COMEDY

WILL DURST - MYTH AMERICA

Will Durst is trapped iii a vast continental quilt of Atnerica that envelops the stage. He's standing on Mexico (cue gag) and jumping in the air to point out Alaska (well. he's a small bloke) for another one of his enthralling anecdotes and traveller's tales (drinking in New Orleans. hitching to Vegas. that kind of thing).

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Will Durst: liberal laughs He's a welcotning. affable kind of left wing humorist. managing to make his political material more entertaining than rhetorical. And hey you learn stuff. Like. did you know the economy of California is the eighth largest worldwide? See. Education can be fun. (Cait Hurley)

I will Durst - Myth America (Fringe) Will Durst. Assembly Rooms (Venue 3). 226 2428. until 2 Sept. 10pm. £7/£8.5() (Lb/£7.50).

SOLO PERFORMANCE '

(PREVIEWS AUGUST 1 t at 12, £3)

O l995 Joanie Miles Photography

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SMILEY’S CULTURE

Irish comedian Smiley

the Shane MacGowan of

house music loves clubbing. With a pair of DJ double-decks set up on stage. Smiley tries. with boundless enthusiasm. to

i demonstrate just what it is

he loves about those

repetitive beats with

CONCEiVED, WRITTEN a; Remand

36$

exotic names like handbag and Italian house. Any attempt to re-create the clubbing experience for an audience sitting in rows without the traditional chemical assistance is bound to fail. but Smiley rescues a daft idea from disaster by bouncing around the stage like a loved-up Tigger in old skool trainers. Impressions of girning Cockney ravers are remixed. with more typical Smiley stand-up material about his Irish upbringing. into a rambling. ramshackle show that has an infectious charm. Top one. mate. (Eddie Gibb)

I Smiley’s Culture (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2l51. until 2 Sept. 10.30pm. £6 (£5).

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o solo seduciion

RANDOLPH STUDIO

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. f :{,‘""Aucusr f4-SEPTEMB£R2 :,- ' Tracers: £5024) l0:00 PM.

PHIL KAY

Dictionary definition of ‘madcap’: ‘a person who acts madly, an exuberantly frolicsome person; fond of wild and reckless or extravagantly merry action.’ Judging by Phil Kay’s nutty performance at the Queens Hall, the inimitable comic could shortly find his name included in any subsequent revisions of the word’s definition.

Swishing from Morrissey impersonations - lnterflora helpings of flowers in back pocket - to impromptu flings with shinpads, waltling couples, haphazard hairdos and audience malarky, Phil Kay had them agog from the off. Always one to abandon the script ship when there are loadsalaughs to be had elsewhere, he flys by the seat of his pantaloons and suceeds magnificently.

PS: Big shout out to 02’s Umbilical

.x. Phil Kay: king of comedy, official

Brothers in support: ripper. (Ann Donald)

Phil Kay (Fringe) Gilded Balloon

( Venue 38) 226 2151, 27 Aug-2 Sept, 11.30pm, £6.50 (£5.50).

mastenvorks‘.’ That a bearded hippy with a guitar and piano can be

consciousness. Later the whole northern hemisphere enters same pub. and the first bloke funny? says ‘Right, [‘1] get them Bill Bailey does genius- in . . .’ comedy. If you go and Bill Bailey does don't agree I'll give you musical-comedy. Did you your money back. know that David Vine and Probablleruig Melxzm) Ron Pickering wrote I Bill Bailey’s Cosmic ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit' Jam (Fringe) Bi” Bililt‘)‘. (it’s just a longer version Gildt‘d 8111100!) (Vcnuc of the snooker theme)? 38) 336 3151. until 3 Sept That Cockney music is at (not 39). | l.~15pm. £6

BILL BAILEY’S COSMIC JAM

Bill Bailey does meta- comedy. Two men walk into a pub. only it‘s a three-man joke (one of them's been held up by a shaggy dog story). There they bump into someone waiting for surrealist/

absurdist Stream Of the core of most classical (£5)- - THE SCOTTISH ARTS COUNCIL - _

APPLICATIONS FOR SUPPORT ARE

INVITED FROM THE FOLLOWING FUNDS

Performing Arts Department: Drama

Playwrights’ Bursary

The purpose of this fund is to support individual playwrights and assist with the creation of both full length and short plays. The fund will offer financial assistance in the form of a £4,000 bursary for a full length play or £2,000 for a short play ( i. e. not one intended to occupy a full evening's presentation).

Drama Artist-in-Residence

To develop drama activities for and with young people through the appointment of a professional theatre practitioner for a residency with an existing arts organisation or local authority.

Closing date for both schemes: Monday 9 October 1995

Further details available from: Drama Office Performing Arts Department Scottish Arts Council 12 Manor Place Edinburgh EH3 700

The Scottish Arts Council operates an equal opportunities policy.

SCOTTlSn' ARTS COL-\‘CIL AIMS to CREATE A CLI‘JATE I-\ 1*. HICH Ams 0F QUAtmr FLOURISH

1WD AR.‘ F‘leV’ED 8" A 'MD? RA‘JGF OF pEO"LE T"‘?OL'G“OLJT SCOTLAND

55 The List 25 Aug-7 Sept 1995