list.co.uk/festival Reviews | FESTIVAL COMEDY
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S T E V E U L L A T H O R N E
REFORMED WHORES: GRAND OLE CUNTRY Big laughs and hi-jinks with degraded country duo ●●●●●
Katy and Marie are a pair of pure filthy ‘southern- bred but NYC-based’ ladies over here in Edinburg’ (sic) to share their tales of sexual exploits. In fact there are perhaps only a couple of diversions from their vaginal / penile adventures, but then the clue was in the duo’s name and that the ‘country’ of the title ain’t got no ‘o’ in it: so what the hell would you expect? It’s like the darkened back room at your local Ann
Summers shop has escaped, gone on a rampage and formed a country and western duo along the way. And a magnificently bawdy celebration of female sexuality it is too.
While admittedly the show is in danger of being a bit one-track, their songs are so beautifully put together that it’s all indubitably enjoyable. Musically they clearly know their stuff, creating gorgeous harmonising and catchy melodies and the laughs are consistent throughout. Particularly popular with this night-time weekend crowd were a couple of gleefully outrageous moments: an unexpected arrival on stage and an especially inventive masturbation technique that produces some big laughs. (Marissa Burgess) ■ Sweet Grassmarket, until 27 Aug, 9.50pm, £7 (£5).
LARRY DEAN: FANDAN Charming take on Scotland and the world ●●●●● ANDREW MAXWELL An unstoppable hour of comic mischief ●●●●●
Larry Dean’s 2015 show Out Now was all about growing up gay in a working-class, Catholic, Scottish household and examined the consequences of not conforming to stereotypes that shouldn’t, but do, exist. His 2016 show covered similar territory. This year he moves from one of the big venues to one that works on the Pay What You Want model, a shift that is becoming common among comedians, but the smaller venue does not mean a squeeze on ambition. If this is what he’s like having driven up the country for half a day, it’s staggering to imagine what a fresh Andrew Maxwell might be capable of. He might insist that he’s arrived in Edinburgh woefully unprepared and clutches a bundle of notes as physical evidence of the safety net he relies on for opening night, but the Dubliner has no need to refer to anything other than his own inspired thought processes. Once his mojo is up and running, he’s an unstoppable force.
Since we last saw him, Dean has travelled: and Like so many in town this month, Brexit and
it shows. Added to his unique takes on Scottish and UK politics, dating, sex with others and sex with oneself, is an influx of anecdotes, accents and perspectives that give breadth to his highly charming brand of personal observational comedy. Dean’s work is as good as Kevin Bridges and he deserves to be in venues just as large. It’s a sad indictment of contemporary society that as a working-class, gay Scot, Dean provides a voice not often heard at this international festival. He is just so damn likeable that, should he be weaponised and unleashed on the masses, homophobia’s remaining adherents in the UK wouldn’t stand a chance. (Suzanne Black) ■ Heroes @ Monkey Barrel, until 27 Aug (not 15), 6.40pm, £5 or Pay What You Want.
Trump are firmly on his mind but Maxwell uses them as triggers to make other points about how the world doesn’t need to be hellbent on division and opposition. Take the Maxwell household, occupied as it is by an Irish Methodist and a prosecco-loving Muslim in a contemporary show of diversity and unity. It’s not all high-minded bigot-baiting though, as he zeroes in on curious elements which eschew normality: such as gorillas on slides and cockney gangster-like vicars. As Maxwell remarks early on, he’s been doing the Fringe for 23 years now. But his powers of persuasion and ability to conjure up comedy mischief have rarely been sharper. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Assembly George Square Theatre, until 27 Aug (not 14), 9pm, £13–£15 (£12–£14).
EVELYN MOK: HYMEN MANOEUVRE Show of two distinct halves makes comedy out of a crisis ●●●●●
For the first half of Hymen Manoeuvre, Evelyn Mok more than justified the expectations that have been building ahead of her Fringe debut. She has a mass of insecurities to discuss, about her body and identity (she’s Swedish by birth but Chinese by heritage as she amusingly continues to point out by waving a finger around her face), and a less than successful love life (‘time to feed the vagina!’ has not worked for her as a chat-up line as she’d hoped). Mok’s anecdotes, turns-of-phrase and truly engaging stage
presence bring out the terrors and joys (though mainly terrors, admittedly) of modern existence as a human being, but more specifically as a woman. She imagines a world where men are the menstruating ones, and as someone who lost her virginity in her mid-20s and was largely underwhelmed with the experience, she’s fairly sure that she’d choose ‘cake over dick’ every single time.
As half of a debut, Hymen Manoeuvre is truly exhilarating stuff, but even before the traditional lull-point of 40 minutes, something has started to seriously flag. It could have been down to Mok’s inability in fully taking care of a back-row senior citizen who was keen to participate, but it’s more likely that a full hour ended up stretching her writing powers at this stage of her career. Having set up her Scandinavian upbringing with much humour,
she moves the story on to her new life in multicultural London where she finally found that she could be herself. Perhaps coincidentally this is where the show’s vitality begins to wane. The ‘Swedish Amy Schumer’ tag doesn’t really do her many favours (a struggling comic’s tormented take on things should always have more going for it creatively and credibly than a huge Hollywood star’s) so it might only be when she becomes ‘Sweden’s Evelyn Mok’ that her stock will properly and deservedly soar. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, until 27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £7–£9 (£6–£8).
10–17 Aug 2017 THE LIST FESTIVAL 55