COMEDY
SIR BERNARD OHUMLEY IS
DEAD . . . AND FRIENDS
‘It is,’ says assistant stage manager and brown-clad bore Tony Rogers, ‘the bent old luvvie routine you’ve seen a million times before.’ Well not quite, but almost. Sir Bernard is ranked - by himself - up there with Ned Sherrin and Peter Ustinov in the theatrical- raconteur stakes. Only here our
Slr Bernard Chumley: tat bloke on thin ice
funny, only pumping out the laughing gas when sidekick David Walliams trots on tor one of his cameos (eg. Tony Rogers or porn star Erik Estrada). The sight of the stumpy egg-head blubber-gut in a Blakes Severresque purple space-jersey, however, has to be one of the most memorable sights
COMEDY
KEVIN DAY: HIS NEW SHOW
What halcyon days they were. the late 80s. Yuppies. Tories. City hotshots: we spat and puked on their names. 1995'? Blimey. Its tough being a bloke. a husband and a PC ‘liberal socialist“.
Kevin Day is not at one with the times and his struggle to comprehend this fact is embarrassing to watch. Every growl is served with an apology: 'I don't really mean it.‘ Americans. newsreaders. pensioners — what tired and predictable targets.
In His New Show Kevin is a shadow thrown behind a grimace. (Deirdre Molloy)
I His New Show (Fringe) Kevin Day, Gilded Balloon 1] (Venue 5 l ) 225 6520. until 2 Sept (not 29. 31) 10pm. £7 (£5)
[MEE- THE BIG VALUE
FESTIVAL 1o'vaATE
Hadingham provides the psychotic centre to the Big Value Comedy Show. Stock still at the mic. Hadingham muses over laundrette trauma and donating sperm to 'the bank that likes to say “()oh yes".' Milton Jones cuts a dishevelled figure with advice for men in public toilets. Avoid the eyes. It really stings.
The show is closed by Adam Bloom whose main tactic for appreciation is to shout very loudly. The highlight was a tasteless attack on the withered hand of Beadle.
Compere Andrew Pipe kept things bubbling wittily with Milton Jones sneaking it on points. (Brian Donaldson)
I The Big Value Comedy Show (Fringe) Screaming Blue Murder Comedy. Cafe Royal (Venue 47) 556 2549. until 2 Sept. 10.25pm. £6.50 (£5.50).
[EILEE- CURTAINS - LAND AND WOODLEY
Lano & Woodley: wizards of Oz
comedians being surprised by bowling balls falling on their heads and people hitting each other with frying pans! Hurrah!
Last year's Perrier winners are back to dish out a brand-new dollop of slapstick. The deal is that there's one nasty straight guy and one oddball fall guy. The plot is paper-thin but that's irrelevant since it’s the clowning around that raises the laughter factor. Fast-paced sight gags are the name of the game and it’s a winner. (Jonathan Trew)
COMEDY SHOW
With the look of a man miles from home who's just realised that the bath is still running. David
on the Fringe. (Craig McLean)
Sir Bernard Chumle y Is Dead . . . And Friends (Fringe) Assembly Rooms
( Venue 3/226 2428, until 2 Sept (not 31) midnight, £7. 50/28. 50
I Curtains (Fringe) Lano and Woodley. Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428. until 2 Sept.
10. l0pm. £8/£9 (£6/£7).
blethering, doddery thesp seems to suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome, likes ilik Kershaw, and is played by a short, tat, completely bald 21 -year-old called Matt Lucas.
What do we want'.’ Goofy guys in ill-fitting suits jumping from the lighting rigs into the audience! Gangly. unsuspecting
(Andrew Burnet)
Seduction (Fringe) Rod
Lucas’s show is more weird than (£6.50/£7.50)- = mark. and the songs are s ' h) . W dated. Diabolical. llzléwbonezASolo P \ ' \ Y Z\ “3’ -JA. ‘ .
DISGRAOEFULLY YOURS
‘Eternity.' remarks Richard O‘Brien. ‘is a fucking long time.’ The same could be said for Disgrut‘ejiilly Yours's 90 minutes. Twenty years after The Rocky Horror Show. its creator manifests himself as Mephistopheles Smith. sent to address the people. ‘that they shall grow in grooviness'.
It must have seemed fun. but — surprisingly - O‘Brien doesn't have the presence to pull it off. His script oozes verbal invention. his band is competent. but there's no plot. the jokes miss their
"z" Blchard O’Brien: dlabollcal
I Disgracetully Yours Richard O’Brien (Fringe) The Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550. until 28 August. 10.30pm. £6.50/£5.50 (£7.50/£6).
JAWBONE: A SOLO SEDUOTION
Often the words ‘one man show‘ is theatrical shorthand for a kind of dissection of the performer. In Jawbone Rod McLucas takes the opposite approach: he starts with a handful of scenarios which he pulls together to show different facets of the same man. He‘s a paleontology lecturer. a barfly raconteur and a Garrison Keillor- style reminiscer who harangues strangers on the street and fights for his Tupperware.
For the wary theatregoer. the term ‘stream of
McLucas. Randolph institute (Venue 55) 225 5366. until 2 Sept. l0pm. £5 (£4).
EDINBURGH FRIOHT NIGHTS
How chilling is Edinburgh Fright Nights? About gas mark eight. Emma Blakey’s powerful performance cannot prevent this from being a disappointing trawl through some of the ghost stories of the old town. The series of monologues interspersed with a dodgy tarot card reader and a ‘tell us your own ghost stories' foray into the audience where there seemed to be more plants than Gardener's World. Unfortunately too English-public-school to appeal to native Scots. Edinburgh Fright Nights might entice uninformed visitors looking for a cheap thrill. (Philip
BROUGHTON PLACE, EDINBURGH
"Th-W are hilarious...l urge you
to die for a ticket.” Edinburgh Evening News
counsciousness' sets th DON/11rd) _ warning bells a-jinglinge. I Edinburgh Fright a 28 Aug 2 Sept at 9' 15pm But when the mflms (Fringe) 4X4 (10.15pm)
consciousness is McLucas's the result is a focussed and engaging performance. (Catriona
Theatre Company. C Venue (Venue 19) 225 5l05. until 2 Sept (not 3| Aug), £4 (£3).
or: v‘“
£8.50 (£7.50)
Croat Cards 0131-557 6969. Tickets from Venue Box Office & all usual festival outlets.
The List 25 Aug-7 Sept 1995 55