COMEDY PREVIE‘.'-i’
Ross Noble
Hair and flare-obsessed Geordie yarn-spinner
At this year’s T in the Park, Ross Noble nearly got himself arrested. Having had to put up with a distinctly lukewarm crowd (no doubt due to the rain, the beer and the prospect of Travis) in the Café Club Tent, the genial Geordie opted for a very different kind of audience participation.
'The dynamics weren't right to engage people in the subtleties of my material,’ he recalls. ‘I decided to get a moshpit going down the front and I forget what happened exactly, but eventually I had the audience on the stage and me standing in front singing "The Final Countdown". Then, they started jumping into the moshpit which was essentially me and I suppose that's sort of wrong. But then the police and security turned up and they weren't very happy; apparently, you're not meant to have 100 people on your stage. I tried to pass them off as chorus girls but they wouldn't believe me.’
Which is odd because Noble’s prize gift is in having onlookers
eating out of his hand and swallowing his words whole. This ability to spin yarns longer and trippier than the brown flares he donned for last year’s Perrier- nominated show, has seen him surge to the top of the comedy pile at the astonishingly tender age of 23.
And then there’s the hair. As much a comedy prop as Groucho's moustache or Ken Dodd's teeth or Jeremy Beadle's hand, Noble's bonce has been in a virtually annual state of alteration since he began pleasing crowds eight years ago. 'Somebody once described my blonde one as a cross between Gandalf and Michael Bolton; that really annoyed me because it was more like Whitesnake,’ he recalls. 'I get bored very easily and have to change it all the time. I've had what a mate called the Hispanic gas station Elvis look; then there was the Carter USM look and even a sort of skinhead,
THEATRE PRE‘.r"lE‘.".’
Rhino Drum
Multi-media wildlife tale
August in Edinburgh and everywhere from the castle grounds to y0ur granny's backroom suddenly metamorphoses into a festival venue. One of the more exoting prospects is Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh's Dome, only cheaper,'interesting and running at a profit.
In keeping With that venue's theme of ecological evolution, Rhino Drum combines music, performance, puppetry and multi-media to depict the chequered history of Africa's Wildlife in conflict With modern CiVilisation, The show addresses the possibility of reconCiIiation between man and nature and was conceived as part of the Save The Rhino campaign by director/puppeteer William Todd
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'I tried to pass them off as chorus girls but they wouldn't believe me'
Jones, who walked across the Sahara dressed as a rhino to raise awareness. ’Todd' played the robot in Lost In Space, worked With the Jim Henson Creature Shop and has now seen this show grow from a community prOJect to a spectacle of Lion King proportions With costumes designed by cartoonist Gerald Scarfe,
’It's getting bigger and better all the time,' enthuses Todd. 'We've been t0uring outdoor festivals all summer and, because Rhino Drum’s so versatile, we can now perform it on any scale. The Edinburgh run’s gomg to be particularly exciting because of the setting; audiences can expect a lot of fun and performing energy.’
Featuring a 42ft dancmg snake, baboons, elephants, giraffes and leopards as well as multi-media and some extremely boogiesome mUSIC,
though my head looks too much like a boneshed. So when people point at me and shout “oi pinkie, you freak", I'm like: "Oh no, this is an improvement".’
Getting a handle on time-keeping may also improve his life. At a recent Glasgow gig, he burst onto stage nearly two hours late (travel arrangements went awry), while an aeroplane bound for Hungary at the start of the year couldn't take off due to one passenger keeping himself occupied in the duty free area (Ross Noble went awry).
'I get very distracted though it hasn't got me into serious trouble. Or maybe it has, but I just haven't noticed.’ With an act like his, it’s not just the cops who will be paying serious attention to Ross Noble.
(Brian Donaldson) “:5 For details, see Hit/ist, right.
Rhino Drum promises to be a thrilling multi-sensory treat for all the family. Not bad for a man who used to spend his days with a hand up Kermit’s jacksie. (Allan Radcliffe)
I For details, see Hit/ist, right.
A thrilling multi-sensory treat
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Life is a rollercoaster with these surefire hits Ross Noble
See preview, left. Ross Nob/e (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2757, 4—28 Aug, 9pm, £8. 50 (£7. 50).
Lady Salsa N '
The hot streets of Havana are recreated as a clutch of Cuba's most seductively brilliant performers bring Toby Gough’s Vision to life. See feature, page 14. Lady Salsa (Fringe) Edinburgh ’5 Garden Party (Venue 50) 226 2 757/2428, 6—27, 27—28 Aug, 9.45pm; 22—26 Aug, 77pm, £70 (£9).
None Of The Above I
If your festival is incomplete without a bit of musical boundary-breaking, then this should be your destination each Sunday. See preview. None Of The Above (Fringe) Bongo Club (Venue 743) 556 5204, 6, 73, 20, 27 Aug, 8.30pm, £7 (£5).
'Ed l3yrne
Over only five nights, Mr Ed sets out to prove that he’s more than just a girly hairstyle. And keep an eye out for a maternally speCial guest appearance. See feature, page 20. Ed Byrne (Fringe) Playhouse (Venue 59) 0870 606 3424, 8— 72 Aug, £6—£75.
Rhino Drum See preview, left. Rhino Drum (Fringe) Scottish International At Dynamic Earth (Venue 78) 530 3557, 4—73 Aug, 9.30pm, £77 (f 9).
men it
Canadian Fringe First winners return with a powerful two- man, ten character mystery which will have you rushing from the theatre to phone up long-lost friends. See preview. In On It (Fringe) da da kamera, Traverse (Venue 75) 228 7404, 4—73 Aug, 9.45pm, £9 (£6). Preview 3 Aug, [6 (£4).
3—- 1 0 Aug 2000 THE llST FESTIVAL GUIDE 55