Siân Bevan

Glasgow Comedy Festival - Josie Long

ONE OF A KIND

27 Feb 2007

Whatever happened to good clean family entertainment? The oldies are right when they complain that comedy just isn’t nice anymore. That Jimmy Carr off the telly’s always bitching, and the mouth on some of the young ‘uns is frankly disgusting. You…

The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit

1 Aug 2007

There are lots of monsters appearing at this year’s Fringe, but none so ugly as this one.

Rainbow Fish & Under the Dragon Moon

9 Aug 2007

Theatre has travelled over from Singapore with the noble aim of telling simple stories with style. They set about this task in very different ways: Rainbow Fish uses black lights and beautiful puppetry, whereas Under the Dragon Moon is a collection of…

Pick of 2006 - Hot 100

Top 50

12 Dec 2006

The List’s Hot 100 celebrates the people who have made the biggest impact on cultural life in Scotland over the past 12 months.

James Campbell’s Onomatopoeia Society III and Spinistry of Moonerism

1 Aug 2007

James Campbell is the guy that does stand-up comedy for kids, and has carved out a very nice niche for himself in entertaining the harshest critics on the planet.

Mark Borkowski - The Fame Formula

7 Aug 2008

ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY (Sidgwick & Jackson) Behind every great celebrity is a brilliant publicist. It’s this remarkable breed which is examined by Mark Borkowski, an experienced PR man himself, as he takes us back through the modern history of fame…

Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg - The Plain Janes

4 Jan 2008

DRAMA (Minx) The latest entry in the new Minx range captures almost every chick lit cliché. High school setting? Check. Geeky girls save the day? Check. And, of course, there’s a moody pretty boy for those raging hormones. And yet it’s not terrible…

Various - Boxwars: The Album

13 Dec 2007

CARDBOARD BASHING PUNK ROCK (Boxwars UK) Boxwars combines punk and well-behaved fighting. ‘Warriors’ make cardboard armour then launch themselves into a mauling mosh pit until a winner’s declared. The gladiatorial combat is powered by energetic…

Comedy Academy 4 Kids

Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Mar

28 Feb 2007

WORKSHOP It’s a well-worn sentiment that kids say the funniest things, but James Campbell has taken that to a whole new level. Campbell is known for his child-friendly humour and has now brought his Comedy Academy to Edinburgh, with the successful…

We Are Klang

11 Aug 2006

Klangbang opens with the immense Greg Davies prancing around, promising a variety show filled with delights. Soon joined by Marek Larwood and Steve Hall, the crowd quickly realises that it’s in for something special, in all senses of the word. The range…

Andrew O'Neill

8 Aug 2006

Andrew O’Neill’s humour is surreal to the point of being ridiculously silly, which is why grounding it in such a subject is a stroke of genius. He calmly explains why and how he believes that a 13-year-old Winston Churchill was Victorian serial killer…

Will & Greg: A Sketch Show

3 Jul 2008

SKETCH SHOW The Stand, Glasgow, Sun 6 Jul Before the Fringe kicks in along with the attendant confusion of flyers, here’s your chance to take a sneak peak at one of its prime sketch shows. Fresh from some of the minds who brought you last year’s…

Singles & Downloads

29 Nov 2007

As it’s all a bit gloomy outside at the moment, here’s a mellow selection of singles to wrap your freezing fingers round. Starting off the collection is the latest offering from Kate Walsh ‘Tonight’ (Mercury - 3 stars), with vocals so warm and lovely…

Men of Steel

16 Aug 2007

There are three feisty cookie cutters on the prowl, storming around having adventures and getting up to mischief. They’re powered by a trio of talented young puppeteers, a creative bunch who’ve already found success with the piece in their native…

Rick Shapiro

16 Aug 2007

Rick Shapiro is a five star comedian in a two star show. If you want structure, well thought-out lines, or even the assurance of sanity then look elsewhere. If, however, you’re prepared to sit through ten minutes of shambolic mutterings as our hero…

Talking Pants

16 Aug 2007

Ian Billings, the exuberant star of Talking Pants is a writer for Chucklevision. But don’t let this influence your decision about his one-man show – there are no visual gags involving ladders, although the well-meaning energy he exudes as he bounds…

The Boy and the Dog Who Walked to the Moon

16 Aug 2007

This beautiful story follows the adventures of Tomas and his dog Don Alfonso as they travel to the moon, where Tomas hopes to find his mother. Along the way they encounter vibrant characters, such as the very grumpy eagle in the mountains, all depicted…

Away

(Granta)

9 Aug 2007

SOCIAL DRAMA Amy Bloom’s latest novel follows the journey of Lillian, a Russian woman who watches her family being brutally killed and then travels to America to escape those memories and her country. Once there, the plot rockets through a number of…

Men of Steel

1 Aug 2007

Three of Australia’s leading puppeteers are zooming into Edinburgh and making inanimate objects come to life.

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…

Edward Dolnick

Stealing the Scream (Icon Books)

12 Feb 2007

ART HISTORY The title of Edward Dolnick’s light-hearted look at art history is misleading. This is less about the theft of Munch’s classic The Scream and more the tale of its saviour: policeman Charley Hill. The author worked with Hill to get the…

Out to Lunch - Live!

Profile

29 Jan 2007

What’s that then? Lunch and 50 minutes of improv comedy for five shiny pounds.

Pick of 2006 - Hot 100

100 to 51

12 Dec 2006

I can admit it now: I was a fool to set up the Hot 100. When you think of the broad spectrum of cultural activities that we cover in The List, from film and music through to eating out, shopping and occasionally sport, it’s clear that the number of…

The Real Daniel O'Donnell Show

Sketch stuff which will cheerily upset fans of the crooning Irish icon

31 Jul 2008

The festival is, as always, packed full of worthy messages with comedy addressing everything from politics to love via environmental disasters. When asked about his Fringe sketch show, comedian Michael Legge replies gleefully ‘oh, it’s childishly…

Eirlys Bellin

16 Aug 2007

Bellin performs entirely in the guise of Rhian Davies, a fame-hungry Welsh girl prepared to do anything to get on the telly. Draped in this character, Bellin actually auditioned for Big Brother, and secretly filmed her adventure. There’s so much…