Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2019

[DrGreggles]

Hayley Ellis:
Hayley is always funny, with fantastic one-liners.
Far better than 90% of the other female comedians at the Fringe, but with hardly any coverage.
PWYW at a Just the Tonic venue that I'd never heard of before, just up from the Pleasance Courtyard. Nice room actually. Leg room, air con and decent beer in the bar.
Go see her, she's great.

[WestHill]

Fuck, Catherine Cohen has sold out her run.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Goes for most folk with decent word of mouth - Sophie Duker, London Hughes, etc.

[DrGreggles]

Goes for most folk with decent word of mouth - Sophie Duker, London Hughes, etc.

Hmm... That's interesting.
Last couple of nights there was a bloke in Bristo Square with a handful of tickets offering me a freebie to her show, yet it's appearing on the 'sold out' board for the rest of the festival.
If I were a conspiracy theorist...

[CaledonianGonzo]

Sold out on the app too, and the word is good....

[Small Man Big Horse]

Hmm... That's interesting.
Last couple of nights there was a bloke in Bristo Square with a handful of tickets offering me a freebie to her show, yet it's appearing on the 'sold out' board for the rest of the festival.
If I were a conspiracy theorist...

Maybe he just fancies you.

[DrGreggles]

Maybe he just fancies you.

He must be a tit man.

[DrGreggles]

Sold out on the app too, and the word is good....

The word was "shit", according to the one person I know who has seen her.

[DrGreggles]

I can't be arsed to check back to see who it was who was on stage for the Spencer Jones finale, but I think they were in the worst possible place to enjoy it.
Just nearly did myself "a disservice" by laughing too hard at it.

[DrGreggles]

I can't be arsed to check back to see who it was who was on stage for the Spencer Jones finale, but I think they were in the worst possible place to enjoy it.
Just nearly did myself "a disservice" by laughing too hard at it.

45 minutes later, and whatever those muscles are called are still hurting.
Where there's blame there's a claim!

[machotrouts]

I can't be arsed to check back to see who it was who was on stage for the Spencer Jones finale, but I think they were in the worst possible place to enjoy it.

It was me what did I miss. Was it just me wearing a bum. Or did a sign descend from the ceiling that said "LOOK AT THESE CUNTS WEARING BUMS"

[machotrouts]

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2019 SHOWS I'VE SEEN SO FAR PART 6


Mat Ewins: Actually Can I Have Eight Tickets Please?. I can't be arsed to check back to see who it was who said "very much more of the same if you saw last year's show" but I didn't see last year's show so this is very much a new and exciting thing to me! A man with a big video screen presenting a series of brief sketches, usually with CGI and other effects trickery. Clever and loads of fun.

This is a petty criticism, given the nature of the show, but – I find Ewins himself, the physical flesh presence standing next to the screen, very difficult to engage with. Something about the way he talks and carries himself just smells a bit, I don't know, BBC Three? I think it's mainly the way he keeps saying "fuckin' 'ell". It's a classic bad comedian tic, isn't it. Fuckin' 'ell. Still, he's clearly talented, so I shouldn't be mean about him. Just keep my eyes on the screen. That's the half of the stage where he keeps his talent and I've no problems there.


Ed and Joz's Deleted Scenes. The nichest concept for a Fringe show I've seen, the premise of this is Ed Aczel and Joz Norris are performing and telling us about concepts and ideas that didn't make it into their short films – the most popular of which has 842 views on YouTube. (The others aren't even on YouTube. They're on Vimeo.)

On the Ed-Joz spectrum, this feels most like an Ed Aczel take on sketch comedy – there are roughly 3 sketches, and they're all deliberately poorly conceived. Joz just seems happy to be part of it. I was happy to witness it. I'm not sure what the other 5 or so people in the audience thought.


Edward Aczel - Artficial Intellect. Anti-comedy legend I only learned about when trying to find something similar to Mark Silcox. Stern, disengaged, and lacking in material, which is precisely what I came for. Quote on his poster calls him a "deadpan dynamo", though he deviates a little from that description in ways that seem to wrongfoot his audience – he flimsily attempts a sort of laddish audience banter (I note that he says "fuckin' 'ell" a lot) and he does laugh – just abruptly, aggressively, and at largely inappropriate times. He's a very good bad comedian.

(By the way, I see Mark Silcox is performing his "I Can Cure" show again this year, this time listed as "I Can Cure (with Subtext)". What does that mean? Is it different? Should I go back?)


Madame Señorita: Espousa. 20 minutes after Edward Aczel in the same room. Maybe it makes sense to hardcore clowning aficionados. She's probably talented at whatever it is she's doing. But this is the slowest thing I've seen at the Fringe since I was a kid when my mum accidentally took me to a naked butoh show. This was too low-energy for me 20 minutes after Edward Aczel in the same room.

I just searched her on Twitter, and Joz Norris is raving about her, so by all means trust his judgement over mine. Josh Glanc was sat next to me in the audience, and he laughed generously and encouragingly to start with – usually the only one in the audience – but seemed to have lost faith with the rest of us by the end.


Josh Glanc: Glance You for Having Me. I had the foresight to take this picture of a beer on the floor, ensnared in Glanc's mic wire, because I had a bad feeling I'd get to take an "after" shot. It was like this for several minutes, trembling every time Glanc tugged on the mic – I couldn't concentrate on the show. I probably should have reached over and moved it, but I feared the pitfalls of that more – what if the beer man didn't understand why I was picking up his beer and confronted me about it? We're front and centre! I'm quiet and meek! I'm in no position to clarify my actions! Finally, Glanc noticed, discreetly unlooped the wire from around the cup, and carried on.

Okay so the show. Josh Glanc performs as a cabaret singer, though the singing is usually in service of some silly punchline or other. Intermittently very funny. At one point, he reaches under a chair at the front for a prop he left there ahead of time and... oh.

What's sad is Glanc kept apologising to the beer guy, who never replied "no, it's my fucking fault for taking a drink into a show, something that venues should clearly have banned us all from doing long ago." Fuck drinks in shows and cunts who take drinks in shows. "Hmm, this beer will be an obstacle that makes everyone within a 10-metre radius of me tense and uncomfortable... but how can I be expected to go an hour without the opportunity to sip myself 2% drunker?" Intervention now.


Jamie Loftus: Boss, Whom Is Girl. Los Angeles comedian performing a keynote speech in character as deranged Silicon Valley girlboss/war criminal Shell Gasoline-Sandwich in a surreal satire of woke capitalism and shallow rich white yas-queen Fight Song #StillWithHer feminism. The title of the show is very Weird Twitter Username and that sets the tone pretty well (at one point, she got a big laugh of recognition from her audience by referencing a @dril tweet). I think she's great and surely there's a few people on here who'd enjoy this.

The man next to me fell asleep halfway through (it's not for everyone) and spilled his beer in my lap. ＦＵＣＫ ＤＲＩＮＫＳ ＩＮ ＳＨＯＷＳ ＡＮＤ ＣＵＮＴＳ ＷＨＯ ＴＡＫＥ ＤＲＩＮＫＳ ＩＮ ＳＨＯＷＳ ＡＮＤ ＶＥＮＵＥＳ ＴＨＡＴ ＬＥＴ ＣＵＮＴＳ ＴＡＫＥ ＤＲＩＮＫＳ ＩＮ ＳＨＯＷＳ. If it wasn't for capitalism, venues would rightly ban people from taking drinks in shows, not encourage them for profit. I am radicalised! Jamie Loftus new Marx confirmed!


John-Luke Roberts: Terrible Wonderful Adaptations. John-Luke Roberts' secondary Fringe show, in which he and a presumably rotating cast of comedians attempt to adapt unadaptable texts – in the case of the show I went to, Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation. Most of the people I'm seeing at the Fringe are new to me. John-Luke Roberts I already saw last year. But I didn't really know who Susan Sontag was, so. Might be missing some of the nuances here. Think she's someone gays are supposed to know, too. Fucked it machotrouts. I do think John-Luke Roberts speaking portentously in a New York accent and long black wig is funny regardless.

Guests included Julia Masli of whatever 'Legs' is, who I don't remember what she did just that I was confounded and intrigued by it, Alice Fraser doing what I think sounded like a normal standup routine but that John-Luke Roberts assured us was actually quite relevant to the text, Marcel Lucont making Josh Glanc mime some abstract words and phrases, Eleanor Morton I don't remember her, Andrew O'Neill making an audience member ring a bell while reading something but I don't remember what, Rob Kemp apparently but I don't remember that, someone I've put down in my notes as "Josie Mitchell" but I can't find any proof she exists (I think she was funny?), and drag queen Crystal Rasmussen adapting "Notes on 'Camp'" by erecting a tent (making John-Luke Roberts break character to laugh). I don't think I made enough notes to flesh this out. Several things happened... many of them were funny. Nobody can match the insight of Fringe reviewer machotrouts.


John-Luke Roberts: After Me Comes the Flood (But in French) drip splosh splash drip BLUBBP BLUBBP BLUBBPBLUBBPBLUBBP!!. John-Luke Roberts' primary Fringe show. This time, his absurd prop-based comedy comes with only one prop – a big wall of all the punchlines he'll use during the show behind him. It's a great device, because there are so many they can't meaningfully spoil anything, and every joke in the show has the potential to be a satisfying callback, depending on how much attention you're paying. He sometimes receives criticism, from people who like but can't love him, for not being loose and anarchic enough. I specifically love the tight, mechanical nature of his comedy. Immaculate, nailed down, bulletproof. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Also...

Trivia: along with Nick Everritt, this is the second show I saw in one day to derive comedy from the performer fucking up the timing of the joke "knock knock" "who's there?" "interrupting cow". I don't think I'd ever even heard this joke prior to this day. This Fringe we are fucking STICKING it to the interrupting cow.

...this is the third show I've seen do this.

[machotrouts]

Because I don't want to leave it till the end on the off-chance my opinion has any influence on anybody anywhere, I'm going to start keeping a rolling top 32 shows. I have seen 76 shows, so this is the top 42.1%! They're all good! I haven't posted about all of them yet because there is not enough time to see lots of Fringe shows AND reflect on lots of Fringe shows AND sleep, but I'll get to them.

THE MACHOTROUTS TOP 32 SO FAR

1.   Jordan Brookes: I've Got Nothing
2.   Courtney Pauroso: Gutterplum
3.   Tom Walker: Very Very
4.   Jamie Loftus: Boss, Whom is Girl
5.   John-Luke Roberts: After Me Comes the Flood (But in French) drip splosh splash drip BLUBBP BLUBBP BLUBBPBLUBBPBLUBBP!!
6.   Leo Mohr: When I Was Zorro
7.   Lucy Pearman: Baggage
8.   Sean Morley: Soon I Will Be Dead and My Bones Will Be Free to Wreak Havoc Upon the Earth Once More
9.   The Glang Show
10.   Ian Smith: Half-Life
11.   Ian Lane – Paperweight
12.   Nick Everritt: The Deconstruction
13.   Zoë Coombs Marr: Bossy Bottom
14.   Phil Ellis: Au Revoir
15.   Glenn Moore: Love Don't Live Here Glenny Moore
16.   Joz Norris Is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad.
17.   Adam Riches: The Beakington Town Hall Murders
18.   Andy Barr: The Ruby
19.   Zach Zimmerman: Clean Comedy
20.   Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind
21.   Moon: We Cannot Get Out
22.   Mat Ewins: Actually Can I Have Eight Tickets Please?
23.   Police Cops: Police Cops in Space
24.   John Robins: Hot Shame
25.   Johnny White Really-Really: Unending Torment!
26.   Paul Foot: Baby Strikes Back!
27.   Rhys Nicholson – Nice Things Nice People Nice Situations
28.   Tom Little – Chronically Underachieving Loser and Wasteman
29.   Edward Aczel – Artificial Intellect
30.   Josh Glanc: Glanc You for Having Me
31.   Heidi Regan: Heidi Kills Time
32.   Fern Brady: Power and Chaos

Exciting fact: just remembered I've actually seen 81 shows, but haven't added the last 5 to the ranking yet. One of them will be a new #1 but I'll save that for another post. What will it be ooooh. Triple post machotrouts you cunt.

[CaledonianGonzo]

In short:

Kitson Stand - Compromised by him wearing jeans on a hot afternoon.

Lee WIP - Good but no big change-ups to his late period style / content.

Gutterplum - Add me to the dissenters who think this is low stakes and lacking in oomph.

Luke Rollason - Fun but a bit thrown together and lacking the structure and real cartwheels in imagination of his recent forebears.   Not sure that the effort he puts in is quite commensurate to the number of genuine laughs.

Mace - Maybe his most serious show?  Fewer giant set-piece and games.  Maybe more balanced, maybe a bit less hilarious.

Munnery - His most focussed, enjoyable show in years with less reworked material than I was expecting.

John Kearns - Tries to do in stand up what Alan Moore did in Jerusalem and just as easy to wade through.

Garry Starr - MOR Gauliere with a heavy hand and unambitious audience immersion.  Jeff Lynne to Dr Brown's Macca.  Probably good Saturday night fun for granny.

Kitson Summerhall - In a much more finished state than expected, but as noted above you need to be sober to keep a handle on the timelines.

[DrGreggles]

It was me what did I miss. Was it just me wearing a bum. Or did a sign descend from the ceiling that said "LOOK AT THESE CUNTS WEARING BUMS"

I just don't think you could have been able to see how funny it looked. The 'drummer' yesterday kept turning to us every time we laughed at him, which obviously made us laugh more.

[DrGreggles]

Because I don't want to leave it till the end on the off-chance my opinion has any influence on anybody anywhere, I'm going to start keeping a rolling top 32 shows. I have seen 76 shows, so this is the top 42.1%! They're all good! I haven't posted about all of them yet because there is not enough time to see lots of Fringe shows AND reflect on lots of Fringe shows AND sleep, but I'll get to them.

THE MACHOTROUTS TOP 32 SO FAR

1.   Jordan Brookes: I've Got Nothing
2.   Courtney Pauroso: Gutterplum
3.   Tom Walker: Very Very
4.   Jamie Loftus: Boss, Whom is Girl
5.   John-Luke Roberts: After Me Comes the Flood (But in French) drip splosh splash drip BLUBBP BLUBBP BLUBBPBLUBBPBLUBBP!!
6.   Leo Mohr: When I Was Zorro
7.   Lucy Pearman: Baggage
8.   Sean Morley: Soon I Will Be Dead and My Bones Will Be Free to Wreak Havoc Upon the Earth Once More
9.   The Glang Show
10.   Ian Smith: Half-Life
11.   Ian Lane – Paperweight
12.   Nick Everritt: The Deconstruction
13.   Zoë Coombs Marr: Bossy Bottom
14.   Phil Ellis: Au Revoir
15.   Glenn Moore: Love Don't Live Here Glenny Moore
16.   Joz Norris Is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad.
17.   Adam Riches: The Beakington Town Hall Murders
18.   Andy Barr: The Ruby
19.   Zach Zimmerman: Clean Comedy
20.   Spencer Jones: The Things We Leave Behind
21.   Moon: We Cannot Get Out
22.   Mat Ewins: Actually Can I Have Eight Tickets Please?
23.   Police Cops: Police Cops in Space
24.   John Robins: Hot Shame
25.   Johnny White Really-Really: Unending Torment!
26.   Paul Foot: Baby Strikes Back!
27.   Rhys Nicholson – Nice Things Nice People Nice Situations
28.   Tom Little – Chronically Underachieving Loser and Wasteman
29.   Edward Aczel – Artificial Intellect
30.   Josh Glanc: Glanc You for Having Me
31.   Heidi Regan: Heidi Kills Time
32.   Fern Brady: Power and Chaos

Exciting fact: just remembered I've actually seen 81 shows, but haven't added the last 5 to the ranking yet. One of them will be a new #1 but I'll save that for another post. What will it be ooooh. Triple post machotrouts you cunt.

Good going, sir!
I'll have done exactly 50 by the end of the today, but that'll be me done. Fucking exhausted.

[BritishHobo]

Has anyone seen Sam Nicoresti's UFO yet?

[WestHill]

Planning on going tomorrow (I'm heading up to Edinburgh tomorrow morning).

[DrGreggles]

Has anyone seen Sam Nicoresti's UFO yet?

Hopefully going tonight.

[JCR]

Michael Brunström Expert silliness, very much a typical Heroes show. It doesn't need to be an hour long, but it's great fun & the Dragonfly is a very nice venue.

Titania McGrath In fairness, as a performance by an actress reading a script, her performance was solid, but the script wasn't there and it was so very dull. I did laugh at a segment where she recreates the two minutes hate from 1984. I actually think Lee Nelson has ruined that room (Pleasance Above) for me, saw him in there years ago, he was just so, so over with his crowd, they roared with laughter at everything he said, to the point it made it special. Titania is sadly no Lee Nelson.

Kitson Summerhall Very solid of course but I think it unlikely this play will amount to much beyond this fringe.

[BritishHobo]

Planning on going tomorrow (I'm heading up to Edinburgh tomorrow morning).

Hopefully going tonight.

Shows how fucking patient I am, doesn't it

[Small Man Big Horse]

Michael Brunström Expert silliness, very much a typical Heroes show. It doesn't need to be an hour long, but it's great fun & the Dragonfly is a very nice venue.

I'm pleased to hear you liked it, I saw an early preview back in April and thought it was a huge amount of fun.

For those who have seen Stewart Lee, is he still doing the "dividing the audience in to two sections, claiming that one part don't get it" thing? I've been bought tickets to see him in December but almost dread him doing that shtick now.

[hummingofevil]

I'm pleased to hear you liked it, I saw an early preview back in April and thought it was a huge amount of fun.

For those who have seen Stewart Lee, is he still doing the "dividing the audience in to two sections, claiming that one part don't get it" thing? I've been bought tickets to see him in December but almost dread him doing that shtick now.

He does it but aimed at the whole room. When he plays The New Town Theatre he complains that the audience is not the smart comedy nerds that see him in The Stand. It is over quick enough and still gets a laugh.

---

Great effort Macho! I did 50 shows last year in a week and that was good going. Can't afford to stay longer this year but would certainly be taking in a few of your recommendations. Cheers.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

He does it but aimed at the whole room. When he plays The New Town Theatre he complains that the audience is not the smart comedy nerds that see him in The Stand. It is over quick enough and still gets a laugh.

Good to know I guess! Was already tired of it when I went to see that room with a stew show in 2015. Was sat right in the back upstairs so maybe that made it even worse and i'm being too sensitive haha but it was already a trying night sat behind two "attention everyone I REALLY get this" types

Some of the comments in this thread have got me pretty hopeful I'll like this WIP considering how little I enjoyed Content Provider. Looking forward to this Oxide Ghosts double bill, assuming he doesn't keel over in the next month the way people are talking !

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

Alright lads, here's my itinerary (i'm going to all of them, the vast majority are me +5, a handful of others are me solo, or me and a couple of people):


3-6 "KITSON" slot is re: hummingofevil and Slempike's suggestion of when to start queuing to get in.  Much appreciation to machotrouts also, for the excellent reviews.

Any decent LATE LATE or early afternoon shows to add?  The prime time 5-10ish slots are basically gone, but if there's amazing stuff that starts 12PMish or ends 12AMish, I'm all ears.

[hummingofevil]

Luke Rollason and Delightful Sausage both have 12midday shows. Colt Cabana is 11pm start this year so you can squeeze one in (by worth buying tickets if there are loads of you as was sold out). Demi Lardner and Tom Walker is on after that in same room. I think on Sunday night Monkey Barrel 1 has late show till 2am. It was shit but in a good way. Can have a drink and pop out to loo or smoke easily so it's nice and relaxed.

Also Sean Morley is in The Hives at 15:20 and ran short so you could easily do that then Olga Koch. In fact you could do Ben Target at 14:00 then Sean Morley then run around to Monkey Barrel for OK. I would probably buy tickets as stuff is busy.

On 21st you could squeeze Tony Law and Phil Nichol on before John Kearns.

[CaledonianGonzo]

1.   Jordan Brookes: I've Got Nothing

Yup. This is the best show I've seen so far by a light year. A classic.

[Quisby]

Alan Parker - good start to the day. Think I enjoyed it more than the last few Munnery shows.

Daniel Kitson - he only has a couple of half-formed bits and the rest is just arsing around with the audience but its joyous in its hilarity and immediacy. I think I prefer him doing this than when he's got everything locked down.

Stewart Chubby Lee - Unlike Kitson and the WIP* I saw for Content Provider this seemed pretty much already there in terms of content and structure. He did a couple of things that he laughed at and said he'd just thought of and would put in the show (a friend who'd been a few days before said he didn't remember him doing those bits so maybe he is still improvising and adding). Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the whole show next year.

*WIP meaning Work In Progress, not Women In Prison.

Jordan Brookes - I'd been up since 7am and was pretty knackered by this point so maybe just my state of mind but I struggled with this - its definitely smart and playful and surprising but it failed to make me laugh much. There's something about his persona that leaves me cold. But I realise I'm in the minority here and I might well have a different opinion if I hadn't been so tired and spoiled by the excellence of Munnery, Kitson and Lee.

That's my festival done due to potential jury service/lack of money/lack of work. Jealous of all you doing it properly and checking out new shows and gambling on possible failures. I am living vicariously through you all and look forward to more reviews.

[CaledonianGonzo]

Titania McGrath In fairness, as a performance by an actress reading a script, her performance was solid, but the script wasn't there and it was so very dull. I did laugh at a segment where she recreates the two minutes hate from 1984. I actually think Lee Nelson has ruined that room (Pleasance Above) for me, saw him in there years ago, he was just so, so over with his crowd, they roared with laughter at everything he said, to the point it made it special. Titania is sadly no Lee Nelson.

Alan Parker has been doing the same piss take of over-earnest lefties for 30 years, been doing it better and hasn't had a smidgen of the press. 

[Small Man Big Horse]

Jordan Brookes - I'd been up since 7am and was pretty knackered by this point so maybe just my state of mind but I struggled with this - its definitely smart and playful and surprising but it failed to make me laugh much. There's something about his persona that leaves me cold. But I realise I'm in the minority here and I might well have a different opinion if I hadn't been so tired and spoiled by the excellence of Munnery, Kitson and Lee.

I'm a big fan of Jordan's and really enjoyed his first three shows but I was a bit disappointed by "I've Got Nothing". I mean it made me laugh a lot, but it just didn't seem quite as sharp as his previous work to me.