28 August 2006

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

So farewell then, Fringe 2006.

A definite improvement on the 2005 vintage, but there are some issues that need to be faced by the organisers. Chief amongst these is how much more can the Fringe expand? This is especially prescient given the fact that as the number of shows has expanded the area within which the majority of venues is situated has contracted. The so-called big 5 definitely dominate the scene like massive corporate behemoths, with every nook and cranny seemingly an outpost of one or more of them. Ticket sales are up, attendance is up, I have never seen Edinburgh as busy as the first full Saturday this year, yet still they complain the fringe needs more promotion. And, it's so obvious it hardly need be said anymore, it's still far too expensive.

More importantly, the Pleasance Courtyard in particular has become the worst managed venue on the fringe for waiting time for box office (half an hour when the queue is barely out the door) and more importantly, staff attitude. It was not uncommon this year for staff to ask customers to wait a moment whilst they went to get themselves a cup of coffee (I saw it three times) and their knowledge of what shows were about or even whether they were comedic or dance or whatever was useless. A legacy of employing people who "want to work on the fringe, daahling" rather than proper customer-focussed operatives. Running out of booze twice on the opening weekend was signal enough of the dismally poor planning involved.

Luckily, the quality of the shows this year seems to have been very high. Certainly I have experienced a few shows that were, quite frankly, superb. Special mention must go to Black Watch and Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer here, and old hands like Will Smith, Andy Zaltzman, Justin Edwards and Phil Nichol came up with the goods too.

If there has been a "theme" to the fringe I experienced this year it must be either (a) accordians, (b) self-conscious "opening songs" or (c) close shaves with the smoking ban.

My final sobering thought is the fact that even in a year when I cut down my fringe going (and therefore, spending) I still managed to see more shows than the arts editor of The Scotsman.

Slacker kids rule! You shoulda been here, man!

Back to ranting for another year, then.

Let Them All Talk

Talk Radio, Udderbelly

Inside the giant inflatable cow, which I must confess I was sceptical about in my reactionary way, lurks an excellent and comfortable venue. And before me (eventually) were the cast of Talk Radio.

The ubiquitous Phil Nichol stars as night time talk jock Barry Champlain as we are privy to an evening of his show. Eric Bogdosian's play gives us a slice of 80s American life, darkness and all, and the cast throw themselves fully into it. The performances carry the play through the passages where the dialogue is a little too stuck in it's time and Nichol remains as watchable as ever.

A minor classic.

NTW : The not-quite-lighting-a-cigarette moment seemingly de rigeur in every show this year.

JTD : The cast as an ensemble and Nichol in particular

Coming back for more

David Benson - Why Pay More?, Pleasance Courtyard

Fringe institution (and no one is more bitter about that than the man himself) David Benson returns. Having confessedly run out of ideas he turns to the fringe itself for the inspiration for his new fringe show. Swapping the comfort of the Assembly Rooms for a portacabin round the back of Pleasance (as he himself says "Why pay more?") Benson leads his audience on a trip down his own memory lane, punctuated, as always, by bursts of popular song.

The show is a step up from the rather dreary "Conspiracy Cabaret" of 2005, and probably on a par with 2004's "The Haunted Stage", but it's "work in progress" nature means it never reaches the heights of "Star Struck" let alone the majestic wonder of "Think No Evil of Us". An hour in Benson's company is never really dull (although Conspiracy... came close) and his stories were well told and his songs well sung. If you're looking for a show that goes somewhere, this isn't it. If you want a diversion from the everyday world with a charming host, rush rush !

NTW : Please tell me the lovely old ladies haven't been dumped in a fit of pique! And one must wonder if he isn't going the way of old KW himself, feeding off his own anecdotes to diminishing returns.

JTD : The sparkly jacket... and after the disappointment of 2005 he has earnt himself a reprieve, especially if he brings back Mourning Glory next year.

25 August 2006

Mmm-haw-he-haw-he-haw

Marcus Brigstocke, Pleasance Courtyard

Thank goodness Marcus Brigstocke's stand up shows aren't in the Fringe brochure, it means I don't have to review it and tell you that at least 75% of the material will be familiar to those who saw "Planet Corduroy" in 2004 or listened to The Now Show. However, at least Brigstocke's comedy rants - which, lest we forget, he absolutely believes in - bear repeat listening, so roll up for your old favourites : Consolidated loans, "He blocked my extension", EuroDisney fight and, of course, The Mrs Brigstocke Story!

There was some new bits, notably slagging of Anne Robinson and Ron Atkinson, but still no formal apology for "The Savages".

Nonetheless, Marcus Brigstocke is great and I laughed like a drain.

Only three more shows to go. I am sad.

23 August 2006

Having trouble with the word "applause"?

An Evening With Michael McIntyre, Potterow

Away with your "Pleasance Dome"!

Michael McIntyre was a very pleasant surprise, firstly he was 2-for-1 which is always good, secondly he was very funny. Imagine if Pierce Brosnan was squashed and permanently smiling and you have some idea of the toothy-grinned, floppy-haired midget's physicality. Add to this a quick wit and strong material and you have a recipe for a brilliant hour.

Unfortunately a couple of his gags were a bit long in the tooth (visual representation of the green walking man, anyone?) but he made up for this with sparky interaction with the crowd, including a couple who left after 20 minutes but not before trying to recruit McIntyre for their charity gig and an idiot who let his mobile phone go off during the show (reader, it was I, forshame!). Well worth his ecstatic reviews.

NTW : Closing the show on a gag first seen on Absolutely 16 years ago.

JTD : Natural charm and rapport in spades

21 August 2006

Don't you think your voice is a bit high?

Lawrence and Gus - Next In Line, Pleasance

Lawrence and Gus are likeable and amusing, and at times this show is firmly in the hilarious category. What creates a slightly uneasy feeling is the question of where this sort of comedy can go? Is a Radio 4 slot the best that well-observed character comedy can aspire to at the moment, and if so, isn't that a shame?

In providing a show where each sketch features a character from the preceding one, L & G maintain audience interest until, just at the point where fatigue may be setting in, they break out into a mock argument between "themselves". This has been cleverly sewn into the fabric of the preceding sketches and is the highlight of an enjoyable hour.

NTW : The "Starship Enterprise under fire" staggering and swaying between sketches.

JTD : The move from characters to "themselves"

Diamond Dogs

La Clique, Speigeltent, George Square Gardens

My dislike of Dance and Physical Theatre is well documented, so how come I enjoyed this so much? Well, firstly it's done well and secondly no particular act outstays their welcome.

From rubber men to acrobats and rollerskaters, La Clique provides a solid show of spectacular cabaret and if you're not too keen on this, there'll be something else along in a minute. Deserving of it's excellent reviews elsewhere.

Which brings me to another spot of righteous indignation which, I am pleased to say, does not stem from perceived wrongs against myself. The audience for La Clique pay around £17 per ticket with no caveats or warnings. I would be very unhappy, therefore, to discover that there are not, in fact, enough seats for all the ticket holders. Equally I was unimpressed by the amount of "reserved" signs on many of the best seats, a signifier of the dangerous creeping inequality of the famously egalitarian fringe. As I say, this did not effect me (only because I jumped the queue) but it did effect a middle-aged woman who was not allowed to sit on a "reserved" seat which was subsequently not filled. A bitter aftertaste to an amazing spectacle.

NTW : Some of the singing and miming went on a little too long and the emmcee was particularly smug and dislikeable.

JTD : The truly amazing Skating Rollers, the very flexible Miss Gyulnara.

4th Time Around

Natalie Haynes - Watching The Detectives, Pleasance

Some shows are a gamble, some are a confident punt on an hour or so of entertainment, some are like a warm reunion with old friends, only one is a pilgrimage.

The annual trip to see Natalie Haynes holds nothing but good memories for me, and this is an easy bargain to keep on my side, I just need to turn up. Natalie's side of the bargain is harder to keep - come up with and perform new material to the same standard as previously. After 4 years she hasn't let me down yet!

Taking US detective shows as her starting point, Natalie hangs all her usual subject matter on a quest to find the man or woman to solve all the world's problems. On the way we visit such familiar territory as Natalie's hatred of children or stupid people and the annual update on the hate-mail she has received from pro-lifers. It's obvious from the start that the winner will be Dick Van Dyke, but watching Natalie get there is, as always, a treat.

Same time next year.

NTW : No Jim Rockford?

JTD : A dissection of Jessica Fletcher's conveneient ability to solve so many murders...

Telly's for sellouts!

Andy Zaltzman Detonates 70 Minutes of Unbridled Afternoon, The Stand

Structure, structure, structure, material, material, material. It seems so easy written down, but the truth is that very few acts I've seen at Edinburgh this year have managed to put that magic formula into practice. Andy Zaltzman has, and how !

All the more remarkable is this achievement, considering this show was conceived, written and rehearsed as a duo with John Oliver. In truth it was Oliver who led me to Zaltzman, but with the former seduced by the bright lights of New York City it has been left to the latter to wow the Edinburgh crowds.

And wow them he does with pin-sharp yet playful political satire. A big laugh roughly once a minute and above all images and ideas to set the imagination racing. As a taste, Zaltzman suggests such brilliant concepts as a Subbuteo Home Office, the retrospective purchasing of sporting victories and John Reid's nightwear, as well as comparing bad voting judgement to a hangover and casting aspertions on the Rolling Stones' social beliefs.

Andy Zaltzman may bemoan the state of the world but, thanks to him, for 70 minutes every day until 28 August things will be just dandy.

NTW : Alas, the show ended!

JTD :So many to choose from; the Zaltzman Encyclopaedia of Explanatory Bullshit, the Interval quiz, the inspired ending...the list goes on.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Sarah Kendall stepped offstage in the Pleasance 2 years ago and steppeed back on stage this year seemingly wearing exactly the same jeans and checked shirt. Thankfully, her material has changed in the interim and, after a shaky start, she kept the large audience entertained.

Loosely based around Kendall's search for the perfect comeback, the show ranges from dealing with mouthy kids to expressive ribbon twirling to the peculiar punishments meted out in schools. Throughout, Kendall and her extraoridanry mane of hair kept a friendly demeanour, even when her material was not being ecstatically received.

In common with a few performers this year, Kendall got a bit paranoid after about half an hour and her structure stuttered a little as a result. She's a solid performer but perhpas the room was too big for her chatty, laid-back style.

NTW : Allowing wide-faced arsecocker Jimmy Carr into the room.

JTD : Kendall's first attempt at audience interaction.

Adam Hills can kiss my ass!

Rich Hall, Assembly Rooms
Now a well kent face from appearances on UK TV, Hall nonetheless would seem more comfortable in a smaller venue than the expansive Music Hall of the Assembly Rooms.
His prepared material seems to peter out after about 40 minutes, but this is 40 minutes too late as it is the interaction with the audience and off the wall extemporising on random subjects where Hall shines.
Attempts to turn the show into some kind of "event" are half-hearted at best but reveal a delicious envy of the more populist performers, even if this is entirely fictional.
After a long day out and about in Edinburgh, Hall's weary cynicism is a perfect finish.

One Word Art Reviews

Van Gogh and Britain, Dean Gallery
Nutter

Robert Mapplethorpe, Modern Art Gallery
Bender

Harry Benson - Being There, Portrait Gallery
Ligger

Anne Redpath & The Edinburgh School, City Arts Centre
Dauber

Albert Watson - Frozen, City Arts Centre
Voyeur

Toulouse Lautrec & The Art Deco Poster, City Arts Centre
Poster

Rub The Stump!

Phil Nicol - The Naked Racist, The Stand

The most entertaining stand-ups also stand out, and Nicol certainly stands out. His manic energy is in evidence from the first as he welcomes his audience and builds your trust of him, a trust that will become very important as the hour wears on.
Basing his routine around the aftermath of a split from his girlfriend and subsequent mini-break in Amsterdam, Nicol riffs on Irish pubs, amputee sex, fetish clubs and death metal - accompanied by full band.
All this leads up to the explanation of the title of the show, be warned, however, in this depratment Nicol leaves nothing to the imagination.

NTW : The death metal interlude goes on about a verse too long.

JTD : The intimate venue suits Nicol and his material well.

20 August 2006

"Not to scale"

Corinne Grant - Nice Lady Hour, Gilded Balloon Teviot

Corinne Grant doesn't give anything away easily. By the end of the hour you understand why this little-promoted act has sold out one of the Gilded Balloon's smallest rooms with Aussies.
Grant is a confident performer and this carried her through a rocky opening five minutes while the audience unfamiliar with her cottoned on to her style.
The material itself was good, though some of it was chucklesome rather than hilarious. It was in her interaction with the audience that Grant really scored the big laughs.
Her county-comes-t0-town, girl making her way in the ccrazy world schtick served her well and her ability not to take herself seriously ensured the hour passed quickly and she won over another small slice of the non-Australian public.

NTW : Opening with a boisterous song and dance routine meant the more reticent in the audience took a little longer to warm to her.

JTD : Working off the cuff is Corrine's greatest strength, she should exploit it a little more.

Here they come, walking down the street...

Three Mo' Tenors, St George's West

Three spirited performances lie at the heart of this enjoyable show as the titular tenors work their way from opera to jazz, broadway to rhythm and blues.
There is fun to be had here, sometime unintentional as the performers are often more than a little camp. The music was good and the boys can sing but I would imagine a wide musical taste is a pre-requisite to enjoy the full show.

NTW : Some fo the non-vocal performances go a little OTT

JTD : Good to see a group with their own theme song, allowing the Three Mo' Tenors to stand proud among the likes of the Monkees and S-Express

"That didn't happen to you, that happened to Jed Clampitt"

Levelland, Assembly Rooms

Rich Hall has taken a tentative first step into the world of serious theatre with this play presenting a vision of an America where oil prices have risne about 2000%. Hall himself plays a provocative talk radio host whose assured, confident world view is shaken by the arrival of a young hitch-hiker to his studio, followed by two of the young man's "business partners".
Hall's script soars in places, and the idea is an intriguing one. Unfortunately it is let down by a poor structure in places; meaning some of the piece is very wordy, espeically before the arrival of the 3rd and 4th characters. Once the situation escalates and the tension is ratcheted up a few notches the piece starts to bubble and Hall's nightmare vision of a world where no one can be fully trusted reaches what must be one of many similar conclusions.

NTW : Sound effects of doors opening and closing.

JTD : Little "stumps" of door frames to indicate doors.

Alas poor Yorick, I knew his puncture repair kit

Bouncy Castle Hamlet, Roxy Art House

One of the glories of the fringe is the opportunity it gives to brag about bizarre theatrical sights. In this case I know I will forever more be able to halt all discussions about Hamlet by saying "Of course, you've never really seen it until you've seen it on a Bouncy Castle." And indeed, this is what you get, a straight version of Hamlet performed on a Bouncy Castle.
The young cast tackle their casue with enthusiasm, although the performance I saw was marred by Hamlet sustaining an injury, deciding the audience had taken a dislike to him, losing hi slines and eventually quitting the stage in high dudgeon, leaving his fellows to make as fair a fist of it as they could. That the rest of the cast managed to do this is testament to their skill and application.
The Bouncy Castle was distracting at times, but at others it did actually add to the drama, during Ophelia's madness, for example.
A couple left after 30 minutes and it was only Hamlet's injury that made the rest of the performance worth sitting through. Ultimately the concept is what you come for and being able to see you've seen Hamlet on a bouncy castle is worht £7 of anyone's money.

NTW : The player king's lying back each time she changed characters in the play-within-a-play.

JTD : Staging the play-within-a-play on a mini Bouncy Castle

Fresh Prince of Bel-size Park

Will Smith - How To Be Cool, Assembly Rooms

Why isn't Will Smith a household name? (I know that there is a Will Smith who is a household name - but why isn't this Will Smith a household name?)
He kept an audience from 16 to 65 (and that was just the front row) near hysterical fo 60 minutes with his dissection of what is and isn't cool and his own difficulties in understanding the dividing line.
Utilising his display screen less than in previous years, it was still integral, but his show was stronger for its use. When he isn't beholden to slides and video clips, Smith's self-dissection soars to well-crafted heights of absurdity and hilarity.
If Smith's skill and likeability were not proven in his material, then his wonderfully polite dealing with a drunken audient demonstrated it admirably.
As well as making you laugh, Smith really does make you wonder why Pete Docherty is cool but Dire Straits are not.

NTW : None at all

JTD : The ever-expanding "conversations with girls" diagram.

Put Big Light On !

Black Comedy, Greenside

The beauty of the fringe is seeing the legendary "concept" plays that don't get performed in the mainstream theatre anymore. Peter Shaffer's lights on/lights off piece is exactly in this mould, and this year has been tackled by a talented group from the University of Liverpool.
Special mention should go to Mark Rawle as the crusty Colonel, James Percy as the camp Harold (though his is probably the easiest part to play), and especially James Dale as struggling artist and Harry H Corbett dress-a-like Brindsley. The performers raise laughs and throw themselves into the slapstick with gusto and the set is well laid out to comic, if not aesthetic, effect.
Alas these efforts are let down by slack lighting cues and the atrocious acting of Elizabeth Ford, the one weak link in the cast. Despite the fact it ran 30 minutes longer than promised, Black Comedy represents a solid production of an oddly austere swinging 60s classic.

NTW : Nothing obvious, but the whisky was oddly clear.

JTD : A little character touch...Carol collecting a large soft toy along with her belongings when leaving.

He may be some time

Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer, Assembly Rooms

The story of humanity has always been the story of exploration. In the early 20th century the frontier of exploration was the Antarctic; the so-called "last place on earth." As is pointed out at the start of this show, the leaders of these polar expeditions have become household names, Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, but the men who supported them have been somewhat forgotten.
Adrian Dooley redress the balance in this one-man show in which he plays Tom Crean, the only man to go on three polar expeditions.
Crean's stories are gold anyway, and Dooley weighs them superbly to excite, entertain and on accaion move his audience deeply. His solo walk to base camp under Scott and Shackleton's last night off the coast of South Georgia are told so vividly there were times I forgot that the man on stage had not actually experienced those things.
Filled with character, insight and incident, this an hour and a quarter of pure quality. Tom Crean deserves to be celebrated for his exploits, so does Adrian Dooley.

NTW : None whatsoever

JTD : Dealing with audience distractions in character.

Litmus

Robin Ince Isn't Waving, Assembly Rooms

I've sat to start this review a few times now and have struggled as I have very little, good or bad, to say about the show. Perhaps that says everything it needs to. I laughers, so did others. It made it's mark at the time but has faded since. See it as a fringe benchmark.

17 August 2006

Mid fringe week madness

Panic not, gentle readers ! I have not been lynched by angry mobs of performers, fellow audients or ticket vendors, but have simply been watching too many shows (and writing reviews thereof) to post them on the site.

Stand by at the start of next week for :

Antarctic Exploration, Moonraker, My mum getting picked on by a comedian, actorly strops, one word reviews of art exhibitions, koalas, koalas, koalas, stuff and, let's not be coy about this, nonsense, and more ranting than you can shake a stick at!

*Edit : just noticed that actually I didn't mention Will Smith's obsession with Moonraker, Corinne Grant's banter with my mum or the fact we went to the Zoo and saw Koalas, sorry*

11 August 2006

Syb - ill!!

In Pursuit of Cardenio, Underbelly

The legendary Ken Campbell tackles the legendary William Shakespeare, what can possibly go wrong? Read on, if you dare!

I had misgivings from the start but the show began strongly, with Ken outlining the differences between "soft" improvisation of the "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" variety and the "hard" improvisation we were going to see tonight. This would be improvisation without the gimmicks and flighty-ness as he and his troupe attempted to improvise the "lost" Shakespeare play Cardenio. Each of the improvisers was given an object from the audience and began to improvise around it in iambic pentameter while the audience went among them to observe. This was fascinating and I began to put my previous dislike of improvisation aside and braced myself for a rigorously stimulating evening.

Unfortunately we were then treated to 50 minutes of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" with a Shakespearean twist. No attempt to move on from (apparently) 7 previous "episodes" of Cardenio, no attempt to even make a coherent narrative, just - as always with comedic improvisation - arsing about for the delight of their fellow performers and friends in the audience.

A show with potential, and some of it was amusing, but being promised a different kind of improvisation and getting basically, the same old schtick was very disappointing. As the sainted TOM once said "..but what's it FOR?" If performing in general is basically showing off, then comedic improvisation is the two-year-old proudly showing you a freshly produced turd.

JTD : A couple of excellent performers really hitting their stride (Kelly and Adam)....

NTW : ....being overshadowed by a typically "look at me" old hand (Josh)

And now, an unbecoming, unpleasant, probably hypocritical and unjustified rant.

The sinking feeling in my stomach came while waiting to go into the venue when I spotted a contingent of middle-aged suburban bohemians also going in. These are the people who make the fringe unbearable at times for me. You know the type, all M&S cardigans, various bits of fabric tying their hair into a constructed bird's nest and applying make up more and more liberally with each passing year to end up resembling a cross between Una Stubbs as Aunt Sally and Bette Davis in Whatever Happened To Baby Jane. As Scotland The What once put it "Talk about mutton dressed as mock chop."
They sit in shows and bray at their friends about what they've seen and the last time they were in a venue this dark and dingy (indicating how few fringe shows they have actually seen) and delight at their digs being in "Spittal Street".
Made worse, of course, by their having friends among the cast (the most smug and self-satisfied members of the cast, of course) who then proceed to perform for them and elicit hilarious shreiks of laughter at every semi-funny gag.
If I had the oft-mentioned extra horn in my car I would be sounding it now.

10 August 2006

What's in a name...

A question has been raised about the title of the blog.

To which I can only answer : "Hells bells, Ann! If you're looking at the blog you must be using the internet, a huge information resource. I haven't got time to explain everything in the minutest detail. I am trying to type up the minutes of the Resident's meeting, plan the car treasure hunt and work out the fixtures list for the Cricket Club. The Close doesn't run itself you know."

Magically Delicious

Andrew Maxwell- 'Round Twilight, Pleasance

Charming Irish fellow Andrew Maxwell has made a bit of a splash on the Fringe for the past two years, and this year he has brought two shows to Edinburgh for the balmy August nights.

'Round Twilight is his basic, stand up show, centred around his love of the night time and the adventures you can get up to there. In reality this is a hook around which to hang a couple of lengthly anecdotes and the theme doesn't really reach much of a conclusion in any way.

Maxwell's material is more prominently hard-edged than the routines I recall most fondly from last year, and the show suffered a little as a result. Maxwell is an accomplished story teller, however, and there was only one point when my mind wandered a little from his tales.

Added to this Maxwell has bags of charm, which meant the Americans next to me continued to laugh heartily through a venomous dissection of the problems with their country and its power.

Perhaps if Maxwell had done more "slipping in" and less "forcing in" of politics I would have enjoyed his show more, but a chance to see a master at work nonetheless.

NTW : Difficult, but running through old material for the purposes of explanation didn't require such a long run up and milking the laughter for the gag a second time.

JTD : Either his Leith schemie accent or out-weirding the Cape Town muggers.

07 August 2006

Thar She Blows!

Moby Dick - Rehearsed, C3

American Students tackle Orson Welles' script of a play of a book thought to be unperformable and step into the shoes Gordon Jackson, Kenneth Williams, Patrick McGoohan, Christopher Lee and Joan Plowright with a bravery and gusto that can surely only be shown by those who have no idea who their predecessors were.

Thank God for their Yankee energy though, because my word it was long! The actors carry their audience through the more sedate and contemplative sections of the script to lead up to a rip-roaring climax of whale hunting as Ahab and his crew go down with the beast their captain has so single-mindedly hunted.

Kudos for casting Chad Jones as Father Mapple, possibly America's tallest man, ensuring there is no need for a pulpit as he is already several feet taller than the reat of the cast! Excellent work by Zac Hoogendyk (just for having that name!) as Ahab, Katherine Miles McPherson as Pip (never has a small black boy been so convincingly played by a blonde, white actress with a tambourine) and Brooks Asher as Starbuck (hats off to the inheritor of Noddy Holder's sideboards). Special praise, however, for Micah B. Hardt as the exasperated, slightly manic Stage Manager and third Mate Flask, keeping ship and theatre together with determination.

Be warned, however, there is a fair amount of singing goes on in this production, some of which could easily have been cut to reduce the running time (what is it about August that means one's attention span is reduced to 60 minutes?). Worse, some of it seems entirely bizarre, especially a song about women when half the crew are women! Suspension of disbelief becomes very difficult with a cast of radiantly beautiful students.

If you like whales, Welles or just ogling college girls (or boys! I'm assured) this is a show you'll very much enjoy.

NTW : The student's origins mean there's no chance of a sly Williams impersonation slipping in (sit Ryan MacKenzie down in front of Carry On Doctor and let's have the carpenter declaiming "ooh, cap'n Ahab, look at your thing, it's gone all limp, let me run my hands over it and I'll have it stiff in a jiffy! Nah, stop messin' about") Also don't put all your mates in the best seats. They'll laugh and clap anyway, and some of them are spectacularly ugly in a way only Americans seem to be able to be. Having a "Dramaturg" listed in the programme. (Can I just put NTW : They're American, take your pick! ?)

JTD : So that's what a lightning sheet looks like!

Cheggers Can't Be Boozers !

Justin Edwards - Unaccompanied As I Am, Pleasance Courtyard

Justin Edwards, as part of The Consultants and children's "entertainer" Jeremy Lion, has always employed music as a mainstay of his comedy, and this year's show concentrates solely on this side of his talent. Alas, this has the effect of reducing his mid-show alcohol consumption considerably - but perhaps that's the point?

Presenting an old favourite - A suit of blue, of powder blue - at the top of the hour means starting on a laugh, and it's a standard largely maintained throughout the 60 minutes. Keeping an audience from 16 to 65 enchanted with, basically, smutty gags is testament to Edwards' way with a clever rhyme and unusual subject matter.

The hit-rate is so high that neither technical hitch nor early-run hesitancy can mar the enjoyment of Edwards' show. Songs about "man walks into a bar" gags, Edwards' guardian angel and, most brilliantly, the career of Paul Shane are of a high musical and lyrical standard and his many versions of Dean Martin's "That's Amore" are equally stunning and groan-inducing.

A solid, hilarious and good value hour.

NTW : A disappointing critique of "You Rang M'Lord" (surely the pinnacle of the Perry/Croft oeuvre) during the Paul Shane number, saved by the....

JTD : ...appearance of the Chuckle Brothers, theme from Chucklevision and the "To Me, To You" catchphrase.

You Were Right, Lovejoy !

Dudley Sutton - Pandora's Lunchbox, Pleasance Courtyard

Like a slightly down-on-his-luck Tom Baker, Dudley Sutton can recount improbable tales of his life with charm and great humour. Structuring his show around the addictions his "inner Pandora" steers him towards, Sutton fits in anecdotes, poems and songs. None of which are brilliant but all of which are better than you expected.

Benefitting artistically, if not financially, from a small performance space and audience, the hour passed swiftly as if in the company of a much loved Uncle, or given his bare feet and aged baby face, an overgrown Hobbit. With his talking blues and poems nicely spaced out and relevant to the subject matter Sutton is never less than engaging. A long, blank verse tirade against modern life through the frame of Chelsea manages to amuse, outrage and inspire all at the same time but a closing punt at Tony Blair seems rather less focussed, although the central message (if "1984" is banned I don't want to live in such a state) is sound enough.

NTW : A rather too graphic description of the birth of his grand-daughter

JTD : Writing your cues on little stickers on the floor.

Carry On Oop La Scala

Cooking With Puccini, St George's West

What if TV had been around in Puccini's day? What if the great Italian composer had appeared on a "Light Lunch" style cookery and chat programme? What if, on the show, he was candid not guarded?

I think that's probably at least one "what if" too far, and that's just the first of three major problems with Cooking With Puccini.

The second is the breakneck pace necessary to make what feels like a 1hr 30min show fit into a 1hr 15min slot. This means the crucial connection between actors and audience is difficult to establish and never really gels. As a result, what could have been a climactic communal performance of the Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly is more than a little awkward.

The final problem is the difficulty in writing and acting supposedly spontaneous dialogue. This difficulty is not helped by a leading lady obviously case for skills other than acting. (Singing ! Settle down at the back!)

When Puccini does hit his stride the show works well, including the clever conceit that allows Puccini from Lucca (up north in Italy) to sound like he's from Leeds (oop north in England). That doesn't explain the widely varying accent of the "presenter" of the show, however. Overall it's an interesting idea, but it just falls flat.

NTW : The Whore's Dance - with dialogue whizzing past at 100 miles an hour you resent such a slow interlude.

JTD : Employing a stagehand with harmonising capabilities - highlight of the show.

Bussman (not Quantick) KINGSIZE!!

...although in fact she is quite petite.

Bussman's Holiday, St George's West

About 10 years ago I listened to a radio sketch show called Bussman & Quantick Kingsize about which I can remember very little other than "Rabbis In Love", a preoccupation with wolves and that it was very funny. In the intervening years, the exploits of David Quantick have been quite obvious to me, as a music journalist and comedy writer his work has dovetailed nicely with my own interests, but what of Jane Bussman?

Turns out I've probably seen quite a bit of her stuff too, UK and US TV comedy scripting and celebrity journalism. Jane's show tells us of her disillusionment with this life and her attempt to escape from it into the world of more serious journalism. This takes the form of a self-funded (beacuse no one will sponsor her story) trip to war-torn Uganda to report on the bizarre, entrenched and tragic social situation there.

Making comedy out of politics and tragedy is a tightrope and not one Bussman walks with complete dexterity (perhaps it's the glamourous but impractical shoes?), she never needs the safety net but her balancing cane is pressed into service regularly.

Technical problems plagued the performance I saw, most often - unfortunately - when the reveal of her slide show was the punchline of a gag. However, even with technology issues, Bussman relates an intriguing and incident packed narrative with great humour. Best of all, she doesn't hit you on the head with what you can do to help. (although if she wielded the riding crop she uses as a pointer for the purposes of discipline I wouldn't be complaining !)

NTW : The "National Geographic" filmed inserts

JTD : Turning her celebrity technique on Colonal Otema generating the response "I love Marks and Spencer...but they always try to make me get a storecard."

02 August 2006

"It's like the Perth Road on a Saturday night...only with mortars"

So, day 1, show 1, National Theatre of Scotland's BlackWatch. And another excellent start to the Fringe. The staging was ambitious but well managed, the performances were of a uniformly (no pun intended!) high standard, and the writing was right on the button. A challenging and thought-provoking analysis of the modern Scottish squaddie, that repeatedly demolishes and confirms your beliefs, prejudices and hopes.

The "passing show" strucutre usually worked to the show's credit and lightened what could have been a very sombre evening but I felt the contruction at times needed a bit of re-arrangement to more effectively highlight the extremes of desert (or, indeed, any) warfare. Perhaps the most striking parallel was the clear link made between the modern army regular and the mineworker or shipbuilder of 40 years ago. It remains a dirty job, but someone has to do it and that someone tends to be sons from the more deprived end of society.

My only criticism would be that at times the "Dance and Physical Theatre" aspects went on a bit too long. I would particularly single out the closing "tattoo", although part of me suspects this was intended to signify the seemingly endless pointlessness of some aspects of the military life. The show's greatest strength, however, is its merciless skewering of all the attempts at political point-scoring (veiled or otherwise) using the lives of young men who consider themselves to be "just doing their job."

NTW (Needless Theatrical Wank) : Most of the choreographed fight scenes lacked the bite and impact of the more "casual" violence in the pub.

JTD (Justified Theatrical Device) : Either "letters from home" or the initial emergence of the fatigue-clad soldiers (they'll get through a lot of baize - the good people of Shrewsbury must be rubbing their hands in glee)


In other observations of Edinburgh in August 2006; I'm not happy with the large cow being constructed in Bristo Square or the seemingly regulation fly-postering that has taken place in the past few days - which seems to me to have too much of a hint of corporate muscle about it. I'm loving the massive banners draped on the Kirk Assembly though. That's probably rather contradictory I know. (I like the inside decor of Nazi rallies but not the publicity?).

Strangest feeling is one of being overwhelmed by the Fringe in a way I never have before, but this is probably due to having the new flat etc. to deal with.

01 August 2006

We are on the brink of a new era, if only...

So, August is finally here, the signs are up, the flags are flying. It is festeeval time in Edinburgh once more.

One of the points of Mole Valley Valves was to post my festeeval diary. So here we go.

Currently I have booked a few shows, but intend to see many more. The heights of 2004 (44 shows) or even 2005 (34 shows) will not be reached, but at least 20 will be seen.

First show is going to be BlackWatch tonight... watch this space...