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March 28, 2024, 12:37:30 PM

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Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Started by JCR, March 03, 2022, 02:22:22 PM

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Crabwalk

Saw Colin Hoult's Anna Mann show last night too. Really funny and ultimately pretty poignant, but she done a crowd work on me which was a nightmare. Not his/her fault, just me going into full self-conscious mode

Brundle-Fly

Colin Hoult should be far more recognised than he is. A real comic talent.

Crabwalk

Ricky Gervais seems to rate him...

Brundle-Fly

Quote from: Crabwalk on August 06, 2022, 03:49:05 PMRicky Gervais seems to rate him...

For all the flack RG gets on CaB, he does always surround himself with great people and gives them a chance to shine.

Malcy

Quote from: Twilkes on August 05, 2022, 06:59:32 AMNot seen them yet, but I went through the children's section for the day we'll be there and will be booking tickets for Chores and Dragons & Mythical beasts, the puppets in that one look spectacular. Other candidates were Brotipo and Carnival Of The Animals but they would just be more of the same. There were a few kids comedy shows in the programme but it feels a bit sparse compared to pre-Covid.

Thank you, will have a look at these.


Frank Wank

I saw Tim Key last night. Just a wonderful response to lockdown. The madness of it all plays so well with TK's act. And he bullied me for not talking properly. Brilliant.

CaledonianGonzo

Lara Ricote
More to come tomorrow - but she's an immediate fucking comedy superstar and if you want to see her in anything that's not an arena you should go go go right now.

WestHill

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on August 06, 2022, 06:13:16 PMLara Ricote
More to come tomorrow - but she's an immediate fucking comedy superstar and if you want to see her in anything that's not an arena you should go go go right now.

Trying to work out if I can see her at the Hive at 3:20 then hoof it round to the Monkey Barrel studio for Chris Cantrill at 4:20.

CaledonianGonzo

No offence to Chris Cantrill but in imho he can do one.

Crabwalk

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on August 06, 2022, 06:13:16 PMLara Ricote
More to come tomorrow - but she's an immediate fucking comedy superstar and if you want to see her in anything that's not an arena you should go go go right now.

Sold.

DrGreggles

3-4pm is booked up all week, but I'll see if I arrive early enough to squeeze her in.

ProvanFan

Quote from: Crabwalk on August 06, 2022, 03:36:51 PMThe Police Cops show is fantastic. I saw it last night and I can GUARANTEE you'll have a good time. It's an expanded version of their first show with added cast, songs and scenes.

Best new addition: the orphans.

Yes indeed that was excellent. Relentless stuff.

kitsofan34

#223
Day 2.

Catherine Bohart.
This Isn't For You.
** 1/2 out of 5.

No it isn't for me, you're absolutely right. Bohart has clearly honed this show over the last few years into a tight hour and she performs it with upmost confidence.

But I find the breakup stuff a little boring now, and the style of humour just didn't appeal to me.


Kiri Pritchard-McLean.
Home Truths.
*** 3/4 out of 5.

First twenty, twenty five minutes or so I had tingles. I'd never watched Kiri before so was in awe at her star power.

The first half of the show is bawdy material delivered well, only to pivot quite severely into talking about the hardships of the Welsh language. Now I'm a English loathing Welsh person, I'm dandy, but it felt like the crowd weren't that invested.

She seemed to be able to mix in more gags into the white supremacy material, which helped sneak in the veggies to the audience, so to speak.

An incredibly engaging performer. Also got another free badge. Sat front row.


Patti Harrison.
** out of 5.
Oh dear. It started well and I was thinking to myself, clouded by the cab slating, well this isn't so bad. And then the dirge like info dumps started.

When Patti decides to put gags into her show, they often work perfectly well. The issue is the large proportion of her show that not only doesn't have any laughs in it, but makes no attempt to.

A very half arsed show, reeking of arrogance. She was also late on, which seems to be the case whenever I need to get to another show. I was mortified to do so, despite my feelings about the show, but I actually had to leave (as many did throughout the hour) as her final song began.


Jordan Brookes.
This Is Just What Happens.
*** 3/4 out of 5.

I got there with two minutes to spare, having sprinted through the streets, courtesy of our old pal Pat.

This is a really interesting show. Brookes is someone I'm growing fonder of every show I see him. I really liked the idea of him trying to repress his more out there tendancies as a performer, engaging in polite crowd work that goes nowhere. Sadly this idea does not get developed at all, he instead themes the show around quite the weak premise of being called a "slimeball".

It has a poor finish and is one of Jordan's weaker shows, conceptually. However there's a lot of very solid gags throughout the hour and I think Jordan's one of those acts I'll always make an effort to go see.


Celebrities I saw.
Hugh Davies. KLANG.
Sunil Patel. KLANG.
Stuart Goldsmith. KLANG.
John Robins.

I've not been to the fringe for seven years now but these Patti Harrison reviews are making me want to jump on a train.

It feels like it might go down in CaB folklore, like CaledonianGonzo's mate's Hawaiian shirt at a Liam Williams show.

edwardfog

+1 on Lara Ricote. Already came up in the standup thread but her preview at ARG was one of the best things I've seen all year

Blue Jam

Anyone checking out Sheeps on their limited run? Never seen them. before but I want to see Liam Williams while I have the chance.

Definitely going to check out Police Cops as well. Badass Be Thy Name was gloriously stupid.

WestHill

Sheeps are normally joyously daft with lots of big laughs.

They're not on while I'm up this year but would def be on my 'must' list.

Quote from: Blue Jam on August 07, 2022, 04:12:13 PMAnyone checking out Sheeps on their limited run? Never seen them. before but I want to see Liam Williams while I have the chance.


I'll be seeing them next weekend, really enjoyed their last run in 2018 (?). Quite meta without being self indulgent as I recall.

Can't tell you how dispiriting these Patti Harrison reviews are. Was the show I was most looking forward to. Couple of friends have a spare ticket at the same time to see Mark Watson, considering whether to bail on PH. @CaledonianGonzo @kitsofan34 is she really not worth seeing at all?

kitsofan34

Edwardfog really enjoyed it, Bob. There are aspects of her performance to like. It just felt quite lazy to me.

Would second the Sheeps recommendation, Blue Jam. Verging on 4 star show territory.

up_the_hampipe

I'm somewhat relieved to hear that others had such problems with Patti Harrison's show. I put a review in the general live stand-up thread and the response I received, plus other glowing comments on social media, made me wonder if I'd missed something. That said, it seemed like a show that would find more of a home with the Edinburgh crowd.

kitsofan34

Day 3.

Lauren Pattinson: It Is What It Is.
** 1/2 out of 5.

The venue stank of crisps.

The Monkey Barrel 1 curse continues apace.

I'm not sure the "anecdotes from my life" (aka the most popular and prevalent form of stand up) style of comedy is for me.

Anna Morris: Kid-Life Crisis (Work in Progress).
** out of 5.

Maybe less is more. Maybe 23 shows is too much.

Anna had a sort of sweary radio 4 vibe. She has a relatively interesting tale to tell about her experiences with Motherhood and the conflicts within trying to become a Mother, but very light on laughs.

Crybabies: Bagbeard.
*** out of 5.

A nice little palate cleanser.

A fun, cheap stage show. The small crowd were raucous and really loved it.

Not to sound like too much of the cunt, but the clientele slightly put me off. Not sure how to articulate it but they came across like Harry Potter fans.

Sophie Duker: Hag.
** 3/4 out of 5.

Baby's first Fringe slump.

Unlike most people, I assume, I have no experience of Duker and haven't seen her on Taskmaster, though she has been seemingly following me around the streets of Edinburgh.

Duker has a measured, almost poetic style, dripping in confidence. Light on laughs but it had a more intelligent structural core than most of these kind of shows I've seen so far.

No lazy callback as the show closer, more a series of snapshots of a life, building and working together to explain who Duker really is.

Tom Walker: Javelin.
**** 1/4 out of 5.

Before the show, a compilation of all time great javelin throws played on the screen. Just a nice little detail innit?

A jittery, gangly performance. Like spending an hour with someone on coke. But enjoyable.

His "Weeping Angels" gimmick is really great, especially great to see the whole crowd on board with it.

If you scratch under the dumb (compliment) surface, there's a message in there about carrying on against life's fundamental pointlessness.

As we walked out of the sweaty shipping container, Walker stood on a pile of wobbly slats, warning us all to stay safe and look out for weirdos.

Loved it. The slump is over.

Mat Ewins: Danger Money.
**** 1/4 out of 5.

Someone from cab recommended this in the thread, but even after purchasing, the poster put me right off.

How wrong was I.

I'm aware it says more about me than the show, but it is like nothing I've seen before.

It's a demented 45 minutes, technologically impressive even though the material is so moronic.

I loved the videos he'd made, I'm intrigued to learn more about him now.

Wholly unique, innovative and perfect for its timeslot. A fantastic end to the penultimate night.


Today I will be going to see Tony Law, Jessica Fostekew (Monkey Barrel 1 😬), Chloe Petts and Julia Masli. Have a great day at the Fringe, everyone.

CaledonianGonzo

Stewart Lee - Basic Lee (WIP)
Reliably good fun, but - even though I've seen him dozens of time now - I was still generally unsure as to whether the audience baiting in this show is scripted or genuine and he really was expecting more laughter in the room.  Would be interested to hear from anyone who was there on the Friday morning.  But working on the assumption that everything in this show was written in advance it's not quite as 'Basic'as promised but is typically tricksy and performed in inverted commas throughout.  If some of the targets seem a bit old hat - Mock The Week again? - maybe that itself is the point.

The Delightful Sausage - Nowt But Sea
I saw these guys 4 years back and it didn't really work for me - and then I had a ticket for Ginster's Paradise but for one reason or another I wound up not going.  But this year it finally clicked and I thought this was an absolute hoot.  The writing was a lot stronger this time around with a raft of good ideas and strong jokes throughout.  Likewise the interplay and ad-libbing between the leads now lets the audience in on the joke, creating a vibrant, joyous atmosphere in the room - quite a feat for so early in the day.  The final video post-script is a cracker.

CaledonianGonzo

Lara Ricote - GRL/LATNX/DEF
If this debut show does nothing new per se in terms of content - typical introductory hour with a setting out of her stall as a comedian and a potted autobiography - the delivery and finished article was anything but standard.  If I wanted to be hyper-critical I'd say the final routine doesn't quite hang together and conclude the show in an almighty wallop, but she's such a natural-born, perfect comedian that I dunno if I've ever seen a debut hour at the fringe quite this good.  So she doesn't rip up the rule-book, but the show itself is of such ridiculously high standard that it scarcely matters.  As noted above, she won't be playing shows this small for much longer and if she's not shortlisted or the outright winner of the Best Newcomer then I'll be a monkey's uncle. Wow.

(it's in the small room at the Hive which is on two levels, so get there early so as not to be at the back on the platform, with what I assume is a pretty terrible view)

kitsofan34

Stewart Lee is my favourite comedian but is he ever ever ever going to stop doing this "the crowd aren't on it that deserved higher laughs" thing? It's old hat.

the science eel

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on August 08, 2022, 10:31:29 AMLara Ricote - GRL/LATNX/DEF
If this debut show does nothing new per se in terms of content - typical introductory hour with a setting out of her stall as a comedian and a potted autobiography - the delivery and finished article was anything but standard.  If I wanted to be hyper-critical I'd say the final routine doesn't quite hang together and conclude the show in an almighty wallop, but she's such a natural-born, perfect comedian that I dunno if I've ever seen a debut hour at the fringe quite this good.  So she doesn't rip up the rule-book, but the show itself is of such ridiculously high standard that it scarcely matters.  As noted above, she won't be playing shows this small for much longer and if she's not shortlisted or the outright winner of the Best Newcomer then I'll be a monkey's uncle. Wow.

(it's in the small room at the Hive which is on two levels, so get there early so as not to be at the back on the platform, with what I assume is a pretty terrible view)

Alright. Booked for Wednesday.

the science eel

Quote from: kitsofan34 on August 08, 2022, 10:40:30 AMStewart Lee is my favourite comedian but is he ever ever ever going to stop doing this "the crowd aren't on it that deserved higher laughs" thing? It's old hat.

Frankie Howerd built a career on it.

CaledonianGonzo

Quote from: kitsofan34 on August 08, 2022, 10:40:30 AMStewart Lee is my favourite comedian but is he ever ever ever going to stop doing this "the crowd aren't on it that deserved higher laughs" thing? It's old hat.

Spoiler alert
This WIP is partly concerned with his inability to write new material (more for reasons of time / covid than due to lack of inspiration) and reuses two of his routines from the late 1980s to bookend the show,  albeit rewritten and made very meta in very typical Lee fashion .  So (I assume) very deliberate here and steeped to the eyeballs in irony.
[close]

Just had a look at The Stand's lineup and it's pretty thin this year. Seems like a lot of the acts you'd expect to see there are at the Monkey Barrel instead.

Is there a story there at all? Is the Stand being left behind now there's a decent competitor?

CaledonianGonzo

Stand 3 and 4 aren't operating this year, whereas Monkey Barrel are operating 8 rooms - so that'll certainly affect the balance.

As a resident the city seems to be able to support both venues year round, so it's a positive