Issue 662

House Cabaret

18 Aug 2010

Getting up close and personal has never been easier with a personalised performance from your house. Host your very own cabaret at your own venue with your own friends. For one night only, a small troupe of dedicated cabaret artists arrives at your…

Things to do in Scotland when it’s dead

12 Aug 2010

So, apparently there’s some sort of small gathering happening in Edinburgh, and that means the rest of the country is effectively closed for business? Er, wrong. Here’s our essential guide to getting yourself a festival experience without going to the…

Edinburgh Book Fringe - Elaine Henry interview

The owner of Word Power Books answers five questions

12 Aug 2010

Why did you set up the Edinburgh Book Fringe in the first place? To give local writers, small publishers and writers outwith the mainstream the sort of voice or platform they wouldn’t get access to during the festival period. Can you describe the…

Hi Fives for Diversity

Celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity

12 Aug 2010

It’s the kids’ last chance to take part in Our Dynamic Earth’s International Year of Biodiversity celebrations this week, with activities all over the centre. High five the Community Tree, learn about how Arctic animals have adapted to their harsh…

Profusion of painting at 2010 Edinburgh Art Festival

Richard Wright, Joan Mitchell and Julie Roberts head up painting programme

4 Aug 2010

Painting has inspired some epic declarations over the years. In the 1960s Donald Judd declared the medium dead. In 2005 Young British Artist Damien Hirst advised people that they were more important than paintings. And this year, in light of the…

Gyles Brandreth - middle-aged, ex-MP, author, and Fringe show stalwart

4 Aug 2010

British author-cum-broadcaster-cum-Fringe show stalwart Gyles Brandreth talks about the highs and lows of his festival fortunes. "Edinburgh is a parallel universe. We do things differently here. I was a middle-aged, ex-MP with a tragic comb-over and…

Taste returns to Edinburgh's reopened Liquid Room

The Liquid Room's Sunday regulars are back

4 Aug 2010

Here are some reasons to attend the 16-year-old Taste club night at the Liquid Room as the club re-opens in the middle of the of the Edinburgh Festivals

Piping Live!

4 Aug 2010

Bagpipes, it’s fair to say, have a bit of an image problem. But while the masses have been busy groaning and cringing at our national instrument, Piping Live! has spent the last seven years building up a vibrant, exciting and internationally-reaching…

David Benson's Unfinished Business

3 Aug 2010

Award-winning performer David Benson talks to Steve Cramer about a powerful new piece of theatre that explores the Lockerbie tragedy from the point of view of a grieving parent Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic froth at the mouth about the…

Headspin festival date to be its last

DJ Yoda date marks end of 12 years of clubbing

3 Aug 2010

As Headspin comes to an end, DJ/promoter Allan Dunbar talks to Henry Northmore about their final date and why they’ve booked DJ Yoda to play their last night.

Jack Bond's movies stand the test of time

3 Aug 2010

In 1965, Jack Bond, a young director freshly fired from the BBC for faking letters to Points of View, managed to persuade Salvador Dali to make a feature film with him. The result Dali In New York, screens on the art-house circuit to this day, and this…

Comedians you might know from TV at the Fringe 2010

Five faces from the telly making a beeline for the stage

3 Aug 2010

Alex Zane He’s the cheeky wee chappie from Rude Tube and a man described as a saviour to sensitive lads everywhere. Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 7–30 Aug (not 16), 10pm, £10–£10.50 (£8.50–£9). Previews until 6 Aug, £5. Norman Lovett There will be…

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

3 Aug 2010

The combination of big-budget producer Jerry Bruckheimer and deep-pocketed studio Disney bore attractive if banal fruit with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but the muddle-headed fantasy The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is more likely to make audiences…

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz star in Knight and Day

3 Aug 2010

‘I’m the guy!’ smirks madcap assassin Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) to mousey June Havens (Cameron Diaz) as he kidnaps her at gunpoint from a Boston cafe. Sadly, on the evidence of James Mangold’s pumped-up spy thriller, Cruise has little to be so cocky about…

Javier Fuente - León's Undertow

3 Aug 2010

Talk about having your cake and eating it. Impossibly good looking Peruvian fisherman Miguel (Cristian Mercado) has an adoring pregnant wife (Tatiana Astengo) and a hot male lover in the shape of visiting artist Santiago (Manolo Cardona). It’s all…

Edinburgh Festivals’ Cavalcade

3 Aug 2010

With floats from all aspects of the Edinburgh Festivals, as well as community groups and commercial ventures and the entire cast of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the cavalcade returns to Holyrood Park to kick-start yer official Edinburgh Crazy Season.

Farm Boy wins this week's best bribe by sending a miniature tractor

2 Aug 2010

This week’s best bribe was this charming miniature 1922 Fordson Tractor, sent by the folk behind Michael Morpurgo’s Farm Boy (adapted by Daniel Buckroyd). The play is a sequel to War Horse, which focused on a young boy and his horse on a journey through…

Quartet of notable U.S. comics stand-up for America

Jennifer Coolidge, Bo Burnham, Caroline Rhea and Charlyne Yi hit Fringe 2010

30 Jul 2010

Jennifer Coolidge is having trouble describing her own stand-up show. She asks a friend who is within shouting distance for help. ‘Michael?’ she calls, in a sugary purr. ‘I have Scotland on the line. What’s my show like?’ After a pause an answer booms…

Fringe 2010 cabaret offerings are as colourful as ever

Smoke & Mirrors, Alan Cumming and The Crack

30 Jul 2010

From pared down to jazz-hands up, this year’s variety and cabaret offerings are as colourful as ever. Anna Millar meets the makers to find out why we just can’t get enough It’s a certain man who can shimmy from club door whore to straight-talking…

Fringe show Willy Wonka Explained tracks down the original Veruca Salt

Matthew Hardy and Julie Dawn bring a pinch of Salt to Edinburgh

30 Jul 2010

Everyone reaches a low point in their lives, when it feels natural to seek solace in objects that remind us of happier, perhaps more innocent times. When Matthew Hardy was dumped by two girlfriends (years and continents apart), he couldn’t stop sticking…

The Rizla Riverboat Shuffle on the Waverley Steamer

Optimo and Melting Pot DJs play second set on board landmark Glasgow landmark boat

30 Jul 2010

David Pollock climbs aboard the Waverley Steamer as Melting Pot and Optimo set sail on another Rizla Riverboat Shuffle It wasn’t meant to be more than a one-off party in a unique location, but the DJs from Glasgow’s Optimo and Melting Pot nights had…

Toby Williams brings Dr George Ryegold back to Fringe

Applying surgery to a subtle character creation

30 Jul 2010

For someone who has suffered crippling stage fright, it seems extraordinary that we have even heard of Dr George Ryegold. Having heard from his agent that a parting of the ways might have to come, Toby Williams (the actor behind the maverick medic) told…

Kids show Tall Storrie & Wee Godley at this year's Fringe

The Glasgow comedy queen Jane Godley answer 5 questions

30 Jul 2010

Glasgow comedy queen Janey Godley has pushed all her blue material aside to team up with daughter Ashley Storrie for their kids show Tall Storrie & Wee Godley. She tells us why we should go along. Give five reasons why people should come and see…

Singles and downloads - July 2010

This month's batch of songs to look out for

30 Jul 2010

Mercury Prize nominee Corinne Bailey Rae takes a sassy new direction in ‘Closer’ (Parlophone) ●●●● – from her new album The Sea – a smoother, more soulful, more kick-ass effort than the sugary rom-com soundtrack stuff she seems to have, mercifully, left…

Tuck into the Fringe - five shows you can watch while you eat

See it all without missing a meal

30 Jul 2010

We have compiled a list of shows that you can watch while also being served some delicious shows. Don't miss your dinner without also seeing a show!