JON RICHARDSON
Delightful surreal obsessive material 0000
Hill gfi radio host ,Jon Richardson is clearly at home behind a iriir,rophone. (Lharirring and self effar ing, he moves through a show that might have been subtitled ()(II), 0/ How ()the/ l’eo/r/e [)l/Vf,‘ Me /ri.sa/ir,>, segiieing effortlessly between the different elements of his set. lhere's a good crowd in attendance who laugh appreciativer at stories about being stuck behind a lechnoloriically impaired man at a ticket machine. and liVing With other people who don't share his standards of dorriestic order.
lhe set is mainly concerned Willi such every day irritations. A story premised on the different ways to eat a saiidWIch might have fallen completely flat in less capable hands. biil here. it's delightfully surreal. Richardson offers up our own neuroses and shows how they might be taken to extremes. the result is a kind of madness not uniriiaginably far' from real life. What doesn't always Work is leilléllflf;()ll'f3 audience interaction. lhis doesn't offer anything particularly funny. and he is only occasionally guick enough to work With our comments. However. these conversations are brief. and although they don't add much to our eriioyirient. nor do they detract from an otherWise high guality show. (Cate Simpson) I Pleasance Courtyard, 55:36 (5550. until 1’? Aug. 8.30pm. .l‘ll rl‘lé’ (l‘S).fi() f‘lt).f)()).
LAURENCE CLARK
Raising chuckles and awareness .0.
Thousands hit the Fringe every year wrth the aim of busting perceptions. but it'll be hard to find someone who achieves this as thoroughly as the charming Laurence Clark. whose
approach veers between being warmly
funny and making us feel as uncomfortable as Jim DaVidson at a disability rights rally. Clark has to use a wheelchair and has somewhat drawled speech because he has cerebral palsy; he puts nervous punters at their ease wrth a gurp about sounding drunk. His main gripe is the way disabled characters are (Either depicted as being evrl (look at any James Bond film). worthy of pity. asexual. fake (Little Britain's Andy Pipkin). or in need of a Christian miracle. He‘s also narked about how some people treat him. particularly taxr drivers.
HIE; Witty mixture of PowerPoint and footage of set ups filmed With a hidden camera succeeds in forcing us to examine our Views. And this is what perhaps limits the laughs at times; it seems a bit wrong to giggle at the lonely hearts ads he has selected from Disabi/rtv Now. but if we don't laugh are we gurlty of displaying the kind of pity he so detests’? Either way. full marks to Laurence Clark for raising {l‘.'.’£lr(}llCE§tl, (Ashley Davresl I Zoo Souths/tie. (562 6892. urrti/ .95) Aug mo! 73 8 7‘1). (3. lSpm. 5115047430 i!‘:3.:')()—.“(5.:3()i.
IDIOTS OF ANTS
Sketches and skits with style 0..
A ll‘.’(? sketch show is a llOlOrlCllfBl‘. difficult thing to pull off. We allrr standups to have lulls in their hour but ‘.‘.’llll a parade of sketches expect each one to make us wet our collective underwear. A stand-up has time to dexelop a stage persona but wrth sketches. no sooner do we understand who the characters are than they are gone. and in this arena familiarity breeds hilarity before it
34 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 9—16 Aug 2007
breeds r‘ontempt. Int’; this iiiien‘aalile
fringe battleground ‘ tep lrfrr t‘. “t Ants, a four man eiiseinl/le fr ,rrnwl
less than a year ago and against all the odds they (‘ome out ‘.‘./|lll flying
cr )l()l irs,
Instantly likeable and energetic. the. move giiickly from one sketch to
another covering everything from sharing a flat wrth Jesus to the difficulties faced in being a gay penguin. Highly lll‘y"?lll|‘.rfr. their inspirations are broad to sa. the least. from 'Ai'lo 'Al/o like lunar, tr, thr- Pythonesgiie surreal lhere'n soriie wellaplaced use of rider. to l,lf:£t'r‘ ill)
the pace. and .‘.’llll(,‘ not all the
‘ir'l',
work. the show is consistentl. amusing Wllll moments of o i‘rigit excellence. If you don't f,£tl’,ll them here. don't be surprised to TM: them on a digital channel near you soora.
lCordon Eldrett
I P/easance Courtyard. 356 66.";o
MW 27 Aug
if b. 50-57. "V,
l"). .90.. (7pm. 5H 5’)
PHIL KAY
lmpish. semi—mental charm I...
l or the uninitiated, the first breathless minutes of thr- berlraggled. beardy and rambling l’hil Kay's routine are like '.'J£ll(llllllfl a horrieless dope smoker .‘xho has (lflfJflftlllélll‘, ‘xv/andered onstage but at. he ricochets through his tales of (hi iplitting. smuggling hash pipes and (lrivrng dangerously slow. it becomes obvrous we are being entertained by a skilled storyteller. ()ne of life's natural rule benders. Kay has a vast back catalogue of brushes '.‘/Illl the law. telling each one Nllll more impish charm than the next in this. [he Justice Show
lhe lanky Scot. who lives in the peaceful ecoyillage of l indhorn. is a gentle anarchist Whose boheriiian outlook means he doesn’t see why he shouldn't do star lumps on his car bonnet after passing a breathalyser test. After all. the police may think he's rrrental. but he's not technically breaking any laws. Refreshingly llll(;()ll‘.":llll')fl{ll_ With childlike wonder at the simplest of things, his bubbly. thoughtful meanderings are insightful and good fun. When time"; up and the applause dies down. he can't resist launcnir g into another giddy story al/Mt his (gypsy friends, and that time the, slagged him for wearing pink nail polish on his toes Time restrictroriS. laws. son'ial norms: why shoolrl any of that stop him from having a good time? lClaire Sawersi I Gilded Bid/ooh Tel/rot, 668 7633, until 27 Aug (not 7 7—- 78, 20), 6.45pm, {0—5'70 ([8 $0).
for see non-Festival magazine