Saturday 26 July 2014

Reviews Archive: September 2008 - July 2014

Phil Nichol: Welcome to Crazytown, The Stand

Phil Nichols single-handedly populates the nightmarish Crazytown in 1970s Baltimore jazz club Bertha's as recently widowed beat poet Bobby Spade, opening with a storming introductory number reminiscent of George Clooney's performance in 'O brother, where art thou?' and accompanied by a talented backing duo playing a range of instruments.

Most of Phil's characters represent an aspect of neurosis, and all are wholeheartedly inhabited, as they take up their part of the long rambling narrative poem or break into a new musical number.

Edgar Allen Poe features, along with Lady Tuesday, Anger Freeway, Denial Park Confusion and Big Love Prison.

The show fizzles with supernatural energy as the Canadian whirling dervish delivers a breakneck performance few could match, including a showstopping burst of Billie Holiday back from the grave.

For all this, it is more musical theatre with an 'X' rating than outright comedy and it helps to be a jazz fan to appreciate the narrative.

Then again a jazz fan might take it the wrong way since it also mocks a great many clichés about jazz as well as performance poetry.

A masterclass in performance by this multi-layered acting talent and it keeps this scary man off the streets!


Arj Barker - Let Me Do The Talking - The Assembly @ George Street

Arj Barker is a deceptively youthful veteran of the international comedy circuit and 'Flight of the Conchords' guest star and tells us from the start that he'll do all the talking, thank you.

The sigh of relief from the audience was palpable as we sat back in our seats to enjoy the show.

It was a safe and comfortable flight in the hands of our comedy captain who started off, indeed, with aircraft black boxes, enlarging on an old joke, about why not make the whole aircraft out of them, to encompass the Death Star in Star Wars and what a different film it would have been if it too were made of black box before going on to marvel at the flight expertise and deadly aim of a former farm boy in the self-same film.

Arj went on to share his witty thoughts on 3-D movies and the environment, opining that if global warming is the problem, then surely the real culprit is the sun.

He explored intelligent subjects as the incredulous but know-all goofball, never getting too political, but always managing to remain unexpected, and his skill at deconstructing and reconstructing jokes and weaving themes together was impressive.

His eyes glittered with echoes of Mike Myers as he drew us to a happy landing. An all-round ambassador for American comedy.

 
Jack Whitehouse - The Pleasance

I was braced to dislike the obviously self-regarding and narcissistic Jack Whitehouse the moment he swaggered on stage, but he worked the room skilfully from the start and as the show went on I warmed to his pathological hatred of the former classmate Robert Pattinson who had made it big in vampire film 'Twilight' and now boasted legions of teen fans drooling over him.

This led to reciting excerpts of the five badly written biographies of his former friend and disagreeing with them.

One telling passage described the psychological trauma to Robert of having his shoelaces mindlessly stolen.

Cue for Jack to produce them from his pocket a decade later to gales of laughter.

Despite his success in presenting Celebrity Big Brother, Jack still lives with his parents at the age of 22 which led to a rich vein of comedy in its own right as he described their subversive resistance to him having a sex life under their roof (endless teddies and cushions appearing in his room for one), his father's mild racism and attempts to get a mention in the show with increasingly outrageous behaviour and his mother's struggle to win 'Child Top Trumps' among other mothers in her local supermarket, when Jack just wasn't making her quite as proud as his former classmate Robert Pattinson's mother.

Then he had the ignominy of landing in the tabloids in a photograph, showing him snorting a line of coke from his Blackberry phone, which Jack is obviously contrite about in real life for the sake of his hurt beloved parents, though he is also at pains to point out that had he had a real drug problem, it would have been an i-Pad.

Having earlier admitted fruitlessly begging his father for a Barbie doll as a child, Jack finished the show by mincing off as his other childhood hero, Robin Hood, to the stirring chorus of the 1950s Robin Hood theme song.

A young comedian who will surely go from strength to strength.


Chris Ramsey - Aggrophobic - The Pleasance

It's not easy being a soft Geordie, not least when the world seems determined to give a man, not just his fair share of aggro, but his unfair share too, the kind of random, crazy stuff that means you scarcely know what you're being accused of or beaten up for anymore.

Twenty-two-year-old stand-up Chris Ramsey captured the frustration and anger we all feel about these scenarios perfectly.

Not that he came up with any brilliant solutions. Just empathy really. Though it crossed my mind he could help himself by ditching the comedy jeans whose crotch started somewhere around his kneecaps and gave him the proportions of a man-sized cigarette stub in addition to impeding his running away ability.

And the forward-brushed mullet was just asking for trouble too. And no self-respecting Geordie should go for Bee Gee brilliant white when getting their teeth bleached either.

Too easy for their enemies to aim kicks at in the dark. I refrained from giving Mr Ramsey any aggro about his image to test his defensive skills against attack though and felt he had actually picked a very timely subject for his show.

Notwithstanding, his sartorial skills weren't exactly cultivated by the childhood abuse of a tight father forcing him to wear a tracksuit to a family wedding to spare the expense of a proper suit. Cue hilarious photos.

A natural and highly engaging comedian who will go far.

Brendan Burns -Y'Know - Love 'n' God 'n' Metaphysics 'n' Shit

I was expecting great things from Brendan Burns but found his show to be as lazy as its title, despite frenetic efforts from his musician friend 'Davina' (David Eastgate), 'fresh off the boat' who waggled his perilously low-slung jeaned tush like a Tasmanian devil as an entree then proceeded to play his guitar like a maniac and interrupt the show at regular intervals for the rest of the evening, sometimes enhancing it, sometimes not.

However too much repetition of 'Get Under It!' 'The kids' love it!' and 'They don't know!' does not necessarily bestow upon a performer the popularity of a latter-day Frankie Howerd, and some of us did not even like that aspect of FH in the first place.

The main meat of the show, apart from his staple of the hatred he feels for 'Melburnians' was Brendan's devastation at being dumped by the love of his life a 'proper crazy' woman because that's the type who really float his boat.

A woman he loved so much he actually began to smell like her. A woman he stopped being shallow for, stopped his excesses for. Now he didn¹t know how to start again and everything seemed so meaningless except his 11-year-old son, who could still make him laugh.

Of course the humour and the touching bits of his soliloquy to her were all rather undercut by the news that 'Bea' had since returned to him and he wasn't so lovelorn after all at the end of the show.

I felt half-pleased for him, half cheated. Which kind of summed up my feelings about the whole show. He may be a former 'Perrier' winner, but Brendan Burns gives every appearance of resting on his laurels these days. 'Get under it, Brendan!'


Toulson and Harvey Used To Be Friends

Two former public schoolboys indulge in an hour of borrowed music hall buffoonery.

One plays the guitar, one has a decent voice and is reminiscent of a young Simon Williams.

The show opens with a serenade reliant on but minus castanets, a war scene is enacted where one has left the other for dead and then goes on to sleep with his butch wife Helga.

A rousing rendition of Two Little Boys is sung. They jump around and make an audience member highly embarrassed by insisting on making him pretend to be said butch ex-wife Helga and kissing him against his will.

The rest of the show is spent larking about with lots of accusations and counter-accusations about betrayal and sleeping with the other's wife.

The double act is no more as a result of all this and yet oddly remains very much in evidence on stage. It was a relief when it was over.

My least favourite Edinburgh show of 2010.


Jeremy Lion Goes Green - Pleasance Dome

Jeremy Lion is a northern children's entertainer wholly unsuitable for children sporting disturbing mismatched garb and with a drink problem he quickly forgets to hide.

Monstrously selfish, he doesn't give a damn about saving the planet, going as far as to sing a braggart's song about what colour he is not, ably accompanied by his brilliant multi-talented sidekick, Hilary Cox who looks a bit like he could be related to Dame Edna Everage's sidekick and former bridesmaid, Madge.

Then Christmas Carol-like, the ghost of a large polar bear rises up from Jeremy's wheelie bin and forces him to reassess his priorities.

Cue for Jeremy to be whisked off in his self-rotating garden shed to emerge to a make-shift chiffon ocean where he picks up a torch and examines the audience 'sealife' to inform each that they are consigned to a doom of fungal diseases and fates too ghastly to mention.

A dancing tree, courtesy of Hilary forms the next part of the greening of Jeremy. By the end of the show Jeremy is a contrite and fully-fledged environmentalist, eager to mend his selfish ways by ardently downing the contents of every glass bottle in his possession as fast as he can in order to recycle it.

If you love Count Arthur Strong, you'll love this worthy comedy cousin, Jeremy Lions.

Ian D Montfort - Touching The Dead - The Pleasance

Ian D Montfort aka Tony Binns ambles onto the stage in dragon-motifed jeans and sports jacket with a shaggy blonde perm and the easy oil of a clutch of Derek Acorahs.

He is anxious to reassure that he is the 'Sunderland Psychic' and not the 'Sunderland Psycho' and that was a mistake on his business cards.

However the police did finally release him after four hours. Then they challenged him to solve the case if he was so psychic so he proceeded to find eight bodies in one afternoon at which point he was re-arrested!

All hilarious throwaway stuff but as someone who has seen many mediums in real life, I was intrigued to know if the entire show was going to be a mickey-take or a debunk as so many comedy routines on this subject are.

Much to my amazement it was half and half. Whilst Ian D Montfort had the mannerisms of a stage psychic down to a tee including touching the arms of his male volunteers a tad too long (hinting at the fact nearly all male mediums seem to be gay) and made scores of deliberately obvious statements that the audience couldn't possibly disagree with such as once having had a grandmother, he also hit upon some startling coincidences getting audience names and details right - sometimes quite obscure ones - and correctly divining a random passage from the complete works of Shakespeare as well as reciting the correct answer to a random Guinness Book of Records question.

So even if he was only guilty of mind-reading and a photographic memory, that still represented one hell of a feat. And as he pointed out at the end, if we were all audience plants and he had picked on most of us, he was getting 'f***k all money for the show!

Brian Clough, John Lennon and Jesus also came back from the dead to make guest appearances.

An amazing and thought-provoking comedy show and as Mr D Montfort pointed out 'You don't have to be bereaved to enjoy yourself'

No Son of Mine - Pleasance

Don Hazely (Alex Kirk) is a seedy secondhand car salesman with an inflated opinion of himself, an end of the pier sense of humour, and a shiny-suited persona thoroughly stuck in the 1970s.

His son Dennis (Rufus Jones) is a sensitive theatrical, camp as hell but not admitting anything. His father turns up at the end of a long day selling cars to surprise Dennis rehearsing his latest one-man play 'Afghan Hounds' which turns out to be a highly homo-erotic homage to a boy called Abdul in front of a mosque backdrop and involving an Arabian outfit replete with false beard.

Don quickly finds fault and starts making unwelcome suggestions for inserting jokes and his real motive in turning up - ie to lure his wayward only son back to the car dealership where he belongs and persuade him to abandon this whole theatre nonsense becomes evident as he soon sabotages proceedings to turn it into the Don Hazely show.

The pair then proceed to engage in word to word combat for the rest of the show, disagreeing about comedy and reminiscing about the woman who left a large hole in both their lives when she disappeared - Don's wife and Dennis's mother. This leads to a disturbing but oddly touching scene where Don asks his son to play his own mother and re-enacts their first meeting where they end up dancing together.

Eventually they realise the inappropriateness of this scene and revert back to character to bicker some more until Dennis finally admits that he misses the car dealership after all and concedes to his father's pleas to return to it.

Like the Steptoe and Son premise, this is the dynamic of a father and son who both depend on but fear losing each other, while also acknowledging the son's need to break away, not least when it appears that his father's only concession to gayness is ever going to be the wearing of a pink tie. More theatre than laugh out loud comedy, but a tremendously accomplished piece and well deserving of its plaudits.


Ginger & Black - Pleasance

Named after a designer organic chocolate I presumed, but no, it turned out that Ginger and Black were a duo comprising of flame-tressed female (Eri Jackson) and afrocarribean male (Daniel Taylor).

Both possessed an impressive ability to physically morph, she from dowdy drudge with psychopathic tendancies to playful temptress, he from young hoodie thug to booming adult male figure of authority.

Following an introduction of deadpan wit 'Hi we're Ginger and Black because I'm Ginger and he's.....' (awkward silence), their opening number was a well-crafted and hilarious duet-rap with stylophone about book obsession which gave rise to high expectations for the rest of the show.

However from hereon in, the action switched to a series of prison sketches, some hit, some miss, with a most tenuous thread running through of a woman murdering her husband for spurious reasons and the unlikely consequences.

Angela Lansbury and a dolphin rapist featured heavily and for reasons still unknown to this reviewer who lost the plot somewhere about halfway through, though I did rediscover my laughing muscle at the cue card warning 'Due to unforeseen circumstances Angela Lansbury will now be played by a black man.'

A talented duo, but the material strength and cohesion of this year's Edinburgh offering from them could have been a great deal stronger. One to watch for the future.


Kevin Eldon Is Titting About, The Stand

Not many acts do their own warm-up act as another character but then Kevin Eldon, cult staple of such shows as Brass Eye and Alan Partridge is no ordinary comedian in this, his first Edinburgh foray in which his shtick is that he is roadtesting various characters, unable to decide which one to go with.

An eerily convincing failed beat poet (Paul Hamilton) well-versed in all the clichés of the genre and playfully deconstructing them and himself, gave way to Fictitious Yorkshireman doing the same for Northern prejudice.

A rapping leather-clad Frenchman with a Grade 3 grip on his native language (i.e. your school textbook come to life), and my favourite, the anorak-clad rapping Pensions Advisor followed. Interspersed were a few glimpses of Kevin himself, the highlight of which was surely his extraordinary song 'Jump' in which he impersonated various malfunctioning audio equipment, ably demonstrating that no format is foolproof, however technology may advance.

Each act was preceded by a visit from on high in Mr Bean tradition. Was it the big G or was it an alien force moving Kevin's spirit thus? We were never quite certain.

Kevin Eldon may have served a long comedy apprenticeship in the shadow of bolder stars and allowing shyness and 'laziness' as he terms it to deter him from treading the boards of Edinburgh, but he is certainly making up for lost time now and looks set to soon have a clutch of awards to show for it and television companies biting off his hand to give him his own TV series.

A man whose time has come.

Reviews Archive: September 2007 - August 2008

Tales From The Cutting Room Floor, Project Adorno, The Vault, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh

They spearheaded the Dr Who renaissance long before Russell T Davies thought of it with 'Stop The Tardis', trainspotted their way round the 'A-Z of the Underground' with queasy lists of the ingredients of Tube seats, and sexed up our public libraries with 'Dr Dewey Decimal & The House of Vaudeville' in previous Edinburgh shows.

Now Project Adorno are back with 'Tales From The Cutting Room Floor' to dig up surrealist composers you've never heard of and provoke you into considering concrete, trees and telephone boxes in directions you never imagined, aided by multi-media projections and their inimitable offbeat electro-musical style which has been compared to a cross between Raw Sex and Pet Shop Boys.

Although their most serious show to date, Tales From The Cutting Room Floor remains a nerd's paradise weaving facts and figures into the most unlikely artforms, somewhat surreal in their own right.

Steve Lake provides an extraordinary latter-day Dickensian tale as the centrepiece, featuring the story (in words, film and music) of a 'Kid' born on the wrong side of the tracks who gets caught up in the deadly underworld of 'King Rat'.

No longer strictly a comedic undertaking, this is a nerdy wordy show for the more serious-minded humorist/cynicist. Well worth a look.

***
August 2008

Wilson Dixon Rides Again, The Stand, Edinburgh

Armed with, one suspects, a mis-spent youth obsessed with Westerns and country music, Australian Jesse Griffin assumes the guise of American country singer 'Wilson Dixon' to poke musical fun at the cousin-marryin' gun-totin', barn dancin' , blue ridge mountain hicksville of his birth.

The show is a series of narrative songs, ranging from the tale of a faithless wife with no taste in new lovers and his increasingly obese children to a half-show length rambling yarn about how he tracked down 'The Man With No Name' and the logistical difficulties of tracking down a man with no name who's robbed your local bank.

Wilson's dark beady eyes glittered from behind his glasses with evident relish as he related his alternately ropey and clever lyrics, which played to every Country cliché in Partonsville.

A most engaging and enjoyable show. You might even buy his CD for the country fan in your life.

****
August 2008

Why We Ate Cliff Richard, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

I had low expectations of this show upon entering the auditorium but within minutes of Hank Marvin striking the first chord on his guitar and the appearance of tourists - hardcore Cliff Richard fan Tony (Jonathan Donahoe) and his reluctant friend - Harry (Daniel Benoliel) en route to a Cliff-side Cliff Richard-themed resort in Switzerland I began to thaw as I realised it was at least on-topic and could actually be rather good.

Cliff, it seems, is not just a pop star but a lifestyle to thousands of fans without much else in their lives like Tony, despite the reservations of his less than convinced friend Harry.

However the pair meet up with the eccentric Norman who runs the resort but has an unfortunate speech problem owing to an operation to sound like Cliff Richard going disastrously wrong, who won't take no for an answer where the Cliffmass Tombola is concerned and the pair find themselves entering.

Harry want a ham but they plump instad for the first prize - the chance to meet Cliff and be driven to a mystery location by him.

Unfortunately, Cliff's car crashes into a snowdrift and the pair's adventures really begin as Cliff's gold-plated omlette-maker is found to be short of eggs.

Some truly sick moments ensue as their plight becomes increasingly desperate.

Eventually though, redemption appears in a most unexpected form. Uproariously comic, competent and even affectionate to its subject, so that you suspect the great Cliff himself might even enjoy it.

A must see!

*****
August 2008

Gavin Webster ­ Webster's Pictionary, Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh

Just when you think the old style of comedian is dead, along ambles upgraded traditional comic Gavin Webster with his powerpoint presentation, spinning his electronic wheel of joke themes.

Looking like a washing machine repairman by day and pub darts player by night, Gavin has an easy manner and expressive comedy face.

He does sexism with a new twist that effectively mocks itself!

It is hard to tell exactly how intelligent Gavin is as some words are mis-spelt on his pictionary wheel and yet when he goes deliciously surreal, such as ruminating on whether 1,000 pandas left is sufficient pandas or not and his take on climate change, a real intelligence shines through so that you suspect the 'I'm just a regular guy' thing might itself be part of the act.

The show is interspersed with delightful film clips of Gavin trying to take the world's comedy festivals by storm with his ill-judged ideas of Canadian, Yankee and Irish humour and a preview of his attempt to rejuvenate the British film industry with his terrible home-grown film featuring two boring blokes sat in a kitchen doing not very much.

The most enjoyable show of the day for its quirky take on British half-arsedness and working class humour.

*****
August 2008

Barry and Stuart: Part-time Warlocks, The Underbelly, Edinburgh

Like a younger and better-looking Herman Munster without the neckbolt, besuited Barry opened the show by narrating the sad life story of his equally charismatic and smartly suited partner Stuart, as the bearded Stuart performed the requisite magic tricks to illustrate.

Just to prove not all magicians were fusty and never stepped out of their bedrooms except for a show or the Magic Circle Christmas Party, a blast of high tech funk music and crazy dancing ensued.

In fact sound effects and blasts of funky music were to play a pivotal role throughout the show as Scots magicians and comedians Barry Jones and Stuart McLeod performed brilliant sleights of hand and proceeded to turn magic on its head.

And being part-time warlocks, they had of course more than one dimension to play with when not competing for space with a computer game on the floppy disc on which they'd stored the wisdom of the known universe or something important like that.

Voodoo, mesmerism, sexuality and razor-blade swallowing also received a new twist.

Not usually one for magic, I found this an utterly brilliant show which I couldn't fault (bar for the moment I had to hide behind a chair during the aforementioned razor blade swallowing) and have a feeling these two are destined for great things and may well be the new names in British magic.

*****
August 2008

Andrew O'Neill's Totally Spot-On History of British Industry, The Underbelly, Edinburgh

An original and admirably ambitious experimental show amidst a sea of those which claim to be but aren't.

After a promising start covering some amusing-but-true background to the British Industrial Revolution, however, amateur history buff Mr O'Neill seemed to lose confidence and become less 'spot-on', perhaps even a little nervous at not getting the usual laugh-per-minute quota of his deservedly acclaimed separate stand-up act and meander a little too often into irrelevant cul-de-sacs or off-topic jokes to make up for it.

Nor did a crazy dance routine to Level 42's Keep it In The Family help.

Despite admitting he had spent six months researching his subject, it became evident as the show went on that such an enormous subject probably required at least twice that as well as some iron discipline about where the historical cut-off point should be and what to leave in/leave out in order to be watertight.

It becomes harder to squeeze the laughs out of audiences who are probably on their third or fourth Edinburgh show by 11.35pm and are in general just happy to sit back and be entertained, much though one woman next to me managed to deputise the LOL-ing for most of the room!

Despite the occupational hazards of creative experimentalism/minor disappointments to his fellow history fans, Mr O'Neill successfully kept the room entertained to the end, if not wholly with the Industrial Revolution.

A most enjoyable show which can only evolve and well worth a look for its difference engine.

***
August 2008

Arthur Smith - Arturart, 15 Queen Street, Edinburgh

Three floors of a Georgian house are given over to the ironic pretending to the iconic, presided over by a fake security guard with an even faker moustache.

The dodgy audio guide advises you to start at the top, and it is not wrong for that is where some of the most inventive pieces of modern art pastiche are to be found, from the strangely eerie 'flying' Barbie dolls escaping out the window to the liberation of the long-suffering figure on black and yellow Health and Safety signage in the opposite room.

On floor one a semi-naked man is trapped in a garish plastic wendy house passing out notes through the window imploring rescue, Arthur's reconstructed study is to be found littered with puns in various forms, old typewriters and a singing deer head, and the rest of the exhibition can more or less be passed over, barring some witty slogans on the stairs.

Art contributions by the likes of Simon Munnery are sadly not worth the wallspace, splendid comedian as he is.

As for the 'giftshop', that is taking p*ss-artistry too far (though I did buy a CD of Simon Munnery), and contains a rather insulting centrepiece of a doghouse in which men are supposed to pose for photographs (speak for yourself Arthur).

You get the point of the exhibition pretty quickly, and really it should be a donation fee.

***
August 2008

Glenn Wool - Goodbye Scars, Underbelly, Edinburgh

Donned in washed blue denim from head to toe, with his straggly hair and beard, Glenn Wool resembles more a spare ZZ Top member than the lost 'BeeGee' he jokes about and is evidently influenced by the film The Big Lebowski, portraying himself as a drifter/loser with a stubborn sense of pride, whether misplaced or otherwise.

After a cod film introduction in which he assumes various guises in amusing movie previews of films which presumably never left the cutting room, Mr Wool takes to the stage.

His theme for the show is his recent second divorce and how really 'There's Tons of Good Shit About Me'!

Systematically (and presumably therapeutically) he works through all the good stuff he'd like to put on his divorce papers so he didn't look quite such a SOAB in the eyes of the world.

There are some hilarious sequences, particularly when he re-enacts scenes between him and his recently severed wife and extols the virtues of divorce.

A long sequence about his nasty experiences in an STD clinic (despite not having an STD) is a mite overlong, but this Canadian comedian is a masterclass in how to work the floor so that a whole audience is eating out of the palm of your hand, even if they don't like you - and he was particularly vicious to one heckler.

*****
August 2008

Pear-Shaped Afternoons, The White Horse, Canongate, Edinburgh

Proud ringmaster of 'London's Second Worst Comedy Club' (the worst was supposedly the late Joe's Comedy Madhouse), Brian Damage presents this delightful 'Freenge' daily open mic afternoon, ably assisted by his glamorous-but-thick assistant Krysstal.

Their adroit comedy songs are amidst the highlights of the afternoon with Mr Damage a vocal cross between Peter Sellers at his Goon-best and the English quaintness of Terry-Thomas and his assistant Krysstal (wife Vicky in real life), a perfect Joyce Grenfell-ish songstress foil and complement, adept at various voices in her own right.

Most open-micers are there to promote their shows - some toe-curlingly bad - which make you think - well if I can hardly bear that for three minutes, how on earth could I possibly stand it for an hour?

So you could save a lot of money watching free previews at this show, though there were also some enjoyable poetry and comedy acts who did not have a show to plug.

An supersized elderly American in ropey health was most entertaining in particular with his tales of brothel visits to 'naughty girls' in Amsterdam and down home philosophy with holes in.

***
August 2008

Sarah Millican's Not Nice, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Sarah Millican has a wedding dress hardly used and an ex-husband who may be badly used or hardly used - we never find out.

While she rails against the undesirable traits of her ex, she then extols the joys of unfettered farting as a newly-divorced which makes you wonder who had the worse personal traits.

This applies not least when combined with an obsession with her front bottom or 'not nice' (as her Tyneside mother termed it), and how it might be metamorphosed by having babies - children she then goes on to admit hating anyway.

Blessed with the comedy gift of a Northern accent, combined with a failed-schoolmarm delivery, Sarah dressed down in farmer's jeans and t-shirt without a scrap of make-up, cheerfully joking about her 'cake' tyre.

Housewife or hussy, it is hard to tell what her comedy persona is meant to represent, or indeed what Sarah's point is as the show goes on.

That said, she is competent at working the room and can be highly funny when not making the room uncomfortable with personal questions about front bottoms and how many men the females in the audience have slept with.

It is, however, the truly edgy material that Sarah dropped from the early previews that the show now sorely misses and which might push her into above-middling orbit.

***
August 2008

Andrew Maxwell's Supernatural, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Andrew Maxwell has the face of a grown choirboy and the comedy balls of a Dublin Robin Williams, if not quite the topic range and work ethic.

After some inventive heckling of latecomers, he launched into an obligatory but skilful "drugs are cool" routine, despite looking like he imbibes nothing stronger than Green Tea.

He then moved on to the main meat of his act - a brilliant political crossfire of the Irish situation, employing all the various voices, including a hilarious John Hurt-esque approximation of the English.

He went on to relate how doing a comedy gig in Belfast very nearly turned into a major diplomatic incident, but, hey, aren't those political activists skilful at marketing?

There wasn't a spare seat in the house after they had forcibly insisted every resident in the vicinity be there.

Couldn't all comedians do with a friendly local para-military marketing department?

A tendency to comedy coasting with bouts of gratuitous swearing in lieu of moving the material on in certain places coupled with the odd bit of mumbling and failing to set the scene properly prevent this show rating a 5-star from me as it was not easy to follow in places..

But Mr Maxwell is certainly worth the price of the ticket.

****
August 2008

Count Arthur Strong - The Man Behind The Slime, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

Or 'The Man Behind The Smile' if the banner printing had gone to plan.

Blunderman Count Arthur Strong - never better for wear - makes a shambolic appearance to celebrate 50 years in showbiz, after much arguing with assistants in the wings, replete with coathanger swinging from the back of his jacket and mismatched footwear.

Demented or drunk, it is hard to tell, but our hero is his usual belligerent self - a walking eddy of hilarious but often strangely apt malaprops, mishaps and misunderstandings - none of which are his fault naturally, but that of a malevolent world out to catch him out and get one over on him.

Apart from his not-so-bumbling-as-accused assistants, Arthur has acquired an impressive array of film clips from his glory days as presenter of 'Face the Face' involving an unfortunate incident with 'Lawrence of Olivier' and 'Ask the Family'. In it, he proved to be more clueless than the 1970s scary haircut family as question-meister, distracted by the team wife who was 'the spit of Ronnie Corbett'.

A shameless name dropper, the Count has no hesitation in revealing Nicholas Parsons' secret table manners including the surprising secret of Mr Parsons' alleging cheese-loving proclivities at buffets.

Aside from a somewhat unfunny foray into 'This is Your Life' which ego-monster Arthur had naturally engineered for himself, and the bumbling being a little too elongated in places, the Count proved once more that with enough delusions of grandeur, combined with an unshakable belief in those delusions, an elderly man with alcoholism (or is it Alzheimers?) can rule the world - well Doncaster, anyway.

As for the criticism that younger audiences just don't get it, I would say that anyone with a Grandfather or mad Great Uncle / elderly neighbour - or even just an egotist in their lives will understand.

Your only concern is that one day comedian Steve Delaney may find himself unable to shake off this superbly awful persona with his painfully strangulated bowels, er, vowels.

*****
August 2008

Adolf Hitler & Mother Teresa Walk Into A Bar, Voodoo, Edinburgh

An eye-catchingly titled 'Freenge' two-hander, supposedly representing 'good and evil' with a 'which is best?' vote at the end - lest the audience hadn't already decided pre-show.

First up was 'bad' Stephen Hill, a swaggering manscara'd macho man with a verbally-aggressive style and some over-blue material who strayed into racism under the guise of being anti, but going almost as far as to tease a worrying degree of BNP sympathy out of the audience.

I had grave doubts about the rest of the show, when curvaceous mop-top blonde Laura Rugg (aka 'good') appeared with some entertaining stories of working on London tour buses and in the London Dungeon but how she stopped short of the lure of regular work at Tesco's after attaining her Performing Arts Degree.

She then proceeded to vent her not inconsiderable spleen against Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in a series of vitriolic off-keyish comedy songs, though she never quite explained quite why she hated them so much.

Getting all the acting work Ms Rugg felt she should have had no doubt. Ms Rugg's act became progressively more aggressive as she went on until it was hard to see why she was meant to be representing 'good'.

'Bad' Mr Hill came back on with a series of forgettable and offensive jokes.

The audience vote was almost forgotten by the end of the show.

Both Mr Hill and Ms Rugg were adept performers as you'd expect from two people with performing arts degrees, but I think they need to get their act together in more ways than one if they want to get anywhere in comedy.

**
August 2008

Des Clarke - Desire, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Des Clarke is a rapid-fire Glasweigan comic who hardly drew breath once during the hour, covering everything from being Scottish to Sex. All the S's, notwithstanding an F for Football really.

A talented enough comic, with such a narrow topic range, you certainly came away thinking that for maximum audiences (less than a quarter of the auditorium was filled) Des ought to be marketing himself as primarily of appeal to Scottish audiences and Scotophiles, being as much of his material is topographical rather than topical.

Even the attempt at sex sat awkwardly on his wiry buttoned-up frame somehow, as did the surprising admission that he waxes his eyebrows (a lynching affair in Glasgow, surely?).

A good comedian for local colour / background - but he might not conquer many pastures outside Scotland.

***
August 2008

Andrew O'Neill's Comedy Show, Nicol Edwards pub, Niddry Street, Edinburgh

A 'Freenge' event, Andrew O'Neill's hour long stand-up Comedy Show is a veritable bargain, containing as it does many of his 'best of' routines.

Set in the most haunted pub in Edinburgh, the Nicol Edwards, the room is pregnant with atmosphere even before Andrew - an aptly born-again goth having a day off - gets the ghosts and audience rocking with a sublime Queen gag.

Today Andrew has experimented by not bothering to flyer (a fatal omission for most Edinburgh performers) and is still rewarded with a full house (and more outside in the corridor) who lap up his every line.

Not missing a trick, he tells them about his other show on the history of British Industry after an enjoyable hour essaying into the dangers of one of his other hobbies - cross-dressing and - playing with public perceptions and misperceptions on this and a multitude of topics.

As the sated audience leave, I overhear one young man say to his friend, 'Well, that's the best show I've seen so far'.

An affable and earnest young man, Andrew's gentle fresh-facedness belies a steely determination to get somewhere in comedy.

I have no doubt he'll get there. Well worth a looky wook.

****
August 2008

Adventures of An Orgasm Donor, Espionage, Victoria Street, Edinburgh

A 'Freenge' event - Donald Mac makes an appearance at what he jokingly calls 'The White Festival'.

After a quip about making sure he smiles a lot in the dark venue, he proceeds to launch into a long monologue about his sex life.

He informs us he has been single for eight years, though he still gets to have 'single sex' (apparently not masturbation).

Mack reckons he loves women but won't go with an ugly one. The only problem is, he says, that women are rubbish at giving head (has he tried men?).

He also claimed that he recently got into hot water with the police on account of telling a child abuse gag at a gig - and then had a fling with the WPC investigating him.

A few people in the audience had walked out by this point though this did not faze Mr Mac who carried on unabated foraying into internet porn and various other murky worlds.

The tubby and decidedly middle-aged Mr Mac seemed to think himself God's gift to women and his 'orgasm donations' a bit of a selfless mission to bored women.

But I didn't see him getting any telephone numbers at the gig as few women laughed and the men's laughter was also decidedly nervous.

Mr Mac's delivery is not aggressive and he comes across as a competent comedian, but his material was really quite offensive (without being funny enough to justify).

I would not be in a hurry to watch him again.

**
August 2008

Reviews Archive: September 2005 - August 2007

   
Idiots Of Ants, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Idiots Of Ants are one of the most hyped sketch groups performing at this year's fringe - but, sadly, did not live up to the marketing.

The group - Andrew Spiers, Benjamin Wilson, Elliott Tiney and James Wrighton - can certainly act, but there was little originality in what they wew1wa 5re doing. Sketches about TV sports show theme tunes or sexual stereotyFpes are unlikely to set the town ablaze, and it was no surprise to learn the group has been going for less than a year.

I suspect that pushy parents have masterminded their premature debut at the fringe, along with sponsorship from Charlie's Special Reserve, Jeffery-West, Jelly Bean and Hawes & Curtis (there you are - I've plugged all of them!). But it takes more than snazzy black suits and fashionably pointy shoes to make a great comedy show.

Too much, too young!

Chris Wilson
August 2007


John Hegley Elevenses, John Hegley, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

John Hegley has a wonderful way of connecting with people.

The veteran comedy poet likes to make his craft accessible to all, mingling his thoughts, memories and feelings with a sharp wit and inventive use of language.

This show is a mixture of songs and poems, focusing particularly on his time growing up in a bungalow in Luton.

Strongly nostalgic in its tenor, his work examines his relationship with his parents, teachers and football team, and his sexual awakening.

Hegley's singing is somewhat in the Billy Bragg mode with genuine emotion being ladled into every word.

His poetry is not all comedic. His tribute to the late mother of a friend, which he wrote for and performed at her funeral, is deeply moving.

His interaction with the audience was strong. He seemed to be putting great and cautious thought into his responses to the oblique comments made by a gentleman parked in a mobility scooter in the front row.

And asking another audience member to provide live interpretation of a French poem was a comedy masterstroke.

By the end of the show, Hegley was on a giant swing, recalling his introspective days swinging in the back garden of his parentsÕ home in Luton.

It was so evocative, you felt you were back in the 1960s in that garden with the young John Hegley.

Chris Wilson
August 2006


Comprehensive, Steve Day, Lindsay's, Edinburgh

In the early days of his career, deaf comedian Steve Day was in danger of sounding like a one-trick pony.

Most of his material was about his disability, a 70 percent deafness, and he did not appear entirely confident with it.

Now Day has come of age. His performance in this basic but pleasant free venue was absolutely wonderful.

It should be said that the prospect of a comedian talking for an hour about the comprehensive schools system did not augur well. However, Day made the show so much more than that.

He looked at why today's parents are so afraid of letting their children out of the house to learn about life on their own, meaning that from dawn to dusk, kids constantly have an adult looking over them.

Day spoke from the heart about the difficulties of caring for his five children - in yarns that would resonate with every parent, rounded off with great punchlines.

When Day did tackle disability, it was with an entirely new slant Ð talking about the so-called 'Three Monkeys' - of having being persuaded, against his better judgment, to feature in a TV show shot at last year's Fringe about a blind comic, a deaf comic and stuttering comic, with some midgets thrown in for good measure at the flat they had to share.

There were some massive laughs in this material, and it became clear that in terms of performance and material, Day has moved up to the premier league of stand-up.

It was great to see him range from topic to topic as the mood found him, while making it all look seamless.

Day has acquired the confidence to become angry on stage, to openly question the dubious and surprising politics of deafness, and lend a completeness to his performance which was previous lacking.

Steve Day could and should become a big star. Let us hope that prejudice against the free Fringe venues does not hold him back.

Chris Wilson
August 2006


Simon Munnery's AGM, The Stand, Edinburgh

Simon Munnery is a deliberately chaotic performer. He combines great comedy writing skills and a somewhat geeky charm with the burning desire to give almost any comedic idea a go.

Perhaps this is why you never tire of him. No two Simon Munnery shows have much in common.

Over the years he has pioneered the use of computer technology in comedy and dropped it like a microchip, ranted and rave as Alan Parker Urban Warrior and performed straight stand-up.

Munnery looks more relaxed than ever with a show that combines a variety of showbiz talents and ends up with him taking the audience down to t' pub.

He was playing the harmonica as they entered the gig with comedian mate Boothby Graffoe accompanying him on guitar.

After some gags and bantering with the audience, Munnery announced the meat of the show - a one-man Sherlock Holmes play with him playing Holmes, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson with the aid of only one prop - a deerstalker.

Unfortunately Munnery had genuinely lost it and the hunt for the hat revealed his detective skills to be unimpressive.

'I need clues,' he said looking under stools and guitars.

When the vital prop was eventually found, the play got underway and proved hilarious, debunking the myth that Holmes was a competent detective.

Terrific stuff!

Chris Wilson
August 2006



Winston Churchill Was Jack The Ripper, Andrew O'Neill, Smirnoff Underbelly, Edinburgh

Andrew O'Neill is a comedian to watch.

He has steadily improved over the past few years and is an increasingly popular fixture at the Fringe.

This show could not help but capture the imagination.

The mere notion that Sir Winston Churchill was Jack The Ripper is amusingly preposterous. Yet it is just about possible. Churchill was 13 at the time of the horrific killings in 1888 and living in London (at Harrow).

Andrew O'Neill argues his case with great aplomb, drawing on circumstantial evidence, ChurchillÕs writings and recorded speeches.

By the time he is finished it is hard to deny that Sir Winston Churchill was indeed Jack the Ripper.

What makes this show effective is the high level of detailed research, the offbeat style of Andrew O'Neill's comedy writing, and his surreal flights of fancy, which pointed the finger of blame at a standing dog and a police horse, until Churchill was finally traduced for the sadistic murders.

Not everyone has got the joke.

A reviewer for a Scottish newspaper complained that the evidence seemed tenuous!

The audience. however, loved the show, in which O'Neill showed off his skill for accents and love of the absurd. 23w

It is a fine piece of work by a comedian who stands every chance of becoming a household name.

Chris Wilson
August 2006


 The Goodies Still Rule OK! Tim Brooke-Taylor & Graeme Garden Live on Stage, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

The Goodies are like a test of age.

If you live in the UK and are aged 40 or oldwer, you will know quite a lot about the intrepid trio, one of the hottest acts on British television in the 1970s.

If you are much younger than 40, you have probably never heard of them.

So the Music Room was full of people of a certain age, with a sprinkling of youngsters from Australia where The Goodies' classic shows are apparently screened incessantly.

The first shock was how old Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden looked. It should not have come as a surprise - but it did.

In an instant your mental image of them was aged by 30 years.

Bill Oddie, a more familiar face on television, was present only on the video screen although they used this so deftly his physical absence was not a problem.

The show is fascinating and entertaining in equal measure.

The history of the Goodies, as parallel Pythons, was very interesting; the clips from the shows were hilarious and the bits of performance in between added to the levity.

Perhaps the show was too long and some of the gags laboured.

Reflecting on The Goodies' body of work, however, you realised what damn good comedians they were.

Chris Wilson
August 2006


Boothby Graffoe With Nick Pynn: Release U Win Tin, The Stand, Edinburgh

Watching Boothby Graffoe, you can never be sure whether he gives a fig.

He is one of the great comics from the early days of the stand-up circuit but you get the distinct impression he is a bit tired of it all.

All the same this show is most enjoyable, combinating Graffoe's quick wit with his fine singing voice and guitar playing, accompanied by superb instrumentalist Nick Pynn.

'WeÕve had some reviews,' said Graffoe, 'We're quite good.'

As if to prove the point, he went to tell a string of gags with varying degrees of success.

The Brighton ghost ride routine was a winner as was the Frenchmen sketch while the black new act story fell flat.

'It's not my material,' said Boothby trying to excuse himself, 'I bought it for 100 quid.'

The music was great. The alphabet song was entertaining especially Graffoe's struggle to remember the lyrics.

And the England football song summed up the national feelings towards our not-quite-good-enough national football side better than a thousand jingoistic soccer anthems could have done.

Graffoe did not labour the theme of the show - the campaign to release political prisoner U Win Tin, leaving that to the slideshow.

Overall it was enjoyable while leaving room for improvement during the run.

Chris Wilson
August 2006


La Clique, The Spiegel Garden, Edinburgh

The buzz surrounding La Clique is such you come to the show with high expectations. It does not disappoint.

La Clique is a whirlwind of variety featuring some of the most spectacular acts to ever perform under canvas.

Opera singer Ali McGregor's moving opening performance set the tone for a show packed with delightful surprises.

Los Hermanos Macana, Argentine brothers, danced the fastest and most remarkable tango imaginable.

Incredible Rubberman Captain Frodo married sharp comedy with double-jointed skills, dislocating limbs to guide his body through with a 10-inch wide stringless tennis racket!

Guests The Caesar Twins draw gasps of amazement with their daring and acrobatic physical theatre.

Contortionist Gula Karaeva is as beautiful as she is supple. Lena Gutschank's aerial performance with hoops was utterly riveting.

Even when trans-gender stripper Bridge Markland's clothes were removed, you could hear people asking each other: 'Is it a man or a woman?'

All female eyes were glued to muscular youngster Robert Choinka's gymnastic display, especially when he took off his shirt.

Viktoria Lapidus hula hooping skills were equally remarkable.

Top of the bill were the Skating Willies, a couple who rotated at enormous speed on a little ring precariously perched on the stage.

When they persuaded a girl from the audience to get up on stage and then lifted her and spun her round, the audience was euphoric.

It was an amazing, unforgettable night - the most thrilling show I have seen in a decade at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Chris Wilson
August 2006


Confessions of a Paralysed Porn Star, Sarah-Louise Young, C Central, Edinburgh

This show is supposed to hinge on two Sarah Louse Youngs: Sarah-Louise Young (with a hyphen), a little known actress and newish comedian, and Sarah Louise Young (without a hyphen), the highly successful and wealthy star of pornographic films and magazines who retired in 1997 at the age of 26 and is now training to be a lawyer in Germany.

So, you would expect the little-known actress to have done detailed research on her namesake pornography star from which the writing and the comedy of the piece would emanate.

Sadly, the delving for facts appears to have ended at a cursory reading of Sarah Louise's CV on the internet which must have taken all of 10 minutes.

There is no evidence from the show that there has been any real attempt to get beneath the skin of the pornography star and her extraordinary life.

The show is in effect no more than a front for a cabaret performance of Sarah-Louise's good cabaret singing voice.

There is no doubt the audience enjoyed some of her songs, but why was Sarah-Louise pretending to be paralysed? And why was she wearing a red PVC nurse's outfit and fishnet stockings. It all went unexplained.

Unfortunately Sarah-Louise the actress is not much of a comedienne Ð and neither is her sidekick Michael Roulston.

Her timing is poor and her material even worse. And when she started whining on about existentialism, you felt it was time for her to shut up shop and go home.

It was a great shame. This baffling and terrible production did not do justice to a good idea. Instead, Sarah-Louise the actress seemed to be looking down her nose her more successful and richer namesake who she constantly referred to as 'Porno Sarah'.

If she had taken the trouble to track and meet her nemesis, as any half-decent journalist would have done, she would have realised Sarah Louise was the one controlling her own destiny in an unpretentious and lucrative career trying to make pornography beautiful.

Chris Wilson
August 2006

Reviews Archive: September 2003 - August 2005

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2005
Danny Hurst - Uneasy Rider, Smirnoff Baby Belly

This is a charming show based on comic and actor Danny Hurst's brave decision to cycle from his home in Stoke Newington, North London, to Edinburgh for the Fringe.

He embarked on this mission without realising that one comedian had already done something similar last year and another had cycled more than 130,000 miles over a period of 17 years and was talking about it at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

No matter. Danny Hurst's show is a winner because of the quality of his performance and interesting yarns about the journey, such as meeting a bloke who had once beaten him up years before.

A little gem from Danny Hurst!

Chris Wilson

August 2005


Come Again - The World of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Assembly Rooms

This intelligent examination of the complex relationship between Dudley Moore and Peter Cook was as thought-provoking as it was beautifully crafted by playwrights and critics Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde.

The productionn is a significant achievement with a script that gets beneath the skin of Moore's angst in the unhappy, failing marriage of two showbiz greats.

It takes us through the social divide between them to the pain of Cook's relentless barbs,often fuelled by alcoholism, to the power-shift in Moore's favour which cemented their "divorce" as a comedy partnership.

The acting is fairly strong throughout.

Kevin Bishop makes a marvellous Peter Cook, although he interprets the lines quite cruelly, portraying him as aloof at first, and pathetically desperate later on.

Kevin Bishop captures Dudley Moore perfectly - the voice and mannerisms are extraordinarily good.

My favourite performance, however, was given by Alexander Kirk, as smarmy chat show presenter Tony Ferguson. The awkward, symbiotic relationship between talk show guest and host is beautifully portrayed.

There were also some big laughs in the razor-sharp script.

The audience loved it all. This is a show to see.

Chris Wilson

August 2005


Phil Nichol - Nearly Gay, The Stand

Whenever he performs, Phil Nichol is mesmerizing.

The level of energy that he brings to the stage and the sharpness of its comedy focus cannot be ignored. This show is possibly his finest piece to date.

Stung by a dubious claim from gay comic Scott Capurro that he was homophobic, Nichol set out on a quest to find his own mauve side, hanging out with a gay mate, while at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

In his yarn, this drive for inner-campness led to a series of misunderstandings which resulted in Nichol making not one but three romantic dates with a sensitive gay hairdresser called Stavros

Nichol delivers the story at breakneck speed but does not lose his audience for an instant, as, hilariously, embarrassment is piled on embarrassment.

It is a wondrous show with tremendously funny songs and a cracking finale, which I won't give away. (I'd die to see him do it in a gay club!)

Catch this show before it sells out!

Joe Wilson

August 2005


Ray Peacock and Son, Pleasance Courtyard

This dark creation by talented stand-up Ian Boldsworth is more of a play than a piece of pure character comedy.

As bigoted and bullyingYorkshireman Ray Peacock, Boldsworth pushes the envelope with a show that is both deliberately chaotic and anti-Fringe.

It is a dangerous road to tread and despite Boldsworth's strong performance, the format does not entirely work for him.

All the same, his supporting cast, Andrew Lawrence as Ray's son Darren, and Issy Suttie as a posh part-Jewish actress, are excellent.

. Joe Wilson

August 2005


Pear-shaped at Midnight, Holyrood Tavern

Edinburgh's "second worst comedy club" is rearing its bubbly head again - always my favourite night out at the Fringe.

Anything could happen at the legendary gig run by Brian and Vicky (Krysstal) whose double act has come on in leaps and bounds since last year, with improved timing and some very funny new lines on the night ("I'll never forget the night I forgot your name")

And what a Paula Radcliffe bill! By my reckoning, they crammed 14 acts into a two-and-a-half hour show - and the standard wasn't bad.

First act Tomi Walamies had some strong gags; second act the Cleaver Brother were quirky in their woolly jumpers, albeit not particularly funny; and third turn Wil Hodgson, a pink Mohicanned oodball had a great deadpan persona and highly original material.

The fourth act was Otto Kuhler who portrayed as a creepy German accordian player. The fifth act I missed because I was buying a pint! The sixth, Some, badly acted a sick sketch based at the vet's. The seventh, Toothpaste Expedition, were fairly weird. The eighth was the affable Peter Buckley Hill, a legend on the Fringe, who was good, even if he ended his set with the words: "I'm a cunt".

But this time it was getting very late and much Holyrood ale had been quaffed. I seem to remember the nineth act, Colin Owens, banging on about his wife being a lesbian, although I could be wrong. Nick Moffat, the 10th turn, was not bad but needed stronger material.

Eleventh act Steve Weiner had a funny set. The 12th act, Paul Doncaster, said he was a disillusioned teacher, although I am sure I heard him say "I teached" (rather than the correct "I taught") at one point.

Act Number 13 Lee Brace had good delivery but needs better material.

Finally, Ian Fox, who had dropped in for a drink and found himself headlining, was good, although, by this stage of the evening, the audience was not at its best.

Overall, another entertaining night at the Pear-Shaped. My hangover lasted for two days!

Joe Wilson

August 2005


Bill Hicks - Slight Return, Pleasance Courtyard

Actor Chas Early and his co-writer Richard Hurst have done something extraordinary with this show - brought the great Bill Hicks back from the grave in a utterly believable way.

Early's performance is nothing short of brilliant and the new Hicks-esque material could have been written by Bill himself from beyond the grave.

The funniest tribute you will ever see.

Chris Wilson

August 2005

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2004

Jeremy Lion's Happy Birthday

It is hard to equal a show as funny as last year's hit Jeremy Lion's Happy Christmas, but Justin Edwards has done it again. This is absolutely hilarious.

From the moment children's entertainer Jeremy Lion (Edwards) appears on stage, the laughs flow as fast as the booze.

Lion guzzles his way through red wine, lager and whisky as he shows off his trade secrets of making a small child's birthday special: a deranged octopus, dead monkey and model child in a pushchair.

Lion is a beatifully drawn character - extreme but still just credible - and the Beatles-obsessed pianist Leslie (George Cockerill) was again the perfect straight man.

At times the audience simply could not stop laughing.

A great show!

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): *****

August 2004
Chris Wilson



  Julian Fox - New Spaces for Role Models, Edinburgh

This show was just as weird as I had expected.

As well as being a coffee shop obsessive, as he demonstrated in his previous show about the Seattle Coffee Company, it turns out Fox is also a planespotter.

And he is particularly fond of Gatwick Airport, to the degree that he hangs out there and has walked the perimeter fence in 'just under six hours'.

As someone who passes through Gatwick on the train twice every working day, I was actually quite interested in the history of the place.

But despite his collages, diagrams, monotonal songs and so on, Fox did not seem to have found enough material at Gatwick to sustain an entire hour.

So he supplemented it with a short film he had made on Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour, a bit about Simon Le Bon and stuff about his Jewish faith.

A shame - because you left feeling that although the experience was quite enjoyable, something and nothing had taken place.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ***

August 2004
Chris Wilson

Andrew O'Neill and James Sherwood, Apparently, Smirnoff Underbelly, Edinburgh

Andrew O'Neill and James Sherwood are two rising stars of the comedy circuit.

Apparently they have little else in common. O'Neill is an anarchist who dyes his hair red, Sherwood is a professional singer who could hardly look more ordinary. Yet they are both musical and share a cynicism about organised politics.

Their show opens with a very funny chat between them and then develops into character comedy laced with some straight stand-up.

I was very impressed with the repartee between them and the high qualify of some of the characters. Sherwood's vicar and O'Neill's occult expert were particularly good.

Sherwood's straight stand-up was not quite as strong, but, overall, this was a first-rate performances by two young comedians who are just going to keep getting better.

STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2004
Chris Wilson

Reviews Archive: September 2002 - August 2003


 EDINBURGH FRINGE 2003
 Lizzie Roper: Through My Keyhole, Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh
Lizzie Roper burst onto stage like a crazywoman, screwing up her face and making a lunge for a 20-year-old man in the front row.

Her mad girl persona - if it is indeed just a persona - was as frightening as compelling. You could imagine her doing almost anything, whether or not it was likely to get a laugh.

As Roper told of her failed relationships, pubic hair removal and dirty dancing sessions, she was tremendously emotive, contorting her facial features into the ugliest conceivable shapes.

The members of audience - once they had got used to being bellowed at - loved it. Even the young man in the front row gradually warmed to Roper's demands for sex.

Her characters were also strong, particularly the batty old woman, who abused all her relations, and sex industry worker who told her tragic tale while polishing sex toys.

Roper has found something really good here. She is a comedienne who is not afraid to reveal the negative side of her gender, portraying women in a manner few would find flattering.

STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Jeremy Lion's Happy Christmas, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Drunken children's entertainer Jeremy Lion was extraordinarily funny. Played by Justin Edwards (the tall one from The Consultants), Lion burped and hiccupped his way through a truly hilarious hour of Yuletide comedy, assisted on the keyboards by the morose Leslie (George Cockerill).

Doing a Christmas show at the Fringe in August was hardly an original idea. Big & Daft did one two years ago and it is very doubtful they were the first. Yet Edwards brought such freshness and satiric energy to the idea with a creation so washed-up, hopelessly addicted but well-meaning you could not help but guffaw.

When he accidentally swallowed a pint of brandy butter at the end of one brilliant section of the show, members of the audience were crying with laughter. There were people who couldn't control their mirth and giggled for minutes after the joke was over.

This shambolic songs, self-dissecting snowman and the Twelve Days of Christmas finale, which involved him drinking more than 20 glasses of wine in five minutes, were all exceptionally amusing. The final applause nearly took the roof off the little Pleasance Hut.

You'd be unlikely to see a funnier show at the 2003 Fringe.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): *****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Miranda Hart - 'It's All About Me', Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

The premise of this show is that a VIP was expected and so Hart needed to hold up the start of the performance until he arrived. Meantime, she chatted to the audience about herself and gave foretastes of the entertainment to come.

A huge poshly-spoken woman in dance pants, Hart proved a commanding presence, flirting outrageously with a man in the front row, arguing with her technician Candice (capably played by Anne-Marie Draycott) and demonstrating her mime with added spoken words.

Her performance was strong and the laughs came thick and fast. However, the question remained: What was the show parodying? Was it taking the rise out of posh people, dancers, performers in general or the entire Fringe? Hart's persona somehow lacked the veracity to be truly hilarious. She made good comedic use of her big-boned body but relied too heavily on her desperate-for-a-man act to which she regularly returned.

Overall, the show was also rather ponderous. Although Hart is clearly an able and appealing performer, there is still work to be done on her material.

STAR RATING (out of five): ***

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Topping & Butch - Take it Up the Octave, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

This late-night camp cabaret show inevitably appealed to a predominantly gay audience.

On a straw poll conducted by the performers, two-thirds of the crowd were gay men and the other one-third straight women or "fag hags" as Topping & Butch so charmingly called them!

As the only straight man present, this reviewer was surprised how accessible the show proved to a heterosexual male.

Much of their chat was powered by gay sexual innuendo but the songs were very witty, superbly performed and universal it their appeal.

Both performers wore bondage gear but were in other respects remarkably different. Topping is fat and old and with Denis Healy eyebrows; Butch young and thin with radiant teeth.

The contrast worked in their favour, and there was something quaintly old-fashioned about their act. In a different time, Noel Coward might have penned some of the lyrics and Topping & Butch would not have looked out of place in dinner jackets.

But the hilarious finale was bang up to date - a mini-musical about gay internet dating which made no bones about the lies unscrupulously told in the gay man's hunt for sex.

STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Tut Tut, Miss Simpson, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh

Comedy poetry is an acquired taste, and, in the wrong hands, it can be a horribly painful experience.

Jude Simpson's poems are about her feelings and desires and particularly on the relationship between men and women. She has an engaging manner and, to her credit, recites from memory, without the need to clutch a tatty book of poems - the annoying practice of many comedy poets.

However, listening to her was like enduring the emotional angst of a hormonal teenager. Her work said nothing new about love or sex and, sadly, was not particularly funny either.

There was no denying she was able to charm her audience. As the show went on, you found yourself liking her more and more.

Unfortunately the experiences related in her poems struck no chord with this reviewer. To find the kind of success John Hegley has enjoyed, Miss Simpson needs to be more imaginative and - to put it bluntly - pen better and funnier poems.

STAR RATING (out of five): ***

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Dara O Briain, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

O Briain is phenomenal. His act goes like a bullet, ripping the audience along on a comedy adventure.

On it, you learn about the Irishman's balloon safari, his IRA grandmother and the pitfalls of working as a presenter on Irish TV - all told with an enormous dollops of charm and vigour.

O Briain is a tremendously impressive stand-up who is adept at getting humour out of audience members but still leaving them feeling good about themselves.

When a young man made a leap for the door to the toilet (hoping he would not be picked on), O Briain had a field day, turning the bloke's actions into a brilliantly spontaneous routine.

There is a child-like quality to O Briain. He can see humour in almost anything and cannot help laughing at some of his own jokes.

His enthusiasm for his work is infectious and wonderful. It is hard to imagine him ever dying on stage or facing an audience he could not leave worn out with laughter.

A comedy gem!

STAR RATING (out of five): *****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



The Consultants: Boss, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

After being voted Best Perrier Newcomers last year, big things were expected of this trio of sketch-meisters. They did not disappoint.

The art of the mainstream comedy sketch has seemed, at times, in decline in recent years. The Consultants are doing their darndest to reverse the trend.

Their ideas are simple: merging management talk and nursery rhymes, using books titles in a love song about a librarian, dressing up as bumpkins for a yarn-spinning session, but the sharpness of the writing and the gusto of their performance are near perfection.

The audience generated gales of laughter at highlights such as the bristling competition between the absurd storytellers, the increasingly complex and crude bingo calls and the drunken love song.

My only criticism is that with their level of competence the Consultants could be more adventurous in their material and actually start to push the boundaries of comedy a tad.

As a piece of finely-tailored mainstream entertainment however, you could not fault this show.

STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



James Dowdeswell Explores Dowdesworld, Pleasance Courtyard Edinburgh

James Dowdeswell looks like a big kid, and has material to match.

He performs routines about cheese-rolling, Harry Potter and his school days in the West Country, and there's no doubt he is a competent comedian.

His regional accents are superb and his timing is good, but Dowdeswell is let down by the mediocrity of his stand-up material.

The punchlines of his jokes are often far too obvious, his gags too weak to be hilarious.

He is at his best when talking honestly about himself. However, as a comedian Dowdeswell cannot make a long-term career out of pretending to be 15. He needs more than fresh-faced looks, a silly hair style and a slightly lazy eye to underpin his persona.

His great strength is his skill at impressions. He might be better off going down the Rory Bremner route, focusing on his true strengths and not relying so heavily on his comedy writing.

But for all that, it was a fairly enjoyable performance. The small audience clearly liked him and that helped to bolster what was middling fare.

STAR RATING (out of five): ***

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Fred Macauley, Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh

Through his TV work, MacAuley is a big name in Scotland, and known to a lesser degree throughout the UK. So it was no surprise to find his audience was predominantly Scottish, and he responded with a lot of Scotland-related gags.

It was good material. His yarn about the Scots working classes he had met on a low-cost flight to London was strong and his labelling of the characteristics of people from different parts of Scotland was very funny.

He made hay with a man in the front row who could not stop giggling and spun into a routine about things Scotland had given the world. One helpful punter shouted: "John Leslie" which was apt, as Leslie and his girlfriend happened to be in the audience, something MacAuley either did not know or, decently, decided to completely ignore.

There was nothing particularly special about his act. In many ways he could afford to be more adventurous in his approach. But this was a solid and amusing performance from an accomplished performer.

STAR RATING (out of five): ***

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Dyball and Kerr- We Will Roof You, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

As a character comedy double act, Dyball and Kerr appeared to have plenty going for them, at least on paper. The show's concept - two country roofers trying their hands at showbiz - looked attractive, and the publicity material was appealing.

In practice, however, the show was hugely disappointing. The script was weak, with gags about Chunky the landlord and his famous multi-meat platters stretched well beyond their natural lifespan. The songs also grew tiresome and the show developed a repetitive feel.

As performers, Dyball and Kerr were not bad but didn't look convincing as roofers. A few years back, Al Murray shaved his head to play the Pub Landlord. Dyball and Kerr could not even be bothered to grow their own sidebacks, sticking on what were plainly strips of false hair.

The entire show had a thrown-together feel, padded out by parodies of impressions. Their audience interaction was good, winning some of the biggest laughs, but it was not enough.

At the end, one punter loudly remarked: "Was that it?" You could understand his frustration.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): **

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Birds, Underbelly, Edinburgh

Comic Phil Zimmerman has hit upon the idea of doing an eclectic set on birds.

While his co-stars, principally stutterer Jaik Campbell (pictured) and Steve Williams, decided to base their material on the more traditional issue of getting laid, Zimmerman chose his personal obsession with and terror of pigeons.

The trio are an affable and talented bunch, but I believe Campbell should make more of his genuine stutter.

As it is, it has led to a hilarious observational routine about attending an event staged by the National Stammerers Association. Apparently the bar queues were horrendously long!

Campbell's material is first rate but he needs to sharpen up his presentation and make stammering his comedic raison d'etre.

Zimmerman was excellent as always - all made stares and off-the-wall asides. But, like the others, he suffered from the low audience numbers at this venue which is not doing its performers any favours.

That's a shame because Birds is a show well worth seeing.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2003
Ben Dowell



An Evening with Munn and Diamond, Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh

The publicity material for this show warned festival-goers to "expect the unexpected" which, perhaps, should have been an omen for what was to come. However, this reviewer did not expect to see two Welsh women screaming abuse at each other in the comedy equivalent of a headbanging session.

The concept of their show was not an unfamiliar one: a rich Sloanie woman vying with a working-class bolshie one. What marked out Munn and Diamond was their remarkable lack of script, terrible timing and thoroughly low production values.

Few Fringe flops could have been as painfully poor. Hearing them bickering about use of the Welsh language, S4C and rap music was like listening to a greatly-amplified recording of a thousand paint scrapers while standing naked in sleet. It hardly needs to be said they performed to a silent and shell-shocked audience numbering around half a dozen.

Munn and Diamond need to ask themselves a couple of tough questions: Should we continue with this double act? Are we cut out for comedy?

If they decide to carry on, it is vital they work much harder on their writing and performing before making a return to the Fringe.

STAR RATING (out of five): *

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Tommy Tiernan: Tell Me A Story, The Pod, Edinburgh

The King of Comedy is back! From start to finish, this show by the great Irish storyteller was outstanding, beautifully delivered and absolutely hilarious.

Tiernan's comparison of how Mass is said in Australia and Africa was wonderfully funny, and his description of his three-year-old son's world was magical.

His material sounds totally true to life - even though some of it may not be - and is told with tremendous energy and an infectious sense of fun.

He even talked dirty. His finale, on trying anal sex with his girlfriend for the first time, had an hysterically-funny punchline which you could not see coming.

Only one grumble: the mediocre sound on that night was annoying as occasionally you could not hear clearly at the back.

But you couldn't pick fault with Tiernan's comedy brilliance.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): *****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Alfie Joey's Mini-Caberet, Alfie Joey's Red Escort, Edinburgh

Few comedians would be courageous enough to stage an Edinburgh show in their car.

But encouraged by Perrier Award winner Daniel Kitson, that is exactly what Alfie Joey has done.

And what a total delight it proved! An audience of four crammed into his Red Escort, parked a stone's throw from the Pleasance Courtyard.

Alfie sat in the driver's seat and got us all chatting before kicking off the show.

He had devised a format in which each audience member asked him questions about his life from laminated cards.

The humour sprang from the stories attached to those aspects of his life and related experiences of the audience.

It was one of the few truly interactive experiences at the Edinburgh Fringe. For once, the audience had as much opportunity to talk as the performer, who brought out the best in them.

The hour flitted past. Former monk Joey's genius is that he brings out the best in people - because he thinks the best of them.

The audience, two Irish women - a mother and daughter - and shy young man from Bournemouth, clearly enjoyed the show enormously.

And they were highly amused by the occasional altercation between Alfie and a passing traffic warden who could not understand the car was a registered venue!

The event ended with Alfie giving everyone in the audience - all four of us - a souvenir key ring.

We left feeling we had made new friends.

Comedy magic!

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): *****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Andrew Clover, Supercub, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

This has to be one of the maddest shows at the Fringe.

Although called Supercub and featuring a cub's uniform, it was all over the place. At times you felt Clover's material was totally random.

He is clearly a talented improviser, although it was hard to tell what was improvised and what, if anything scripted.

The audience numbered around a dozen in a cavernous venue but, far from putting him off, Clover seemed to enjoy his failure to pull a bigger crowd.

You had the impression almost anything could come out of mouth - creative, funny, obscene, profane.

And when Clover asked an American in the audience to squirt him with a giant watergun if he overstepped the mark, it was no surprise he ended up soaked to the skin.

Crazily funny!

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



The Dinks, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

This show has been a victim of the Fringe hype machine.

From the amount of fuss its promoters has been making about it, I assumed it would be very good, which made it all the more disappointing.

On the night I went, six members of the audience walked out - more than I have ever known quit a show during my six years covering the Fringe.

In fairness, it seemed slightly surprisingly. The show was somewhat less than mediocre rather than being an out-and-out stinker.

The Dinks - established stand-ups Tony Law, Dan Antopolski and Craig Campbell - are a kind of Big & Daft in search of a decent script.

Law has most of the funny lines and certainly is the star of the outfit.

His convincing performance bolstered a gang show desperately lacking a good plot and in need of a tough director.

The real problem with it was Dan Antopolski. He may be an accomplished stand-up, but he can't act for toffee.

Desperate Dan stumbled his way through his part, looking decidedly hesitant and uncomfortable in any dialogue with the others.

And when the gratuitious nudity started, you knew this was a production in deep trouble.

Overall the show had an over-confident and arrogant feel to it. But as the six who fled during the performance might testify, not everyone is taken in by bluster and hype.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): **

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Rob Brydon - Marion and Geoff, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh

This is a brilliant show.

Rob Brydon totally triumphed as he brought his Marion and Geoff TV character - divorcee Keith - to the Edinburgh stage for the first time.

Brydon is a very clever performer who managed to have his cake and eat it, denying his ability to respond quickly to audience comments while proving just the opposite.

The self-effacing and over-optimistic outlook of the character was itself funny, quite apart from the sharpness of his lines and occasional hilarious use of accents. It takes a great performer to do an American accent while still sounding Welsh.

The way he used slides was also very sharp. Even the way they had been written was true to Keith's character and won laughs.

All ages and many nationalities enjoyed a show that was popular but far distinctly quirky in its sense of humour.

A smasher!

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): *****

August 2003
Chris Wilson



Die, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh

Brand X Promotions' latest ghoulish offering is as compelling as it bizarre.

The puppetry, singing, acting and sickness of the humour are remarkable, as a story of life in hell is told.

It is chilling but, at times, hilarious experience. Dead Elvis and the Rotting Brat Pack spring to mind.

It is not for the sensitive or faint-hearted.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ****

August 2003
Chris Wilson


Mark Felgate - Freelance Fool, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh

Ventriloquist-without-a dummy Mark Felgate is without a doubt a talented performer.

His voice-throwing skills are superb and comedy timing is excellent.

Unfortunately he was let down in this full-length show by insufficient high-quality material.

Felgate had perhaps enough top gags for a first-rate half-an-hour show. Spinning it out to twice that time span was stretching the comedy envelope too far.

All the same, there were some strong ideas there and his use of slides was imaginative to the point of surreality.

What the genial Mark needs to do is the keep the best material from this show and enrich it with new gags throughout the coming year to make a triumphant return to the Fringe in 2004.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ***

August 2003
Chris Wilson
  September 2002 – July 2003
Rob Rouse and James Holmes, Barnstormers Comedy, Lewes, East Sussex

What a marvellous club this is, bringing some of my favourite young comics to within a five-minute walk of my home!

The big cheeses on the Christmas bill were Rob Rouse and James Holmes - stand-ups with very different styles and equally innovative takes on their craft.

Holmes is a shock joker, hitting the audience hard with an account of his gayness and, curiously, details of what he won't do in bed.

His delivery is friendly and confident, so the crowd liked him, despite its clear discomfort with his material.

It seemed that would have gone down a storm down the road in Brighton is still able to shock slightly in-land.

Despite that, Holmes is a strong and original act - a showbiz-obsessed queen with a hugely-affable take on life.

Rob Rouse also has a pleasant and natural style which gives him a whooping headstart over many comics.

His substantial stage experience and gift for improvisation make him an all-weather comedian who is never likely to die on stage.

But he is at his strongest when doing his stand-up or musical routines and revealing the wicked streak behind the big grin.

A top night!

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ****

Chris Wilson
Barnstormers Comedy, Lewes, East Sussex  
 THIS monthly comedy club in a former church is coming on in leaps and bounds.

It pulled an audience of at least 70 people - all of whom were up for a Sunday night of comedy. Compere Kevin Precious warmed them up beautifully in his trademark deadpan style.

First act on was David Haddingham who is a very competent performer with some good jokes. Some of his material, however, seemed a little puerile and weak - and you were also left with the impression that he was not putting his all into the gig.

On the other hand, comedy magician Mandy Muden was really going for it. She raised the energy level in the room considerably with a high-pace succession of daft, failed tricks and silly gags.

Perhaps she overdid her persona - "slapper in desperate need of a shag" - and tried too hard to find gay men in the audience (why?) but it was an enjoyable performance all the same.

The undoubted highlight of the show was Hal Cruttenden.

Hal just gets better and better. . . he has fantastic delivery, a real feeling for its audience and superb material.

He lifted the roof of this creaky old church of a venue - and made it a memorable night. It becomes clearer by the day that Hal is going to be star.

SHOW STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Chris Wilson