I
10"”/ LATE FESTIVAL
COMEDY PREVIEW . i i
Appetite
When new wave trapeze artist Anni liavey suggests a coffee, you can’t help but wonder which orifice it’s likely to be poured from. Such is the
legend that goes before this ‘nude , lesbians having mid-air sex shocker’ -
legend that has already had
Edinburgh’s high priestess of moral E fibre, Councillor Moira Knox, : performing triple sukaharas of outrage ;
and bluster.
The truth is, alas, somewhat different. The Australian, all-female quartet that make up Club Swing are
all seasoned professionals, with an impressively high-flying pedigree. ‘ liavey’s lineage dates back to Circus 0:, with whom she last appeared in Edinburgh - when she broke her neck in two places after a fall in rehearsal. But what’s all this about offering the audience strawberries from their cleavages? ‘It just puts people in the mood’, says Davey. ‘Strawberries are the most erotic fruits in the world, and 3 this is a show about desire and need, two of which are sex and food. Besides, no one’s ever refused a
strawberry.’
on?
Club Swing: trim
The perfect aphrodisiac then? _ ‘Absolutely! The show’s on at eleven : o’clock so it’s perfect timing to go home to bed with some take away cream cakes.’ And a partner presumably. But what of Ms Knox? Any E right-to-repIy-type message to pass '
‘Just tell her to come and see the show. l’ve got a strawberry waiting just for her.’ (lleil Cooper) Appetite (Fringe) Club Swing, The . Palladium (Venue 26) 556 6969, 12
: Aug-2 Sept, 11pm, £7.50 (£6.50).
COMEDY ' COMEDY
JOHN HEOLEY
1‘ F John llegley: it’s a dog’s life
So commenceth J ohn’s lesson: ‘And in the beginning was the dog.‘ And thus endeth the lesson: a projected sketch of copulating canines.
Ex-bus conductor and reformed bully John Hegley is launching himself into his thirteenth year on the Fringe. and the familiar passions remain in place. To wit. religion. dogs. his dad. each dealt with individually but in one instance. gorgeously together. Not forgetting his true heritage. the Luton library. home to his friends. The only ones he had. in the opinion of his dad.
The show may make no sense to the Luton News but the local boy continues to do good. (Brian Donaldson)
I John llegley (Fringe). Traverse Theatre (Venue 15) 228 1404. until 27 Aug (not 21). 10.30pm. £8 (£6).
CLUUB ZARATHUSTRA
This weirdo comedy salon is the post doctoral thesis of student revues. aimed at people who like their comedy self-consciously intellectual. The stated aim of Cluub Z regulars. who include Fist ()thm's Stewart Lee. is to challenge the comic hegemony. but when all's said and done. once you've stripped away the Nietzchian Superman stuff and that self- regarding, Kierkegaarding nonsense. this is another
-, comedy sketch show with
comic actors running around the stage. horne- made props. funny voices and things that go bang. The glue which holds this bag of pretensions together is Cluub Z's host.
Cluub l: weirdo comedy salon
the League Against Tedium. aka Simon Munnery. aka Simon Parker — Urban Warrior. This elitist compere calls his audience ‘sub-worms’ and isn’t at all surprised when they don‘t understand half his jokes. This may be because The League exists on a higher plane of consciousness. or it could it be they‘re just not funny? You’ll just have to decide for yourself. (Eddie Gibb)
I Cluub Zarathustra (Fringe) The Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550. until 2 Sept (not 3!)
1 1.59pm. £8/7 (£7/6).
HOT SHIMMY
‘ SHUFFLE
it‘s a history lesson. dance demonstration. jazz bar and exercise all rolled into one late-night hour in a renovated church ball. If you arrive all Fringed out. be careful where you sit because you might be coaxed into shaking your booty. too. Backed by the easy swing of the Rolf Laing Quintet. four super- smiley, bubbleJtil-you- drop dancers run the gamut from cakewalk to soft shoe. traditional tap to Charleston. with more than enough shimmy to shake the fringes on the ladies’ dresses. Highly capable performances deliver the more athletic side of show-dance. The music. meanwhile. ranges
from swing to boogie- woogie. and includes some classic golden oldies. (Lynn Keating) I llot Shimmy Shuffle (Fringe) Dancers From The living Lindy Hoppers. Cafe Graffiti (Venue 90) 557 8330. until 23 Aug (not )9) 10pm. £5 (£4).
oomEov
MAX AND JILL’S CORDUROY HOSTESS
the mostest
it’s not often that you find yourselfbidding three cows for Annie Lennox's flip-flop. but in the crazed world of Max and Jill’s Corduroy Hostess anything is possible. Aled Jones might appear to give a deranged lecture on transvestism. Jim Bowen could take part in an absurd game of Blind Date. Phil Kay may even be in the audience pissing himself with laughter. Indeed. your only
making. At his worst he's a social club-circuit comic whose clumsy and self- conscious attempts at dissecting the absurdities and nitty-gritty of sex fall flat at the foreplay stage. This time around he‘s not big and he's not funny. (Ann Donald)
I Parrot ‘llncaged’ (Fringe) Parrot. Gilded Balloon H. (Venue 5 l) 225 6520. until 2 Sept
I (not 29) l2.15am. £6.50
(£5.50).
COMEDY
DAVE THOMPSON - THE MILK WORM
There are times when you want to grab Dave Thompson and give it to
him straight: use the weird .
stuff and connect with the
audience. Capitalising on his mad gawkiness. Thompson‘s perverse
i man-child jokes —
Max and Jill: hostess with i
elbowed into hackneyed gags about the usual
(drugs. festival toilets. etc) 5 - allude to something a lot F
better than this. He only gets in his stride when he
dumps the mic and gags
certainty is that this mind-
boggling. jaw-aching.
j celebrity-bothering show i will have you grinning
like a lunatic with a brand
. new space hopper. Book
_ now to ensure complete
: and utter befuddlement.
; (lan Watson)
9 I Max and Jill’s Corduroy
Gilded Balloon ll —
Hostess (Fringe) Jill Peacock and Max Sharp.
Stepping Stones (Venue 5|) 225 6520. until 26 Aug. midnight. £5 (£4).
COMEDY PARROT ‘UNCAGED’
it wasn‘t looking good for Parrot — a single-figure audience who were. according to the devilishly bearded one 'only wanting to hear the one about the donkey and the two lesbians‘. Managing to resist that particular gem for at least 30 minutes. Parrot ploughed the well-furrowed field of the demon drink. To wit: Scots drunks. kebabs and Vim and male/female drinking patterns.
At best Parrot promises us a Billy Connolly in the
completely for two bonkers mime bits and. aided by stolen teaspoons. a bizarre lecture on human history. (Cait Hurley)
I
Dave Thompson: the worm’s turn
' I Dave Thompson - The
l
Parrot ‘ilncaged’: small- time Big Yin
Milk Worm (Fringe) Dave Thompson. Southside (Venue 82) 667 7365. until 2 Sept (not 22. 29) l0.15pm. £5/£5.50 (ill/£4.50).
COMEDY
‘ AN EVENING
WITH ROBERTO BAGGIO
Roberto Baggio: he’s a good sport
Unbelievable! This sports revue has to be on steroids: faster than Michael Johnson. more packed titan Jonah Lomu. and certainly more sexy than Will Carling and Princess Diana. Allegedly. Thanks to the clever musical backdrop this [it-citing is pacey. frenzied and so sweaty that it was little surprise that they wore polyester football tops.
With its canny observations on football. boxing. cricket and motor- racing. this is a comedyfest for sports fans. Yet there‘s still enough fun for those that don't know the difference between Nicky Lauda’s melted face and Des Lynam's carpet face. A game of no-halves. it‘s well worth the turnstilc price. (Philip Dorward)
I An Evening With Roberto Baggio (Fringe) Nibz. Marco's (Venue 98) 228 9] 16. until 2 Sept (not Tue). l0.30pm. £6 (£5).
54 The List l8-24 Aug 1995