FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews
E N R O H T A L L U E V E T S
:
O T O H P
P H O T O
I
: J U L A N W A R D
RADIO ACTIVE Nostalgia from a quartet who are at least enjoying themselves ●●●●●
If that old trope is true that people become more right wing as they get older, can it be the case that a comedian’s humour turns lamer as the years go by? There’s no doubt that all four members of Radio Active have had their moments in the funny sun: Helen Atkinson-Wood was Mrs Miggins (she of the pie shop) in Blackadder the Third, Michael Fenton Stevens appeared as a vicar in Julia Davis’ creepily amusing Nighty Night, Philip Pope was in Channel 4’s Who Dares Wins and, you know, wrote ‘The Chicken Song’, while Angus Deayton’s dry humour almost became a genre of its very own.
Yet here they are in this Fringe comeback affair (Radio Active first appeared here in 1979), delivering routines which can best be described as ‘very Radio 4’. Kicking off with a screen showing time dialling back to the early 80s as the quartet vocalise a mixture of news headlines and scurrilous rumours, they then arrive on stage (scripts in hand which, while accurately portraying the recording of a radio programme, will hopefully be flung aside once the run gets into its stride) to make flesh some gourmet tips, a right-to-reply show and a deliberately clunky Dickensian drama. They all seem to be having a fine old time, but the writing is just a little too tame, even, you suspect, for this afternoon crowd of the gang’s contemporaries. There’s a poignant moment in honour of the late Geoffrey Perkins who was part of the original lineup and the chaps get to do their Hee Bee Gee Bees thing with a brutal attack on Status Quo’s tedious longevity while Pope digs out his Bob Dylan impersonation. The Fringe has always warmly welcomed back alumni from its archive, but some things are often best left in the past. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 15), 4.20pm, £12–£15 (£11.50–£13.50).
P H O T O :
I
C H R S T A H O L K A
P H O T O
: D R E W F O R S Y T H
ROB AUTON: THE SLEEP SHOW Surreal sleep chat is an acquired taste ●●●●●
Sleeping is something we all have in common, says Auton: people stage mass sleepovers around the world on a nightly basis, so what better way to unify his crowd? Drawing from Take a Break From Yourself magazine (his customised scrapbook of made-up quotes from celebs on their sleeping habits), Auton leads his audience on a surreal, stumbly journey through the subject of sleep.
Insomnia, snoring, hitting the snooze button and the sensation when a hand has gone to sleep are all explored, and the audience shout out details from dreams for him to analyse using one-word answers from a book. Maybe badgers could have been man’s best friend instead of dogs, if only they had the same waking hours as humans, he muses. Auton likes a non sequitur, and avoids the traditional set-up and punchline formula in favour of more slow burning jokes, or perhaps just an odd contemplation.
His weary, out-of-breath delivery is an acquired taste, which some snoozers in the room obviously hadn't acquired by the end, but there are glimpses of bleak insight among the slow strangeness. (Claire Sawers) ■ Banshee Labyrinth, 226 0000, until 28 Aug (not 16), 4pm, free.
54 THE LIST FESTIVAL 11–18 Aug 2016
BOURGEOIS & MAURICE: HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD WITHOUT REALLY TRYING Twisted show tunes hit their targets ●●●●●
Pretend brother and sister cabaret duo Bourgeois & Maurice return to put the world to rights through twisted show tunes. ‘Planet Earth is having a wobble right now’, they observe, and it’s time to put their powers of internet clicktivism in action, and semi-commit to maybe going on a protest march if their diaries are free. A spectacular looking pair of creatures in neon
make-up and bespoke latex and sequins, George Heyworth and Liv Morris lavish sarcastic praise on traditional British values (getting away with war crimes, Yewtree, slavery etc) in one song, and lament the fact that everyone except them is at a chemsex party in another. Gender identity, modern love and Maurice’s personal problems with the patriarchy all have fun violently poked at them.
Bringing the Weimar cabaret tradition of satire and flamboyance bang up to date for current LGBTQI audiences or any ‘humansexual’ who enjoys bitchy song and dance numbers, their doom-laden messages are a treat in fetish heels and power eyelashes. (Claire Sawers) ■ Underbelly Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 28 Aug (not 15), 9.25pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).
KIRI PRITCHARD-MCLEAN: HYSTERICAL WOMAN Tackling the ongoing misogyny in comedy ●●●●●
For her debut Fringe solo show, Kiri Pritchard- McLean dives into the deep end and takes women in comedy as her subject. Having been subjected first-hand to the institutionalised sexism in the industry and Neanderthal audience members, she counters with a very measured, scientific approach, seeming to genuinely want to understand the situation and explore potential ways of changing it. Her revelations about the life of a working female comedian will be surprising to many. A foray into racial inequality is a risky move, but she succeeds about as well as is possible with such anxiety- inducing material.
She mentions how heartening it is that Sarah Millican is accepted as a household name, but the same was said of Victoria Wood before her and Joan Rivers before that. As long as female comedians are subjected to torrents of vitriol on Twitter, as well as people telling them to their faces that women just aren’t funny, the argument still needs to be made. Pritchard-McLean is doing a good job of both making it and proving it. (Suzanne Black) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug (not 15), 6pm, £7.50–£9.50 (£7–£9).