Profile

'It’s a comedy colonic!' - David O’Doherty

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Jay Richardson meets David O’Doherty, the mild-mannered comic whose musical musings and offbeat observations have won him a legion of indie followers. This year he’ll be feeding his insomnia by entertaining kids and adults alike As an award-winning…

Mick Sergeant

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Touted as the next Steve Coogan, this year marks the first solo show for character comic Lee Fenwick who has previously delighted Fringe crowds as one half of spoof German techno band Die Clatterschenkenfietermaus. For his debut, Fenwick is presenting…

Death in Benes - Carol Leifer

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Having been convinced that playing a Fringe show in the late afternoon is no bad thing, US comic and Seinfeld muse Carol Leifer is now getting excited about her Edinburgh August. Julian Hall makes sure he doesn’t mention the ‘E’ word You may not know…

Omid Djalili

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

There are several downsides to modern fame. Being hassled in the street by ordinary people and getting hunted down by paparazzi when hanging out the washing are just two celebrity negatives. Having chirpy researchers from celebrity TV shows ringing up…

Saturday’s child - Tina Fey - Baby Mama

17 Jul 2008

America’s newest great comedy phenomenon is Tina Fey. Eddie Harrison uncovers the comic genius in her first big screen adventure, Baby Mama

In Which They Serve

17 Jul 2008

The British Film Institute’s re-release of the rarely seen and now beautifully restored David Lean film The Passionate Friends is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the celebration of the centenary of the great British filmmaker’s birth. In…

Pornography - Simon Stephens interview

Shock values - Traverse Theatre

17 Jul 2008

As the Traverse embarks on its first Edinburgh Festival Fringe season under the artistic directorship of Dominic Hill, Steve Cramer talks to acclaimed dramatist Simon Stephens, writer of Pornography, about 7/7 and a new definition of the pornographic

Profile - Mark Olver

17 Jul 2008

Who’s this fella, then? Having first taken to the mic in 1998, Mark Olver is among that triptych of fine young comics from the west country, which also includes Russell Howard and Wil Hodgson. His style is more conversational than Hodgson’s and less…

Exposure - Gin Goblins

17 Jul 2008

Gin Goblins are Edinburgh punk legends, having delivered a unique brand of schlocky horror doom hardcore for the last 16 years. When The Horrors were still in short pants, Gin Goblins were getting victimised by Scottish tabloids and banned from…

Overarching drive - Jackie Wylie new artistic director of the Arches

17 Jul 2008

It’s been less than a week since Jackie Wylie was appointed artistic director of the Arches (bringing the grand total of women in that position in Scottish theatre up to three), but the 28-year-old has already jumped in with both feet. ‘I’m excited.

Kenny Hunter: A Shout in the Street

17 Jul 2008

Following the popular success of such major works as Citizen Firefighter and Girl with Rucksack , Edinburgh-born Kenny Hunter returns to showcase his works in Scotland after a hiatus of over four years. Both new and reworked sculptural pieces, as well…

Owen O'Neill

17 Jul 2008

STAND-UP The Stand, Edinburgh, Thu 17 Jul An award-winning playwright, poet and subscriber to the theory that redheads are genetic ‘mutants’ (having conducted the required research for a BBC documentary), Owen O’Neill was one of the first Irishmen…

Profile - Andrea Parker

3 Jul 2008

Name: Andrea Parker Occupation: Sister, doing it for herself. Doing what, exactly? Building and maintaining a reputation and currently moving swiftly towards the status of ‘esteemed’ with a career in leftfield electronica that stretches back a…

Profile - John Gordillo

3 Jul 2008

Name: John Gordillo Who’s this fella, then? You may have seen the name ‘John Gordillo’ somewhere in your house, but perhaps you just can’t quite place it. No, it’s not the name of a brand new kitchen product (the ‘Gordillo grill’ does have a certain…

Profile - Marco Bailey & Percy X

19 Jun 2008

Names Marco Bailey & Percy X Who that? Bailey is Belgium’s premier techno DJ/producer and CEO of record label MB Selektions. Percy X is Glasgow’s own Soma stalwart, also a DJ/producer, again fronting his own label edit-select. What’s the story?

Profile - Marco Bailey and Percy X

19 Jun 2008

Names Marco Bailey & Percy X Who that? Bailey is Belgium’s premier techno DJ/producer and CEO of record label MB Selektions. Percy X is Glasgow’s own Soma stalwart, also a DJ/producer, again fronting his own label edit-select. What’s the story?

Profile - Wendy Wason

5 Jun 2008

Name Wendy Wason Who’s she then? An Edinburgh lass, she was educated at George Watson’s before heading west to attend Glasgow Uni. She got into acting and took roles in Taggart, High Road and some ads before dipping her toes in the film world with…

Profile - Pierre Salvadori

5 Jun 2008

Name Pierre Salvadori Born Tunisia, 1964 Background A former actor and TV sitcom writer, Salvadori made his feature debut with Wild Target in 1993, a deadpan farce concerning a middle-aged hit man (Jean Rochefort) and his young apprentice…

Profile - Booka Shade

22 May 2008

Name Booka Shade Also known as Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier. Occupation Ever-increasingly fashionable Frankfurt electro-house duo, who wrap a measure of typically Teutonic electronic austerity in an often glossy disco-house sheen.

Eilidh MacAskill and her Daily Ukulele Ceilidh

8 May 2008

MUSICAL COMEDY Last year, one woman set out on an incredible journey. There were tears. There was laughter. There were good times, there were bad, and there were midnight YouTube sessions in front of her cat, as Eilidh MacAskill attempted a…

Profile - Cajmere

8 May 2008

Name Cajmere Also known as Green Velvet, Curtis Jones (his real name), many others. Occupation Godfather of what broadly, briefly, became the electroclash sound, alongside Felix Da Housecat, Fischerspooner, Larry Tee, etc. Recently rediscovered…

Profile - Gus Van Sant

24 Apr 2008

PROFILE Suzanne Black considers the work of one of Queer cinema’s great auteurs as two of his key films are released on DVD Gus Van Sant is one of a handful of directors to have crossed from arthouse credibility to mainstream pennies and back again.

Profile - Park Chan-wook

24 Apr 2008

Name Park Chan-wook Born 23 August, 1963, Jecheon, South Korea Background While studying philosophy at Sogang University in Seoul Park started a ‘cine-club’ showing films to the students. Then, one day he played Vertigo and it all fell into…

Film Season - Marcello Mastroianni

10 Apr 2008

The son of a carpenter, Mastroianni trained as a draughtsman and served time in a Nazi labour camp during the war. Upon his release, he became involved in amateur dramatics. He made his film début in Riccardo Fredda’s I Miserabili (1948) and, at around…

Profile - Jaume Balagueró

10 Apr 2008

Name Jaume Balagueró Born 2 November 1968, Lleida, Spain Background Having studied media at university in Barcelona, Balagueró worked in radio before cutting his filmmaking teeth on several shorts. His feature film debut came in 1999 with an…

Profile - Krisztina Goda

27 Mar 2008

Name Krisztina Goda Born Budapest, 1970 Background Having grown up in Budapest, where both her parents were doctors, Goda studied directing and editing at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, and then won a scholarship to…

Profile - Michael Pitt

27 Mar 2008

Name Michael Pitt Born 10 April 1981, West Orange, New Jersey Background Having moved to New York City aged 16, studied drama, appeared on stage, and been talent-spotted for a part in the TV drama Dawson’s Creek, boyishly pretty Pitt wasted no…

Profile - Hospital Records

13 Mar 2008

Name Hospital Records Occupation Record Label Location West London, UK OK, give me the brief Hospital Records was started by Tony Colman and Chris Goss back in 1996. Today it has grown to be one of the most successful independent labels in…

Profile - Dave Ward

4 Jan 2008

Who’s he then? A self-confessed fibber, Dave Ward has gone through quite a few career shifts. He’s been a professional golfer and a waiter at a celebrity hang-out, before spending a period of time behind bars due to his extreme gambling addictions. At…

Profile - James Schamus

4 Jan 2008

Name James Schamus Born 7 September 1959, Detroit, Michigan, US. Background Almost uniquely in American filmmaking, Schamus is both an Oscar-nominated writer/producer and a movie executive. In 1991 he co-founded the production outfit Good…

Profile - Laurent Garnier

29 Nov 2007

Name Laurent Garnier Who? Techno DJ and producer Laurent Garnier is one of France’s most successful musical exports. Beginning as a Madchester house DJ he has gone on to rise to the giddy heights of a hugely in-demand globe-trotter, lugging his…

Profile - The Wee Man

29 Nov 2007

Who’s he then? Creation of Neil Bratchpiece, smallest comedy member of the not very tall Bratchpiece Family, The Wee Man is a pure wee basturt Burberry fiend whose stage demeanour ranges wildly from quite threatening to really very threatening…

Profile - Rigoberto Castaneda

29 Nov 2007

Name Rigoberto Castaneda Born 27 February 1973, Mexico City Background Castaneda was working as a runner in a production house in Mexico City when he was given a book about Alfred Hitchcock and was inspired to take a course in filmmaking. Having…

Profile - Matt Berry

15 Nov 2007

Who’s he then? You may recognise Matt Berry from his role as aristo explorer type Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh or for his parts in Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and the recent second series of The IT Crowd. No, there’s somewhere else . . . Then…

Profile - The Mighty Tabot Sound System

1 Nov 2007

Name The Mighty Tabot Sound System Who? London/Wolverhampton dub and roots soundsystem featuring dub plate builder Ras Muffet, Ras Gabre on the mic and Ras Kinfe working the system. Ras Muffet was part of Jah Shaka’s crew back in the 70s, supplied…

Tom Phillips

Big picture

1 Nov 2007

Tom Phillips Widely considered a touchstone of postmodernism, Tom Phillips’ artistic project, ‘A Humument: A Treated Victorian Novel’, has achieved cult status since its initial publication in 1970. One day, Phillips went into a book shop with the…

Profile - Radioactive Man

18 Oct 2007

Name Radioactive Man aka Keith Tenniswood. Occupation Non-lone member of Two Lone Swordsmen, alongside somewhat legendary house and rock’n’roll producer Andrew Weatherall. Tenniswood is also a DJ for hire whose tastes centre on dirty electro and…

Michelle Monaghan

4 Oct 2007

Background Monaghan studied journalism for three years at Columbia College in Chicago. To earn pocket money she worked as a model and ditched the typewriter to work as a fashion model when she quit her studies. What’s she up to now? Having…

Mind your language

4 Oct 2007

It might seem remarkable that a Booker Prize-winning novelist should be available to write for the stage in Scotland, yet hasn’t been asked to do so for well over a decade. Yet this is the situation James Kelman has found himself in, despite a general…

Profile - Joe Rogan

20 Sep 2007

Name? Joe Rogan Who’s this guy then? Just having passed his 40th birthday, Rogan has built a successful career as an outspoken comic in the Doug Stanhope-ranting vein and has even landed himself the odd TV gig such as being the host of Fear Factor.

Profile - Killa Kela

20 Sep 2007

Name: Killa Kela Occupation: Internationally renowned beatboxer extraordinaire, collaborator to the stars, sometime gossip magazine mainstay. Where’s he from? Twenty-eight year old Lee Potter is originally from Billingshurst, West Sussex, and he…

Profile: Scream Club

6 Sep 2007

Occupation Hip hop, glam rock, queer girl band. What’s the skinny? Scream Club are two very sexy lady rappers by the names of Cindy Wonderful and Sarah Adorable from Olympia, Washington who are making their Scottish debut at Utter Gutter this…

The Legacy - profile of Géla Babluani

6 Sep 2007

Name Géla Babluani Born Tblisi, Georgia, 1979 Who is he? Babluani comes from a filmmaking family; his father, Temur, started making films back in 1980. With the violent uprisings taking place in Georgia, Temur sent his kids to study abroad. Gela…

Jarvis Cocker

23 Aug 2007

During the heady days of Britpop I was a Jarvis Cocker obsessive; following Pulp around from town to town, skipping school to buy concert tickets and waiting outside venues and hotels for autographs and photos until all hours of the morning. Once the…

Anita Loos Retrospective

16 Aug 2007

Name Anita Loos. Born 26 April, 1888, California. Died 18 August 1981, New York. Who was she? Loos was one of the most celebrated US screenwriters, playwrights and authors of the last century. Over her long life she experienced several…

Taxidermia - profile

9 Aug 2007

Profile on György Pálfi, director of Taxidermia

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

Erick Morillo

Profile

16 Jul 2007

PROFILE Name: Erick Morillo Occupation: New York-based polymath of popular house styles; DJ; producer; label owner; allegedly one of the world’s top five (highest-paid) DJs. Background: Born in New York and raised in New Jersey…

Alexandre Perrigot

Interview

3 Jul 2007

Rosie Lesso For this exhibition in Glasgow you will be creating a full-scale replica of Elvis’ house, Graceland. Why did you choose to recreate his house in particular? Alexandre Perigot The first time I came to Glasgow by plane I landed in…

Exchange Youth Theatre Festival

3 Jul 2007

YOUTH THEATRE It is perhaps the mark of a certain sickness in our society that we pay our policemen more than our teachers, for the priority given to education is certainly the barometer of a culture’s health. So it tells us something about the NTS…

Richard Long

3 Jul 2007

When art exited the gallery in the 1960s, the street outside became a theatre for performances and an arena for installations - a move that simultaneously questioned the sanctity of the art object and the white cube that protected it. Some artists opted…

Franz Kafka Big Band

2 Jul 2007

RADIO SHOW There’s no such thing as bad publicity, as the old adage more or less goes. So, when the papers got wind of the Franz Kafka Big Band’s proposed radio sketches, the most controversial of which was dreaming up a scenario where Rolf Harris…

Hitlist - The best comedy

2 Jul 2007

• Improbabble The crazy gang brings us some more games and skits and general larking about in their own inimitable Whose Line Is It stylee. The Brunswick Hotel, Glasgow, Fri 6, 13 Jul. • Jo Caulfield One of the more solid performers on the circuit…

Music With a Twist

2 Jul 2007

Earlier this year mammoth record label Columbia sprung the offshoot Music With A Twist, which styles itself as ‘a home for gay artists of all genres to experience mainstream success without having to compromise any part of their identity.’ The label has…

Peter Powers

Profile

2 Jul 2007

Name Peter Powers Who’s he then? Dubbed as a ‘hipnotist’ and the ‘Ali G of stage hypnotism’, he has the ability (or, I suppose, power) to have a man standing about in women’s underwear or find a cure for the most acute of phobias. His TV work…

Priscilla, Queen Of Glasgow

Profile

23 Apr 2007

What’s this all about? In the very best Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tradition, Glasgow’s bonniest lassies (well ten of them and don’t check their birth certificates) will go breast-to-fake-breast to duke it out for the title of…

Profile - Kenny Dixon Jr

Profile

23 Apr 2007

Name Kenny Dixon Jr Occupation Modern-day torch-bearer for the Detroit techno sound, and indefatigable producer, label boss, alias collector and live DJ. Where might I have heard of him? If his given name doesn’t ring any bells, his arguably…

Profile - Edbanger Records

Profile

9 Apr 2007

Name Edbanger Records Occupation Probably the coolest electronic record label in the world. Can you back this up? If it’s credentials you’re looking for then, it’s run by Pedro Winter aka Busy P and he counts acts like Justice, Uffie & Feadz…

Profile - Heresy

Profile

9 Apr 2007

What’s that then? Every Thursday the Jekyll & Hyde basement on Edinburgh’s Hanover Street is host to a censor-free night of comedic devilment. Ooh, that sounds cheeky It is indeed. Resident MC Rick Molland (pictured) touts the proceedings as a ‘dark and…

Profile - Jahtari

Profile

26 Mar 2007

Name Jahtari Occupation Online German netlabel, and growing concern on the touring circuit. Sounds like All the dancehall dub sounds we know and love. Which isn’t bad going, considering it’s all - for want of a better word - ‘artificial’.

Profile - Keir McAllister

Profile

26 Mar 2007

Name Keir McAllister Who’s he then? This Glasgow-born comic has been performing since 2004 when he entered a stand-up competition in Dundee, only to go on and win the darned thing. He has worked closely with Paul Pirie (runner-up in the Scottish…

Profile - Gerard James Butler

Profile

13 Mar 2007

Name Gerard James Butler Born 13 November 1969, Glasgow, Scotland Background Raised by his divorced mother in her hometown of Paisley, and Canada, Butler studied law at Glasgow University but allegedly gave up on that career after losing his job…

Profile - Edward Norton

PROFILE

27 Feb 2007

Name Edward Norton. Born 18 August 1969, Boston, US. Background Interested in acting from the age of five, by eight Norton was asking his drama teacher about his character’s ‘motivation’. He attended drama schools, but didn’t get serious about…

Profile - Annette Bening

Profile

12 Feb 2007

Name Annette Bening Born May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, US. Background Bening’s acting career began when she played the lead in her high school’s production of The Sound of Music. After graduating from San Francisco University she took to the…

Brian Ferguson

3 Jan 2007

FACE FOR THE FUTURE He’s not exactly a new face: He’s kicked around the Scottish theatre for three or four years in this reviewer’s recollection, and probably longer, but Brian Ferguson’s 2006 has launched him as a substantial actor on the Scottish…

Kevin Mcdonald profile

Profile

3 Jan 2007

Name Kevin Macdonald Born 28 October 1967, Glasgow, Scotland. Background Celluloid runs like blood through Macdonald’s veins. He’s the grandson of legendary writer/director Emeric Pressburger and younger brother of Trainspotting producer Andrew…

Garcia Washington

PROFILE

20 Dec 2006

Alexander Kennedy Who are Garcia Washington? Garcia Washington We are an artist committee-run exhibition space currently based in temporarily empty residential premises on Prince Edward Street, Queen’s Park, Glasgow. The committee at present is…

Morphos

Profile

19 Dec 2006

Name Morphos Location Edinburgh, Scotland Occupation Producer of loud, banging noise. Info please Morphos aka Graeme Marshall had a simple yet logical path to becoming one of Scotland’s most respected underground techno producers. As the man…

Container - profile of Lukas Moodysson

Profile

7 Dec 2006

Name Lukas Moodysson Born Malmo, Sweden, 17 January 1969. Background Moodysson came to prominence with his debut film, Show Me Love (for some reason the much better Swedish title Fucking Amal was not used in the UK). In a country starved of…

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - profile of Ben Whishaw

Profile

7 Dec 2006

Name Ben Whishaw Born 14 October 1980, Bedfordshire. Background Whishaw grew up in Bedfordshire where he attended the Bancroft Players Youth Theatre before transferring to RADA. He first started making waves on the London stage, first in His…

Eragon - Edward Speleers profile

Profile

6 Dec 2006

Name Edward Speleers Born 21 December 1987, Chichester, West Sussex. Background Likeable toff Speleers got a taste for acting at the private boarding school in Eastbourne which he still attends (he’s due to leave after his A-levels later this…

Patrick Pulsinger

Profile

6 Dec 2006

Name Patrick Pulsinger Occupation DJ/Producer What’s the skinny? Well, Mr Pulsinger is basically one of those people that can produce, compose, play and remix virtually any genre of music and make it sound like the best thing you’ve heard since…

Nick Warren

22 Nov 2006

PROFILE Occupation Legend on the trance and progressive house circuit; one of the UK’s original superstar DJs/producers and former tour DJ to fellow Bristolians Massive Attack. Where did he come from? Warren moved to Bristol in the mid-80s as a…

US Vs John Lennon, The - David Leaf profile

Profile

22 Nov 2006

Name David Leaf Born New Rochelle, New York Background Leaf began his career as a New York City based news and sports reporter, but moved to Los Angeles where he became an Emmy award-winning writer-producer-director of music culture shows for…

Freeform Five

Profile

11 Nov 2006

Name Freeform Five Location London, UK Occupation Producers, remixers, dance music moguls. Sounds good, hit me with your info stick and beat me with the details Brought together through friendships formed at various educational institutions…

Deborah Francois - profile

Profile

30 Oct 2006

Name Deborah François Born Liege, Belgium, 1987 Background As a 16-year-old schoolgirl, François attended an open casting for the Dardenne Brothers film The Child in her Belgian hometown. Ahead of 150 other hopefuls, she was given the role of…

Miss Kittin

Profile

26 Oct 2006

Who? Miss Kittin Occupation Queen of female DJs Who the hell would call their daughter Miss Kittin? Obviously that’s not her real name. She was born Caroline Herv in 1973 in Grenoble. The Kittin bit first got an airing in 1994 when she played…

Timo Maas

11 Oct 2006

Name Timo Maas Occupation DJ/Producer Location Hanover, Germany What’s the script? Unlike many of today’s producers who spent their playtimes twiddling knobs and became superstars before the school bell rang, Timo Maas took a longer path…

Billy Nasty

Profile

28 Sep 2006

Name Billy Nasty Occupation Purveyor of fine electro and techno Location London UK Show me the small print! Billy Nasty was one of many DJs to realise that working in a record shop is generally the first stop en route to international DJ…

Hoodwinked - profile - Cory Edwards

Profile

18 Sep 2006

Name Cory Edwards Born 21 August 1968, Anderson, Indiana, US. Background Actor/writer and director team Cory and his brother Todd started out making Hoodwinked as an animated short, then decided the material would stretch to feature length.

Justice

PROFILE

1 Sep 2006

Name Justice Occupation Your summer-soundtracking ‘Friends’. Who are they? French duo Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, who toiled in electro-producing obscurity until getting their big break as remixers/cut-up auteurs with one of the summer’s…