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FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews
SHIT-FACED SHOWTIME Shit-Faced Shakespeare spin-off is a bit of a lightweight ●●●●●
For the uninitiated: Shit-Faced Shakespeare – and now its progeny, Shit-Faced Showtime – features one drunk performer each night. The rest of the cast attempt to carry on as normal, while the inebriated one struggles, often hilariously, to remember their part.
Shakespeare was fantastic in its first year, but the formula
feels a little more tired as each year passes. Showtime – which swaps A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth for a generic musical – feels like a step too far. Sure, there is evident talent among the cast of five, but the verve and spontaneity of Shit- Faced’s early years is lost here. Part of the problem with Showtime is its utter lack of story –
which, in fairness, the cast readily admit in the opening number. Yes there’s a basic plot about two warring parents moving to America to escape their debts, and their daughter running off with a sweet young man who turns out to run a seedy Cabaret- style club. But in the total absence of a meaningful narrative or characters worth investing in, nothing is at stake when things go wrong. With Shakespeare, there’s a general awareness of what won’t happen in the play if the drunk performer messes up. In Showtime, drunkenness is the only joke on offer.
Still, there’s a lovely, supportive spirit among the cast; the
compere Dylan, who plays piano with expert speed, is on constant lookout for tonight’s drunk performer, who’s consumed a Bulmers and a third of a bottle of vodka before the show. Yet it’s telling that this evening’s funniest moment comes from a sober performer ad libbing. Perhaps with better base material, Showtime might in time gain that frisson of unpredictability that Shakespeare has in its finer moments. (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Underbelly Med Quad, 0844 545 8252, until 31 Aug, 6.45pm, £11–£12 (£9–£10).
FERN BRADY: PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS Brilliantly on point savvy seething ●●●●●
MORGAN BERRY: WATERSHIP DOWN Likeable show puts accent on poor taste ●●●●● GURPAL GILL: INDIA’S STRONGEST MAN (1982) Weak on jokes, strong on tedium ●●●●●
Some of the idiots Fern Brady wants to discuss in her first solo show are, in no particular order: people who hear a Scottish accent and deduce it’s the voice of the ‘commoner’; people who think their babies like going to cafés; producers who book Katie Hopkins as a pundit; producers who book Fern Brady as a pundit. The latter refers to her Channel 4 News
appearance in April, after which her Scottish independence views went viral. Yes voters and those bored with reductive stereotypes will find plenty to enjoy in her call-a-spade-a-spade views, delivered with a sleepy aggression; it’s a strangely successful schtick.
Bemused to find she’d been voted 99th in The List’s Hot 100 of Scotland’s top cultural contributors, confused at being labelled ‘working class’ (‘we had three tagines in my house growing up’), and stumped on how to make friends with girls without resorting to flirting, Brady’s emo-ennui is brilliantly on point. Just as her savvy, lethargic seething recently scored her a BBC sitcom pilot (Radges), this show should give a lot more power to her arm. Unless, of course, people really are idiots. (Claire Sawers) ■ The Stand 4, 558 7272, until 30 Aug, 12.10pm, £8 (£7).
42 THE LIST FESTIVAL 20–31 Aug 2015
Dressed in an African tribal print tunic and with long hippy tresses, Joe Rowntree is in character as Morgan Berry for the duration of Watership Down. Ostensibly a group therapy session for those grieving dear departed pet rabbits, audience members are called upon to name their ex-bunnies and then led through how to cope with the loss.
Rowntree proves to be adept at audience interaction, milking punchlines from both the most reticent and over-enthusiastic volunteers. Committing to the character to deliver just the right amount of naffness, he does a good job of pretending to be bad at his job as a bereavement counsellor and still remain entertaining. That he declares his character to be African
and proceeds to speak in a mimicry of an African language is more problematic. Those who value political correctness will find it offensive and others will be aware of its poor taste. The irritating thing is that it’s not integral to the act and he could have just as easily foregone the racial imitation and avoided a stain on an otherwise likeable show. (Suzanne Black) ■ Banshee Labyrinth, 226 0000, until 30 Aug (not 24), 6pm, free.
You know that all is lost when a comic starts to wind up their act by asking audience members what Fringe shows they’d recommend. Any pretence that this might be even a semi-solid Edinburgh debut has long fled the room, roughly at the point where the character of ‘India’s strongest man’ has been ditched for Gurpal Gill: London’s Gagless Stand-Up. Among the many crimes against comedy is laugh-
free video footage of Gill in training (whatever you can imagine is probably funnier than what’s shown); humiliating an audience member by leaving them on stage to fill the gaps while our turn departs; and while he makes one knowing reference that we’re meant to be in 1982, Gill puts his foot firmly in it by playing ‘Into the Groove’ (a chart hit from 1985) . The ad libbing is lame while the accent he starts
with morphs into his own voice à la Omid Djalili from almost two decades ago. On the plus side (and this is a stretch), one decent moment predicted what Anne Frank might have posted on Twitter but even that goes on longer than it should have. India’s Strongest Man might well be the weakest 50 minutes on the Fringe. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Just the Tonic at The Mash House, 226 0000, until 30 Aug, 1pm, free.