Its August .... so it must be festival time.
Yes, once again we at PC towers have decamped to Edinburgh to enjoy the fringe festival ... oh, and drink a few beers with old friends. So, just
Sleeping Trees
'Comedy, meets theatre, meets jazz-fusion. Sleeping Trees disembowel western and gangster movies' ... the version we saw was a well crafted play on westerns which kept audience attention, and with much laughing. Lots of knowing nods to the genre.
Adam Riches is Coach Coach
A pastiche of American college basketball. .... The 'Queen Dome Centaurs' battle the 'Courtyard Lizards' in the show that just so happens to be the greatest frickin' sports movie you ever done saw, live on stage! .... after some discussion we settled on a 4 out of 5 score.
Moby Alpha
A space parody of the book Moby Dick by American comedy duo 'Charles'. ... Occasionally a little flat, but otherwise good enough, with some funny nods at sci-fi classics. The helmets got special mention and we want to know where to buy them.
Cabaret at Le Monde
A mishmash of acts .... very poor acts A fat ex Xfactor singer, a crude Aussie/Arab midget comedian, a crap magician who did two very slow tricks, and a novelty singer. The only reason this got as high a mark as two was that what pleasure there was to be gleaned from the meagre pickings, were spoilt by an audience which included a *drunken bunch of 'local girls' who mostly talked loudly throughout.
*This is a festival risk on Friday and Saturday nights in the more mainstream venues (such as nightclubs or hotels), when locals, who aren't really interested, 'do the fringe' but have no show etiquette or manners.
Winter is Coming. Again.
Winter is coming again is a parody on 'games of thrones' (sorry another show entirely). The ensemble have been going for a few years with this evolving act. Funny but not original anymore ... especially if you saw them a few years ago.
The Five-Thirty Cabaret at the Famous Spiegeltent.
The Famous Spiegeltent variety show that included a compare and four or five acts in one hour. .... the first couple of acts were the same as Cabaret Le Monde (eek!) but the compere was Lili la Scala, and the last two acts were a funny Scottish comedian (whose name escaped us) who performed an improvised singing act AND Piff the Magic Dragon . This last act was very, very funny and we will be watching out for him next year.
Jess Robinson: The Rise of Mighty Voice
... female singing impressionist and comedienne. Does what it says on the label, and does it very well. She is a real talent and probably deserves a TV audience. Apparently from a Jewish entertainment family, starting with her granddad, there is no disputing that she is a five star talent.
Murder, She Didn't Write
... improvised whodunnit ensemble play, based upon audience suggestions in that vein. Well performed by 'Degrees of Error' company, and reasonably funny. Obviously depends on the subject and suggestions as to whether it works.
Gabriel Bisset-Smith Tells the Most Original and Funny Joke in the Universe!
The sparsest attendance of any show we watched, but some promising material. Good use of digital technology which didn't mask the fact that there were some long pauses between laughs. But maybe a higher score with a bigger audience and some material tweaks .... but we score as we find on the night.
Ali Brice presents: Eric Meat Has No Proof, Only Memories of Pasta
Ali Bruce etc etc is a one man character show based upon the main character waking up and finding his girlfriend has gone. I suspect that this would have been a 3 star effort but for the lucky and very enthusiastic audience participation by a Mr Wolfgang Scheer from Germany. He was selected to take the part of 'Mr Tickles' (the detectives side-kick), and did so to very funny effect (as well as enjoying himself immensely). This performance was the catalyst for many in the audience also joining in, and derailed the script to the point that a new ending was contrived in order to not over-run the slot.
Shakespeare's Avengers Assembleth: Age of Oberon
Shakespeare is kidnapped by a crazed fairy king Oberon in an enchanted forest and his characters go to his rescue. ..... Promising idea but a bit windy, while short on jokes. It also doesn't help if one of the players apparently has a speech impediment which makes him almost incomprehensible to the 4th row.
Plague of Idiots
Yes, once again we at PC towers have decamped to Edinburgh to enjoy the fringe festival ... oh, and drink a few beers with old friends. So, just
Sleeping Trees
'Comedy, meets theatre, meets jazz-fusion. Sleeping Trees disembowel western and gangster movies' ... the version we saw was a well crafted play on westerns which kept audience attention, and with much laughing. Lots of knowing nods to the genre.
Adam Riches is Coach Coach
A pastiche of American college basketball. .... The 'Queen Dome Centaurs' battle the 'Courtyard Lizards' in the show that just so happens to be the greatest frickin' sports movie you ever done saw, live on stage! .... after some discussion we settled on a 4 out of 5 score.
Moby Alpha
A space parody of the book Moby Dick by American comedy duo 'Charles'. ... Occasionally a little flat, but otherwise good enough, with some funny nods at sci-fi classics. The helmets got special mention and we want to know where to buy them.
 |
| Moby Alpha With Custom-built LED Space Helmets |
Cabaret at Le Monde
A mishmash of acts .... very poor acts A fat ex Xfactor singer, a crude Aussie/Arab midget comedian, a crap magician who did two very slow tricks, and a novelty singer. The only reason this got as high a mark as two was that what pleasure there was to be gleaned from the meagre pickings, were spoilt by an audience which included a *drunken bunch of 'local girls' who mostly talked loudly throughout.
*This is a festival risk on Friday and Saturday nights in the more mainstream venues (such as nightclubs or hotels), when locals, who aren't really interested, 'do the fringe' but have no show etiquette or manners.
Winter is Coming. Again.
Winter is coming again is a parody on 'games of thrones' (sorry another show entirely). The ensemble have been going for a few years with this evolving act. Funny but not original anymore ... especially if you saw them a few years ago.
The Five-Thirty Cabaret at the Famous Spiegeltent.
The Famous Spiegeltent variety show that included a compare and four or five acts in one hour. .... the first couple of acts were the same as Cabaret Le Monde (eek!) but the compere was Lili la Scala, and the last two acts were a funny Scottish comedian (whose name escaped us) who performed an improvised singing act AND Piff the Magic Dragon . This last act was very, very funny and we will be watching out for him next year.
Jess Robinson: The Rise of Mighty Voice
... female singing impressionist and comedienne. Does what it says on the label, and does it very well. She is a real talent and probably deserves a TV audience. Apparently from a Jewish entertainment family, starting with her granddad, there is no disputing that she is a five star talent.
 |
| Jess Robinson - Mighty Voice. 5 Star Talent |
Murder, She Didn't Write
... improvised whodunnit ensemble play, based upon audience suggestions in that vein. Well performed by 'Degrees of Error' company, and reasonably funny. Obviously depends on the subject and suggestions as to whether it works.
Gabriel Bisset-Smith Tells the Most Original and Funny Joke in the Universe!
The sparsest attendance of any show we watched, but some promising material. Good use of digital technology which didn't mask the fact that there were some long pauses between laughs. But maybe a higher score with a bigger audience and some material tweaks .... but we score as we find on the night.
Ali Brice presents: Eric Meat Has No Proof, Only Memories of Pasta
Ali Bruce etc etc is a one man character show based upon the main character waking up and finding his girlfriend has gone. I suspect that this would have been a 3 star effort but for the lucky and very enthusiastic audience participation by a Mr Wolfgang Scheer from Germany. He was selected to take the part of 'Mr Tickles' (the detectives side-kick), and did so to very funny effect (as well as enjoying himself immensely). This performance was the catalyst for many in the audience also joining in, and derailed the script to the point that a new ending was contrived in order to not over-run the slot.
Shakespeare's Avengers Assembleth: Age of Oberon
Shakespeare is kidnapped by a crazed fairy king Oberon in an enchanted forest and his characters go to his rescue. ..... Promising idea but a bit windy, while short on jokes. It also doesn't help if one of the players apparently has a speech impediment which makes him almost incomprehensible to the 4th row.
Plague of Idiots
Ensemble piece ... Some Gaulier-trained clowns from France, Italy, England and Australia. There was a very slow start. Silent mime is not a good starter chaps (and single chapette), but improved in latter stages, when there was more laughs. Script order and timing needs working on. However sufficient promise for a three from us.
And that was it .... no picture posts as nothing new to see on the streets. A good time was had by all
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed, or even just thanks if you enjoyed the post. But please make any comment relevant to the post it appears under. Off topic comments will be blocked or removed.
Moderation is on for older posts to stop spamming and comments that are off topic or inappropriate from being posted .... comments are reviewed within 48 hours. I don't block normal comments that are on topic and not inappropriate. Vexatious comments that may cause upset to other commentators, or that are attempting to espouse a particular wider political view, are reviewed before acceptance. But a certain amount of debate around a post topic is accepted, as long as it remains generally on topic and is not an attempt to become sounding board for some other cause.
Final decision on all comments is held by the blog author and is final.
Comments are always monitored for bad or abusive language, and or illegal statements i.e. overtly racist or sexist content. Spam is not tolerated and is removed.
Commentaires ne sont surveillés que pour le mauvais ou abusif langue ou déclarations illégales ie contenu ouvertement raciste ou sexiste. Spam ne est pas toléré et est éliminé.