Festival Comedy
Telephone Booking Fringe 0131 226 0000 International Festival 0131 473 2000 Book Festival 0845 373 5888 Art Festival 07500 461 332 EDWARD ACZEL The dry meanderings of a new kind of comic ●●●●●
The anti-comedy of Edward Aczel has certainly garnered itself a strong following. And while there is plenty hearty laughter at the goings-on within his show which, it promises, Explains All the World’s Problems . . . And Then Solves Them, the bulk of it is strained and awkward, quite probably the reaction which Aczel is most keen on dragging out from his crowd. He spends the opening few minutes setting up his stage and walking off for no obvious reason, before returning. And then walking off once again. You get the idea.
There is a strong strain, at this Fringe, of comedy which seeks to broaden the form’s definition almost to snapping point with Paul Foot and Hans Teeuwen infuriating and invigorating audiences within almost the same sentence, but Aczel is the one who has gained most attention, presumably because he also looks anti-comedy, a burly middle-aged man who speaks softly while conducting a raffle or reading verbatim from Wikipedia pages about the Spanish War of Succession. If he was your lecturer, Edward Aczel would be a boring drain on your time. As he’s a stand-up comic, his dry meanderings are apparently the evidence of pure genius. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, until 30 Aug, 7,25pm, £6.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9).
HOLLY BURN A memorably awkward experience ●●●●● Oh, where to begin? At Home With Holly certainly has a quirkily curious appeal, staged in a lovely New Town flat where the audience gets to watch Holly Burn ‘live her life’. So far, so intriguing. But even before stepping over the threshold, it’s clear that it really will be ‘like nothing you’ve seen
32 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 20–27 Aug 2009
not that wonderful in reality. But it is a totally memorable experience, with some surprisingly shrewd twists, that is not boring for one single second. (Emma Newlands) ■ Holly’s House, 226 0000, until 31 Aug (not 24), 3.07pm, £5.
FELICITY WARD Tales of poor Aussie upbringing lack bite ●●●●●
There’s no denying that Australian comedian Felicity Ward has stage presence. There’s something about her that’s instantly likeable, from the butter-wouldn’t-melt way she breathes numerous expletives to the sweetness with which she interacts with the audience. It’s a shame then that her show, based on strong foundations, is so flimsy. A hit at the Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe festivals, Ward surrounds herself with paraphernalia from her childhood – from pre- adolescent poems about loneliness to unflattering school photos – and talks us through her awkward, poor upbringing on Australia’s central coast.
There are some engaging and funny stories here, including a particularly embarrassing encounter with former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, but many of her jokes have a blunt end and she lapses too quickly into her hip hop gangsta impression to fill potentially flat moments. What’s more, there’s little that’s ‘variety’ about her offerings, with her guitar lying idle for most of the show. Nevertheless, it’s likely that Ward will win over enough fans to return to Edinburgh in 2010. Hopefully, it’ll be with a sharper repertoire that’s more befitting of her agile performance skills. (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 31 Aug, 9.15pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9).
KEVIN BRIDGES Scotland’s rising star strikes on his Fringe debut ●●●●●
Clydebank’s finest (unless you’re a fan of Duncan Bannatyne or Wet Wet Wet) makes his Fringe debut here with An Hour to Sing for Your Soul. Extra dates were ratcheted onto his schedule after his appearance on that Michael McIntyre vehicle led to a flood of demand. Such mainstream exposure has its downside, of course, and the word is that some local neds have sat in on the show taking photos on their mobiles. Tonight, it’s just a quartet of laid-back drunks who float in late but thankfully don’t ruin the mood with Bridges getting into his stride early on and maintaining a high standard throughout.
There’s a pleasing mateyness about Bridges who giggles at the reaction to his darker material and shows a considerable grasp of audience interaction which proves he has learned plenty during his seven years in the stand-up game. Circumstances have deemed him too big for this pokey Dome stage and while he makes enough remarks to denigrate the venue, it doesn’t prevent him from taking his task by the throat and delivering an accomplished set. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 31 Aug, 9.15pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9); Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 21 Aug, 10.20pm, £12 (£10.50); 26 Aug, 11.15pm, £12 (£10.50); 28 & 29 Aug, 3pm, £11 (£9.50); 29 & 30 Aug, 6.20pm.
before’. Damn right! Unless it’s a normal occurrence to watch a deeply eccentric lass (making her fellow
Geordies look shy and retiring) act in a way that is hard to put into words. Possessing no self-consciousness or apparent awareness of social boundaries whatsoever, there is something about her childlike behaviour and twee performance art props that is torturously exasperating but totally compulsive too. Her introduction of ‘welcome to my maison d’être’ is the nearest she gets to a conventional gag and nobody present gets to stay in the shadows. It doesn’t sound like a great idea on paper, all told. And in all honesty, it’s
for GLASGOW COMEDY see non-Festival magazine
Online Booking Fringe www.edfringe.com International Festival www.eif.co.uk Book Festival www.edbookfest.co.uk Art Festival www.edinburghartfestival.org