Outta slmply, bloody funny
BEN WILLBOND
Very English but not too fresh .0.
Great charisma and presence have always been one of Ben Willbond's cards Since the days of Priorite' a Gauche. Now, he's ditched French rap for an altogether more English set of characters.
Undoubtedly, numero uno works the best. Freddy is the kind of guy who you may have seen lurking around Edinburgh University for whom that job in the City comes off a couple of years down the line. Then he's a Columbian drug dealer who skips and whispers about doling out sweets and pulling the odd gun. The territOry isn't grOundbreaking but Willbond is a great performer and the material is well-observed and excellently delivered. (Ruth Hedges) I Pleasance Courtyard. 556 6550, until 30 Aug. 5.45pm, {78.50—29.50 (27—28).
CARL-EINAR HACKNER: HEART An inventive clown fiesta 0000 Without wishing to bestow too cack- handed a compliment. Carl-Einer HaCkner is the Mr Bean of Swedish magicians. With his intense blue eyes and thick lips. Hackner could also be Klaus Kinski's prettier younger brother. Only scarier.
The first segment of
4r .
his inventive clown fiesta makes for enjoyany uncomfortable viewmg as the graceless aSpirant musician knocks the neck off his
fiddle. swallows the
microphone and imbibes a mouth-organ
to face-achingly funny
effect. H'a'ckner's later foray into close-hand magic and other neat tricks should come with its own Parental Guidance as it involves sick gags at the expense of some hapless stuffed animals. Great fun.
(Allan Radcliffe)
I Pleasance Courtyard. 556 6550, until 30 Aug. 6.40pm, 2950—27 0.50 (28—29).
PATRICK MONAHAN’S GAME ON Sweeties and warm hearts 00.
Bounding on stage to a nursery rhyme accompaniment, Patrick Monahan looks uncomfortably like a kids‘ TV presenter of yore who believed that acting like you‘re mentally unstable is the only way to talk to a child. Yet this is a show for adults — albeit ones of a Peter Pan bent — and some natural ‘what's your name.
where you from?‘ banter
gets people onside. Harking back to Our
34 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 19—26 Aug 2004
shared childhood experience of Bulldog. Chap Door Run and Panini stickers stopping play. Monahan's expectant innocence and speed on his comedic feet make his show a warm—hearted pleasure. And he even gives out sweets at the end. (David Pollock)
I Gilded Balloon Teviot. 668 7633, until 30 Aug. 9.30pm, 68.50—69.50 (£7.50—C850).
THE TRIVIAL PURSUITS OF MARTIN MOR Close encounters of the bearded kind
0..
In the intimate setting of Stand ll, Martin 'Bigpig' Mor is only a few feet away from his audience. a fact he uses to his distinct advantage. The bearded fellow banters amiany with the crowd. using his Quick-fire wit to deal with hecklers without reSOrting to gross insults.
The ostensible starting point for his show is the game of Trivial Pursuit. but from there he goes on to talk about any subject he fancies. including bird watching. African folklore and running with scissors. While some of this is a little staged, most comes impressively off the cuff, making this is a warm and engaging
SARAH KENDALL
Endearing. strange. ginger and brilliant 00..
You've gotta love Sarah Kendall. No really, you have. l-ler press snaps just don‘t do her justice: the kooky folk singer look doesn‘t really convey the warmth she radiates on stage. ‘l’m an idiot sometimes. you must know what that feels like?’ Not a new comedy tactic perhaps. but one that instantly endears Kendall to her audience. She is sweet and kind of weird. but this is no dumb blonde (well. ginger, to be exact). She clearly has that X factor which makes a great comedian; call it presence. personality or just the balls to stand up in front of a room full of people and expose at least a little bit of your soul. With Kendall, it's there in spades.
Hers is a comedy of errors. as she harnesses her moments of doubt. self-loathing and all-too-public stupidity for comedic ends, and it works wonderfully. It's the minutiae of life that often makes the most affecting comedy and you get the feeling the moment that Kendall starts constructing a politically-charged routine is the moment she should walk
away from the mic.
Most importantly perhaps, she’s bloody funny. Some of her more obtuse material does fall on slightly befuddled ears. and some of the pay-off lines after minutes of build-up have less impact than the ramble that precedes them. But her material is inherently excellent. lf Kendall has anything, it's the potential to grow, refining and honing what is already intrinsically great - it could result in something quite spectacular. (Mark Robertson)
I Pleasance, 556 6550, until 30 Aug. 9.35pm, £9.50—E 70.50 (28—29).
show that does not disappOint.
(Rachael Street)
I Stand II, 558 7272, until 29 Aug, 9pm, 26-2 7 (ES-£6.50).
STEPHEN K AMOS Americans. Aussies and horses beware 0..
He may have pulled in a sell-out audience. but Stephen K Amos should be wary of being too smug too soon as his choice of audience targets — Americans. Australians and teenagers — prove to be disappointingly predictable. However. his chatty delivery. effortless charm and wicked method of enunciating profanities make his observational material difficult to resist. Whether he's imitating his victims in a superb. camp American accent or asking the audience to vote on whether they would have sex with a horse if it would save Glasgow from nuclear attack, Amos retains a tight control of events. My main disappomtment is that Glasgow is doomed. (Katy McAulay) I Gilded Balloon Tewot. 668 7633, until 30 Aug. 9pm, 29—510 (88-169).
NICK REVELL: LIKE IT MATTERS Dreary armchair punditry o
Political comedy is difficult. Unless you are a fearless performer with laser-keen material, you will end up looking
for
see non-festival magazine
as dull and stuffy as the very institutions you’re trying to Iampoon. This hour is a thin froth of faintly perceptive bromides floating diffidently on a pond of awkwardly delivered banalities. sub-Richard
Whiteley guips and a
crushineg pedestrian analySis of empire building and terrorism: not all Muslims believe in jihad? You don't say? Edinburgh needs no more escaped armchair pundits like Nick Revell, telling us what we already know in such a dreary and tiresome manner that we're likely to come out knowing even less. (Sam Healy) I Stand l/, 558 7272. until 29 Aug, 70.75pm, 26-2 7.50 (ES-£6.50).
KATHERINE JAKEWAYS: LOST IN BANK STATION Chronic character creations 0
Films at midnight and kids' telly at 6am both do it to me. But watching comedy in the early evening doesn't usually make me wish for the escape of sleep. I can't even blame an overheated auditorium. as this was played out in one of the airier Fringe spaces. I'm afraid the fault lies firmly at Ms Jakeways' door.
Her dire creations include an annOying
Nedette and an irritating carer of ‘terminals'. Of COLirse. they're not meant to be likeable. But occaSionally funny would be nice. One reVIewer compared Jakeways to Alan Bennett. Which is deeply ironic as the first words | uttered when this tosh ended were ‘GOrdon Bennett‘. (Brian Donaldson)
I Assembly Rooms. 226 2428, until 30 Aug, 6.30pm, £794? 70 (28—89).
COLIN MURPHY: MIRACULOUS
Straight and narrow stand-up coo
This COuld well be Colin Murphy's year. After three years of sell-out shows and a year off to recuperate. he is back for mOie. This is profeSSional, crowd- pleasmg stuff; he connects With the punters and audience partiCipation is limited to mild, friendly ribbing. Murphy is a great mimic and has excellent expres5ions as well as good stories about the Pope.
But nothing can divert
attention from the fact that this IS distinctly mainstream, covering such topics as terrorism, Edinburgh at this time of year and being drunk. If you are looking for solid. professional, safe. entertaining stand-up. you'll get what y0u paid for. (Anna Shipman) I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 7.05pm, 2950—5 7050 (£8-E9).