Comedy

The Thursday Show

01/06/17

The Stand, Edinburgh

We have friends staying for a few days, and of course we want to show off our adopted city. In the daytime, we take them sightseeing in the Old Town, and then walking in Holyrood Park. As night falls, we lead them towards Edinburgh’s iconic comedy club, with the promise of a Thursday show that is sure to entertain.

In all honesty, we’re not au fait with any of the advertised acts, but that’s no bad thing. There are a lot of comedians working the circuit, and they can’t all be household names. We’re always happy to see something new (even if it’s only new to us), and our only fear is arriving too late to secure a seat. We’re just about in time to avert that particular disaster, although we’re perched on high stools at the very back. That’s the only drawback with this venue, really: arriving ninety minutes before the show begins is an irritating necessity.

Our compere is Jellybean Martinez, alter-ego of Matthew Ellis, and as high-octane a character as I’ve ever seen. He’s a tartan-and-frill-clad ball of energy, all bitchy campery and squealing laughs. He works the audience expertly, and – if he’s sometimes a bit much for me – the students on the front row lap up his attention. It’s adroitly done, and sets the tone for an evening we can all enjoy.

The opener is Rachel Fairburn, a Mancunian whose deadpan laconic style is bitingly funny. Her speech is laced with sweetened bile, turning humdrum tales of sibling rivalry into deliciously dark bon mots. I’d like to see what else she can do, and will make a point of seeing her show at the Fringe this year (Her Majesty, Just the Tonic at the Community Project).

Next up is Donald Alexander, a relative newcomer with a twitchy, nerdy persona, talking about being a primary school teacher and having sex with girls. It works: he’s likeable and engaging, and the crowd is on his side.

After the interval, there’s a surprise appearance from Danny Bhoy, who’s clearly working up material for his new show, Make Something Great Again For A Stronger Better Future Tomorrow Together. He is a welcome addition to the line-up, an astute and assured comedian with a lot to say. He’s our favourite of the evening, his political observations being both refreshing and dismaying – as well as funny, of course.

Glaswegian John Ross has the unenviable task of following Danny Bhoy, but he’s up to the job, making us laugh with his witty observations about enemas and railings. Yes, really. Enemas. And railings. He’s a hit with the students too; they’re raucous in their appreciation. Good stuff.

And then, before we know it, it’s already time for the headliner. Imran Yusuf‘s edgy set takes us into uncomfortable territory, but it’s excellent from start to finish. He’s very sharp indeed, making us confront the issues surrounding terrorism, as well as his frustration at always having to discuss this stuff, just because of his ethnicity. He’s certainly a comedian I’d like to see again, and I’ll be looking out for a full-length show.

All in all, we’ve had another great evening at The Stand. Our guests are happy and so are we.

4.2 stars

Susan Singfield

Richard Herring: The Best

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22/03/17

The Stand, Edinburgh

Let’s face it, it takes some chutzpah for a comedian to label his show ‘the best’ knowing full well the torrent of caustic putdowns that could inevitably follow such an outrageous claim. But after some discussion, we have to admit that there probably isn’t another stand up out there who is more deserving of the description. Herring has given us so much sheer enjoyment over the years.

We first encountered him at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 with Christ On a Bike: The Second Coming and every year after that, the first show we would book would be his. We were distraught when he decided not to do the festival in 2015 and 2016, and delighted when we heard that he’s going to give it another shot this year. All in all, we’ve seen six of his shows and the beauty of it is, of course, that every one of them is completely different.

So here he is at Edinburgh’s most iconic comedy venue, offering 90 minutes selected from all 12 of his Edinburgh shows and we figure, if anybody has earned the right to perform a ‘best of’ compilation it’s the UK’s most hardworking (and in many ways, most criminally underrated) stand up comedian. He strolls onto the tiny stage, dressed more casually than we’ve seen him in a long time and launches headlong into his infamous Ferraro Rocher routine and as each successive clip segues into the next, the time just flies by while we sit there helpless with laughter.

It’s not rocket science. Obviously if you pick out all the funniest bits from over twenty hours of material, you’re going to be left with real quality and that’s pretty much what we get tonight, the perfect mix of silly, rude and cerebral. He keeps his Christ On A Bike material for the end and I still think that asked to pick my all time favourite, it would be this show, a dazzling tour de force of wit and invention, coupled with an amazing feat of memory – but that’s not to demean the rest of it. Herring at his least effective can still knock spots off most of his peers.

If you’re still unfamiliar with his work, we would urge you to seek him out at your earliest opportunity. If you can’t make it to a live slot, don’t forget there’s a whole raft of podcasts out there from his Leicester Square Theatre interviews, through As It Occurs To Me, right down to his Me1 vs Me2 snooker games. It’s all easily accessible and he leaves it up to you to decide if you ‘d like to pay him for the privilege of enjoying it.

There are precious few comedians who can offer such high output and fewer still who can maintain this level of quality. The Best? Yeah, we’re happy to go with that.

5 stars

Philip Caveney & Susan Singfield

Prevenge

31/01/17

Prevenge belongs to Alice Lowe. She’s the writer, director and the star – and the resultant singularity of vision gives this film a rare clarity. Truly, it’s a pleasure to watch this darkly funny tale, even if there are moments of such gruesomeness that I have to hide my eyes.

Ruth is a young widow, pregnant and enraged. Spurred on (she believes) by her unborn baby, she embarks on a killing spree, murdering her victims with ruthless determination. They include odious 70s music DJ, Dan (Tom Davis), workaholic CEO, Ella (Kate Dickie), and likeable climbing instructor, Tom (Kayvan Novak). Interspersed with visits to the midwife, these homicidal incidents grow ever more violent, yet – despite her obvious moral deficiencies – we remain firmly on Ruth’s side. She’s not likeable exactly – and why should she be? But her humanity is writ large; she’s an ordinary woman, with the same flaws and over-reactions that affect all of us. She just takes things to extremes, that’s all.

Lowe uses the obviously low-budget to her advantage: the film has a claustrophobic feel as we’re stuck with Ruth in cheap hotel rooms, the corner of a bar, another victim’s living room. The episodic structure means that it’s essentially a series of two-handers, but this plays to the story, and helps to underline Ruth’s isolation. The only constant in her life is the midwife. It’s a tragedy, I suppose – but a very funny one.

This screening is part of a Q and A tour, so we have the added pleasure of hearing Lowe speak about her project. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and it’s fascinating to hear how the idea for the film emerged: “A funding opportunity came up, and I thought, ‘Oh, but I’m pregnant, so I can’t…’ And then I started to think about what I could do that would include my pregnancy.” Like all the best creative pieces, then, this is a mixture of talent, experience and happenstance. You won’t see another film quite like it. It’s well worth a visit to your local cinema.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Lucy Porter: Consequences

23/11/16

The Stand, Edinburgh

Lucy Porter’s Consequences is a slyly clever show. We’re beguiled in the first half by her friendly, chatty persona; it’s a conversational, observational three-quarters of an hour, consistently funny but never challenging, focusing on ageing, class status, and suburban family life. There are chocolates and there is port, given liberally to audience members who respond to her questions. There are some gentle comparisons between young and old (Philip is called upon to represent the old, but he’s not very good at it: he doesn’t – it transpires – even know what an A road is). There’s wit and warmth, and it’s easy to enjoy. And then there is the second half. And that’s very different.

Because the second half interrogates all that we have heard before. The consequences, so to speak. The acknowledgement that sixteen-year-old Lucy would likely launch a blistering attack on her forty-three-year-old future self, for selling out and not living up to all of her ideals. And then an endearingly honest self-examination: what does current Lucy think she needs to change? Her attitude to trans rights, for example, is analysed and found wanting, so she educates herself, talks to people who know more: older Lucy still wants to get it right, is still prepared to learn. Oh yeah, and she’s still funny. And charming. And far more demanding than that first half led us to believe. It’s a neat conceit, and beautifully done.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Edfest Bouquets 2016

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31/08/16

It’s been another amazing August for us at Bouquets & Brickbats. We’re exhausted after a month of non-stop theatre and comedy! We have seen some absolutely fantastic stuff, covering a huge range of ideas. Here’s our pick of the best we’ve seen at this year’s Fringe:

Drama Bouquets

Neontopia / Wales Millennium Centre – A Good Clean Heart by Alun Saunders
Aurora Nova – The Blind Date Project by Bojana Novakovic
Rainbow Class by Vivienne Acheampong
Gaggle Babble / National Theatre Wales – Wonderman by Daf James
Something for the Weekend – Royal Vauxhall by Desmond O’Connor

Monologue Bouquets

NJC Productions – The Way the City Ate the Stars by Will Greenway
George Dillon – Stunning the Punters (& Other Stories) by Berkoff, Sproat and Dostoevsky
Lorenzo Novani – Cracked Tiles by Lorenzo Novani
Impi Theatre Company – The South Afreakins by Robyn Paterson
Berk’s Nest – Vaudeville by Tom Neenan

Stand-up Comedy Bouquets

Bridget Christie – Mortal
Sarah Kendall – Shaken
Loyiso Gola – Dude, Where’s My Lion?
Garrett Millerick – The Dreams Stuff is Made Of
John Robertson – Arena Spectacular

‘Ones to Watch Out For’ Bouquets

Phosporos Theatre – Dear Home Office
Chris Dugdale – Full Circle
Flabbergast Theatre – Tatterdemalion
Teateri – Evil by Jesper Arin
Amy Howerska – Smashcat

Amy Howerska: Smashcat

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29/08/16

Gilded Balloon@The CountingHouse

Amy Howerska is on top form. It’s the final night of the Fringe, but she’s as lively and sparky as ever, and this is an excellent set. There’s less of a theme than last year’s Sasspot; but that doesn’t seem to matter. This year’s show is loosely based around the idea of growing up, of realising that behaviours that mark us out as funny and appealing when we’re young start to seem tragic as we get older.

She’s dressed as Freddie Mercury (from the I Want To Break Free video), complete with greasepaint moustache, and she totally manages to rock the look.

There’s a sense of scattershot about the show as Howerska hops nimbly from one idea to the next, from David Bowie’s Labyrinth, to her sister’s similarity to Nessa from Gavin and Stacey, but it all flows effortlessly and it’s laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end. Haverska has oodles of charisma and a self-confidence that’s really very appealing indeed.

As we make our way outside, fireworks are lighting up the sky to mark the end of the Fringe, but, we decide, Amy’s show was a better place to be.

4.2 stars

Susan Singfield

Sofie Hagen: Shimmer Shatter

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28/08/16

Liquid Rooms Annexe, Edinburgh

Last year, Sofie Hagen picked up the gong for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe, so you might have expected her to go for a bigger venue this time around – but no, she’s back on the Free Fringe at the Liquid Rooms again, and she’s at the door to greet us as we go in, a nice touch. Tonight is her last show of the festival, so she gives away a couple of tartan blankets, telling us that she won’t be needing them again.

She launches into her set. This year, it’s mostly about her difficult ‘friendship’ with her father, her problems with relationships, and her uncanny ability to suck the life out of any party she attends, mostly because her idea of small talk is to discuss the life of the serial killer, Ed Gein.

It’s interesting material, but Hagen’s real appeal is as a feminist icon, somebody who refuses to kowtow to the popular conceptions of what a woman ought to be. I find myself laughing along throughout the set and occasionally applauding when she makes a particularly telling point. All right, she might not yet have the power and pertinence of somebody like Sarah Kendall, but she’s still only young and has plenty of time to develop as a performer. Meanwhile, the quaintly titled Shimmer Shatter will do nicely.

As we leave, she’s at the door with the collection bucket and a box of badges, still smiling – and no doubt pleased to have made it through another three weeks of Festival madness in one piece.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Ed Gamble: Stampede

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23/08/16

Assembly Counting House, Edinburgh

Ed Gamble wishes to make it clear that his show is not all about cauliflower. Okay, so there is quite a bit of detail about how to make pizza by substituting the world’s blandest vegetable for the usual dough, but that’s not what this show is actually about. Not really. It’s just that, a few years ago, Ed was six stone heavier than he is now and nutrition and dieting have become a big part of his daily routine, so perhaps it’s inevitable then that cauliflower will rear its ugly head from time to time…

Gamble has an assured, confident delivery and he manages to keep the packed crowd at this afternoon’s show laughing pretty much constantly throughout it. There’s the occasional surreal notion (I particularly enjoyed the joke about a bulldog) and the fact that he’s constantly comparing his own success with his former classmates at school (one of whom just happens to be the singer from Mumford and Sons).

This may not be the most challenging comedy you’ll find on the Fringe, but it’s nonetheless cleverly put together and provides plenty of laughs on a drizzly Edinburgh afternoon, which is, after all, the name of the game.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Tony Law: A Law Undo His-elf What Welcome

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22/08/16

Assembly Hall, Edinburgh

The once hirsute Tony Law has undergone something of a change of image since I last saw him. His face is cleanly shaven and his comic shtick, which was always somewhat on the surreal side, now seems to have thundered headlong into a tunnel of utter weirdness. As he prances onto the stage, dressed in an odd-looking khaki uniform, lengths of black gaffa tape wound tightly around his abdomen, (because he confides, he is ‘newly fat’) I’m somewhat nonplussed; and then he starts to talk and I am left bewildered.

This manic stream-of-consciousness psychobabble, delivered in a multitude of comic accents, seems to have only the barest relationship with any kind of perceived reality. It’s all done with absolute assurance, but he never seems to pause for breath and the result is that it all feels a bit… relentless. No sooner have I got a handle on Tony’s time spent as a professional trampolinist, or his adventures as a cavalry officer, then he’s telling me about his chance encounter with a miniature moose with a glittering star for an eye. (Incidentally, anyone thinking that the title we’ve put up for this is a mistake – it isn’t.)

Make no mistake, this is the kind of comedy that polarises audiences. I’m aware that some people in the room are virtually doubled over with laughter, while others, like me, are looking on in bemused silence. I don’t mind surrealism, per se, but I do require the occasional lump of reality on which to tether the more absurd notions. Consequently, I have to confess that this show is really not for me. If you’re the kind of person who loves your humour to be as absurd as is humanly possible, this might well be your cup of haemoglobin.

But as they say in Dragon’s Den, sorry, I’m out.

2.6 stars

Philip Caveney

The Guilty Feminist with Sofie Hagen and Deborah Frances-White

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22/08/16

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Edinburgh

The Guilty Feminist is one of my favourite podcasts, and I enjoy being a member of the associated Facebook group, so I was very excited by the opportunity to see a live recording of the show.

Let’s be honest, though, a live recording of something that’s intended for another medium is rarely going to be a five star experience (sorry, Sofie! the podcast itself definitely merits the top rating, but the live show doesn’t… not quite). But this one certainly comes close.

The venue is packed out; the podcast’s popularity shows how well it chimes with the zeitgeist, and how appealing its non-preachy, inclusive approach to feminism is. And today’s topic, independence, is an interesting one, with special guest Mary Lynn Rajskub contributing some fascinating insights into a comic’s transient life.

In truth, all three women seem a little fringe-frazzled (Sofie complains of a hangover; Deborah, we learn, went to bed at 6am), but that’s only to be expected at this stage of an Edinburgh run. And the podcast is none the worse for it; their honest appraisals of how they feel and where they’re at are, in fact, what makes the programme so compelling. I’d like to hear more about Sofie’s mother and her “men leave; you have to learn to do it for yourself” philosophy, but there’s plenty here to hold my attention, and it’s as funny, challenging, emotional and demanding as regular listeners will have come to expect.

I wish I had the time to attend further recordings this week. I don’t. But I’m glad I’ve seen this one.

4.2 stars

Susan Singfield