list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL COMEDY
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THÜNDERBARDS: 4ND Solid foundations but shaky punchlines ●●●●●
BEN FOGG: HOW I WON BEST NEWCOMER 2017 Rambling hour that fails to be profound ●●●●● LUCY HOPKINS: POWERFUL WOMEN ARE ABOUT Baffling clownish work ●●●●●
For a show that’s 90% spot-on, it seems odd for it to be given the middle-ground damnation of a three-star review. Sadly, a lot of the crucial stuff in sketch play (punchlines and pay-offs) lurked all too-often in an overcrowded 10%. For 4nd, their tricky-to-get-your- tongue-around fourth show, the Thünderbards duo of Glenn Moore and Matt Stevens do plenty right.
There’s proper ingenuity in most of the routines
and the sense that each sketch is about to go somewhere amazing is almost too hot to handle. But the lukewarm finale to far too many of their bits leave you feeling thoroughly unsated. Clever and silly (and sometimes cleverly silly) ideas abound including the weather forecast-style announcements for various forms of measurement, an echo that gives away Glenn’s dark secret, the all-male Grease, and a Sinn Fein Shakespeare. There’s an enjoyable meta-narrative underlying all
this with both of them having their dreams interrupted by a voice analysing both their work and working relationship. Whether they'll listen to any advice proffered while they sleep is unclear, but it’s surely time for them to wake up to the serious polishing required on those pay-off lines. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 27 Aug, 3.15pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11).
Formerly the youngest associate producer in US TV history, Ben Fogg chose to spurn his party lifestyle and six-figure salary to chance his arm as a comedian. His late father, a surgeon with a proclivity for fast cars and for driving them too fast, was horrified by his son’s career change, penning a significant missive to crystallise his disdain. During a rambling preamble, Fogg disingenuously
assures his audience that How I Won Best Newcomer 2017 is definitely not a ‘dead dad’ show, constructed to cynically cash in on his bereavement. In mitigation, it is an interesting and unpredictable story which Fogg assures us is all true. Fogg is a charming performer and his disarming
nature to some extent helps gloss over a significant lack of jokes. Throughout the show it’s hard to shake the feeling that he’s warming up to something more profound. When events do come to a head, a twist of sorts threatens to inject some life into the hour before it all peters out with a lackadaisical conclusion. Despite his hopeful show title, it’s hard to imagine Fogg will bother the shortlists anytime soon. (Murray Robertson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 28 Aug (not 14), 4.45pm, £8–£12 (£7–£11).
Legend has it (or so her website says) that clowning impresario Philippe Gaulier told Lucy Hopkins she looked like a sausage and was boring. This review won’t contain anything quite so damning, but it has to be said that Powerful Women Are About resides rather unconvincingly in the Fringe comedy section.
Menacingly taking to her stage in the semi-dark, the highly expressive Hopkins arrives clad in seductive wise-woman garb, and making tiny vomiting noises. Her running ‘gag’ of bringing the house lights down between scenes through a clawing action almost acts as a catchphrase. There’s lots of mystical talk of the battle between Logos and Mythos while a cosmic Theremin gets played now and again. If you’re waiting for the punchlines to all this, join the club.
Still, we all get to hand round an invisible baby, and for no discernible reason, Hopkins concludes by guiding two of her (distinctly non-planted) followers through an onstage rendition of ‘Man in the Mirror’. The fact that they happened to be either word-perfect in the song or proficient in beatboxing utterly saved the day: the awkwardness on that stage would have been unbearable otherwise. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Heroes @ The Hive, until 27 Aug (not 9, 16), 5pm, £5 or Pay What You Want.
FERN BRADY: SUFFER, FOOLS! Hesitant new show from rising Scottish stand-up star ●●●●●
After two successful Fringe shows, a BBC pilot and an ensemble travelogue about Brexit on Viceland, this Scottish comedian is known as a force to be reckoned with. However, Suffer, Fools! sees her in a less-than-confident mood. Brady begins by bemoaning the previous day’s unreceptive crowd before confessing that she tried to cancel her Fringe run but couldn’t get out of it. Resigned to continuing, what follows is a blend of politics, relationships and personal struggles. Brady breezes comfortably through her views on politics in
Northern Ireland, abortion and homophobia going just far enough to tease at the edge of propriety. She is devastating on the topic of ‘women in comedy’, a continuation of her exploration of gender politics in last year’s Male Comedienne (a recording of which is released on 11 August). On relationships she gives us the gift of the phrase ‘tally-smally’ to describe partners with significant height discrepancies.
At 31, Brady has already lived a full life and has covered her time as a stripper in previous hours. As she veers into more personal territory, divulging her ‘inappropriate’ responses to events, she becomes less certain. Raw is the word that best describes both her performance and the material that comprises the show’s latter part – it’s not quite finished and Brady is still working from notes, although that’s not unusual at the beginning of a Fringe run.
Vacillating between hesitance and bravado, her discussion of an
abusive relationship is painfully honest to the point where if the audience were to laugh, that would be inappropriate. Finding the balance between constructed material with emotional honesty is difficult but Fern Brady is a highly competent comedian with a lot to offer. We should all be glad she’s continuing the run. (Suzanne Black) ■ The Stand II, until 27 Aug (not 14 & 15), 12.05pm, £10 (£9).
10–17 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 49