list.co.uk/festival Reviews | F E S T I VA L C O M E DY
MAISIE ADAM: HANG FIRE Pleasing follow-up to her Best Newcomer nominated show ●●●●●
Maisie Adam has a priceless idea for her second show and she doesn’t even need to make it up. And that’s where the description of her new hour needs to end for fear of giving it away. Adam’s show overall is about making a mistake, doing something wrong but owning up to it, then saying you’re sorry. There are famous examples dangling from a washing line: remember when Hugh Grant got caught in a compromising position in a car on Sunset Boulevard with a sex worker? Or Mick Jagger’s weed arrest that also revealed what he was doing with a Mars Bar at the time? Adam shares her own lie, one she strung out a little bit too
long and therefore got into more trouble than she would have been had she ‘owned it’. Of course, this should be echoing at the moment with anyone who has eyes and ears, and Adam briefly touches on the wider political picture featuring two Western leaders who favour the blanket denial of something that they did or said when footage actually exists of them saying or doing those things. In some ways it’s a shame she doesn’t take this further, but then it’s not really their story.
Adam won So You Think You’re Funny? in 2017, scooped the Amused Moose Award last year, and received an Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination for her 2018 debut show. Hang Fire is a thoroughly respectable follow-up. It possesses a fantastic hook that many can only dream of and Adam has an easy presence on stage, throwing out punchlines like she’s been doing it all her life. They might not all be at the belly-laugh level but Maisie Adam is still a pleasure to spend an hour with. (Marissa Burgess) n Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 26 Aug, 5pm, £10.50–£11.50 (£9.50– £10.50).
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SOPHIE DUKER: VENUS Confident and classy debut ●●●●●
TOM BALLARD: ENOUGH Motormouth goes for the jugular in heavily political show ●●●●● PHIL CORNWELL: ALACKADADDY Crushingly bad hour from usually brilliant performer ●●●●●
That toe-curling notion of the ‘white saviour’ is thoroughly taken apart by Sophie Duker in the conclusion to her confident Fringe debut, Venus. Images of a Caucasian abroad handling cute black babies is one thing. When they include him photobombing a child pawing at their mother’s breast is another. That the pictures are used as part of this person’s Tinder profile catapults matters way beyond any sense of reason.
Duker neatly satirises this tawdry display during
an hour in which she lays into racist and patriarchal archetypes, and finds heroes in the unlikeliest of places. Among the black icons she attaches herself to are Spencer, the painter from Balamory, and Skin Diamond, formerly one of the most influential women in the porn industry. But there’s a twist to be had there that should drop lots of jaws. Venus is all about Duker owning her own story, and
refusing to be patronised, fetishised or marginalised in a Western society that has been built on such foundations. But Duker has also woven dozens of punchlines into the show and her chatty banter reveals a comic at ease with herself and confident of her burgeoning status in stand-up. (Brian Donaldson) n Pleasance Courtyard, until 25 Aug (not 14), 7pm, £7–£9 (£6.50–£8).
Billed unashamedly as ‘political stand-up’, this might suggest that Tom Ballard is about to serve us yet another slice of Trump-Brexit pie. But fear not, for the Australian has bigger things on his mind such as capitalism, baby boomers, Uber Eats, gay saunas and getting his arse waxed. Naturally, there’s a bit of Aussie politics to begin with, and we learn about ScoMo, the country’s prime minister and answer to BoJo. He engages in some front-row banter, throws in a few easy jokes and then we’re off. Soon Ballard is going full throttle in a joyous,
motormouthed rant that he somehow sustains right to the end. His beef is the system that grinds us down and traps us in jobs we hate: well, 80% of us apparently. If that sounds like grim material, it’s not when it’s in the hands of this seasoned pro who urges us to bring on the revolution and embrace Dolly Parton and her scathing anti-capitalist hymn, ‘9 to 5’.
Ballard was living the dream hosting a nightly political satire on Australian TV until it was axed last year. Now he’s free but not quite so well-paid, as he reminds us every now and then by rattling his donations bucket. (Tom Bruce-Gardyne) n Monkey Barrel, until 25 Aug, 9pm, £7–£10 (£6–£9) in advance or donations at the venue.
Comedian, actor and impressionist Phil Cornwell is a familiar face (and voice) thanks to his work on Spitting Image, Dead Ringers and cult sitcom Stella Street. In this Fringe show, he plays ‘altered ego’ Robert Lemon Alackadaddy, a booze-soaked sad sack battling demons from his past and voices in his head. It’s not a million miles away from his wonderfully pathetic Alan Partridge character, DJ Dave Clifton.
From the start, Cornwell’s crowd are unmistakably unsure about Alackaddady, a creation whose freewheeling thoughts enter the world without profundity or humour. ‘We are all in this together,’ he warns, although it’s never certain where we’re meant to be or why. While swigging from a vodka bottle, he recounts his fantasy encounters with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Alexander Graham Bell and Alan Titchmarsh, as nary a snigger punctures the void. Walk-outs become so numerous that he weaves them into the narrative. For a time, it seems that a twist might be about to turn things around and make sense of this nonsense. But it never comes.
On TV, Cornwell is a brilliant and funny performer but this is way beneath his talent. (Murray Robertson) n Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 Aug, 4.15pm, £11–£12 (£10–£11).
14–26 Aug 2019 THE LIST FESTIVAL 55