list.co.uk/festival Previews | FESTIVAL COMEDY
NICK MOHAMMED
The man behind Mr Swallow tells us his favourite Harry Houdini adventures
ESCAPING FROM THE BELLY OF A SEA MONSTER A quick search online will yield, amongst other things, that one of Houdini’s more eccentric escapes was from the belly of a sea monster. The sea monster in question was in fact constructed from half a whale and half an octopus (I don’t know their names) but it’s fair to say not only was this one of Houdini’s more noteworthy stunts, it also goes down as one of the messiest and smelliest performances in history.
THE MIRROR CHALLENGE In 1904, the Daily Mirror challenged Houdini to escape from a special set of handcuffs that it claimed had taken locksmith Nathaniel Hart i ve years to make. Quite why Hart had worked so slowly on these handcuffs is unclear. Either way, Houdini was able to escape from the restraints in just under an hour, causing Nathaniel to question his skills and, indeed, his whole existence.
PRISON ESCAPE That same year, Houdini was challenged with escaping from the notorious ‘Murderers’ Row’ of Washington DC prison. Not only did Houdini succeed in getting out of his cell, he also proceeded to open the doors of eight other cells and shufl e the prisoners about. This resulted in an administrative nightmare for the wardens involved who, to be fair, were just trying to do their jobs and protect the general public from some of the world’s most nasty criminals.
THE CHINESE WATER TORTURE CELL Many believe that this is the escape that killed Houdini. Sadly, it was the slightly less l amboyant condition of severe appendicitis that i nished off the great Harry Houdini. Needless to say, for the sake of authenticity, I too will attempt to perform the show every night with severe appendicitis. (As told to Brian Donaldson)
■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 6–28 Aug, 7pm, £11–£14 (£10–£13). Previews 3–5 Aug, £6.
4–11 Aug 2016 THE LIST FESTIVAL 55
P H O T O
: G E O R G E S F O K
SARAH KENDALL Making the move from stand-up to storytelling pays off for this popular Aussie
Last year, Sarah Kendall was nominated for her second Edinburgh Comedy Award with A Day in October, a shaggy dog story with a heart-wrenching twist. Its success has emboldened the Australian performer to focus on storytelling over stand-up as she embarks on her third narrative-led piece, Shaken. ‘It’s a story within a story about a lie that I told when I was a teenager, a lie which spiralled out of control. The show is also very much about storytelling.’
An ambiguous distinction between fact and fiction was also at the heart of last year’s show and
its resurgence suggests Kendall still relishes the dichotomy. ‘It’s an examination of storytelling and the line between storytelling and lying, because you could argue that really good storytellers are just kind of dangerous liars in a sense, so it toys with that.’ Although Kendall has been performing at the Fringe since 2003, she still dreads the process of conjuring up an idea. ‘I never go, “the ideas are just pouring out of me!” At the beginning of the process I think, “my God, how am I gonna do this? I’ve got nothing!”’
Kendall has previewed her show in the run-up to Edinburgh and she believes it has grown much stronger as a result. ‘I don’t know why this is but no matter what I do with my laptop, whenever I do it in front of a roomful of people, so many things become much clearer in terms of where things aren’t working and what needs to be finely tuned and what needs to go together. I just can’t figure that out on my own at a laptop. There’s this weird alchemy that when you say it out loud to people you just get a sense of the bits that don’t feel right. It makes me hugely respectful of novelists.’ (Murray Robertson) ■ Assembly George Square Studios, 623 3030, 6–28 Aug, 6.45pm, £10.50–£12.50 (£9.50–£11.50). Previews 3–5 Aug, £7.
MIKE WARD Controversial Canadian comic doesn’t care if you’re offended by his material or not
Mike Ward’s Fringe show has something to offer that no other one does: an $80,000 gag. Sued by the Canadian government for a joke he told, Ward decided that he may as well get his money’s worth and bring it to Edinburgh. ‘I talked about a dying Canadian boy whose last wish was to sing for the Pope. I made fun of the fact that, eight years later, the kid isn’t dead yet. The family contacted the Human Rights Commission who, in turn, sued me for $80,000.’
Obviously, personal taste dictates whether you’ll find the gag objectionable, but Ward isn’t one to shy from controversial material and he honestly doesn’t care if you take offence. ‘As long as I think it’s funny I’ll do it. My type of humour isn’t for everyone, but people who like it seem to like it a lot. If a comedian is afraid to say what pops in his head he’ll never come up with something daring, something original, something brilliant.’ (Kirstyn Smith) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 6–28 Aug (not 25), 8.45pm, £10–£12. Previews 3–5 Aug, £5.