TOP5 PAUL
KERENSA
With 26, PAUL KERENSA offers up a 24—style juggernaut in real time with live action. split-screen antics and a bit of algebra. First up, he offers example of how close his life has been to Jack Bauer‘s.
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PHIL NICHOL Fearless, flirting freewheeler
Phil Nichol isn't gay I could have guessed this from the var; he immediater starts flirting ‘.‘.’lill me. but then apparently he does this Willi energone. no matter what their sex. 'A couple of years ago a comedian publicly accused me of being homophobrc.’ he explains. ‘So I want to talk about hov. that affected me and howl became oi. erly conscious of offending people to the point .'.herc- I would flirt oatrageousn, .'.ith gay, men.‘ But despite llti‘.llltjllt?(1l\t3(l .'-.’|l'l his girlfriend‘s tather. almost slept ‘.'.lilt a trai ssexuai and 'acc.dentaé|\,' bought another rnan ll()\.'.(?lfs. Nichoi feels the title ‘nearl‘, gay sums him up more accurater 'I like ()‘.'t}l",'illllltj about the gar. lifest\,le: just not the gai. part'
lle's famous for being eiitertainlnglg, unpredictable. and his snox.’ rrtar, or may not coxer (2‘.’(3l";,illllltj from Rohtpnol to hunchbacks and turke; camps. Yet no sooner has he finished talking about this year 's l estrual than hes thinking up new ideas. 'I tend to pick up other peoples accents and mannerisms really. (BQIESiI').
It I hung out WIill women long enough. l'd probably grow breasts.' he muses. 'Hey that's not a bad idea for a show I could call It "almost wornarf.’ iRachael Street:
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JAMIE DOUGLAS Fringe’s first virtual comic drama
‘lf i,<)u're not doing £lll\,ill|ll{] neutf .lainie Douglas. “what is the point?" At a glance. Douglas r\.'.«ho performed at the fringe last tear unritn Exploding llead Comedy. isn't reaili, doing {lll‘tlllllltj that noxel. Spitfire f feet/unique is something of a Boy 's ()‘.'.'t‘. fantasy. inspired b1. a cnildhood spent at air displays. that recreates the Battle of Britain from a pilot's l)(3l§;l)(;(lil‘i.'tf. Solar. son >stalgic. But Douglas is haidli, staging a (T()ll‘~.'(}llil()llill performance. for the firs week he ‘.'.’l”
asks
perform from a flat in ltlinliurgh ‘.'.’llll(;‘ his audience sits in a Pleasance bunker i'a shed ‘.'.’lill radar dishes'-. for the remainder of the l esti‘.'al. he won't men he in Fdiitburgh. Instead. the audience of two \.'.’lil watch a screen
.n it: "
LUCY PORTER
Happy talk from diminutive comic
What happens when a stand-up goes straight? Lucy Porter’s fresh from six months in the West End theatre smash One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, alongside Christian Slater and Frances Barber. The production made its way down south after a sell-out run at last year’s Festival, and Porter admits she did get a little caught up in the London actors’ scene.
‘I thought: “This is brilliant because I’m not going to be working during the day, so I‘ll have my days free to write all the stuff I’ve been meaning to get on with.” And of course I didn't write anything, because we’d do the show every night and go out for drinks in marvellous private members’ clubs, and I’d just sleep in all day.’
Porter may have felt that she was slowly turning into a Iuvvie but she’s got her feet firmly back on terra firma now. ‘lt’s really easy to get swept up in that world. But it was a brilliant experience, so much fun. It does feel like a dream now, because I’m back on the circuit. When I came back to stand- up I had to rediscover myself. So a lot of the material I was writing was about what a cheery person I am: I sound cheerful but am I really happy?’ To whit, Porter’s fourth solo Edinburgh show is called Happiness. ‘I just hope it’s not too irritating, really. There’s nothing worse than enforced cheeriness, is there? You’re allowed to come if you’re not happy, that’s the thing.’ Her audiences are likely to leave happier than when they went in, at
any rate. (Robin Lee)
I Assemb/i,’ Roe/Its. 226 24
‘.'v‘ll||(3 he performs four 1:3«rninute shows a day from a cockpit live in his London home. triggering animations as he acts. Ani, number of people can watch for free online.
Those who do Will be
greeted by fun graphics.
a plot r'part Battle of
28, 7—29 Aug (not 9. 7(5). 70.20pm, El l—EI2 ’f‘ftl-i.’ ll. Plow/en’s :3636Aug, E6.
Britain. part Who Framed Roger Rabb/Wl that follows a pilot who has lost both his killer instinct and his virility. an 8()s-sty|e soundtrack and a performer wrth grandiose ambitions. 'Since B/ackadder. historical comedy has been a bit of a no go
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I P/easance Courtyard. 556 6550. until 29 Aug (not 76), 2.30pm, 3pm. 3.30pm, 4pm. £2.50. See
www. pleasance. co. uk/ bunker:
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