Issue 610

Russell Howard

Beat surrender

14 Aug 2008

Russell Howard can't resist a spot of testicular tomfoolery but, he tells Jay Richardson, his new act is less Buster Gonad than Jack Kerouac With his infectious, wide-eyed optimism currently offering a counterbalance to Frankie Boyle's unflinching…

Class Enemy

A different class

14 Aug 2008

When Nigel Williams’ Class Enemy made its debut at London’s Royal Court in 1978, hip hop was still a phenomenon of the American underground. It would never have occurred to a director to incorporate it into this portrayal of a bunch of teenagers in a…

Lucy Porter

A set down to its bare bones

14 Aug 2008

While it may have been slightly dispiriting for Lucy Porter to hop out on stage to a less than packed auditorium, there's little in her jovial demeanour to suggest crushed hopes. To spend an hour in Porter's company is akin to having a litre of Jelly…

Britt Ekland: Britt on Britt

A Swedish sexagenarian’s exploits

14 Aug 2008

‘Who is Britt Ekland?’ So the former Bond girl and one-time wife of Peter Sellers begins her frank and surprisingly funny whistle stop tour of her enchantingly colourful life. Offering glimpses of the young starlet who entranced the likes of Rod Stewart…

Kids Events

14 Aug 2008

When Miranda Richardson so memorably played the child-like Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder, a career in entertaining kids seemed to be in the offing. With Horrid Henry (16 Aug) she appears to have finally grasped that opportunity by voicing the little…

Perfect Vagina

Channel 4, Sun 17 Aug, 10pm

14 Aug 2008

Get set to cross your legs and grit your teeth as Lisa Rogers fronts a very different kind of scrapheap challenge as part of Channel 4’s The G-Spot strand. We’ve all read the headlines and overheard the news that women are literally queuing up round the…

Watermelon

14 Aug 2008

Scuttling through Glasgow’s West End to meet Gavin O’Brien, owner of the recently refurbished vintage institution Watermelon, I wonder, what on earth am I looking for? Past experience of fusty second-hand hovels hadn’t prepared me for Watermelon’s new…

Chuck Palahniuk - Snuff love

14 Aug 2008

Chuck Palahniuk tells such stark tales that people faint at his readings. Doug Johnstone crosses his legs, girds his loins and chats to the guru of gore

Return of the Soul - The Nakbah Project

A secret persecution preserved in wax

14 Aug 2008

Scottish based painter, theatre designer and now multimedia artist Jane Frere revisits the Nakbah, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people in 1948 when the newly UN-sanctioned nation of Israel expropriated ‘lebensraum’ (living room) through…

Esther Rantzen

Loving life in the third age

14 Aug 2008

It was the death of her husband Desmond Wilcox that shaped the philosophy behind Esther Rantzen OBE’s new book If Not Now, When? A self-help book, after a fashion, it expands on the virtues of enjoying life at every available opportunity, even into…

The Bastard Children of Australian Folk: CWQ

Oddball eclecticism from down under

14 Aug 2008

Melting together genres from Celtic to klezmer, the pioneering Australian folk band CWQ present the result of mixing musical traditions from across the world in The Bastard Children of Australian Folk. Exploring and moulding the entire gamut of…

Jim Jeffries

How to lose your crowd in one horrible hour

14 Aug 2008

No one expects fluffy, cuddly material from Jim Jeffries. The Australian comic is infamous for his potty-mouthed, middle-finger-up comedy, and he'll trash anything - cancer, self-harmers, molested children - as long as it gets a laugh. But unlike other…

Visualise Reloaded

Technoclowns inspire again

14 Aug 2008

Following last year's Visualise show, Science Made Simple duo, Debbie Sirop and Gareth Smith illuminate young minds once again with Visualise: Reloaded, an entertaining blend of physical theatre and scientific exploration. Against a highly energetic…

Chess

Moving Taiwanese tragedy

14 Aug 2008

Fortunately avoiding elaboration of the central metaphor - war as chess - this Taiwanese company, Dansmusicians presents a sumptuous and skilled performance. With superb dancers, a tragedy played for pathos not sentimentality and a ravishing soundtrack…

Borderline

Repetitive beat poetry

14 Aug 2008

The Stone Roses come on, and over in the corner there’s always one monged fella pivoting off the wall. He starts monkey-dancing closer like he thinks he’s Ian Brown, gurning and chewing his face off with the pills. He’s pointing at you. He’s looking you…

Dave McKean

The comics guy who connects with rock stars and chefs

14 Aug 2008

An illustration masterclass from Dave McKean is a very special thing indeed. As one of the most innovative illustrators in Britain, his association with Neil Gaiman has raised him to a near-deity among comic fans and goths, providing the covers for all…

Susan Greenfield

Being proactive about identity

14 Aug 2008

Short attention span? Inability to turn down chocolate biscuits? Memory of a long-term dope smoker? Susan Greenfield, the Oxford-based neuroscientist, is hoping to shed light on these problems and more, when she appears here to discuss her latest book.

Top 5 - TV People

14 Aug 2008

Susie Dent Don’t even ask her to be drawn on the subject of the ‘Carol Countdown Controversy’. Along with fellow word fan Henry Hitchings, the nine-letter word expert will be talking about the ever-evolving English language. 20 Aug, 2pm, £9 (£7).

It Ain't All Bollywood

Confused, overwrought look at mental health issues

14 Aug 2008

Part of this year’s InvAsian programme of Asian performance, It Ain’t All Bollywood depicts the trials and tribulations of Kiran, who has descended into an escapist fixation with Bollywood films following the death of her father. As a result, she…

Sarah Millican

The young Thora Hird gets down and dirty

14 Aug 2008

Judging by her light Geordie tones, you'd never find Sarah Millican staggering around the Toon with skirt hitched up to her neck, tanked up on Breezers and yelling filthy abuse at anyone with a member. Then again, even though she's been dubbed 'a young…

Sammy J

Puppetry's Hell's Angel rips Disney a new one

14 Aug 2008

Part of becoming an adult, sadly, is realising that life is not going to turn out as you planned, and that a Disney-style happy ending is something that eludes all but a few of us. Not only has Melbourne-based comedian Sammy J realised this, he's only…

Hemingway's Havana

Buena Vista vibe heavy on Hemingway

14 Aug 2008

Featuring Cuban music legends, such as Papa Oviedo (master of the guitar-like tres), diva singer Siomara Valdes and nimble salsa legend Eric Turro, Hemingway's Havana puts up all the signs of being a sure-fire winner, and then takes the edge off with a…

5 Questions - Rhona Cameron

14 Aug 2008

Rhona Cameron came for a full run last year, and this time around she's teasing us with just the one week of shows. Here she messes around, in the spirit it was intended, with our penetrating Q&A

JL Roberts & Nadia Kamil present: Wisecrackin', Mindsqueezin' Behemoth

Breakneck capers with Angela Lansbury

14 Aug 2008

There can't be too many shows at the Fringe which feature a musical about BNP über-führer Nick Griffin and his Robertson's Jam-eating, red, white and blue ways. And will anyone else dare to include cameos from Angela Lansbury and her crime-solving…

Will & Greg

A lesson in chemistry from ex-Ugly Kids

14 Aug 2008

As the audience enters the sweaty room, Will and Greg are enthusiastically cycling on exercise bikes. It sets the pace for a fast and furious sketch show which is clever, bizarre and, like its title, deceptively simple. Will Andrews and Greg McHugh are…