10"”/I.ATE FESTIVAL
ROGER MONKHOUSE SAYS OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Roger Monkhouse ditches his namesake's shiny suits and toothpaste stniles for a tnore equitable talent contest — three contestants
( who win through to the 5 next heat every night.
Loud. louche and from Leeds. Danny Brown learned to drive with a seasoned ramraider and
( explains the Yorkshire
approach to crime prevention: disbelief.
l.ucy Porter claims to be the offspring of a repressed hotnosexual father and a sedated mother. [ix-convent girl Porter draws on stories that are less intitnate than. erm. confessional. A few Hail Marys after the show should see her right.
Mancunian Tony Burgess speaks it) a bemused and (presumably) speed- induced wheeze. stalking around like a rapper powered by the rhythm of his wry observations.
Uttllattcned vowels are in short supply on the
.1 t Roger Monkhouse: knock three times
runs the whole gamut of fast-talking edginess. from a sassy l’uerto Rican
I-‘ringe. Get your fill at the Gilded Balloon while stocks last. (Catriona
Smith) woman to a sad old l I Roger Monkhouse Says Hispanic mourning his ' Opportunity Knocks dead son.
(Fringe). Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 215 l. until 2 Sept. midnight. £6.50 (£5 ).
[HERI-
SOME PEOPLE
The great big melting pot of multi-cultural New York is .‘ylcl.uhan's global village come true. Danny llocli‘s hip solo show struts down the boulevard and hangs out with a baker's do/en of the Big Apple‘s stt‘eet-sussed residents living at the core. With barely a change ofoutlit. Iloch
Various patois are authentically observed in a show about communication in a splintered. upside-down world and set to a soundtrack of hip hop. soca and tribal beats. There is no narrative or interplay between characters. just a brilliantly-observed roll call of the good. the bad and the ugly. (Neil Cooper)
I Some People (Fringe) Danny Iloch. Traverse Theatre (Venue I5) 225 1404. until 3() Aug. check times. £7 (£4).
Situation “HS. ian
Dog by
The most fiery, poetic, stomach-churnineg funny play you will see at the Festival. Don’t miss it. No children please. Dogs brought in at owners risk. Shifty Theatre Co. Hill Street Theatre (Venue 41) 17 Aug - 2 Sep. (not Mondays) £5/E‘4 2266522 12.15am. - 1.05am.
EdinbughUnivetsity Savoy Opera Group
Gilbertlt ullivan
Reade
Go Wilde!
lyer...Gill)en, llllel .. lulliii?
5'. .91 :W'x
( presents
EDINBURGH RENAISSANCE BAND
THE AULD ALLIANCE
' Franco-Scottish musical celebration 18th. ZSth August at 8 m. i9rh. 26th August at 10. pm
VIOL RACKETT SHOW The show for all the family! I9th. 26th August at 7pm
Medieval and renaissance brass. vind. strings - songs and dances — lively introductions
St-Cecilia's Hall (Venue 31) Tickets £5
8.15pm(9.15pmj r 27:: Atget- 22. infants: {£5 0 “urn r—p‘vD:
"In". 5- v". Pu .p 9 fr L
IUIJA'. L-lru’hhdfl»! vim... Vic;
Tickets Box Ofice
Venue - 0131 650 8201 £5.00
mm - am 226 ms
COMEOY CHARLIE CHUCK
You should never dismiss Charlie Chuck as a one- trick pony just because he‘s best known for shouting ‘donkey!’ at Vic 'n‘ Bob. This crazed care- in-the-community type actually knows two tricks. namely breaking off an epic shaggy dog story to yell. ‘Where am II". and rounding off a nonsensical nursery rhyme by hitting the nearest object with a very big stick.
He does this for an entire hour. which would be torture were it not for some cheesey one-liners. a few moments of surreal sitcom excellence. and the finale. where he comes out ofcharacter and regales the bemused audience with a string of hilarious showbiz anecdotes. ()n this showing he should give up comedy and become an after-dinner speaker. (Ian Watson)
I Charlie Chuck (Fringe). Music Box (Venue 50) 220 4847. until 2 Sept (not 3 l ). 10.30pm. £7/£6.
[HERE- THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN - cAnNAoE
Amazing Johnathan: a cut above
Late night shows require more than a hint of shock
just to keep their
audiences awake. never mind entertaining them. The Amazing Johnathan gets his wakey-wakey factor in early by introducing a pair of scissors to his wife’s cranium. Then wiggling them about.
Not that he restricts his violent tendencies to his conjugal arrangements. The man seems equally happy ritually humiliating some poor sucker from the audience as he is attempting to carve his own arm off with a kitchen knife. The sheer delight he takes in his sadism is ajoy to behold
: for the misanthrope. Your
granny wouldn‘t like it but slick magic tricks and sick kicks are what the kids want. (The Really Rather Average Jonathan Trew) I The Amazing Johnathan - Carnage (Fringe). Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. until 2 Sept.
l 1.50pm. £8l£9 (£7/L‘8).
INVASION OF THE CATHOOE RAYS
Kitsch alert! l‘)5()s camp Americana is revisited at the Pleasance under the shadowy auspices of Irving Z. Krud and HMTV Productions.
Fronted by the smartnbuster ‘Jivin" James Farquharson- Srnythe (think David Seaman in a dinnerjacket) the show within a show (postmodern. moi?) necks with SOs-embossed images and icons — the Bomb. advertising. TV. pointy bras and lid Wood. The terrifying climax. ‘Cosmic Brain Suckers'. stars Vernon Grit and Nancy Damp outscored by a cardboard cut-out Bela Lugosi and a collander from Mars.
It's a treat for all the nuclear family. Three-l) glasses are provided. (Brian Donaldson)
I Invasion of the Cathode Rays (Fringe) Brand X Productions. Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550. until 2 Sept (not 30). l2.20am. £6/£5.5()
COMEDY
STRANGE . . . BUT TRUE
Eddy Strange has an arresting opening. After dispensing with his mic. dismantling the empty front rows. abusing Sweeney Todd upstairs and castigating the lighting crew. the kid gloves come on and the audience is soothed into an hour of possurns. golf slices and Countdown. You feel his script has ‘parenthetical interlude' scattered liberally on each page. Olympian-like. Eddy snatches and runs
rt
Eddy Strange: Olympian-like
with the baton of audience comment. taking it beyond the material world.
At times you could be witnessing the resurrection of Bill Hicks in a Steven Wright wig. but Eddy Strange is almost unique. (Brian Donaldson)
I Strange . . . But True (Fringe) Iiddy Strange. Southside (Venue 82) 667 7365. until 2 Sept.
1 l.3()pm. £5.5(l/f5 (£4.5(l/tj4).
[EME- SIMON PECC
Simon l’egg is so cherubic as to make Tin-Tin appear the embodiment of Iron John. With an affable presence on stage and a cuddly way with toilet- visiting audience members. he has been hailed (or damned) as the new Sean Hughes. Certainly he possesses the Dubliner's self-effacing head-scratching and a taste for the underdog. eg learner vs driver instructor; first-year vs prefect.
But it is Eddie Izzard to whom Pegg doffs his apprentice's cap. as seen in his references to goldfish memory and the ultimate homage to cool cats and dippit dogs.
Pegg has style and verve but there remain a few unfinished stitches in his comedic cardi. (Brian Donaldson)
I Simon Pegg (Fringe) Complete Comedy Company. Stepping Stones (Venue 5 l) 225 6520. until 27 Aug. l0.45pm. £6 (£5).
Cathode Bay: the kltschon sink
SO The List 25 Aug-7 Sept 1995