JO CAULFIELD: ROLE MODEL Selling out, but in a good way 0..
It is safe to say that Ms Caulfield has the popular mandate. Having filled her Fringe shows for the last three years running, and packed every night so far this time, she is clearly Doing Something Right. In part, this ‘Something’ is simply Caulfield’s relentlessly upbeat personality. Genial and positive (but with that crucial, defusing soupcon of cynicism), airin morbid about being 37 and not a doctor or venture capitalist, she is a singularly Iikeable character. More to the point (since the world is full of the likable and dull), her new show is smart and funny.
The interaction-heavy Role Model is structured around two American pop-psychological remedies for stress, viz a) choose suitable role models to emulate in stressful situations and b) make a list of all that pisses you off about life and ceremonially tear it up. Before the show, the audience was asked to write their own lists, and Caulfield used these alongside her own as comedy fuel.
It burned well. There were true-ringing, if blatant, division-of-the-sexes observations, acidic put-downs of celebrity idiots and a cheerful, lyrical contempt for the young and the beautiful. Nothing particularly wild or envelope-nudging (which could well explain her huge popularity), but her material was solid and confidently delivered.
Caulfield is not revolutionary. The very fact that her act is so universal makes it an inevitability that it is also, to a certain extent, tame. But because it clearly comes from the heart — from her own copasetic nature — there is no sense that she has dumbed down or sold out. Artistically, that is. Financially, she sells out every night. (Sam Healy) I P/easance [)(Jlllt), .550 (55:30. until 95) Aug lriot 72'). (ii-15>) )Iri, 5‘5).:">()~§‘l().5() (9635519).
STEVEN ALAN
an expose of
GREEN- ' annoyances such as call centre etiquette
and those interminable train announcenrents by ‘customer serVIce leaders' proves to be little more than that most hackneyed of stand—up themes: the cultural differences between ‘my country
Hackneyed culture clash routine .0
lhe Western world's so called culture of ‘seiVice' ought to provrde some great material for the ruthless ridiculing of a trend
aimed not at being helpful. but rather hoodwniking the publ:c. Steven Alan Green )ust doesn't deliver.
What promised to be
and your country'. in Brooklyn-born Green's case. the US and UK. Bad enough that his material lacks originality. werse is his excessively unfunny
delivery.
(Miles Fielder)
I C. 0870 70/ :3 70:3. until 30 Aug, 2'. lSp/n, 5850 (57.50).
TONY CARTER’S EVIL ARMY
Character comedy with clout 000
Last year's Tap Water Winner has far from run his comedy supply dry. Leavrng your audience gasping for more is one thing, haying them feeling parched at the
Sketches. Films. 3D Comedy.
“.9,
38 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE ‘ J—‘Q Aug £3.11
1 e' .. At The Bongo Club, 27 Holyrood Rd,
8th-22nd August. 9.30pm £6 (£5 concs) www.bluntproductions.com
conclusion is gurte another. The major flaw in this show by the evrdently talented Tony Carter (AKA Will Andrews) is that he hasn't Submitted himself to one full hour of his nervous GOOrdie- character onslaught. Instead. he allows a lesser comic to iorn in the game and very nearly stunt his growth. Rambling anecdotes and musical motifs are beautifully delivered and. as the ending proved. Carter isn't afraid to make himself look grotesgue. Both inside and out. lBrian Donaldson) I Stand H. 558 7272. unti/ 30 Aug met 76). 5.20pm. f6 (f5).
CITIZEN WALKEN
Being a Hollywood superstar 0000
Writer-star Peter LOureiro not only has Christopher Walken‘s mannerisms — most notably his halting
NEXT ISSUE OUT
vocal delivery — down perfecto. but his faCial resemblance to the big screen actor is uncanny. But the show. subtitled ‘A Journey Through the Mind of Christopher Walken'. is more than mere impersonation; it's a Surreal comic tOur-de- force operating upon the prrncrple that Walken is weird. and he himself knows it. Here the goggle-eyed actor interrogates himself. pulling from his own head various acquaintances leach played by fellow impersonator Christopher Wisner), including Actors Studio guru James LipfOn, With whom L0ureiro riffs a gloriously demented versuon of the Walken-Hopper torture-homiCide scene in True Romance. Scary. (Miles Fielder) I Cowgate Central, 225 9744, until 30 Aug. 70pm, {7—58 (E5).
STEPHEN GRANT
Foxes, flights and unfettered fun 0000
A sly expedition into a certain Brighton reSidence may well reveal that Stephen Grant has a portrait wrthering in his loft. After eight years on the CirCUIt, the b0yish stand-up still comes across as a friendly teenager desperate to impart his eXCitement about the latest craze. It's this unfettered enthUSiasm that makes him such a pleasure to spend an hour wrth.
A consummate anecdote—teller. Grant possesses that rare ability to grab and hold onto his audience's attention as he spins out a lengthy tale, while working his trainered feet off to wrn us over to his offbeat way of looking at issues ranging from airport seCurity to foxhunting. Splendid.
(Allan Radcliffe)
I Gilded Balloon Tevrot, 668 7633, until 30 Aug (not 76), 8pm, $760—$850 (£6.50—E760).