FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews
JOSEPH MORPURGO: SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY A majestic multimedia artefact about music and memory ●●●●●
There used to be a saying that some comedians heading up with their Fringe show would ‘write it on the train’. How often that genuinely occurred is unclear but Joseph Morpurgo’s work is the polar opposite of an hour thrown together at the last minute. With his latest ‘found’ multimedia comedy artefact, you get the distinct sense that each line and every moment is the result of painstaking months of research, production and editing. The standing ovation which the Austentatious member
received, a rare happening in a Pleasance bunker, was deserved for effort alone: thankfully Morpurgo has a full grasp of what makes for a wonderfully funny as well as staggeringly innovative Fringe event. Set up as an edition of Desert Island Discs, Morpurgo is being grilled by a grumpy and confrontational Kirsty Young, her words spliced together from actual episodes.
The tunes he selects introduce us to a semi-fictionalised gallery of characters. We meet Joseph Cooper (host of Face the Music, the BBC’s classical music quiz from the 60s and 70s) conducting a piano lesson; we get dating advice from jazz fusion pioneer Stanley Clarke; there’s some spoken word, too, with Winnie the Pooh taking a sinister turn. All the while, there are projected visual gags by the crateload and a totally daft quiz. And how did he mark the receipt of a whole room on its feet? Did he sign a string of autographs before slumping backstage drenched in fizzy wine? No. As we slowly filed out, he quickly gathered up his many props to make way for the next act. No matter how brilliant your show (and Soothing Sounds for Baby is majestic), the Fringe will always keep you firmly rooted. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 31 Aug, 8.15pm, £8.50– £10.50 (£7–£9).
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JELLYBEAN MARTINEZ: MR SATURDAY NIGHT TV In praise of light entertainment, technical hitches and all ●●●●●
Character comedy can be tough. Jellybean Martinez (the camp Spanish alter ego of Matthew Ellis) is definitely more Tony Ferrino than Alan Partridge, and a man who looks back on the Michael Barrymore, Noel Edmonds and Cilla Black (‘she was my Princess Diana’) era with misty eyes. His Fringe hour is a celebration of all that was good, as well as endearingly naff, about 80s TV before talent shows dominated the schedules. The lucky / unlucky punters in the first few rows are called up to take part in a series of ridiculous game shows, including Gladidater (a Gladiators and Blind Date hybrid). Then about 15 minutes in, disaster strikes, with the entire multimedia system crashing. After a couple of panicked minutes, Martinez fills the rest of the hour like a pro, ploughing on through a gloriously gaudy celebration of televisual nonsense.
What’s impressive is that despite the technical difficulties Martinez wins round the entire crowd. Admittedly it’s sometimes infantile and supremely silly, but it’s also stupidly funny. (Henry Northmore) ■ Just the Tonic at The Caves, 0330 220 1212, until 29 Aug, 3.15pm, £6–£7 (£5–£6).
44 THE LIST FESTIVAL 20–31 Aug 2015
RICHARD GADD: WAITING FOR GADDOT Self-referential hour of self-loathing ●●●●● ALEX EDELMAN: EVERYTHING HANDED TO YOU Another smart hour from US rising star ●●●●●
Richard Gadd has clearly been studying a lot of other people’s comedy. How else would he know how to deconstruct it so well? He clumsily breaks his set down to visual gags that don’t work, set-ups delivered after punchlines, infuriating suspense games and Alan Partridge-style tragi-male comedy. Not to mention cameos from other comedians; the excellent Ed Aczel nearly steals Gadd’s thunder with his brief cameo.
In a spot of self-critiquing, live self-loathing,
Gadd’s planted heckler sarcastically mocks his style: ‘it’s unique, so it doesn’t need to be funny’. Plenty parts aren’t funny, for sure: the violent and odd bits are unsuccessful, but the laughs are big when they do show up. The BSL-interpreted song sequence is glorious, and the live Facebooking, FaceTiming and texting is a clever touch, too. Eavesdropping on Gadd as he squirms through
his multiple neuroses and father issues would be much harder work if he didn’t make it so entertaining (in bits). Luckily his knowing, surreal style makes this an enjoyable hybrid of performance theatre and dysfunctional stand-up. (Claire Sawers) ■ Banshee Labyrinth, 226 0000, until 30 Aug, 11.30pm, free.
It would be a feat beyond almost all belief were Alex Edelman to match John Kearns’ landmark triumph of winning the main comedy award the year after scooping the Best Newcomer prize. But there won’t be many smarter and more accomplished hours of straight-down-the-line stand-up this August. Everything Handed to You feels like a more personal show than last year’s gong-worthy Millennial. In particular, he chats about his twin brother (a professional bodybuilder) and their much younger sibling (the word ‘mistake’ crops up). His material is so well-crafted that he can play the ‘confused by British ways’ card as comfortably as the ‘shamed by his compatriots’ behaviour’ suit. So, his routines about Blue Peter, Greggs and a possibly racist incident are astute while he seems to enjoy the imagined moment when the Hill sisters first pitched ‘Happy Birthday’ to record execs as much as the audience. While this talented Bostonian insists that life in New York has turned his soul mean, it’s clearly helped him produce stand-up comedy that’s a generous brew of funny and clever. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 8.30pm, £9–£12 (£8–£10.50).