It is more than 14 years since I last reviewed this show for this site (see the original review reproduced below).
Back in August 2000, Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen was a revelation.
Arthur Smith had rarely seemed so funny or together.
His script was sharp and, despite a certain flatness to his tone, his singing was enjoyable.
Being a Leonard Cohen fan, as so many people secretly are, also definitely helped the appreciation of his efforts.
This revival - Arthur Smith Sing Leonard Cohen, Volume Two - is really a totally new show.
Arthur has, I understand, totally given up intoxicants, his voice is even more gravelly than before, and he is on the cusp of hitting an age (60) that I feared he would never reach.
Shortly after the turn of the millennium, he had the ancient Ronnie Golden to accompany him in his Edinburgh Fringe hit.
Now he has plumped for a hat-trick of drop-dead gorgeous - and very talented - young women. And why not?
I have always liked Arthur Smith - he is the thinking man's under-achiever, a guy who appears not to give a f*** but carries on regardless.
Sure, the old gags come out, but he tells them so well. Arthur could have trodden the vaudeville boards, and, when a new joke appears on the horizon, it makes it all the more pleasurable.
"I was eking out a living as a Rupert Murdoch lookalike," he quips, to loud laughter.
It is a joke that works on two levels: the similarity of their careworn faces, and the absurdity of it all: who would hire a Rupert Murdoch lookalike?
A bit of badinage with his redheaded Yorkshire lass pianist and backing singer, Kirsty Newton, and Arthur sang the classic I'm Your Man segued into White Christmas.
Arthur's second backing singer was plucked from the audience where she'd been planted to do sheep impressions, angry or philosophical. The third came from side stage (and was allegedly also his Stage Manager).
The big news was Arthur had written to Leonard Cohen and received a reply, albeit short, agreeing that Mr Spock's poetry is crap.
Arthur talked of his mother, Hazel, during the show with a beautiful melancholy, a poetic sadness: "Is it tomorrow or today or now?"
Good question.
Leonard Nimoy (Spock) appeared to have ME, or rather, "me, me, me" in his poems. Even in the self-obsessed world of poetry, egoism of such purity is unusual. Still, as Arthur's mum had remarked, he tried his best.
Arthur Smith was born to sing Leonard Cohen and to talk about him.
It was amusing, moving and touching - with some really great singing and musicianship from the Smithonians: Kirsty, Carrie and Ali. A superb evening's entertainment.
There is life in the old dog yet!
*****
(Original review from the Edinburgh Fringe 2000)
Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen, Pleasance, Edinburgh
I had heard this show was good - but had no idea how good.
Through the music of Leonard Cohen, Smith tackled the hard issues of hard: boredom, addiction, misery, depression, love, betrayal and ducks.
The script was sharp, funny, moving and sad.
And the enjoyment of Cohen's music was enhanced, rather than spoilt, by the fact that Arthur is not exactly God's gift to singing. It was totally in keeping with the loser spirit of the songs.
Ronnie Golden, who accompanied Smith on guitar, was also fabulous.
He used his few lines to great effect and did a hilarious guitar solo, playing the axe with his teeth, apparently spitting out a loose one.
At the end of the show, the applause was deafening.
And the audience was right. It was most probably the best comedy show at Edinburgh this year.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Ollie Wilson
August 2000
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