SARAH KENDALL Intelligent comic crashes and burns 0.
lack in the heady days of your, Sarah Kendall became the first .voriian to receive a l’errier noriiination in nine years. and deservedly sr, llaving taken time out to trot the globe, she returned last year With a show that was worryingly patchy and left some wondering if she Would return to her prewoiisly blistering foriii. Now. we have a show set in l‘l‘M which recounts a college initiation prank that went awry leaVing Kendall and her friend stranded in the Halangalo National l orest in the company of some pig slaughtering rednecks.
Mixing narration and dramatic reconstruction, Kendall has enlisted the help of Justin l_'dwards and Joanna Neary to play a variety of characters and it's this that makes it feel more a play than standup comedy. Unfortunately. it's a play where no one can really act. and where the narrative passages lack much Wll. giVing the whole thing the feel of an ill conceived student production. On her day Sarah Kendall is one of the most fiercer intelligent female comics out there but on the ewdence of this show, that day won't be found this August. (Gordon Eldrettl I Assembly Rooms. 623 3030, until 27 Aug, 8.55pm, l‘l l.5(%l‘l.2.5() (l‘l().:’)()—§‘l 1.50).
RICK SHAPIRO
Shambolic yet inspirational stand- up .000
Rick Shapiro is a five star comedian in a two star show. It you want structure. well thought—out lines. or even the assurance of sanity then look elsewhere. If. however. you're prepared to sit through ten minutes of shambolic mutterings as our hero decides what to be angry about next. then your patience WI“ be rewarded
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lhere are moments when Shapiro spews out a description of such brilliance, With the most beautifully evocative language that even a skit about listing becomes an inspiring
piece of comedy.
lime keeping is not an issue in his world (our show ran over by ’20 minutes) because this is a man who'll do exactly what he wants; he'll tell you heartbreaking stories about his tuiiiulluous life, then veer into a rant about girlfriends, Harry Potter or anything that crashes into his llllll(l, you‘re easily offended then. for the love of (iod. stay away. But if you like your comedy unreliable. but ‘Nllll moments that will make you grateful for havuig ears, then Hick Shapiro Will take you by the scruff of the neck and entertain the socks off you. (Sian Bevan) I llie Green Room, 1920 086%). until [lo/lug. ll..’)’()prn, 5‘5) ~ f‘l() (l‘éiisf‘fi).
PETE FIRMAN
A new slant on magic 00.
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Pete Firman wanted to bring the curtain down on Hoke/n by swallowuig a packet of lit cigarettes and regurgitating them one by one. He couldn't because of the sriioking ban and they threatened to shut down all the Underbelly venues if he'd hacked up the 550 fine every night and done it anyway; so he does a bit With an egg and a sparkler. and gets the cheer anyway. This was one of Firman's gentler moments. in a performance combining weird tricks and cocky panache.
Obsessed With freak shows from a young age. Firman puts a new and sometimes disturbing slant on magic. His tricks involve needles. balloons and the swallowmg thereof, not run-ot- the-mill card malarkey. and lots of participation from a dumbfounded audience. Sometimes. the question is not so much. ‘how'?’ but. 'why?' Add a natty suit and smooth talking. and it's little wonder his brand of entertainment is sucking in big audiences. Pete Firman is putting the pimp back in magic. and Since words defy. you'd be advrsed to leave your skepticism at the door and see it to believe it. iPeggy Hughes)
I Underbelly, 08 7' O 7 45 3083. until 26 Aug. 7pm, [950—51050 (EB-C9).
22 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 16-23 Aug 2( )7
JASON MANFORD
Bread and butter stand-up from the north 0000
Too much success early on in a career can be a double-edged sword. Jason Manford first came to attention two years ago with an inspired. Perrier-nominated debut in which he exploded various urban myths and apocryphal tales. As a fan of that auspicious start. waiting to see what the Peter Kay-endorsed young comic would pull out of the hat next was a tad
nerve-wrecking.
I needn't have worried. Manford's new offering is a no-frills, bread and butter stand-up set, which triumphantly showcases his effortless rapport with an audience and deadpan observational humour. At one point he admits that, under pressure to dream up a concept or theme. he had briefly considered calling his show Funny Things That I Think until he remembered that the Fringe programme charges by the word. Preying on the mind of the 26-year-old is his spell on the Gillian McKeith diet (‘If you are what you eat, Gillian McKeith must have eaten a miserable cow’). He reminisces about gigging with Bernard Manning at the age of 17 (the late. unlamented comic advised Manford not to talk about wee and poo onstage as audiences find it ‘offensive’). Later he regales us with the tragi-comic incident in which his mate inhaled the contents of a helium canister.
Between light-hearted anecdotes, Manford betrays his adeptness at off- the-cuff humour, interacting with audience members and using their interventions as springboards to further tangents. At one point he asks a question of the audience and a man in the front row actually puts his hand up, straining his arm like an over-eager school pupil. It’s a measure of the likeability of Manford’s persona, his capacity to get people onside. Surely a
glittering future awaits. (Allan Radcliffe)
I P/cn'isance Courtyard. one (55:30, untrlé’f/li/g. .‘I.-1."iprri, 51‘). fit) {to so Ill-i ,Wii
MILES JUPP Tantrums, rages and cheese-based puns 0000
There are few things in life guite so satisfying than seeing a posh person throWing a bit of a wobbler. And so it's With great pleasure that Miles Jupp brings us Everyday Rage and Dinner Party Chit Chat, a perusal of the moments in life when Jupp idubbed ‘Red Mist' by his old student buddies) has completely lost the rag. Most of us can relate to the tantrums he's had at airports but it's perhaps down to his own surreal misfortune that he recalls inadvertently smashing up the salad bar at PIX/El Hut or feeling rising anger when a helpless stranger took advantage of his Samaritan-like generosity.
And please. people. if ever you are faced with Jupp at Laser Quest. do not under any circumstances ‘ghost' him. He'll come after you. With
calmness restored, there", )iist time for a spot of ’Llltrttfil: based piin fun as promised on his publicity material Miles .Jiipp is nothing if not a stickler for playing by the rules. And giiite hilarious at this comedy lark
(Brian Donaldson;
I (ii/(led Balloon levrot, sea l/,.'i";’. until Pb Aug, [WW/n. 51’) ill) ll H 5‘);