Culch.ie’s Edinburgh representatives uses his time off to see Dead Cat Bounce, Matinee, Shane Lagan, Jarlath Regan and Newsrevue before getting back to work.
The fringe doesn’t start in my opinion until someone hands you a flyer walking down the royal mile and says come see my show. Therefore as of today it has started! Flyering is the most popular and often only means of advertising for shows. With something like 2500 performances a day and an average audience of 7 means that a lot of shows go without viewers at some point. From working on a show here I know how hard it is to stand in the elements and try convince people you are worthy of their money when there are so many other options. So try to be nice to those that make the effort.
The fringe did indeed start today as I was lucky enough to get most of the day off and its preview day today so I headed out.
The great thing about unplanned time off is that you can go see something you never would have considered normally. Matinee is an Israeli show on in Pleasance Dome that I caught on Wednesday. The premise is that they perform classic movies though physical theatre. So we got to see short frantic sketches of typical super hero, detectives, horror and kung fu movies. 5 actors perform all the parts, sets, props and sound effects as they convey these classics to the audience. It is a fun filled hour with the only draw back being that as they are such typical movie genres the sketches prove to be a little predictable save for some fun twists here and there. The horror scene also ends in slightly cheesy circumstances but that doesn’t take away from the great effort. The choreography is excellent and moving and timing so precise that it is easy to see how it was a hit a various festivals around the world. Well worth the money for a midday
break.
Dead Cat Bounce simply are the best comedic act out there at the moment. An incredible eclectic mix of comedic songs are complimented with some of the most fantastic sketches. This review doesn’t really need to go on. They are amazing. DO NOT MISS THEM
The other great thing about unplanned time during the festival means that you can bump into friends. Hello to the betrayal of penguins crew! More about them soon.
I first came across Shane Langan in Edinburgh a few years ago with diet of worms and his new show I have seen bits of at the no pricks shows and comedy carnival. Today its preview days so its understandable to be a few technical hiccups! Shane’s writing keeps the audience engaged throughout however, with warnings of vicious vengeful pets and visitors in the night. A different kind of stand up show, its really good.
A great thing about seeing shows this early in the festival is that if you can catch them again you can see how they evolve over 3 weeks. An intriguing experiment if you can do it. I managed it for Jarlath Regan last year and I’m here to do it again. Jarlath is often the guy outside the Gilded Balloon politely asking if you can spare a few mins for a chat and some comedy. I reckon his approach, contrasting to the sometimes forceful flyers, is one of the main reasons he gets such a great crowd on a slow Wednesday. I have often said Jarlath is the nicest comic out there. His skill in leading the audience from story to story is brilliant and what seams like just a chat among friends is still fantastically funny. A genuine guy for which there is no excuse not to see.
Its Newsrevue’s 30th anniversary however I have yet to get to see them in that time which is why I was particularly excited last Wednesday. This is a more traditional musical sketch comedy show revolving around whatever is going on in the news. Politics, swine flu and terrorism were the topics of the day. Given the anniversary nature there was also some flashbacks to sketches of old. A great show if a little traditional. Ill make sure its not another 30 years before I get to see it!
One Man Lord of the Rings
Seeing one man perform any trilogy of films in an hour is certainly worth the ticket price. When that person is Charlie Ross that makes the experience all the better. A veteran of this type of show from his One Man Star Wars Ross performs the entire 3 films, 6 DVDs (it’s the special edition you see!) in 60 mins. Incredibly well voiced and precisely and energetically choreographed the shows takes you through every man instance in the films. Sprinkled with occasional comedic comments about the movies it is true to say that you would get more satisfaction from the show if you know the films well. However as this writer did a passing familiarity gives you enough to appreciate the quality of the performance.
Meanwhile back at the Traverse, its been a slow enough week with get in and technical rehearsals happening! The sweat as they say begins on Thursday with Trav 2, the smaller venue previewing. The crew will for the first time put 5 shows together in one day. Then on Saturday when Trav 1 enters rotation the fun really starts 10 change overs a day.
