YOUR DAILY SHEET OF FESTIVAL REVIEWS: #14 THURSDAY 18/FRIDAY 19 AUG

IN EDINBURGH GET THREEWEEKS COMEDY audience. Not Holly Walsh. Instead, she ThreeWeekscombines original humour, personal anec- DIRECT TO YOUR IN-BOX dotes, and Venn diagrams to string together Run, Deaf Boy, Run! a hilarious narrative anyone can relate to. There are even more reviews in the Steve Day / Detailing the true story of one epic broken ThreeWeeks eDaily email. As his title would suggest, Steve Day doesn’t elbow, complete with x-rays, she manages to Sign up right now for free at shy away from his disability, and neither comment on what it means to be a scared www.ThreeWeeks.co.uk/eDaily does it impair his comedy. Sporting a pair British woman. She jumps off a high dive, of hearing-aids, he is the first to make self- fights a Nazi, flirts with Rambo, and has the deprecating jokes about being “deaf with a pictures to prove it. By the end of the show, I little D”. The show’s focus is the journey of felt like I was sitting in her living-room watch- a man in training for the London Marathon. ing her home movies. Not to miss for anyone With no hint of a sob-story, Day is warm and looking for a light-hearted laugh and stories inspiring, but honest enough to discourage of rogue flashers. people from running the 26 miles for Pleasance Courtyard, 3 - 29 Aug (not 15), 6.00pm themselves, and still prone to tripping (7.00pm), £7.00 - £9.50, fpp88. tw rating 4/5 [tw] over words every now and then. A mixture of storytelling and stand-up, the show is Tim Clare: How To Be A Leader pleasant without being belly-laugh funny, but Show + Tell / Escalator East to Edinburgh / Tilt at least Day is comfortable enough to find ‘How to Be a Leader’ is a show with an humour in the size of his audience. intelligent premise, performed by an even The Stand Comedy Club, 3 - 28 Aug (not 4, 15), more intelligent comedian. This seminar 1:10pm (2:10pm), £7.00 - £8.00, fpp145. tw rating on leadership is multidimensional and 3/5 [ja] worryingly, despite Tim explicitly highlighting the simple tools leaders employ to gain Seymour Mace: Happypotamus power, by the end of the show, the audience Seymour Mace / The Stand Comedy Club are hanging on to his every word. It’s like Mental illness and diarrhoea are not obvious submitting to a true leader and competing topics for a show called ‘Happypotamus’, but for a reward for laughing the hardest. Seymour Mace takes these difficult subjects Giving everything from tyrannical rule and and makes us laugh. Charting Mace’s assassination attempts a skewed and struggles with depression, ‘Happypotamous’ comedic twist, Tim’s show is entertaining, covers some dark ground, but it is in these fast-paced and clever, forcing the audience pitch-black moments that the show is at to remain on their toes and engaged. In its funniest. Mace’s fight with the kitchen addition, hilarious raps on historical female bin and the expression of his desire not to figures demonstrate Tim’s skills as a become one of the “local characters” are wordsmith and his extensive potential. razor-sharp comic moments. However, when Underbelly Cowgate, 4 - 28 Aug (not 15), 8.55pm Mace is “being silly”, the set loses focus and (9.55pm), £8.00 - £10.00, fpp158. tw rating 4/5 [kc] pace, with sections of wacky drawings and humorous poems feeling like weak padding. Transformer On topic, Mace is darkly funny, but when he With their surrealist approach to sketch tries to be zany, he falls short of the mark, comedy that seeks to move away from resulting in a distinctly mixed set. cheap laughs and lurid gags, ‘Transformer’ The Stand Comedy Club II, 3 - 28 Aug (not 4, 15), times vary, £6.00 - £7.00, fpp149. tw rating 3/5 [ab] have produced fifty minutes of comedy that SNAP OF THE DAY: ‘Anton’s Uncles’ get physical at is refreshingly different. Minimally offensive, they focus on producing quick scenes with the this Fringe. Photo: Kat Gollock The Antics: Premature memorable personae that are genuinely Ejokeulation funny. The return of earlier characters at The Antics just the right moments throughout the show is testament to its structural success, while public eye and a humorous letter-exchange introduce to your grandparents. Conversely, “Much better than the title suggested.” This their disregard for the fourth wall provides with a solicitor. Unfortunately, for all Joel’s he’s so exuberant and idiosyncratic that he’d was the consensus as we left the theatre an innovative approach to the genre. It is charm, the jokes are sparse, so this show be a tremendous late-night drinking partner. after watching this, er, interestingly named just a shame that they lack this intensity in feels more like that of a fairly accomplished After hanging onto his every antiquated turn show. Title aside, this is a very funny group all their scenes. Arguably, it’s forgiveable as storyteller rather than a comedian. He also of phrase and laughing at his heart-warming of men who seem to enjoy their improv sketches move at a decent pace, allowing has a habit of announcing his punchlines anecdotes, I left the show wishing he were games - standard fare a la ‘Whose Line...?’ the audience to be quickly introduced to with, “Wait for it,” and finishing them with, “I my best friend. Go and see him now before and ‘Mock The Week’ - as much as their something different, but sadly it prevents thought that was good.” This doesn’t serve he’s headlining at the biggest venues. You audience did. The funniest moment of the them from being truly brilliant. him well, either. will have an absolutely smashing time, I show came when hapless Gav was unable Dragonfly, 5 - 29 Aug (not 15), 6.40pm (7.40pm), promise. Bedlam Theatre, 5 - 27 Aug, 18:00 (18.50), £6.00 - to guess what his team-mates were miming free, fpp100. tw rating 2/5 [ek] £8.00, fpp162. tw rating 3/5 [aq] at The Caves, 4 - 28 Aug (not 17), to him; the audience howled with laughter 7.00pm (8.00pm), £7.00 - £9.00, fpp101. tw rating: as his team-mates grew more and more 5/5 [jf] breathless and frustrated. They’re not the Joel Sanders - Jokes That Got Me John Robins: Lift Your Skinny slickest, or the wittiest at the improv game, Fists Like Antennas To Heaven Kicked Out Of Tennessee Sharron Matthews Superstar: but this show still offers unadulterated fun John Robins Joel Sanders / PBH’s from a group of fairly skilled performers. Jesus Thinks I’m Funny Joel Sanders is almost apologetically The immensely likeable John Robins C, 3 - 13 Aug, 4.45pm (5.35pm), £6.50 - £9.50, Sharron Matthews sincere; he humbly thanks his audience possesses the remarkable ability of making fpp40. tw rating 3/5 [rs] Not only is Sharron Matthews a superstar, about five times for coming along. the awkward and outdated charming she is a force of nature. Far from her Anecdotes from twenty years in the US are and stylish. He utters the quaint adjective homeland of Ontario, Canada, she has The Hollycopter Holly Walsh reeled out one by one, and, while the show “smashing” eleven times during this performance without the slightest hint of squeezed herself into something black and Some stand-ups rely on vulgarity and the has a nice flow, it contains no real structure. irony; it makes him exactly the sort of polite, shiny with feathers on the shoulders, shock factor to coax laughter out of their His best material includes thoughts on feeling a disconnect with gay men in the articulate man that you’d be delighted to cont>>

MORE REVIEWS PLUS NEWS, INTERVIEWS AND EXCLUSIVE COLUMNS: WWW.THREEWEEKS.CO.UK cont>> bringing some sparkle to our drizzly Nathan Penlington: Uri And Me storytelling with an apocalyptic tale of hell is very enjoyable bit of theatrical escapism. smile convincingly confers and finally settles Edinburgh evenings. She talks to us about Nathan Penlington’s po-faced performance and high water flooded with references Zoo, 5 - 20 Aug, 12.40pm (1.30pm), £7.00 - £9.00, the ambiguous tone of the entire piece. An pop-culture, a little of her real life and a bit mixes comedy with occasional magic. More to H P Lovecraft, twisted wordplay and fpp275. tw rating 3/5 [ah] enviably talented young troupe who will no about the visitation she had which inspired of a lecture on Uri Geller than a stand-up gig, subversive lyricism. Channelling hip-hop doubt go far. her quest to become an international rock his deeply researched project is a bizarrely rhythms and tribal chants, he’s impressive The Moon Under The Water Zoo Roxy, 5 - 20 Aug, 8.00pm (8.50pm), £7.50, star. Bursting into song with a gorgeous in full flow, conjuring images of postmodern, fpp274. tw rating 4/5 [ij] riveting hour -- I never thought I’d get myself Z Theatre Company cabaret voice, this comedy character is so caught up in the story of Uri’s life, but post-catastrophe wastelands or mocking In both content and execution, this devised passionate and strong, if a little rambling, Penlington draws his audience in with quick politics and pop culture in hyperactive verbal show makes for uneasy viewing. The Young Pretender and doesn’t shy away from sexuality or age. cutting humour and an endearingly open cascades. It’s held together by a subtle, content - what happens when people drink Nabokov, Escalator East To Edinburgh And Hull By the end, we’re all convinced that we, too, persona that’s enhanced by the intimacy of sinister soundscape by regular collaborator Truck Theatre Present are superstars -- through the medium of Asthmatic Astronaut. When the beat drops to get drunk - is not for those in search the venue. His tricks, though fairly standard, Bonnie Prince Charlie, young and excitable, song, of course. out, though, the thin narrative loses its way, of sweetness and light. The show is not aren’t the dull hyperbolic performances wants to lead a rebellion. He’s going to fight and the fragmentary style starts to feel without comedy and the occasional affecting SpaceCabaret @ 54, 5 - 28 Aug (not 21), 8:05pm many of his peers employ, and one still has to the death to beat political corruption and schizophrenic. Although occasionally out of moment, but overall it fails to realise the (9:10pm), £10.50 - £12.50, fpp150. tw rating 4/5 [ja] me scratching my head as to how it was classist oppression. Youth-led riots, did you its depth, this is appealingly different, defiant potential of its chosen subject. The self- done. Quickly building a great rapport with say? I bet Nabokov didn’t think their Festival and slick. conscious and inconsistent production his audience, this hour with Penlington is a contribution would be quite so topical when The Kingsley and I (Free Stand Up The Banshee Labyrinth, 6 - 27 Aug, 7.30pm results in the show lacking focus and good way to spend a rainy afternoon. they started rehearsing. Fundamentally, Compilation Show) (8.15pm), free, fpp270. tw rating 3/5 [df] depth; there are too many characters ’s Pasture, 3 - 29 Aug (not 15), 4.10pm the acting is of a high standard; our Charlie Various Special Guests and MCs Daily / Laughing and consequently too little character (5.10pm), £8.50 - £10.50, fpp124. tw rating 3/5 [jfb] Horse Free Festival development - the personal narratives which shouts a little too much but the Withnail- Mildred McManus For World and-I-esque relationship between his twitchy There’s an element of luck involved in this should carry us through the show are never Minister character and the steadfast Donald offers a show as each day a comedian and MC gets sustained. The piece merely skims the warm humour to what is pretty heavy stuff, the chance to showcase their talent and pull EXHIBITIONS Francesca Cox surface of the challenging issue of Britain’s and all three cast members have confident in punters for their performances. Damian If you are a girl in early adolescent - which binge drinking and, when the humour has stage presence. If the rioters of our day Kingsley occupies a regular spot, and though I am not - then this show might be for you. fallen away, leaves only the most nebulous David Mach: Precious Light were as certain of their cause, there’d be his routine is polished, it was somewhat It is performed much in the form of edited impression of excess. City Art Centre trouble! outshone by the compère who flaunted his chapters of a novel, where the eponymous theSpace on Niddry St, 8 - 18 Aug (not 14), times Coat-hanger crucifixes, a matchstick vary, £3.00 - £5.00, fpp282. tw rating 2/5 [dp] Underbelly Cowgate, 4 - 28 Aug (not 17), 4.40pm razor-sharp wit to hilarious effect against hero struggles with her parents, job-seeking Jesus to be set alight in September, and (5.40pm), £8.50 - £10.50, fpp314. tw rating 3/5 [kl] a heckler, leaving the audience bent over and her love affair with sleep. While the kitsch collages of biblical scenes form double and craving him to take over the script is witty and well-observed, its few The Prodigals this audacious and intense exhibition of hour-long slot. Kingsley is followed by a musical interludes seem unnecessary and Bones Scottish artist David Mach. The exhibition Inspire comedienne who, despite being incredibly the whole thing feels a bit episodic. This Fifth Word Theatre is not overtly religious but filled with social Thankfully this show was only an hour long; ill, amused with her nonchalant style. You’re script has strong potential, and Francesca commentary; Mach’s dense, large-scale I would not have been able to bear it any A young man: crude, raw, tough, too lazy to unlikely to know what you’re going to get as Cox is full of ideas which she fails to fully and fascinating collages evoke the culture longer. Two brothers are in the army, one work, not giving a shit about his family, too you step into the venue, but take a gamble bring to life for the duration of her rather of excess and chaos of contemporary drops out to pursue a career in an awful stupid to fulfil his duties, and only wanting and you might just get lucky. one-paced performance. Still, this show is euro trance group and gets mixed up with a MacDonald’s Big Mac and a blow job. society, whilst his colossal, explosive highly likely to appeal to anyone who is, has @ Espionage, 4 - 28 Aug, 10.00pm drugs. The other stays and is angry about His fault, right? But - is it really? Actor crucifixes capture agony and drama with been, or wants to be, a teenage girl. (11.00pm), free, fpp107. tw rating 3/5 [fm] such startling realism. The exhibition would this and that. All the music and songs are Joe Doherty performs stunningly: when theSpaces on North Bridge, 5 - 20 Aug (not 7, 14), he talks, screams, whispers, you hear it; benefit from more wall information but it 5.10pm (6.25pm), £6.00 - £8.00, fpp281. tw rating terrible and the actor playing the father you feel the sun on your skin, hanging out Toby - Lucky nevertheless demonstrates the diversity of 3/5 [sj] gives a spectacularly bad performances, closely followed by the rest of the cast. with him in the park, see what he sees The Invisible Dot Ltd. Mach’s practice. His London studio has even been relocated to the gallery to prepare the Despite there being an anti-drugs message looking up girls’ shirts. You feel your hand One is a spoilt, vindictive Haribo-addict One Under new, monumental collage ‘The Last Supper’. and one of the characters dying of a heroin hit a woman’s face. You feel the baby he desperate for fame. The other is the long- For its intensity and controversy alone, this PartingShot overdose, I couldn’t help thinking that a bit of holds, wiggling, shaking in your hands. suffering prop for her sister’s ego. Real-life exhibition is unlike anything else in Edinburgh. In order to gain inspiration for ‘One Under’, smack would have made the whole viewing Storytelling to perfection, the performance siblings Sarah and Lizzie Daykin take the PartingShot went onto the tube in London, experience slightly more endurable. of this shockingly realistic script - ever more old premise of performers breaking down City Art Centre, 30 July - 16 October, 10.00am - handed the passengers a pen and paper, Teviot, 3 - 29 Aug (not 4), 5.00pm pertinent in light of the recent riots - left me mid-act and squander all its comic potential, 5.00pm (12.00pm - 5.00pm Sun), £5.00, fpp188. tw rating 4/5 [jb] and asked them to write down what they (6.00pm), £11.00 - £15.00, fpp290. tw rating 1/5 agape in wide-eyed awe. pushing the boundaries of comedy by not had been thinking about before they were [mp] Zoo, 5 - 28 Aug (not 22), 4.10pm (4.55pm), £7.00 - actually being funny. Relying instead on interrupted. The result of this experiment is £9.00, fpp246. tw rating 5/5 [vk] deadpan discomfort and passive-aggressive something quite marvellous - a play which needling, their awkward, infantile sketches MUSIC The Yellow Wallpaper presents four very different characters are drawn out interminably as this doomed Amarillo Arts Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down who, although strangers to each other, vanity project unravels into long silences Feminism or insanity? This one-woman The Main Road Theatre Company Girl With The Guitar – Free are forced together in the tube’s intimate and tantrums. Their admirable attempt adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Royce Boland is a bad’un: a wife-beater, Alison Chabloz / Laughing Horse Free Festival space. As the internal monologues of these to create believable, damaged characters classic short story offers no easy answers. stalker and near-murderer. Thankfully, this characters unfold, we witness their deep misfires precisely because they never let Alison Chabloz, our ‘Girl with the Guitar’, Lesley Free deftly draws the audience into horrific character never appears on stage. concerns, their petty worries and, ultimately, the audience in on the joke. It’s meant to be provides a delightful hour of music. She her quest for selfhood as she portrays Instead, ‘Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down’ is the connections and disconnections the excruciating, it’s meant to be amateurish; builds a great rapport with the small audi- a woman who goes mad, or is driven the story of three women whose lives have underground fosters. The characters the problem is that it succeeds. ence gathered before her as she leads us mad by patriarchy in the form of her been touched and in some way ruined by this are all superbly played, and the play is on a musical journey covering the likes of eminently practical husband, or is mad all man, and their eventual revenge. It’s a lyrical Pleasance Courtyard, 3 - 29 Aug (not 15), 4.30pm beautifully structured and near-perfectly internet-stalking, getting dumped, the fall of along, or isn’t mad but rebels against the - though somewhat slow - play told through (5.25pm), £8.50 - £9.50, fpp159. tw rating 1/5 [df] pitched, offering both amusement and quiet ‘News of the World’ and free-diving. When predetermined patterns of 19th century three interlocking monologues, working its heartbreak. A neat idea which is excellently the staff in the café venue became too noisy, gender constructs. Free depicts the chaos effects through the rich Yorkshire dialect of developed and executed. Rosie’s Pop Diary she was quick to jump in and tell them all of an adult mind trapped behind nursery playwright Richard Cameron. Unfortunately, Pleasance Courtyard, 3 - 29 Aug (not 15, 23), Rosie Wilby to zip it, never once losing her composure. 12.45pm (1.45pm), £6.00 - £8.50, fpp286. tw rating bars with a wide-eyed innocence that the play is slowed further by a number With an audience soaked to the skin Through her songs and asides her personal- 4/5 [lm] blends well with the character’s enforced set changes which interrupt the action cramped into a stuffy basement, Rosie really ity shines. Her friends might think she’s dependency. However, with an extremely seemingly unnecessarily. The cast, however, had to deliver to please her audience. And crazy for her recent decision to quit the rat- short running time, the show cries out for act with conviction and carry the play on she did: her warm and bubbly personality race and tour the Festival circuit, but, while Real Men Dream In Black And an extended exploration of the wallpaper’s their three excellent performances which erased all memory of the gloomy weather, it might not have been financially sensible, it White sinister impact. are only slightly spoiled by what must be the engrossed as we were in this well-told certainly seems to be paying off. Real Men theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 5 - 20 Aug (not 7), least soundproofed venue in Edinburgh. story of how she came to be doing this Laughing Horse @ Café Renroc, 5 - 28 Aug (not There are many meditations on the 1.10pm (1.55pm), £8.00, fpp313. tw rating 3/5 [tsr] Greenside, 5 - 27 Aug (not 14, 21), 5.20pm show. A truly beautiful, though unrefined, 14), 7.20pm (8.20pm), free, fpp206. tw rating 3/5 (6.35pm) £5.00 - £7.00, fpp247. tw rating 3/5 [nw] [mp] difficulties that come with the so called time singing voice complements her humorous of “coming of age”: some mature, others Jamie Blake tale, recounting her feelings along the way leaving many who are still passing through Ravenrock Theatre Company with very well-written lyrics. This show is that phase simply having to ask the question, If you’ve ever had your heart stomped on by an altogether generally lovely experience: THEATRE “were those involved born an adult?” Luckily, a pair of stilettos, then slept with anything it’s a cosy acoustic concert as well as an this show fits snugly into the former of that walks to try and get through the pain, interesting and funny account of the road these, as we follow four male characters Belleville Rendez-Vous this show will make you laugh and cry at the to sort-of fame. As I re-entered the pouring discussing what it is that supposedly makes FellSwoop Theatre Company same time. This is the director’s first script, rain, Rosie’s mellow tones ran through my a “real man”. Some of the lines feel forced, Perfectly capturing the surreal look, and he is as skilled with language as he is thoroughly dampened head. and there’s a visible discomfort around the melancholic feel and depression-era French with theatrics. Music, dance, comedy, and discussion of the essential ingredients for Just The Tonic At The Tron, 4 - 28 Aug (not 15, 16), blues sound of the original animated film, fantastic acting collide in this original tale of 6.20pm (7.20pm), £7.00 - £9.00, fpp144. tw rating masculinity - a problematic hypothesis to say this delightful adaptation stays true to its failed romance. The script is sharp, the vocal 4/5 [mm] the least. Nevertheless, this is an honest source material without becoming its slave. percussion superb, and the ever present look at the disaffection of youths - a strikingly The excellent ensemble transport us into acoustic guitarist sings sweet melodies relevant topic considering recent national Naz Osmanoglu: 1000% the weird world of Champion the cyclist, all behind Jamie Blake narrating his own love events. Awesome Avalon Promotions the while accompanied by a talented three story. Both witty and compelling, you’ll leave Greenside, 5 - 20 Aug (not 14), 1.55pm (2.40pm), The prominently bearded Naz Osmanoglu piece band. Inventively staged, cunningly £5.00, fpp291. tw rating 3/5 [ljc] the show wondering if Mr or Mrs Right really bristles with confidence. Not only is he a choreographed and brilliantly scored, is “the one”. I may even go see it again. long-standing Fringe favourite as a member this production dazzles with its wit and Zoo Roxy, 5 - 29 Aug (odd dates only), 2.30pm - of sketch trio WitTank, but he is also the imagination despite choosing a difficult The Little Mermaid 3.30pm, £6.50 - £9.50, fpp272. tw rating 5/5 [tw] nineteenth person in line to the Ottoman source to adapt. Although it runs a touch Jackinabox Productions throne. In his brilliant debut solo hour, long-the dream dance sequences could Hans Christian Anderson’s classic Le Cochon Entier do with trimming down and the dancers Naz, half repressed Englishman and half fairytale is brought to life in this lovely little Waste Of Paint Productions passionate Turk, ruminates on masculine aren’t quite sharp enough-this is a strong, production. You’re transported into the A startling and extremely effective piece idealism and bipolar identity - the confusing enjoyable and intelligent production. You’ll depths of the ocean with a set that twinkles of physical theatre sets the tone for this juxtaposition of being as likely to open the never look at bicycle wheels the same way and shimmers with tea lights. Whilst you extraordinarily accomplished performance door courteously for a woman as spear again! might imagine a light hearted experience from Waste of Paint Productions. ‘Le Get lots more ThreeWeeks reviews the infidel in bloodthirsty conflict. The Bedlam Theatre, 8 - 20 Aug (not 14), 11.00am (thanks to Disney), this retelling is actually Cochon Entier’ creates a world of abrasive in your inbox with the eDaily rapturous audience frequently erupt into (12.00pm), £8.00, fpp241. tw rating 4/5 [ab] quite dark., and the language of the dialogue violence with a masterful combination of applause during this masterfully structured is also quite complex so this is probably not ThreeWeeks.co.uk/edaily live on stage music and puppetry. It fails to performance, and I’d be disappointed if one for younger children. The cast features Hydronomicon deliver on the plot, however, as at times the Osmanoglu wasn’t nominated for “Best an ensemble of very competent young PBH’S Free Fringe show moves in large blockish sections that ThreeWeeks Publishing, a division of Newcomer” in a fortnight’s time. Forget actors, although parts of the movement- Emcee Harlequinade is a recognisable face fail to entertain or engage - but this is to be UnLimited Media, Unicorn House, 221 Suleiman - it’s Naz who is truly magnificent. based sections could have used a bit more on Edinburgh’s slam poetry circuit, even expected from a work in progress. It has Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6PJ. polishing. At times it feels a bit amateur, as Udderbelly’s Pasture, 3 - 29 Aug, 9.15pm when hidden under kinky, creepy clown all the raw edginess of the startlingly new, Printing by Smart Design & Print. though perhaps Jackinabox could have tried (10.15pm), £7.00 - £9.50, fpp124. tw rating 5/5 [jf] makeup. Here he’s taking the plunge into and the ending is utterly fulfilling as a single for more of an edgy retelling; but overall this Credits at www.ThreeWeeks.co.uk/credits TW RATINGS EXPLAINED: 1/5 BAD | 2/5 MEDIOCRE | 3/5 GOOD | 4/5 VERY GOOD | 5/5 BRILLIANT