Sunday, 21 August 2011

Edinburgh Fringe 2011

Yes, its that time again, when all at PC Towers head north of Hadrian's Wall to attend the "Edinburgh Fringe Festival". Regular followers of this thread will be aware that this annual visit to the City of Edinburgh, always results in one blog on the acts seen, and the general feel of the event.

So without further ado, here are the acts seen by us, listed under our stars of recommendation:




  • Edinburgh Bloody Edinburgh - Davytheghost (comedian, storyteller, historian and published author): Suffered from having only four people in the crowd on the night. Only 35 mins material and a guided walk which wasn't an attractive option on a rainy night.   

  • The Axis of Awesome -  Australia's kings of comedy rock: Very professional, but act too similar to a few years ago, and they could do with a re-invention of jokes and material to go back to five stars.  
  • Matt Forde: Dishonourable Member - ex New Labour political intern, does comedy: Funny and not too PC Labourish (he even "hugged his inner Tory" after the riots), but may be a one trick pony.
  • Mythbunking - Dr Glen Eusebius and Professor John Porcupig, from the ancient society known as The MythMasons: Good act, but like Matt Forde may be an act that stays the same each year. 
  • Tom Bell Begins - A spoof Hollywood-style life story: Very good, got a lot of laughs, and looks to have a real chance to become a star of the festivals, although we assume he wants TV to take a look.  
  • Olver: Portrait of a Serial Killer - Mark Olver kills clowns "Actual violence guaranteed": Old style comic pro, who gives off an aura of jaded been there, seen it, done it .... 16+ show which some numpty took his three children to! Was warned what was to come, refused to take the hint and then sat there grim faced at adult content. Olver added a fake telephone call from social services to the end of the show, in which he said he had no idea why someone would take their young children to an adult themed show ... cue cheers from crowd. 
  • Frisky and Mannish - Pop Centre Plus - Wanna be a pop star? Think you got what it takes? Let our pop picker impresarios show you just how easy (or hard) it is - Audience participation included.   

Worst show (in our opinion):

 "Steve Pretty's Perfect Mixtape" - possibly about twenty minutes worth of humorous material, forcibly stretched to last one hour - could do with watching 'Tom Bell Begins' to see how to create a comic narrative thread.  

Best Show (in our opinion):

"Frisky and Mannish" - Pop Centre Plus: Superb comedy musical duo: Very polished act who got a standing ovation from the crowd. 


 
You can see video performances of what makes the Fringe Buzz on their website here:

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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous21 August 2011 at 20:54

    Hadn't thought of you as a fan of of my old home town. Especially the Ed-Fringe ... A bit lefty Bohemian isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. No PC21 August 2011 at 21:12

    Hi anonymous poster .... I have had to edit your comment and re-post. I have mentioned before that if you want to post that's fine, but it is not good comment etiquette to use a blogger name on an anonymous blogs, especially while hiding behind an anonymous entry yourself (if you want a conversation email me).

    Actually, I lived in Edinburgh for 6 years .... and 'culture' was around long before Marx exploited the wealthy, but hard working Engels, charitable nature by leaching money off him, in order to write about other people being exploited by the wealthy.

    Bohemians don't have to be leftie, although these days it tends to be the case that comedians and thespians who aspire to Bohmian status are also 'lefties'.

    If you search this blog you will find many entries to the fringe since the blog started.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Eileen (Bristol)6 September 2011 at 13:13

    Just got back from the fringe last week and saw your comments about Frisky and Mannish. Couldn't agree more with you, but thought I would add that the venue worked against them in the 'E4 UdderBelly'.

    The noise from the crowd outside the tented venue was every loud (and quite intrusive)

    https://www.underbelly.co.uk/edinburgh

    Be warned that if you go to see them next year and they are in this venue, it can be very distracting during the quieter parts of the shoe.

    ReplyDelete

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