FESTIVAL (Tm/LATE
( Strife isa cabaret l
The hour is late, the bonhomie is bubbling, and the critical faculties are in desperate need of some frivolous fun. Let a tired and devotional Jonathan Trew guide you through a sma’ hours trawl of the Fringe’s cabaret circus.
Where do they get their inspiration‘.’
THEATRE/DANCE/COMEDY/KIDS
Andy Bennett compere at The Mad Abbott with the bust of a tamer incarnation
after a few) do just that with some well received ditties about shit-faced drunks. i
Time to sway down to the Gilded
Balloon for heat four of So You Fltltlk
The Festival means two things — comedy and extended boozing opportunities. Combine the two and you’re laughing. even if you can't remember why in the morning. First stop is the Fringe Club and a flying start with bottles of brown at £1 a time. Wah~hey the lads and extended sympathy for the performers. Christians to the lions is a phrase which springs to mind. The place is packed with beer monsters hanging from the balcony and any other available protuberances: most of them are legless and all of them are howling for blood. Still, music I apparently hath the charm to soothe the wild breast apparently and Canadian four-piece Moxy Fruvous (say that l
Treadermain goes througll to the final
humour. Not much cop for those in search of beery anarchy though so it‘s
: supreme and the ubiquitous Smiley
' more compere duties. First up are the
You're Funny . . .. Smiley comperes and threatens to break the kneecaps of any hecklers. No one does and Martin
on the strength of his gentle. surreal
offto Late 'n' live for that cutting— edge atmosphere. Alcohol—fuelled camraderie reigns
pops up his stunningly ugly mug for
Umbilical Brothers, Australia‘s answer to Tom and Jerry but with more lethal weapons and better sound effects. Through in the bar Jim Rose is swapping tales of mutilation with the i
Tokyo Shock Boys and Mr Lifto. he of elastic foreskin fame. wanders past with several wine glasses hanging from his cars. Too weird for me and besides. a few lightweights around here are beginning to yawn.
Time to check out the subversive presence of The Mad Abbot in the heart of Morningside. it's off the main drag btlt worth the trek ~ small, dark and bursting with bonhomie. Cheap booze and cheap food to soak it up in means that you don't need to risk that holllcward bound kebab. Tonight‘s line- up includes Jane Boll-Bane with some off-the-wall songs on the Bontempi; Simon llardman with stomach churning
Z insights into venereal disease; Earl
()kin. a guitar wielding coffin dodger
who doubles as the world‘s most unlikely sex god: cheesey. tongue ill
cheek tunes from Lorraine Bowen; and Scot (‘apurro. the gay Alllericall comedian causing a justified rumpus in
Edinburgh. Time to get The Mad Abbot Habit.
‘ I Fringe Club Cabaret (Fringe) Fringe Club (Venue 3) 650 4673. until 3 Sept.
l0.45pm. Fringe Club membership £5
daily. £12 weekly, £20 season.
I So You Think You’re Funny . . . 1 Final (Fringe) Gilded
E Balloon (Venue 38) no ZISI. 28 Aug, : 8pm. £6.50 (£5.50).
I Late ’n’ Live (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226215]. until 3 Sept.
12.30am. £7.50 (£6.50).
I Bad Habit Cabaret (Fringe) The Mad Abbot. Abbotsford Lodge (Venue 84) 447 88] l. 10.30pm. £3.50 (£3).
( Smiley i
Surely there can’t be a more appropriately-named comedian at the Fringe. And yes, (Michael) Smiley is his real name. This shaven-headed gabshite with attitude lives up to the ubiquitous ‘comic for the E generation’ tag that has been his since he emerged into the comedy spotlight as runner-up at last year’s ‘So You Think You’re Funny . . .’ competition.
With the recognition that this success brought, Smiley found himself thrust into the public consciousness with his in-yer-face ‘Smiley’s People’ appearances on Channel 4’s otherwise spontaneity-free ‘ffaked City’. ‘The best thing on it is that baldy, toothless Irish bloke with the earring,’ was the verdict of those perceptive chroniclers of contemporary youth culture at ‘The Mail On Sunday’.
Back in Edinburgh, the latest in a long line of Irish comedy exports
intends to capitalise on his recent media profile with his Monday to
L___,,
| clubs and drugs. Taking a welcome
Smiley: shaven-headed gabshite
Thursday slots as compere at Late ’n’ Live, and his first trip into the world of solo stand-up in the Fringe’s final week.
The aptly-titled ‘Techno Prisoners’ show will, naturally, explore the pills, thrills and bellyaches associated with the raving lifestyle that this former DJ knows only too well. But there’s more to Smiley than knowing references to
break from the up-for-it antics of the Gilded Balloon’s hecklers, he points out that this is only part of what he’s about. ‘Since I moved to London twelve years ago (he’s 30 now) l’ve been a lot of things: DJ, cycle courier, shit shoveller, husband, father, and now comedian, so I’ll be talking about all of that.’
Anyone who caught his recent appearance on BBC 2’s showcase of Northern Irish comic talent, ‘The Empire Laughs Back’, will have seen that his hard-clubbing background has given him a unique take on what is needed to kickstart the stalled peace process. Put Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley in a room together, get them ‘on one’ and watch the transformation. As soon as the drugs kick in, Sinn Fein’s pipe-smoking teetotaller will be shaving his beard into a goatee, wearing a pair of John Lennon specs and asking Big fan for a hug. Class A comedy, indeed. (Stan Ferguson)
Late ’n’ Live (Fringe), Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2151, until 3 Sept, 12.30am, £7.50 (£6.50).
Techno Prisoners (Fringe) Smiley, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 650, 28 Aug—3 Sept, 9.30pm, {6127(25/26).
ITLIS
Final week thrills, as brought to you by Craig McLean in association with loads of alcohol sponsorship.
Carrot—centric abuse is only the half of Mandy Knight's show. ller hyper- caricatures and speeding one-liners beat the sex 'n' shock stuff pants down. Some ()fMy Best Friends A re Ginger (Fringe) Mandy Knight. (ii/(led Balloon (Venue 5]) 225 6520. until 3 .Sept. 1 / pm f6/f5.
I Bouncers John Godber's classic invades the Assembly Rooms. The vast space allows a grandiose set and the opportunity for the four bouncer blokes to give full vent to their scathing. crackling dissection of cattle-market club (un)culture.
Bount'ers (Fringe) Hull 'l‘ruek Theatre Company. Assembly Rooms ( Venue 3) 226 2426’. until 1 Sept. l0pm. £8.5()/£().5() ( [7.50/{650}.
I The Heat Fruity New York cabaret stars Hot Peaches bring a riotous retrospective of their two decades-plus career. Gay culture. fairy-tales. queer rock alld 'tattered pink chiffon' rolled into one.
The Heat (Fringe) Hot Pear/res. ’li‘al'erse Fltt’tllt‘t’ (Venue I5) 228 1404. until 3’ Sept. /2. l5am. £8 ([5).
I Ilsa, Queen Of The Nazi Love Camp Black musical farce from the same satirical angle as Mel Brooks' ‘Springtime For l-litler‘. Racial intolerance deftly skewered.
Ilsa. Queen ()f'l‘lle Nazi Love ('amp (Fringe) ()ne Yellow Rabbit. 'I'ral'erse (Venue [5) 228 I404. until 3 Sept (not Mon), llpm. [7 ([4).
I Perrier Pick Of The Fringe A triumph of marketing. the Perrier Award is now synonymous with the hottest, newest and funniest on the Fringe. Catch six of the best on the cusp of graduating to fame. fortune and guest slots on TV quiz shows.
l’t’l't'lt’l' l’ir'k ()f'l'lie Fringe (Fringe). Assembly Rooms ( Venue 3 t 226 2428, 2
and 3 Sept. [Up/n. {8(1'6). ’J
The List 26 August-8 September 1994 47