Issue 581

Sounds of the City

Hey You Get Off My Pavement

1 Aug 2007

Fed up wading through the mud and the crowds at major music festivals? Karin Goodwin gets the lowdown on an innovative alternative and finds there is a whole lot going on in Glasgow this summer

Fuerzabruta

1 Aug 2007

With its mix of acrobatics, dance, theatre and club, Fuerzabruta is impossible to define. Claire Prentice visits South America for a sneak preview. The DJ whacks up the volume on the decks and suddenly the whole audience erupts. Fifteen hundred people…

Just an illusion

1 Aug 2007

Ask most people what they think of magic, and you’re likely to be greeted with snorts of derision. The British public’s perception of stage magic is still recovering from the glitter-festooned nightmare of spinning plates and disappearing rabbits that…

Dizzy Heights

1 Aug 2007

Being a cult figure in a beloved sci-fi sitcom hasn’t harmed Hattie Hayridge’s career. Doug Johnstone catches up with her. Just don’t mention Red Dwarf. Actually, it’s not a problem, mainly because Hattie Hayridge is such a laid-back character. A more…

Punch Lines

1 Aug 2007

Jim Jeffries isn’t the only comic on the receiving end of trouble from their audience. Brian Donaldson compiles some tales of terror. At a late-night Spank! show, Andrew Lawrence (pictured) foolishly challenged a heckler to a duel. As Lawrence unpopped…

5 Paperback Biographies

Also published...

1 Aug 2007

The wife of Howard gives her side to the story of their bizarre life on the run. Ebury. Graham McCann Spike & Co This is the story of how Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson launched a golden age of British comedy. Hodder & Stoughton.

5 Questions - John Stezaker

1 Aug 2007

John Stezaker, who creates collages from images found in books, magazines and postcards, gives a brief insight into his Festival show

5 Questions - Lucy Porter

1 Aug 2007

Fast becoming a Fringe staple, Lucy Porter will this year invite us into her Love-In. Here, she gets all intimate with our limp Q&A.

5 Questions - The Amazing Bubble Man

1 Aug 2007

Louis Pearl (aka The Amazing Bubble Man) explains why his Fringe show, The Greatest Bubble Show On Earth should float your boat

5 Questions - The Black Seeds

1 Aug 2007

Its not as if we need convincing that New Zealand is anything other than a prime exporter of general hedonism to the UK, and The Black Seeds, a low-slung reggae soul outfit whose feelgood party music fails miserably in making us think otherwise.

5 Questions - Vaudeville Cabaret Club & One O’Clock Gun

1 Aug 2007

We chat to Judith Riddle, press officer at the Vaudeville Cabaret Club, a night of eclectic exotica and risqué entertainment hosted by the ever so suave Dusty Limits (pictured). Every night at 1am it morphs into the One O’Clock Gun club, a showcase of…

5 Questions - X Factor

1 Aug 2007

Alan Greig, artistic director of Scottish contemporary dance company, X Factor lays it on the line. Give 5 reasons why people should come and see your show, Morceaux Choisis & Ragnarok - Our double bill is exciting, dynamic, physical, visual and has…

A Band Called Quinn - And Ever Again

1 Aug 2007

This selection of download-only B-sides and unreleased tracks will doubtless attract attention due to the fact that a pre-fame Alex Kapranos contributed guitar to a few.

A Conversation With Edith Head

1 Aug 2007

If you’re a film fan you’ll have recognised the superhero outfitter Edna Mode in the Pixar animation The Incredibles as an affectionate caricature of the legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head, who’s the subject of this one-woman show. If not…

A Glance at New York

1 Aug 2007

Melodrama is usually evoked as a novelty these days, a kind of exercise in high camp. But there’s more to it than this, according to Randall Sharp, director of Axis Theatre’s A Glance at New York.

Abroad appeal

1 Aug 2007

Could this be the year of the European comedian? Brian Donaldson cherry picks some continental comics, both real and made-up

Alex Hartley

1 Aug 2007

London-based artist Alex Hartley has covered the stern exterior of the Fruitmarket with a photographic replication of itself, containing maps of the many routes he recently managed to trace across it.

Alex Horne

1 Aug 2007

Alex Horne loves a good concept. From the joys of Latin to the art of communication, he’s done the lot.

Also Released: Music

1 Aug 2007

Garbage Absolute Garbage (Warner Brothers) Their last album stiffed unceremoniously so another revisiting of their finest moments might disguise the fact that musically they’re a spent force. Theory Hazit Extra Credit (Supperrappin) Most excellent ook…

Angus and Julia Stone

1 Aug 2007

When they’re not being unreasonable or scrapping over ridiculous things, brothers and sisters can often make beautiful music together. . .

Answer Machine

Shantha Roberts

1 Aug 2007

She’s the face of BBC Scotland’s music programmes, who puts her success down to imagining the camera is a friendly robot. But Shantha Roberts would love nothing more than to be part of a gang of talking wildlife, even if she can’t make up her mind about…

Architecture in Helsinki

Places Like This

1 Aug 2007

Australian six-piece AiH have consistently shown themselves to be a cheery bunch, their heady blend of twee indie, effervescent arrangements and handclaps by the dozen producing fantastically jubilant results across two albums to date.

Bang on!

1 Aug 2007

Saucepans and wooden spoons may form the backbone of the average kitchen, but for Katie Stephenson and Dave Smith, they’re musical instruments. For the past five years, the duo have been wowing the crowds on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile with their unusual…

BBC Big Band Play Atomic Basie

1 Aug 2007

Basie fans will need no nudging to spot the reference in the title of this Jazz Festival celebration of the great pianist and bandleader’s music. The Atomic Mr Basie was first issued in 1957, and remains one of the touchstone recordings in the…

Cash in Christ

1 Aug 2007

Prominent US evangelist Oral Roberts announced to a television audience that, unless he raised $8 million by a given date, God would kill him. Viewers duly donated $9.1 million, and just a few months ago, Brazilian husband and wife televangelist team…

Cat and No Mouse

1 Aug 2007

As one half of children’s theatre company, Tall Stories, Toby Mitchell has had a considerable amount of Fringe success.

Chav! It’s a Musical, Innit

Festival Fringe

1 Aug 2007

What with the Blair musicals mentioned elsewhere, you’d think there might be enough topical satire on the Fringe. But as ever, there’s always another satirical target for musicals. This one definitely carries a sting, if you will, in its tail.

Chongbin Park

1 Aug 2007

South Korean born artist Chongbin Park moved to London in recent years, and the sense of fragility and alienation he feels as a foreigner within the city has formed the backbone to much of his recent practice.

Chris Stout Quintet

Devil's Advocate

1 Aug 2007

Fiddler Chris Stout has long been involved in genre-crossing projects, including an interest in both improvisation and electro-acoustic composition.

Claytime

1 Aug 2007

Watching a performer play with a fun prop can be a frustrating business for children.

Comedy of Errors

1 Aug 2007

Al Pitcher’s show Idiot Wind is based around a rather unfortunate incident involving a woman, an aeroplane and some flatulence. Here, he gives us his top five social faux pas

Conflict Zone: Closing Time

Festival Fringe

1 Aug 2007

The young Israeli director, Michael Ronen is not cowed by the traditional inhibitions that most people would have about the mixing of conflicting cultures. The young company he’s formed, Conflict Zone Theatre, is in fact geared to creating theatre…

Dan Clark

1 Aug 2007

Poor Dan Clark is worried he might be deluded about the Fringe. Not only is he hoping that he will manage August without the help of alcohol, he’s also aiming to forget about reviews and interviews and just ‘enjoy doing shows and leave feeling happy’.

Dance Base Presents . . .

1 Aug 2007

Once again, our National Centre for Dance has assembled an eclectic Fringe programme.

Dead Man's Cards

1 Aug 2007

In modern day Liverpool, washed-up boxer Tom (co-writer James McMartin) accepts a job on the door of a low-rent Liverpool pub alongside the principled but violent Paul (Paul Barber aka Denzil from Only Fools and Horses’).

Debbie Does Dallas

1 Aug 2007

Turning films into musicals is nothing new, but not too many classic 70s porn flicks have undergone the same transition.

Different strokes

1 Aug 2007

Having written one of the UK’s finest ever sitcoms, Sean Lock is back pounding the beat on the stand-up stage. Brian Donaldson talks to the man who has finally left bitterness behind

Does a Monster Live Next Door?

1 Aug 2007

Druthers

1 Aug 2007

Last year, Bristol-based company Precarious Dance proved that dance, physical theatre and technology can work together in perfect harmony.

Edinburgh’s festivals report massive rise in early sales

1 Aug 2007

Festival fever went into overdrive this week with the Fringe, Jazz and Book festivals each reporting impressive sale hikes on last year. A spokesman for the Fringe said they were up 10% on their 2006 figures, having already smashed previous records on…

Emergence - See!

Festival Fringe

1 Aug 2007

It’s hard to know which is more inspiring about Daniel Beaty – his own story, or the one he tells. The young African American poet and performer was plucked from impoverished obscurity in the third grade of primary school, where his essay about…

Enough is enough

1 Aug 2007

Festival Fringe Enough is enough Iris Bahr, the multi-talented star of US comedies Curb Your Enthusiasm and King of Queens makes a dramatic change of direction with her politically potent one-woman play, Dai

Eva Cassidy – Songbird

1 Aug 2007

Eva Cassidy’s music was virtually unknown outside her hometown of Washington DC during her lifetime.

Evan Almighty

1 Aug 2007

That the most expensive comedy ever made should be a sequel to a disposable Jim Carrey timewaster, with Carrey not even featuring in the cast, suggests an error of biblical proportions in the judgement of Universal executives...

Exits and Entrances – Athol Fugard

1 Aug 2007

Athol Fugard is perhaps the poet laureate of South African theatre. Since the 1950s his work has stood as a testimony to resistance to tyranny, with pieces such as Master Harold and the Boys, The Island and Sizwe Bansi is Dead winning multiple accolades…

Extropia/A Day In Dig Nation

1 Aug 2007

The idea of multimedia incorporated into theatre has become a pretty common notion these days. Too often this means placing a video monitor on stage to tick the ‘contemporary’ box. Magic Carpet Theatre Company want to push the boundaries further.

Fatboy

1 Aug 2007

It’s not often on these pages that we guide you in the direction of a play that isn’t a premiere, yet this smash hit of 2004, here substantially reworked by author/director John Clancy of Americana Absurdum seems well worth flagging up.

Fear of flying

1 Aug 2007

She came largely unscathed through the first series of Survivor, but a quivering Zoe Lyons tells Robin Lee about the thing that terrifies her the most

Film Hitlist

The best film & DVD releases

1 Aug 2007

Flanders, The Hoax, Brief Encounter, The Terence Davies Trilogy, Some Like it Hot.

Flanders

1 Aug 2007

Back on form after 2003’s underwhelming Twentynine Palms, celebrated French filmmaker Bruno Dumont (La Vie de Jésus, L’Humanité) returns with a withering and unforgettable vision of small town love filtered through the brutality of an unknown desert war.