#edfest2016

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 25: Go big, or go home...

Having set aside Sunday as a much needed day of rest (to recover from August), this was to be my last day at the Fringe. So I thought I may as well do it properly! First up...

1 Woman, a Dwarf Planet and 2 Cox: Samantha Baines, 11.45am (extra show) @ Pleasance Courtyard

I’d seen Samantha Baines before as part of ‘2 Girls, 1 Cup of Comedy’, she was quite charmingly funny then, so I’d earmarked this show early on.

Heavy on the story-telling, with a more than a small dose of feminism, but light on the laughs. That said, it’s hard not to like her. If anything, her likability is probably what got her through the hour unscathed.

The show has a message (girls can do science stuff too - in case anyone was wondering), which I’m not against, but in the end it was more of a TED Talk than stand up. Which again, I’m not against, but would rather know that’s what I was letting myself in for.

A sold out show throughout the Fringe might be an indication that people think otherwise, but it could also be because she’s on the telly, which seems to help ticket sales no end. Hopefully she’ll be back next year with some new material and preferably some jokes.

A brisk walk from The Pleasance down to the new town took us to...

Lost Voice Guy: Disability for Dunces Volume Two, 1.15pm @ The Stand 5

I had read about this show and was intrigued, I imagine being a stand-up comedian is difficult enough, let alone when you can’t speak.

Lost Voice Guy (also known as Lee Ridley) didn’t disappoint. An honest account of some of the ridiculous situations he’d been in, as well as answering questions he’d been asked regarding his disability, all done in an amusing and quite brutal manner.

You could tell a tremendous amount of thought had been put into the material and preparation, which paid off.

Lost Voice Guy is a very funny guy.

After some refuelling we were on our way back to the old town for...

Susie Youssef – Check Youssef Before You Wreck Youssef, 5.15pm @ Assembly George Square

When I read that Susie Yousseff had been off to Chicago honing her skills in the same way Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did, I knew I had to check out her debut.

Immensely likeable, charismatic, funny, and an excellent story teller. She did some sketches, assumed a couple of different personas, told some jokes, and mixed it all together with some personal stories which drew the biggest laughs.

When she says she loves what she does, and thanks you for being there and allowing her to do it, it seems to come from a very genuine place - which made it all the more enjoyable.

Laughs throughout, and a properly hilarious finale. We loved the show.

Hopefully she’ll be back next year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s moved onto bigger and better things before next August.

Mild exhaustion setting in...we hauled ourselves along to the Pleasance for the next show which was...

Larry Dean: Farcissist, 7.15pm @ Pleasance Courtyard

I have now seen Larry Dean at the Fringe the last three years running. The first year he was part of AAA Stand Up, and I thought he was an excellent stand-up comedian. The second time, I thought he was funny but desperately needed some new material. This year...I’m wondering how he’s still managing to sell out shows and win awards by peddling the same old tired jokes.

Straight from the Kevin Bridges school of ‘ham up your accent, everything will sound funnier’, he’s still making jokes at his own expense and opening the show with a big reveal that isn’t really a surprise anymore.

He has a tried and tested style and way of telling a story, but it all feels a bit unoriginal. Not quite Billy Connolly, not quite Kevin Bridges, but a hybrid of all the comedians he’s trying to desperately to be.

I can honestly say I didn’t laugh at all...I smiled a few times, but only because he looked directly at me and I panicked he’d lock on and engage with me if I didn’t.

If you were seeing him for the first time, you probably thought it was great, and I wouldn’t blame you. But, there are much sharper comedians with better material at the Fringe.

I don’t think I’ll see him a fourth time.

A quick skip downstairs to the Cellar for...

Loren O'Brien: Who? 8.30pm @ Pleasance Courtyard

We’d never heard of Loren O’Brien, but the time and location suited us perfectly. Why not?

I can sometimes struggle with American comedians, because they seem to get unnerved by quieter audiences (a bit like Ever Mainard earlier in the Fringe), and there’s always a worry the humour or references won’t translate well for a U.K audience. About 15 minutes into this stand-up show, I thought it was going to be painful, she even stopped to ask why no one laughed at something that she had just said, and insisted it was funny. Ouch.

She settled in though, and eventually the humour shone through. A couple of jokes ran dangerously close to the bone but she carried it off.

I think once both myself and the rest of the audience started to get her, the laughs came a lot more easily and she ended strongly.

Decent bit of stand-up, and I’d probably buy a ticket again.

Lastly...

Randy Writes a Novel, 10.05pm @ Underbelly Topside

So to describe this; it’s a puppet, who’s going to rant at you for an hour.

Doesn’t sound nearly as good as it was. Under the pretence of wanting to read us a chapter of his book, Randy the puppet distracted himself by giving us his thoughts on some of the big questions in life.

The guy under the table was quick witted to say the least, and handled a particularly irritating heckler (who heckles a puppet?!) with ease and a decent couple of take downs.

Even though I was knackered by this point he held my attention throughout, and it was nice to see something a bit different. 

The puppetry was done so well I actually found myself forgetting that it wasn’t in fact real, and panicked whenever I thought he was making eye contact (after a Fringe spent avoiding having to interact with performers).

Good effort, and a great show to finish on.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 24 (Part 2): Royal Vauxhall

What could be funnier than that one time Princess Diana went out clubbing with Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett? Probably nothing, so I had to check it out...22.10pm @ Underbelly Med Quad

I’m still unsure if this is based on truth or not (Wikipedia says it is, so it must be?), but I didn’t care all that much because even if it isn’t, it’s a nice idea. 

I’ll start with the positives...the cast were all talented, they could sing, and sing well. It was also sad...but in a kind of good way, a nostalgic way. That’s about it.

The songs were on the whole, pretty forgettable. There were even some Queen songs in there which should have saved it, but they had been tweaked so heavily they were barely recognisable. As for comedy...there really wasn’t that much of it at all, I’d have expected more from a show featuring a character who was a comedian.

It probably has a lot of mileage this story, but I think the play only grazed the surface of what could have been a brilliant retelling of what seems like it would have been a crackin’ night out.

By the end, I really did want to break free (can’t help myself). I don’t think Freddies review would be all that flattering, either.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 24 (Part 1): Joe Stilgoe - Songs on Film

Another show picked on the basis of not being my usual choice of show, off we went to see Joe Stilgoe plinkety-plonk on his piano... 8.20pm @ Assembly Checkpoint

In my head, I was going to hate this...just a guy and his piano, doing boring versions of songs I love from the movies. It wasn’t like this at all...Joe Stilgoe, as it turns out, is quite a charismatic guy, can carry a tune, and had a band with him.

What followed were highly entertaining, jazzed up versions of very recognisable hits...from Mary Poppins, to Pulp Fiction, with a detour via Jaws and Star Wars.

I wouldn’t have classed myself as a jazz fan either, but was mesmerised by the musicians ability to make noises with their mouths that sounded like instruments, and stomp their way through the classics.

Would sit through another hour of that in a heartbeat.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 22 (Part 2): Oh My Dad, Christ on a Bike

This had been sitting in my favourites list for the entirety of the Fringe, and last night, it finally made top billing…9.10pm @ Voodoo Rooms

I didn’t really know what to expect from this, in fact you could say my expectations were low. It’s probably important to say that, because I left thinking it was up there with my favourites so far, possibly even top three.

A mixture of tongue in cheek comedy, sing along hits, and satire - this is what the Fringe is about. Something a bit different, that will get you talking and keep you entertained for an hour.

‘Jesus Loreal’ as he calls himself, was magnetic. At first, I thought he might have verged on irritating, but he won the audience over with relative ease. The humour was controversial, as he described the backstory of the son of God, but they carried it off well through the hour (and even got the audience on their feet for a particularly hilarious song and dance routine) - it was hard to wipe the smile off my face.

Funny, good tunes, and all round entertaining - only a few days left, but if you can see anything else before the end of the Fringe, I’d highly recommend this.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 22 (Part 1): Jo Caulfield - Pretending to Care

Our first pick was cancelled, so we managed to grab a couple of tickets to see this at short notice...7.50pm @ The Stand 5 & 6.

I recognised Jo Caulfield in her poster, but I’m pretty sure I had never seen any of her stand-up routines before. Quite the shame really, she was amazing.

Hands down the best stand-up we’ve witnessed at the Fringe so far, effortless, properly hilarious observational comedy - focusing on just about everything that probably bugs you on a daily basis without you realising it. Just the right amount of controversial for my taste as well, close to the bone without breaking it.

Given the frequency and impact of her punchlines, I think this is the best value comedy you’ll find in Edinburgh right now - tenner a ticket.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 21: Topical Storm

“Radical stand-up and chat, from Scotland’s top satirical comics”, and also close enough to work to allow me get there in time...5.20pm @ The Stand Comedy Club 5 & 6

Needed something in this time slot before heading home, and this popped up in the search. Sounded decent and I recognised a couple of the names from the flyer...so off I went. My first show flying solo wasn’t nearly as daunting as I thought it would be, thanks to another audience member choosing to sit dangerously close even though the room was half empty.

Casual panel style, four comics chatted through some of the major news events of the last year. The obvious topics were covered...Trump, Brexit, Independence, etc...the funniest moments were when they wandered off topic, however. The odd video clip was shown, but it wasn’t anything you wouldn’t have seen before on just about every Facebook newsfeed (yes, Donald Trump did ask a woman with a crying baby to leave while he gave a speech, and yes, his wife did say almost exactly the same as Michelle Obama in her speech).

Fairly funny, if a little lazy when it came to drawing the big laughs. The standout for me was Mark Nelson, who seemed to find something witty about almost everything, so I’ll probably go see his show too.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 20: Viv Groskop - Be More Margo

I used to quite enjoy re-runs of ‘The Good Life’, and I do love a good chin wag about Britishness and snobbery…which led me to this show, 5.55pm @ The Stand

It drew quite the crowd…even in work attire I felt like a commoner who had stumbled into Waitrose with my Lidl ‘bag for life’, trying to pay for some Loyd Grossman sauce with loose change.

My own fault really for misreading the situation, I thought this would be more along the lines of laughing at the self-promoting middle class, as opposed to the kind of tongue in cheek “oh aren’t we funny?” fest that this turned out to be.

Viv opened the show mentioning a particularly bad review she’d gotten, which stated she wasn’t a stand up comedian. It’s a fair comment to make I’d say, because she’s not, and it showed. A few of her little stories raised a smile from me but not much more, although you wouldn’t have known she hadn’t cracked a joke because of all the guffawing and “Oh that’s just like us!” that was going on down the front.

I wasn’t bored, because she managed to come across fairly likeable. The issue I suppose is that I don’t really know what this is, it’s definitely not stand-up, maybe more of a social commentary with a likeable, slightly posh journalist at the helm?

It’s not a question that needs answered so badly that I’d recommend anyone parting with cash to go decide for themselves. Have a look at the ‘Overheard in Waitrose’ Facebook page and you’ll have saved yourself eight quid.

[paulaonthefringe]

Day 19 (Part 2): Helen Duff - Come with Me

Recommended by a friend, and with a fairly unusual premise, we were off to see Helen Duff perform, 5.45pm @ Pleasance That

Her style is probably best described as awkward, but not in a way that transferred any awkwardness to the crowd - despite the subject matter, which in many cases might evoke that feeling anyway.

I sometimes felt as though I was laughing at just how awkward and unusual the whole thing was, as she spoke about surveys she’d done, and interacted with audience members to ask questions that generally go unasked.

About 50 minutes in, I started to think this had been oversold to me. Then, the climax the show had been building to started to unfold, and I laughed pretty much non-stop for five minutes. I left feeling like I’d just witness something genuinely hilarious.

She did say she wanted to achieve the ‘sexiest climax of the festival’…and I think she might have just managed it.

It’s worth the effort, go see it.