FESTIVAL COMEDY | Previews
DOUGLAS WALKER Improv troupe member striking out as a distinctive solo performer
Last year’s Fringe was a very good one for fresh Scottish talent like Richard Gadd, Fern Brady and the Best Newcomer- nominated Larry Dean. Meanwhile, their compatriot Douglas Walker’s success was the very epitome of flying under the radar. His Möglich (German for ‘possible’) featured him holding his head in a bucket of water to make a point about artistic sensitivity, delivering a routine on torture and producing some satire of the comedy industry in a show that was compelling or knockabout one moment, and uncomfortably icky the next. This year, he’s giving us Komischer (German for ‘strangely’). But first things first. Why has he chosen German as the
source tongue for his solo show titles? ‘I like German because it has connotations of the uncanny and off-kilter, which suits my comedy: French for sophistication, Spanish for adventure, German for weird.’ Weird is certainly one word to describe his solo material (he’s also part of the Racing Minds gang, doing their improv thing this year at the Pleasance Dome). Many acts weakly equate oddness with humour, and it’s clear that delivering a strange show which hits the target is a lot harder than it looks. Walker hit the target time after time during Möglich. ‘That show was sort of about how comedy and tragedy are the
same thing, just seen from different perspectives. So there had to be some tragedy as well as some comedy, and I tried to slide from one to the other, in both directions, to play with how a tiny change could make you see it totally differently. Komischer is not as dark. I don’t think so anyway. It asks the question, “why would you write a comedy show unless you think you’re the funniest person around?” If you’ll forgive the mild spoiler, the answer is mostly to do with Müller Corners.’ (Brian Donaldson) ■ Just the Tonic at the Caves, 0330 220 1212, 4–28 Aug (not 15), 5pm, £5–£7 in advance or Pay What You Want.
THE MMORPG SHOW Live improvised role-playing with an emphasis on escapist fun
VIV GROSKOP The self-loathing, self-consciously middle-class comic prepares to take on all-comers NAZEEM HUSSAIN This big star in Australia delivers a mixed bag of tricks for his debut solo hour
Before we delve into the details of The Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game Show, it’s probably best to let you know how to say that clumsy acronym, in case a fear of getting tongue- tied prevents you from asking for a ticket. ‘The MMORPG Show, pronounced “Ma-morpa-ga”, is a live, improvised role-playing game,’ explains its creator, Paul Flannery. ‘Players take on the role of characters within a narrative. They take actions and make decisions on behalf of their character, the success of which depends on the roll of a 20-sided die.’ Flannery is something of an old hand when
it comes to audience participation and his last project was the rather ace Knightmare Live, which returns for a run at the Pleasance Dome. ‘There are some obvious crossover elements in this show, mostly its sense of fun and escapism,’ Flannery says. ‘One of the things that drew me to writing MMORPG was the opportunity to play all the fun characters, something I don’t get to do in Knightmare Live.’ (Niki Boyle) ■ Gilded Balloon at the Counting House, 622 6552, 6–28 Aug (not 15), 9.30pm, £8 in advance or Pay What You Want. Previews 3–5 Aug, £6 or PWYW.
56 THE LIST FESTIVAL 4–11 Aug 2016
When in doubt, Viv Groskop draws strength from her ultimate role model: Margo Leadbetter from 1970s sitcom The Good Life. ‘She was confident, forthright, strong, a bit obnoxious, yes, but also a beacon of common sense. She’s a horrible person but being less like Margo is what got us in this terrible mess in the first place.’ In Be More Margo, the ‘self-consciously middle-
class’ Groskop will tackle snobbery, class and Britishness, three extra-provocative themes in these post-Brexit times. ‘Most people have increased in prosperity in the last 20 or 30 years,’ chirps Groskop, sounding dangerously sure of these, er, facts. ‘My material on Waitrose shoppers and quinoa eaters used to sound twee and sweet, now it’s a bit toxic, almost like a nuclear bomb!’ For anyone not onboard with Groskop’s politics,
she can certainly take a heckle. ‘I’m personally quite self-loathing, which works well if there’s any anti- English or anti-middle class sentiment in the room: I embrace it. I’ll bring my boxing gloves and we can slug it out.’ A notion that Margo would surely have found just ghastly. (Claire Sawers) ■ The Stand 4, 558 9005, 5–28 Aug (not 15), 5.55pm, £8 (£7). Preview 4 Aug, £7 (£6).
One half of comedy duo Fear of a Brown Planet and creator of TV series Legally Brown, Aussie Nazeem Hussain derives a fair amount of his humour from confronting racism and discussing his Muslim heritage.
His debut solo hour takes its name from that TV show and will be, he says, a mixed bag of tricks. ‘There’s definitely stuff in there about politics and race, and living in a perpetual state of paranoia as a Muslim in the west, but there’s also stuff about buying cool pants and becoming a little bit famous in Australia.’ Hussain is a patron of RISE: Refugees, Survivors
and Ex-Detainees, the only refugee and asylum seeker organisation in Australia run and governed by refugees and ex-detainees, and it’s clear immigration is an important subject to him. ‘In Australia, we’re witnessing the rise of hard-right white nationalist groups, including the comeback of our own redneck, redhead politician Pauline Hanson, so I’ll be taking notes to report back to my people back home.’ (Kirstyn Smith) ■ Assembly George Square Studios, 623 3030, 6–28 Aug (not 16), 8pm, £10.50–£12 (£9.50–£11). Previews 3–5 Aug, £7.