A Final Day Fringe Selection

Camille Claudel (Theatre) ****

Oliver Reed: Wild Thing (Theatre) ****

Bad Musical (Comedy) ****

Celia Pacquola – Delayed (Comedy) ****

On this the final day of the Fringe and having completed my reviewing schedule a few days ago, on something of a whim, I shed my reviewer’s lanyard and bought a bundle of tickets, some from the Half Price Hut.

I began at the Pleasance Courtyard with Gael Le Cornec’s portrayal of artist and model Camille Claudel – a beautiful and moving performance capturing the mood of the Parisian art world during the final years of the 19th century.

Then, it was off to the Gilded Balloon for the remainder of the day. Rob Crouch as Oliver Reed is spot on as the hard drinking, charismatic actor. The next two shows have been fully reviewed elsewhere on this site. Bad Musical is a delightfully silly and very funny send up of Musicals. Finally, Celia Pacquola is a comedienne whom I have seen before and I thoroughly enjoy her style of warm ‘feel good’, conversational humour.

Four contrasting shows to round off a most enjoyable Fringe.

Reviewed by Ben

News at Kate 2012 – Kate Smurthwaite

4 Star

**** 

Kate Smurthwaite is an atheist leftie feminist comedian, but that is no reason why she should not be taken seriously. In spite of a venue with a Mussolini quote on the wall, hardly conducive to her show, she regularly attracts a mixed gender crowd, and one of all ages too.

And so she should. She is opinionated but in a good way, and is an engaging personality and an eloquent speaker, it is little wonder that she is much in demand in the media for opinions and discussions.

Don’t expect an all out assault on men, far from it she is just a passionate performer who has no problem in dealing with those she sees as villains be they Daily Mail writers, politicians both British and American, radio presenters or even her mother-in-law, but none of these make the nomination of villain of the show.

It is however totally ‘safe’ to sit in the front row of her shows, even if you work in the financial sector, or even a PR in the defence industry. Any argument she may have is with others not in the room.

Reviewed by Geoff

Ciao Roma

Until 25 August

20-20 to 21-20

Andrew J Lederer – Cold Comfort

4 Star

**** 

I have known Andrew J Lederer for a number of years now and have always admired him as a performer. He is not a flash performer, he is an honest to goodness journeyman, but the New York City born guy always gives himself a mountain to climb. And no more than this year.

Cold Comfort is just one of three shows that he is performing this year, more than enough for most, but just three months ago he underwent massive surgery so how does this man cope?

He does however and in his own inimitable style, tells the story of this traumatic event, his trademark style of mesmerising prose as always to the fore. Even with the Fringe drawing to its conclusion and the audience numbers not so high, this charismatic performer entertains for his full hour making light of the very serious situation he found himself in by weaving in funny material throughout.

I feel he should get some recognition for the hard yards he has put in over the years for little reward. He really is what the Fringe should really be about.

Reviewed by Geoff

The Royal Mile Tavern

Until 25 August

17-00 to 18-00

This Audio Tour Belongs to Lionel Richie

****

This audio tour takes about forty-five minutes, and has a simple circular route, with, in the main, good directions (I only got lost once). Narrated by Barry Ferns in a lovely calming tone (nice contrast to the madness you wander through) and interspersed with conversations with various comedians reminiscing about their fringe experiences, it’s a brilliant way to fill in a gap between shows – or get to know a bit of Edinburgh.

I did find myself a little…lost, standing in the middle of a street, listening to a story, wondering where I was going next. But there are lots of people doing that at the Fringe. I did, however, really enjoy the different tasks and suggestions along the way, even if I didn’t do all of them. My especial favourite was the review wall.

This tour is just long enough, and full of silly entertaining humour. Lovely.

Reviewed by Laura

Free audio download from www .thisbelongstolionelrichie.co.uk

 

 

 

Elis James – Speaking as a Mother

4 Star

**** 

Eis James is definitely on the move as a comic in what is his 4^th solo Edinburgh show, really(?) and the sell-out signs for this strangely entitled show in a port-a-cabin are very much in evidence. His style is long form story telling, but he is thinking of changing as he wants to buy a house!!

Although in his early thirties he hasn’t grown up, and although living with his partner refuses to do so,

His material is well constructed and funny, he tells stories against himself last years show interruptions by Glasgow Rangers stag night, being dissed on a train by two girls, being mugged in Cardiff and his cash conscious father are a few examples, but in truth there are a full hours worth of good material.

It is a sure bet that James’s career is definitely on the up. Already numerous TV appearances have raised his profile and I’m sure next year the trend will continue. I would be really surprised to see him in a port-a-cabin next year!!

Reviewed by Geoff

Pleasance Baby Grand

Until 27 August

19-00 to 20-00

Nish Kumar – Who is Nish Kumar?

4 Star

****

Nish Kumar was a new name to nearly all of the near capacity audience at the performance I witnessed but once seen I’m sure most will not forget him.

Kumar hails from Croydon and is a Brit of Indian origins.

There is a myriad of different subjects that make up his set list, a list that majors on his earlier life, the family relationships including a cinema visit with his father particularly amusing and the issues including racism he encountered in his earlier life, illustrated with a couple of hilarious anecdotes that brought the house down.

Kumar is an engaging comic, often self deprecating in style, and a self confessed Buffy The Vampire Slayer addict who is totally frightened of women has a no gimmick style but an all inclusive appeal, an appeal that will see him doing rather well in the future I’m sure.

In what is his debut Fringe solo show Kumar runs through a list of rejected show titles, mostly clever puns as is the vogue, and I feel he will certainly need one or most for the next few years as I reckon he will be a feature for the foreseeable future.

Reviewed by Geoff

Underbelly Daisy

Until 27 August

20-20 to 21-20

David Trent – Spontaneous Comedian.

3 Star

***

If ever there was a misnomer of a show title to describe the content then his has to be up with the best.

Spontaneous is certainly not a word that can be applied without irony to this tech heavy comic, PowerPointed to the gunnels and screens liberally strewn around the hot Pleasance Attic, liberal use of Youtube style clips to illustrate points are also there along the way.

But Trent, a school teacher by day job, has the comedy world really talking about him and has been achieving a lot of industry praise along the way. He has also been nominated in the Best Newcomer category for the Fosters comedy award in 2012.

His late night show is well attended the night I saw him and I have to say the reaction from them was patchy. Some stuff they really went with, other segments less so. I felt myself that much of the time the repetition of some of his footage was overdone, the call-backs used too often and impact lost in the process, but there was some genuinely funny and different stuff in there too. It is obvious that he is going places, and I look forward to seeing how he progresses. Could we have a new star in the comedy firmament?  Time will tell.

Reviewed by Geoff

Pleasance Attic

Until 27 August

22-45 to 23-45

McNeil and Pamphilon

3 Star

***

Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon are male sketch comedy duo  who have been around for a year or two now and obviously are confident in their approach to this medium.

Unlike a lot of their genre they do not over burden themselves with props, of course there are the odd one or two in evidence naturally, but they rely on their comedic skills to see them through.

Opening with a song and some banter these ‘down with the kids’ duo do a pre decimal sketch, which kinda hit a note with us older members. Followed by a routine of how they live their lives out with Edinburgh, nice gentle stuff, but setting the parameters of Sam the funny wacky one and Steve the safe boring one, and mutual points scoring ensues.

The pace of the show never faltered, and they delivered some unusual material, a lot of the better stuff involving ‘The Machine.’

Now while there was a lot of pretty decent content, I felt the guys sort of fell between stools at times, with comedy songs, and quasi stand up included in their 55 minutes.

I am sure these guys will never be short of work however and look to see their next offering with interest.

Reviewed by Geoff

Pleasance Baby Grand

Until 27 August

16-30 to 17-25

Activism is Fun

****

This is not standard political comedy, where politicians are lampooned for ill-thought and highly publicised remarks or generally-disliked policies are picked over in finer detail. This is activism for beginners: learn about a subject, question it and get involved. Through a series of stories about his own and others’ experiences in various instances of activism, Chris Coltrane shows that politics doesn’t have to be boring, and is often quite funny.

He is, unashamedly, a tory-basher, and this would be my one criticism: not enough awareness of alternative viewpoints. But it’s a comedy show, not a political science essay, so it doesn’t matter. He also makes unashamedly political points: in equal parts attempting to entertain and to energise. You might not agree with some of his politics or the methods he supports, and you might even wonder if he is as guilty of selective information provision as the politicians. But he will definitely make you think, and as he points out, at least those stunts got people talking.

Chris is an engaging character, and if politics had more like him, we might be a bit more interested. If the show piques your interest, he’s got a beginner’s factsheet you can have at the end.

Reviewed by Laura

PBH’s Free Fringe @ The Globe

until 25 Aug, 14:15

Coalition

4 Star

****

The concept of politics and comedy can be a successful one as a number of explorations have taken place over the years and in this new production by Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky all the players are established comics.

Set in 2014, Deputy PM Lib-Dem leader Matt Cooper played by Thom Tuck, is struggling to keep his party together with the threat of defections failure to be able to talk to PM and has additional family problems.

He has to contend with Tory Minister Sir Francis Whitford, Phill Jupitus , plays the role with panache, meddling in his affairs, Chief Whip Angela Honrby, Jo Caulfield, true Lib-Dem minister Geoffrey Webb, Alistair Barrie, whose principals are an issue with Cooper, also his protégé Eddie Frackowiak, Phil Mulryne is growing up and the poor put upon Claudia Hood his special Advisor played by Jessica Reagan is getting exasperated with the situation.

Over the 90 minutes running time the comedy values exhibited do not disguise the messages. There are some glorious lines, exceptional performances and even the cameo role of PM Richard Macintosh, Simon Evans, who only appears at the end highlight the almost contempt that the junior partner are held in.

A thoroughly entertaining production, one that is selling vast numbers of tickets also so you better be quick

Reviewed by Geoff

Pleasance Queen Dome

Until 26 August

14-00 to 15-30