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
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