Festival film see page 59 0 Festival art see page 62
COMEDY Joey Callahan's Late Night Stand-Up Comedy ***
Slick but average Yank stand-up
As stand-up comedians go, Philadelphia's Joey Callahan is straight out of the same slick and confident box as Jerry Seinfeld only, well, not so funny. One drawback to his late night show is the fact that the subject matter for his professionally executed observational stuff has been covered a million times before. Basing your show around growing up a Catholic, being married, and ’oh aren't cultures different’ is pretty familiar territory, but Callahan is likeable enough and does have a good ear for one-liners. Some more varied material and this could’ve been a real treat. (Doug Johnstone)
I Joey Cal/ahan’s Late Night Stand-Up Comedy (Fringe) Ho/yrood Tavern (Venue 84) 557 4972, until 27 Aug, 77.30pm, £6 (£5).
COMEDY Bill Bailey tit Musical virtuoso is out of tune with his gags As impressive as Bill Bailey's musical talents are, it doesn't make up for the fact that his observational stand-up doesn't have the same stamp of originality. The avuncular, fluffy-haired wonder isn’t the world’s sharpest observer of quirks; consequently his musings, which include topics like Scotland, masculinity and different accents, aren't startlingly inventive. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the laughs in this show come from the inspired and, at times, bizarre musical flights of fancy for which Bailey is so well known. These include a burst of medieval porn music (of course) and reworkings of popular theme tunes. You’ll smile hard and often, but don't expect to be doubled up, weeping and begging for mercy. (Dawn Kofie) I Bill Bailey (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 28 Aug, 10.30pm, £ 7 0/£ 12.50 (£9/£70).
COMEDY
Talkaoke its:
Talk is cheap
Have you ever dreamt that you had two penises? How much masturbation is too much? What's your most embarrassing moment? It is questions like these which are asked and answered during Ta/kaoke, an interactive bar event which sees mainly studenty punters debating whatever weird, wonderful and, more often than not, sexually related topic happens to arise.
A more structured form of the drunken pub chat in which most people indulge, it is chaired and broadcast live on the internet (hence the frequent interruptions caused by ’technical difficulties’). A good idea in theory, but unfortunately it is only as interesting as the people taking part. (Dawn Kofie)
I Ta/kaoke (Fringe) Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until27 Aug (not 26) 11pm, £3.
MUSIC Caroline Nin - Scarlet Stories ****
Dazzling performance from Europe’s ultimate femme fatale
Caroline Nin is a lady of the night. Drawing the audience deep into the seedy underworld of prostitution, film noir and Berlin kabarett, she is as captivating and intriguing as Piaf, as sultry and breathlessly devastating as Dietrich. Under the deep red stage lights, dressed at first in a long black evening gown and later a figure-hugging black pvc two-piece, she produces a mesmerising performance, hindered only by this rather unsuitable venue. No cabaret seating and more importantly a no-smoking policy detracts from an otherwise deeply engaging evening of late night jazz and chanson.
(Catherine Bromley)
I Caroline Nin - Scarlet Stories (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 28 Aug, 10.40pm, £9/£ 10 (£8/£9).
COMEDY
The Boothby Graffoe Show ****
Variety is the spice for Boothby
After last year's eleventh-hour cancellation, it was thought we would never see the lanky frame of Mr Graffoe in Edinburgh again. But he’s back and he's come mob-handed. Graffoe, with considerable assistance from wild- eyebrowed improv master, Steve Frost and virtuoso guitarist Antonio Forcione, indulge in an hour of music, comedy and general silliness.
Frost is criminally under-used, but Graffoe's Cooper-esque delivery and Forcione’s tunes redress the balance, and the show’s fluid structure gives room for banter and chaos to reign. Graffoe also displays an inventive line in surreal comic song, which, when augmented by Forcione’s tantalising fretwork, make for fresh new tricks from these self- confessed old dogs. (Mark Robertson)
I The Boothby Graffoe Show (Fringe) Boothby Graffoe, Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2157, until 26 Aug, 70. 75pm, £8 (£9).
THEATRE
Thunderstruck it“:
Striking new show from Canada
One Yellow Rabbit’s otherworldly tale of an isolated backwood family torn apart by an electric storm, is both profoundly moving and an exhilarating and oddly funny piece of physical theatre. The three mentally disadvantaged brothers, left alone to care for their severely brain- damaged sister, are played with captivating optimism; their hyperactive struggle to repair their storm-ravaged world expressed with poetic innocence. The result is a memorable combination of grotesque cartoon surrealism and haunting isolation that never seems misjudged or insensitive. And, thanks to an infectiously energetic performance, it should hold your attention all the way through to its electric conclusion.
(Olly Lassman)
I Thunderstruck (Fringe) One Yellow Rabbit, Traverse (Venue 75) 228 7404, until 26 Aug, 10.30pm, £72 (£7.50).
10m-lm "IVCI-
It
Rave culture remixed for comedy by cider loons
COMEDY
Cyderdelic *****
Hilarious and innovative rave culture send-up
It's about time someone set about ripping the piss out of rave culture, crusty environmental protesters and the inverted snobbery that goes along with this ultra right-on clique. And here it is, in the form of Cyderdelic, a fantastically Innovative and astonishingly funny show based around two eco-warrlor ravers, Beetle and Stu, who have mistakenly come to the Edinburgh Festival under the impression that it's a Glastonbury type affair. The show, in La Belle Angele, is part rave, part stand up, part satire, part social commentary and part dumb knockabout comedy. and is utterly fantastic.
The two performers and their sidekick Frogger (a hilarious cross between Bez and Vic and Bob‘s Les) set about the audience's senses with a mix of pumping tunes, brilliant character comedy, subversive video footage and multimedia shenanigans with near perfect balance and style. Classic moments are too many to mention, but when a brainmashed Beetle starts mixing 'i-iooked On Classics' with 'I Wish l Could Fly' by Keith Harris and Orville, I thought I was going to wet myself. About half way through you begin to wonder how on earth they can possibly keep it up, but the show keeps spiralling upwards and out of control, becoming more and more tear-jerkineg funny and truly disorientating. It’s unclear whether the ending is planned, but if this night was anything to go by, It’ll leave you slack-jawed in wonder. The funniest and most surprising show on the Fringe by a country mile. See Cyderdelic and be amazed. (Doug Johnstone)
I Cyderdelic (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2157, until 28 Aug 10pm, £7.50 (£6.50).
A little bit of French
an evening of intimate cabaret
W
Terracotta Productions present
at the Cafe Royal
MD / Keyboardsi Nigel Jones Accordion / Fluten‘ Janet Beale l3..
Date 3 - 28th August 2000 -. .. (Previews 3rd 8. 4th) 11.15pm
£5.00
The Cafe Royal
17 West Register St. Venue 47 0131 556 2549 (11.00am-12.30am) 0131 226 5138
Time Tickets Address
Location Box Office No.
Fringe Box No.
24 Aug-2 Sep 2000 THE LIST FESTIVAL (WIDE 49