F E S T I VA L C O M E DY | Reviews
CATHERINE BOHART: LEMON Beautifully executed hour on queerness ●●●●● JOE SUTHERLAND: SOUR Gags aplenty in this poignant show ●●●●●
Catherine Bohart begins by explaining that this year’s show is a rebuttal to one bigoted audience member who disliked her much-praised 2018 show, Immaculate. Determined to be even more overt about her sexuality this time around, the bulk of this hour is devoted to Bohart’s experiences as a bisexual woman, her embarrassingly sex-positive mother, lots of very frank sexual discussion, and abrupt digressions about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Bohart frames the Fringe, and the arts in general, as
a celebratory and exploratory platform for queerness and how it can exist beside the straight white male, heteronormative comedy bilge. After an hour of treating bisexuality like the totally normal thing that it is, reality kicks back in with a reminder of all the ways in which queerness is not accepted or even tolerated. This exquisitely plotted and executed hour from a
beautifully self-assured performer ends on a downer, calculatedly denying the audience an expected comedic crescendo. At this point the seemingly disparate threads of the show reveal a bigger picture that connects the dots between artistic representation and the precarity of having a non-normative identity. (Suzanne Black) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug, 6pm, £9–£11.50 (£8–£10.50).
Joe Sutherland makes a vain attempt at making himself seem uncultured, opening Sour with disparaging remarks about theatre and modern dance. We almost believe him but as the show progresses, it emerges as an intelligent, well thought- out affair, even including a sufficient dollop of politics to assure us he knows exactly what’s going on. This year’s show (his third hour but first on the Free
Fringe) dips back to tell of his slow coming out as gay in his native Coventry and jumps forwards again to include the Spice Girls reunion tour. As sharp as his cheekbones and as splendidly turned-out as his attire, the gags fly thick and fast. With a sardonically raised brow, Sutherland delivers rich, rounded descriptions of Ann Widdecombe (‘the ghost of a bag of pork’) and compares Victoria Beckham’s role in the Spice Girls to a triangle in an orchestra. Meanwhile, there are diversions into delightfully odd territory, where he relates his boyhood love of bashing the ground with a stick. Yet there’s still room too for poignant moments such as his school leavers’ book and the beguiling Peter, the friend left behind when he headed to London. Surely a star in the making. (Marissa Burgess) n Banshee Labyrinth, until 25 Aug, 10.10pm, donations at the venue.
PHIL ELLIS: AU REVOIR Another cunning hour from a master of the gleeful ●●●●●
Phil Ellis has always liked a good team around him. He helped make a kids’ show fun for the grown- ups as leader of Funz and Gamez, but even in his solo work he is rarely the only person onstage. For Au Revoir, Ruth E Cockburn plays the character of young Phil as a constantly running schoolboy, while Jacob Hawley is pretty much himself, appearing deliberately late just at the point where everything appears to be totally falling apart (another Ellis trait). The thrust of this show is that Ellis has finally
decided to say goodbye to the Edinburgh Fringe, an arts arena which he no longer truly feels a part of. Whether he’s ‘doing a Gadsby’ and this will turn out to be a false finish remains to be seen, but for now he’s having to put up with criticism from his tech (who constantly warns him that he’s over-running).
Au Revoir is a great excuse for him to show footage of his first-ever live performance, which he takes apart with glee. Nothing is ever what it seems in a Phil Ellis show and there are surprises and treats lurking in every nook and cranny. If this truly is adieu, then the Fringe will be far poorer without him. (Brian Donaldson) n Heroes @ The Hive, until 25 Aug, 6pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.
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S A M U E L K R K M A N I
CHILDREN OF THE QUORNTM A silly and surreal hour from promising sketch duo ●●●●●
Megan From HR are London-based comedy duo Ambika Mod and Andrew Shires, formerly stars of the Durham Revue when they won the Derek Award for Best Sketch Show at the Fringe. Their first full-length affair as a pairing is a surreal and absurd hour of sketch comedy, featuring a séance, slapstick moments, high energy and plenty of put-downs, both of the audience and of themselves. Children of the Quorn starts at the end, as the pair open by
tidying the stage and discussing what a great show they’ve had, making reference to the aforementioned spooky ritual and their successful raising of the dead. As they rewind to the beginning in order to explain the blood-stained clothing, devil horns and bits of paper strewn across the stage, we’re taken through a series of bizarre and nonsensical sketches, most of which don’t actually connect in any way to the séance but are made all the more comical by their randomness. While the point of Children of the Quorn is undoubtedly to be
as silly as possible, it would have been more effective to have some gags that link directly to the séance itself, as opposed to fleeting mentions, to give more impact to the final twist. That climax is a clever addition overall but had a few of the sketches been a bit tighter, the duo could have had even more fun messing with their crowd.
Nevertheless, their recurring jokes (including those about the audience misunderstanding historical events, and unnecessary explanations at the end of sketches) keep Children of the Quorn moving along at a madcap but humorous pace. Thanks to their general rapport and ability to bounce off one another, Megan From HR offer a show that will not change your life but may just take you out of this world for a bit. (Arusa Qureshi) n Just the Tonic at La Belle Angele, until 25 Aug, 3.30pm, £5 in advance or donations at the venue.
52 THE LIST FESTIVAL 14–26 Aug 2019