TIM VINE
Who’s he then? Tim Vine is a jokes man. pure and simple. Rattling off cheesy One-liner after inspired misnomer helped him become the Perrier Best Newcomer back in 1995. And last year he got himself into the Guinness Book of PeCOrds for telling the most jokes in one hour before a live and laughing audience. Uttering 499 gags in 60 minutes (that's 8.317 laughs a minute. maths fans) he smashed the preVious record held by Estonian wag Erekki Kolu whose tally was a pitifully meagre 362.
Not to be confused with . . . The Tim Vine who has played keyboards with Simply Red and Moloko. They're not the same person at all. Theiigh our Tim does actually play a mean set of drums. What’s his show called? Current Puns. And not for no good reason. Try this: ‘Somebody actually complimented me on my driving today by leaving a little note on the windscreen. It said "Parking Fine." Connected to anyone we know? He‘s the brother of BBC news broadcaster. book lover and all-round top bloke Jeremy Vine.
But is he funny? If you like y0ur comedy fast. furious and not a little groan-wonhy. Tim's y0ur man. (Brian Donaldson)
I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550. 5—29 Aug (not 9, 76). 6.40pm.
£77 l—E 72
([7950—8 7050). Previews until 4 Aug, E6.
COLIN AND FERGUS
9 High-energy sketches
I liked last year’s show. I
told people to ‘watch out, they're very. very funny'. So much so that the quote has found its way onto this year's poster. Casting my mind back. l'm trying to remember why they were so funny. Well, they do sketches; and as Little Britain and Catherine Tate are testament to. sketch comedy is alive and well and can be utterly brilliant. Colin and Fergus make the most of its dark potential. and scope for playing with expectations.
Spare props and costume changes (maybe the odd wig or coat) suggest an array of characters. some of whom are making a return. Peter and Sarah. the c0uple who run an amateur theatre group. are a year on and a year further into problems. ‘There's an issue with whether they can have children or not and who‘s fault that is.‘ Colin says. ‘Plus this year Peter is deing his one- man show in Edinburgh at a radical Fringe venue called the Cupboard: it holds one audience member.‘ The main thrust. they say. is for a high energy performance with unpredictable changes of pace. keeping us all on the edges of our seats. I. for one, am looking forward to having my warning validated.
(Ruth Hedges)
I Pleasance Courtyard. 556 6550, 7—29 Aug (not 76), 6pm,
£8. 50—8950 (2 7—E8).
. Previews until 6 Aug.
£5.
22 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 4—1 1 Aug 2005
CONFESSIONS OF A JINGLE WRITER
Advertising tunes for work, rest and play Tom Hodge writes jingles for a living. Ditties. Musical soundbites. It‘s not always easy to know exactly what advertisers want. though. ‘The creatives have an uncanny knack of coming up with the most extraordinary suggestions for their ideas. You‘re trying to read between the lines. When someone says to you: "Can you make it a little more green" Or
uses some other adjectives you w0uldn‘t have th0ught would relate to music. you have to work out the ways that people put their feelings ab0ut music into w0rds.‘ Hodge originally did a politics degree. but decided that music was his passion. ‘I knew it was a case of starting at the bottom, with making tea. But fOrtunately it worked out OK.’ So what's his fav0urite jingle? 'l’ve come across some delightful 50$ ones. like Pepsodent: "You‘ll wonder where the yellow went/When y0u brush yOur teeth with Pepsodent!" Because the style of advertising has changed. you don't get these jaunty little tunes any more. I have quite a fondness for “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play" and Bodyform always amuses me. It's sung with such passion. and it's about a sanitary towel.’ (Robin Lee) I P/easance Courtyard, 556 6550, 7—29 Aug (not 70, 17), 4pm, E 7.50438. 50 (£6437). Previews 4—6 Aug, £4.
mass ‘PREME
Hip hop for the improv generation
Rap: spiky, politically contentious, confrontational, right? Well, not always. Freestyle Love Supreme are actually rather charming and sweetly humorous in their approach. As I insinuated myself into their New York rehearsal studio, a stone’s throw from Madison Square Gardens, I felt something of a Ligger With Attitude. But these six zestful young men made me feel welcome, even putting on a demonstration show for me. Combining crafty musicianship with improvisation, their work picks up suggestions from the audience a la Whose Line is it Anyway? and runs through a succession of free associational rhymes to engaging comic effect. It’s family material, but you’ll find it entrancing without the sprogs. ‘Young kids of 10 and 11 come along to see us,’ insists Anthony ‘Two- Touch' Veneziale. ‘We even had a 92-year-old in the audience once, and she loved it; she wouldn’t stop talking about it afterwards.’ They’re certainly currently impressing in New York, having just returned from a storming success at the Aspen Comedy Festival, and with an HBO special
in the bag.
It’s pure musical eclecticism. The basic technique speaks of contemporary music, but there’s more: ‘We all love hip hop, but we have many musical influences between us, from Sinatra to the Divine Comedy to Coltrane. So we’re able to share a lot of knowledge,’ says Christopher ‘0- Jack’ Jackson, another of this combo. The allusion to Coltrane is obvious in the title, but also in their freewheeling spirit. ‘lt’s the essence of jazz,’ adds Jackson. ‘The improvisational thing that comes out of our mouth is just that, so it’s very like the original idea of jazz, with musicians just getting together to improvise and play’. (Steve Cramer)
IAssemb/y Rooms, 226 2428, 7—29 Aug. 6.50pm, {‘7 l—l‘l2 lE‘iO-f‘l ii.
Previews 5&6 Aug, 85.
DARA O’BRIAIN Fury-filled comedy from Mr Nice
As one of the most gentle. hardest working comics on telly either side of the Irish Sea. it seems inconceivable that Dara O'Briain's new Fringe show is about hate. A former presenter on the Irish equivalent of Blue Peter — ‘a generation know me from writing to get their
hamster on the show” — ’ who used to date one of ' the Lovely Girls on
Father Ted and still gets
' excited about meeting
Stephen Fry and Paul
' Merton, O'Briain never
sounds less than affability personified on shows like Mock the Week and Have I Got
News for You?
But this is the same comic who's been inciting Irish audiences to abusive heckles of his unborn English son. who he less than fondly imagines will be a cockiiey guttersnipe or posh toff scoring for England against Ireland at Wembley. the Omen child loitering in his leins. These concerns are unwarranted though. because from what I've
seen. O'Briain Jiir ‘.'/|ii inherit little goalsniffing ability and any accent he acquires Will he ovei'shatiowetl by the most urgent. tiiiiii)ling delivery since Jimmy Ki'ankie in Jack and the Bearist.'i/k. ‘If I slow down you might be able to tell how poor the writing is.' laughs O'Briain. 'There's no real artifice. I just wave my arms around and hope I get away Willi it.’
(Jay Richardson)
I Assembly Roe/its. 226 21128. :3~~;_’.<) Aug (not 8. 1:3. 22/. 8.55pm. £‘l2—l‘lil ll‘l l-t‘lJil.
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