JIMEOIN is a comedian with a moniker created by welding two names together (his mother’s couldn’t decide which one so went tor both, apparently). As you might have guessed from his Guinness-diving activities he’s Irish, though most of his stand-up success has been in Australia. Unsurprisingly, therefore, he talks a lot about being an Irishman in Australia. A sort of Bruce with added blarney, you might say. See Comedy listings.
ANTHONY NEILSON is something of an all-rounder. with stints as playwright. director. screenwriter and occasional actor. His early plays. including Wilfare My Lovely at the Traverse. were acclaimed. but it was Penelrutor. which deals unflinchingly with the darker side of sexuality. that ruffled more than a few theatrical feathers at the Fringe in 1993. The work. which is now being revived by The Tron. features an unhinged squaddie who shocks his fonner flatmate with graphic tales of weird and violent sex. predating the recent wave of nasty Scottish realism. When the show transferred to London. Neilson picked up a fringe theatre award. but at home the critics hated it. ‘There's this notion in Scotland that you‘ve got to be taken down a peg before you have succeeded even in a small way.’ he says. ‘What interests me is the way we're deviant. The sexual side of people is very important. so it must be important fora character in a play.‘ Neilson‘s new play The 1.017: W' Find ()urxelt'ex receives a performed reading next month and looks like being a quieter affair. but it was his more confrontational work which appealed to the producers of Cracker: The Movie. who approached him to write an early draft of the script. Neilson‘s version was rejected and the
process has clearly left him a little bitter. ‘l have high hopes for TV
but at the moment I find it very cowardly.‘ he says. ‘lt's like going into a restaurant that serves four kinds of shit.‘ (Neil Cooper) l’ehell'ulor is (I! The Tron. Glasgow from Wed 22 Nov—Sim 3 Dec. The Love W I Find ()urselves as also (I! The Tron on So! 9 Dee.
CALLUM INNES doesn't slice cattle in half. or poke miniature cameras into body orifices where the sun doesn‘t usually shine. but his subtle. abstract paintings. which are as much about the paint he removes from the surface of the canvas as what's left on. have made him a contender for the prestigious Turner Prize. It's recognition from the contemoporary art establishment in London which has so far eluded the Edinburgh-born painter in Scotland. The publicity generated by Damien Hirst's notorious animal pickling activities has ensured that lnnes. together with the other shortlisted artists Mark Wallinger and Mona Hatoum. have all enjoyed a high public profile. lnnes. who trained at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen and now works in Edinburgh. says he ‘disagrees with the concept of prizes'. but wouldn't be averse to picking up the £2().()()() winner's cheque to pay off his sizeable overdraft and possibly go travelling. ‘The idea of having an exhibition that promotes contemporary art is good but none of us really want to be in competition with each other.‘ he says. ‘I see this as a show at the Tate with the possibility of a bonus at the end of it.‘ As is traditional on these occasions, lnnes praises the other artists on the shortlist. Of llirst he says: ‘Damien's work is very poetic but most people just see the brutality.‘ (liddie Gibb)
The Turner Prize is awarded on Tue 28 Nov. The shortlisted exhibition is u! the Title until I-‘ri I [)ec.
2 The List 17-30 Nov 1995