in an hour (although we should mention that…

Interrobang?

Student-y question and answer improv

25 Aug 2010

The strangely-accented lady in the ringmaster’s costume gathers material from the audience: an unanswered question (‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’), some names (‘Jemima! Theodore!’), and a location (‘the zoo!’). These answers are all duly noted…

Frisky and Mannish - The College Years

Not only hilariously funny, they’re also both brilliant musicians

25 Aug 2010

Jumping straight into Frisky and Mannish’s College Years, having missing out on their 2009 School of Pop, I was a little uncertain as to whether I would be able to keep up with the pace. Fortunately the talented duo are prepared for this, introducing…

Burns: The Video Diary

Rabbie gets down and dirty in Auld Reekie

25 Aug 2010

Donald Smith’s multimedia dramatisation of Robert Burns’ Edinburgh days is a slick, atmospheric affair. Video sequences and fragments of live delivery combine to provide a shifting, restless picture of the Bard as he arrives in the capital of…

Grimm Tales of the Unexpected

Crudely draws out the latent dark content of the Grimms’ fairytales

25 Aug 2010

Offering precisely what it says on the tin (minus an ‘m’), this piece from Manchester’s Broken Productions crudely draws out the latent dark content of the Grimms’ fairytales, with scenes of incestuous rape, three murders and a suicide cropping up. It…

Tales From a Cabaret

A series of increasingly sinister jokes and songs

25 Aug 2010

In the underground vault of Fingers Piano Bar two actors in white face, bowler hats and shabby suits first give us a history of cabaret culture. They go on to a series of increasingly sinister jokes and songs, reminding us that the history of…

Too Middle Class for Chlamydia

Fairly pedestrian – not to mention misogynist

25 Aug 2010

Curiously, this one-man show in which a young middle class lad recalls the variously difficult girls he’s been romantically involved with is delivered as a comic monologue, though the material is probably better suited to a stand-up routine. A few…

I’m Still Here . . .

Ably flitting between genres

25 Aug 2010

The West End pro takes a saunter through hits from Sondheim to Mika and Queen to ‘Moon River’ with a connecting thread of drama. His voice holds up well, ably flitting between genres, but a worrying ironic tone starts to creep in until during ‘MacArthur…

Now is the Winter

Confusion abounds

25 Aug 2010

Unless you’re seriously intimate with Shakespeare’s original give this a miss. This one-woman reinterpretation of Richard III retells the story from his ascendancy to the battle of Bosworth through the eyes of a faithful servant. A challenging notion…

Two Bloody Queens

A noble, but shambolic attempt

25 Aug 2010

It takes a brave man to sum up the lives of two dead monarchs – especially in drag, in a noisy pub basement, in an hour. Robert Inston’s portrayal of Elizabeth Tudor and Mary Queen of Scots is a noble, but shambolic attempt to show the real women behind…

Getting Over Milk Wood

Things go from the sub-standard to the ridiculous

25 Aug 2010

This modern reinvention of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood is trying so hard to be ever so clever that it ends up making little sense at all. The attempts at modernisation and characterisation are heavy handed, cast members frequently fluff their lines…

The Night Heron

An interesting watch, but is a bit too broad

25 Aug 2010

A devout young man suffers in a freezing shack, while his geezer-ish roommate plans their escape. It’s a basic plot outline, at which almost everything you’d expect to see at the Fringe is thrown: poetry, religion, comedic touches, earnest drama…

Legend of the Card Ninja

Flinging playing cards like throwing stars

25 Aug 2010

Jav Jarquin flips the whole concept of the card trick on its head, flinging playing cards like throwing stars to knock over small objects or embed themselves in pieces of fruit. Not all the tricks work first time, but warmly self-deprecating stand-up…

Seymour Mace

Odd, witty and unexpected gags galore

25 Aug 2010

Since Mace has been accused of not putting enough of himself into his performance, he has thrown his whole lazy self into this year’s show. You’ll get a whole different kettle of joke to that of the mainstream Festival here with odd, witty and…

Up to Now

Of limited appeal

25 Aug 2010

Robert Shaw’s monologue takes us through events from the life of his grandfather, the composer Martin Shaw, in fin de siècle Europe. From conducting for Isadora Duncan to meeting with August Strindberg, events that should be illuminating fade into one…

The Gentleman of Leisure

Engaging and sharp

25 Aug 2010

Tom Neenan and Nish Kumar are The Gentlemen of Leisure, bringing you an energetic and enlightening hour of satire and silliness. Although a little more on-stage chemistry between the pair wouldn’t go amiss, the duo are engaging and sharp, and pull off…

Sammy J

Transgressive flights of fancy

25 Aug 2010

Exceedingly likeable and not above telling traditional jokes and singing conventional songs, this gangly Melbourne comic’s true talent lies in his transgressive flights of fancy. J’s opening routine concerning a ‘double cock con’ he was part of at a…

The Unexpected Items

A spirited rabble of punning linguists

25 Aug 2010

The Unexpected Items is a spirited rabble of punning linguists who embellish their clever, feel-good sketches with satirical pop songs and spontaneous dance moves. The Oxford troupe’s tributes to Alan Rickman and Carol Ann Duffy are ebullient, while…

Late Night Gimp Fight!

Padded out with mediocre offerings

25 Aug 2010

Despite the pretensions to political incorrectness from this five-man troupe, there are only a handful of jokes that are especially dubious, and these are by far the funniest. The rest of the hour is padded out with mediocre offerings that have the…

Magicians

Thwarted ambition and misplaced idolatry

25 Aug 2010

A daft and slightly irritating tale of two rubbish magicians (or are they?) canters along amid a backdrop of thwarted ambition and misplaced idolatry. Remove the mild innuendo, tone down the psychological torment and this could easily be a more…

Tommy Tiernan

A passionate man taking glorious risks

24 Aug 2010

For a few minutes there it looked like Tommy Tiernan had lost the plot. Starting off Crooked Man slower than Wayne Rooney at a Mensa convention, he tosses out a few semi-derogatory quips about the state of comedy at the Fringe and wondering why he’s…

Kevin Eldon

Where hard graft meets titting about

24 Aug 2010

Lugging around a CV of television credits longer than the queue snaking outside The Stand, Kevin Eldon comes to Edinburgh for his debut Fringe solo show with both word of mouth and heavy press coverage on his side. And unlike those Hollywood stars…

Rich Fulcher

Smutty drag act comes on a little strong

24 Aug 2010

‘A woman with tits’ is how Rich Fulcher introduces his current favourite character creation, Eleanor (The Tour Whore). Spotted first in season three of The Mighty Boosh, this dusky, seductive lady has been recast as a sordid super-groupie, happy to take…

The 2010 Festival in Numbers

Here are some statistics about this year's Festivals

24 Aug 2010

We've very carefully and scientifically gathered some stunning numbers and statistics about this year's festivals.

Tim Clare's Death Drive

A road trip with a difference

24 Aug 2010

Talented performance poets/live literati talking about going back to live with their parents is all the rage this year. That is, if a ‘rage’ can be constituted by two shows, the excellent piece by Ross Sutherland at the Underbelly, and here in the shape…

Josh Howie

A gag-happy clown tests his crowd

24 Aug 2010

Two years ago, Josh Howie made a name for himself at the Fringe with a show about the mad old upbringing he had at the hands of his mum, the PR guru, Lynne Franks. The show, Chosen, featured some highly personal detail that must have made subsequent…

Another Someone

A quirky and colourful production

24 Aug 2010

‘Welcome to a show all about happiness’. There’s Holly, a geek-turned-lawyer who denies herself happiness; Alicia, a bimbo waitress who thinks happiness is drinking cava in the afternoon; and Jim, a chef who thinks happiness is trading in his career…

Sara Pascoe

Disappointing debut from Freud-studying comic

24 Aug 2010

Given that she’s performing her debut solo Fringe hour, the fact that Sara Pascoe is directing two other shows by more experienced comics might have gone a little to her head. Then again, this show is entitled Sara Pascoe vs Her Ego, and judging by the…

Helen Arney

Sweet songs with a tender heart

24 Aug 2010

For Helen Arney, love is a many tentacled thing. Two centuries ago, there was ‘less choice, more farming accidents’ while now we’re never too sure whether the grass will turn out to be greener on the other side. For her own part, she seems to have a…

Kerry Gilbert

Talent is wasted on charmless creations

24 Aug 2010

It all starts with the arresting scene of Kerry Gilbert dragging onto the stage a heavy suitcase before she then unpacks it, revealing the outfits and props with which she will conduct her solo hour of character comedy. There’s barely anything which…

The Low Anthem, Mountain Man and Avi Buffalo set for Edinburgh date

Americana, borrowing from jazz, gospel and folk

24 Aug 2010

With a relaxed, mellow sound steeped in the traditions of American folk and blues, the Low Anthem are a group of Ivy League music graduates from Providence, Rhode Island, currently touring Europe with their unique fusion of instruments, ranging from…

Addicted to Danger

Surreal and innovative sketch affair

24 Aug 2010

Just when it looked like the sketch show might be eating itself to a slow, agonising death on this Fringe, along comes Steve McNeil, Sam Pamphilon and Rachel Stubbings to stick a hot poker into its dying carcass and kickstart the whole shebang. In…

Nick Helm - Keep Hold of the Gold

You’ll get on stage – whether you want to or not

24 Aug 2010

'Nice to meet you, nice to greet you!' Audience members are well into a thigh slapping get-to-know-you session at the beginning of Nick Helm’s Fringe 2010 outing. Everyone’s been forced under the spotlight to sing along and everyone’s grinning, some no…

Nat Luurtsema

An agreeable debut with a twist

24 Aug 2010

There was nothing in the pre-publicity material to suggest that In My Head I’m a Hero would take the turn that it does, and this is to Nat Luurtsema’s credit. A fairly humdrum but perfectly agreeable show about being a tea-loving daydreamer who wanted…

Toulson and Harvey

A not-so slight return for Perrier-nominated duo

24 Aug 2010

In their first Fringe venture together for three years, Luke Toulson and Stephen Harvey prove that the old chemistry is still intact, as they reach deep into their theatrical and comedic reserves to produce a show about partnerships and friendships…

Transformation

Harrowing but uplifting tale of survival

24 Aug 2010

At first sight writer, director and performer Gemskii appears to have created a welcoming, informal atmosphere in her small space at the Roxy, handing out programmes and opening her show with a polite invitation to ‘laugh, even though this story is…

John Robins

A master of humour over jokes

24 Aug 2010

John Robins is a floppy-haired chap with an earnest demeanor and an appreciation of life’s pleasurable minutiae - he spends his introduction talking about the wonders of his new digital camera, which also functions as a digital recorder so he can listen…

Underneath The Lintel

A little treat for Dan Brown fans

24 Aug 2010

Often compared to The Da Vinci Code, Glen Berger’s play takes its librarian protagonist from less than riveting circumstances in a provincial Dutch town to the ends of the earth and back. His aim: to track down the anonymous borrower of a Baedeker’s…

iOTA from Smoke and Mirrors - Five questions

Slightly demented ringmaster in stripey socks

24 Aug 2010

5 words you’d use to describe your show Cerebral, moving, beautiful, intense, entertaining. 4 things you bring on tour Slippers, laptop, clothes, eczema cream. 3 shows you hope to see in Edinburgh Harlekin by Derevo, Jennifer Coolidge and…

Pornography takes centre stage at Fringe 2010

Steve Cramer's Festival blog

23 Aug 2010

There are three steps down into the auditorium at the Traverse St Stephens. It’s not entirely at random that I warn you. As I entered said space I failed to spot this natty architectural folly, and launched myself, instead of into Apples, into thin air.

The Gospel at Colonus

Greek tragedy set in an African-American Pentecostal church

23 Aug 2010

That this is a spectacle worth seeing, there can be no doubt. That the cast consists of an incredible collection of highly talented singers is equally apparent. That the idea of transporting a Greek tragedy to the setting of an African-American…

Caledonia

History repeating itself

23 Aug 2010

There is a moment in Alistair Beaton’s new play that creates a collective audible intake of breath from its audience. It is the point where Paul Higgins’ deluded huckster of a banker announces that his private corporation is now bigger than the state…

Teenage Riot

23 Aug 2010

What’s going through the mind of a teenager? Lovebites? Career prospects? Facebook? Dieting? All of the above, apparently. ‘My shrink doesn’t understand me!’ whines one teenager, in a comedy section where we get an emo blast of adolescent moans. ‘I am…

Vieux Carré

Bold, intelligent and intermittently entertaining play

23 Aug 2010

The Wooster Group pulls apart Tennessee Williams’ late play set in a New Orleans boarding house and painstakingly reassembles it, adding references to the work of Warhol collaborator Paul Morrissey’s avant-garde films of the 60s and 70s and the work of…

Opera Bohemia

Talented new company's Fringe debut

23 Aug 2010

As the name may suggest, Opera Bohemia’s title was inspired by the aspiring artist characters in Puccini’s La Bohéme. Founded by two former RSAMD students, Alistair Digges and Douglas Nairne, this new opera company is a wealth of extraordinary fresh…

Allsopp and Henderson’s The Jinglists

Refreshingly outrageous jingle-based show

23 Aug 2010

Top quality radio jingles are hard to come by, when written well they will stubbornly refuse to leave your immediate head space, you may often find yourself uncontrollably singing along without even realising you knew the words. The two thirty-something…

Of Women and Horses I Have Known

A life in English eccentricity through comedy, theatre and music

23 Aug 2010

The true tale of the formidable Jean Hislop, a true eccentric from the English upper classes. The story charts her life living through the First World War to her days as a prize winning breeder on the horse racing circuit, causing controversy along the…

Mrs. Bang: A Series of Seductions in 55 minutes

An arrogant persona backed up by a powerful and diverse voice

23 Aug 2010

After theatrically conveniently being stood up by her band, Mrs Bang is forced to fly solo and rely on audience participation to make it through her debut cabaret/comedy performance at the Fringe. Playing the part of the slightly bitter performer whose…

The Love of a Clown

Clever combination of sentimental storytelling and traditional clown

23 Aug 2010

A clever combination of sentimental storytelling and traditional clown performance makes this show, overall, a very pleasant experience. The love struck star of the show is Jacques Raouso, am ageing clown who is reaching the end of his career on the…

The Lunchtime Club: Class of 2010

Largely uninspiring line-up on lunchtime lads

23 Aug 2010

Both Rob Beckett and Liam Williams are competing in the Amused Moose comedy awards the day of this show. You could use the excuse that both comedians are suffering nerves as a result of the impending evening, and as a result, their material is a bit…

Your Days Are Numbered

Somehow making maths funny

23 Aug 2010

It’s hard to believe that travel and science journalist Timandra Harkness once had a Princess Diana joke banned by Carlton TV. Alongside stand-up mathematician Matt Parker, the mood of this show is light and fluffy, even if it is chiefly covering the…

Andrew O'Neill

Comedic view of metal music and culture

23 Aug 2010

If Andrew O'Neill's poster description "occult comedian" suggests an evening of witty witchcraft, that's not what he's serving at this year's Fringe. He's a metalhead, and wears all black clothing (and owns a black beach towel), but he's a long way from…

Joe Lycett and Andrew Ryan

Good-humoured but weak double-header

23 Aug 2010

Andrew Ryan is a happy chap: the biggest laughs in his show come from his tale of the time he met his hero, Ardal O’Hanlon (whom he happens to resemble a bit). Joe Lycett is similarly sunny in his outlook: his entire set revolves around his love of…

It's Like He's Knocking

The magic of coincidence revealed, with free vodka

23 Aug 2010

'Who'd like some vodka?' asks a cheerful Leo Kay at the beginning of his Forest Fringe performance. A fitting intro, as it happens. Kay's bedsit-set show is all about sharing: booze (real not pretend), memories, ambitions and hopes (the audience's as…

Everything Else You Always Wanted to Know About Life (But Didn’t Care to Ask)

Largely-poor material takes us back to the mid-70s

23 Aug 2010

It could have been a trick of the light, but did foursome Bad Bread just follow up the word ‘queries’ with a limp wrist gesture? Twice? At least not all of their largely-poor material takes us back to the mid-70s as they perform sketches introduced by a…

James Sherwood

Sporadically hilarious piano-led laughs

23 Aug 2010

There are a number of truly inspired, laugh out loud moments in James Sherwood’s set. Unfortunately, that number is four, and it’s just not enough to sustain an audience for an hour. The songs produce titters rather than guffaws, and there’s an…

Sex, Lies and the KKK

One to keep an eye out for

23 Aug 2010

A few Fringes back, bearded Irish comic Abie Philbin Bowman threw on an orange boiler suit and a crown of thorns for Jesus: The Guantanamo Years. In this show, he personally thanks George Bush for kickstarting his comedy career while building on that…

David O’Doherty

Mild-mannered Dublin comic returns with less song and more chat

23 Aug 2010

The Casio keyboard remains but this year the mild-mannered Dublin comic returns with less song and more chat. And also more book reading, mainly from his recent publication 100 Facts About Pandas. Bung in a kaleidoscopic range of observational indie…

Ava Vidal

Short-lived comedy lessons

23 Aug 2010

When is a Fringe hour not a Fringe hour? When it’s Ava Vidal clocking off at just under 40 minutes. Which was a shame (for paying punters and the comic herself) as she was busy delivering a captivating story about her recent break-up from a ‘bad man…

The Crying Cherry

Oddball legends of Japanese psychological banditry

23 Aug 2010

Using an almost entirely made-up language, whip-crack precise movement and mind-boggling vocal sound effects, this oddball delight, riffing on Japanese samurai movies, tells the story of two brothers separated in childhood after a prophecy. The real joy…

Italia ’n’ Caledonia

Unpretentious tales of the family history behind Valvona and Crolla

23 Aug 2010

Two amiable old boys (Mike Maran and Philip Contini) sing and gag their way through the history of the families that formed Edinburgh culinary institution Valvona and Crolla. Along the way we hear of their struggling starts as entrepreneurial emigrants…

Quality Control

Muddled yet ambitious little play

23 Aug 2010

This ambitious little play attempts to tackle too many issues: self esteem, adultery, closeted homosexuality and, oddly, corporate box-ticking attitudes to multiculturalism. Oh, and it has a violent life-sized crayon. It all ultimately comes out in a…

Justin Moorhouse

A likeable show that marries invention with nostalgia

23 Aug 2010

If you want to know exactly where you are positioned on the class ladder, Moorhouse has a game to test your status. A likeable show that marries invention with nostalgia, the northern comic takes us back to an age where his family’s summer holidays were…

Barockestra: Rocking the Classics

Enthusiastic rock take on well-known classical pieces

23 Aug 2010

Rock interpretations of well-known classical pieces from Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and the like featuring a full rock band, opera singer and ballerinas to give a foot-tapping tour of the greats. Overlaid with a cheesy humour that you could only…

Frances Ruffelle: Beneath the Dress

Cheeky, sexy and surprising cabaret-esque show

23 Aug 2010

Given Ruffelle’s showbiz background – she’s the daughter of London theatre school founder Sylvia Young and a Tony Award-winning star of West End and Broadway musicals such as Les Misérables and Chicago – it’s unsurprising that her cabaret-esque Fringe…

Miranda

Bollywood meets Shakespeare in this twist on the Tempest

23 Aug 2010

A naïve young actress full of Bollywood sass is recruited to join a British theatre company in their production of The Tempest. What follows is a rather adolescent ghost story of improbable romance and revenge. Ankur Bahl gives an animated performance…

Idiots of Ants

A patchy affair that works beautifully in places

23 Aug 2010

At least the second show this Fringe to feature a drummer being fired via the medium of his band’s songwriting, this latest über-hi-tech offering from the IoA is a patchy affair that works beautifully in places (the sound effects sketch; the…

Carole Jahme

Barren, baffling and humiliating for all involved

23 Aug 2010

Dressed as a ‘humanzee’ in a cocktail dress and accompanied by a toy monkey in a baby chair, Jahme presents a bizarre affectation of a lecture featuring a series of home videos with children dressed as apes. Later we’re treated to slide shows where she…

Nick Sun

The most gloriously disconcerting experience you’re likely to see

23 Aug 2010

Sun defies categorisation: firstly he’s Australian of Nepalese extraction but speaks with a north American twang. Then there’s the material; his is easily the most gloriously disconcerting experience you’re likely to see at the Fringe. During the course…

Hannah Gadsby

Genuine warmth and heartbreak

23 Aug 2010

Inspired by Cliff Young, a legendary Australian who won an ultramarathon at the age of 61, Hannah Gadbsy sets off to walk across England, proving it’s never too late to achieve something. Her story is one of genuine warmth and heartbreak as she battles…

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Critical commentary on mankind's hypocrisy

23 Aug 2010

Writer/actor Pip Utton follows his challenging one-man shows Adolf, Chaplin and Bacon with another deftly scripted and vividly performed drama, this one about Victor Hugo’s deformed Parisian bell-ringer. Taking the form of a monologue delivered by…

Daddy Ate All My Easter Eggs and Never Replaced Them

One decent pun about Lidl

23 Aug 2010

Now, I realise they’re young and that, but someone really should have taken this lot aside and advised them that their horrible skit about the Professors of Scottishness isn’t really the kind of thing to help to ingratiate yourselves upon a welcoming…

Foil, Arms and Hog

Sketches that start nowhere and then stay there for a very long time

23 Aug 2010

Do you think shouting is funny? Do you like sketches that start nowhere and then stay there for a very long time, far longer than the weak premise would ever normally allow? Would you end yourself at the sight of three guys pretending that vegetables…

Phil Nichol

Delightfully silly succession of unhinged underworld creeps

23 Aug 2010

Jazz poetry must surely be one of the art forms most ripe for parody, and that’s what Nichol does, wonderfully, as grizzly 1970s Baltimore bard Bobby Spade. The best part is that he’s not playing it completely straight – while the backing band are…

Russell Kane

Acutely observed and deeply personal insight

23 Aug 2010

An acutely observed and deeply personal insight into the relationship issues when middle-class aspirations and sensibilities spring from working-class backgrounds, especially within the father/son dynamic. The continued use of a castle as metaphor for…

Naked Live and Never Again: My Last Discourse on Dramatic Method

Witty monologue about an acting guru

23 Aug 2010

Andrew Hawkins (son of veteran British actor Jack, star of Zulu and Ben Hur) gives a terrific performance in this witty monologue. Hawkins plays an acting guru named Jack Treadwell who, having had enough of coaching celebrities and politicians, is…

Über Hate Gang

Explosive and well executed play on terrorism

23 Aug 2010

The audience become (un)willing members of a terrorist act in this well-executed play, as the Über Hate Gang plan to blow up the theatre. A slightly meandering start gives way to some explosive confrontations as personal rifts and deeply hidden secrets…

Dead Cat Bounce

Poised to go from cult hit to Minchin-like stardom

23 Aug 2010

Last year they certainly had the rock stylings off pat but this time around they’ve nailed the comedy too. This four-piece from Dublin is the finished article, with songs about running with midgets, one that pokes fun at the cute frontman and a lovely…

Mark Watson

Playing on his own inadequacies

23 Aug 2010

The elevation of this frenetic Fringe staple from sweaty huts to the ‘super-league’ of vast halls mercifully hasn’t stilted his ability to captivate a crowd while playing on his own inadequacies. This year’s tale is of celeb status (whether real or…

The Ginge, The Geordie & The Geek

Well complemented titular trio

23 Aug 2010

This titular trio complement each other well with varying shapes and sizes and some sketches play to their strengths, such as the scarecrow who falls in love with the very bird he’s supposed to shoo. There’s patchy work here and a poorly-conceived early…

Pete Jonas

Just about straddles the right side of offensiveness

23 Aug 2010

He may have been awarded a no-star review by an eminent online comedy site, but this has perhaps even added extra edge to Aussie Jonas’ already bitter set about the women who have dumped him down the years. The material just about straddles the right…

Felicity Ward

Has to inflate embarrassing mishaps into excruciating humiliations

23 Aug 2010

Being less a ‘moron’ (her word) than a victim of circumstance, Felicity Ward has to inflate mere embarrassing mishaps into excruciating humiliations to get her desired reaction which, with some neat turns of phrase, she does. Aware that her brave but…

James Dowdeswell

Mediocre material and rather uneasy delivery

23 Aug 2010

You want to like him, you really do. And in another context maybe this gentle show about Dowdeswell’s discovery that his great-grandfather worked with Charlie Chaplin would pass muster. Alas, his mediocre material and rather uneasy delivery are roundly…

Pension Plan

A pleasure to see a middle-aged lady dicking about

23 Aug 2010

Leisa Rea has been feeling a bit glum so she’s gathered together all her life failures in one big show and celebrated them through the medium of dance, song and a series of absurd short films. There are plenty of lovely touches from random victory jigs…

Chef!

Crazy dance, sight-gag comedy and lots of laughs

23 Aug 2010

Billed as a beat-box action comedy, Chef! is all it claims to be and more. A mystical chef, outrunning two bumbling, black-clad fighters, finds his way to a modern kitchen, where crazy dance, sight-gag comedy and lots of laughs ensue. Choreographed to…

Clarkson and Crouch

More clever than funny

23 Aug 2010

Two jolly men perform a piece about Albion Avenue, the ‘most broken street in broken Britain’. With ‘Ghost Town’ playing during each post-scene blackout, serious points might be being made here but they’re lost in sketches in which Byron and Shelley…

Mary Barrel is Really Good at Things

Over-excited, part-improvised but tediously goofy life skills ‘seminar’

23 Aug 2010

LA comic and playwright Carrie Barrett is disconcertingly convincing in her role as hyper-dork Mary Barrel, an annoying, awkward 13-year-old who’s obsessed with best friends, sleepovers and party invites (or her lack thereof). Her over-excited…

Baby Wants Candy

Unappealing coldness between performers and audience

23 Aug 2010

Compared to the Showstopper! crew there’s an unappealing coldness between performers and audience here: with no pre-amble whatsoever, this US troupe get a suggestion and create an improvised musical (today’s topic: cheese and fish). A couple of…