1 Opm-Late theatre - dance 0 comedy
FESTIVAL 10pm-Late continued as the youngsters progress from heterosexual stab, spurt, sleep syndrome COMEDY REVIEW COMEDY REVIEW to bisexual group relationships . . . Four Gimps And A pimp celebrated in dildo-esque rituals. K'ssmg The Galdf'Sh . Ideal material for late night comedy, *** *"‘ *4” the actors perform well enough - ‘ “ .» .3 f . , particularly David Saire who wins this ' fl_ ‘ . - year's Small Cock Big Performance - c, -. "“ ‘ ,, Fringe Award - but the script simply as » {19" isn’t funny enough to keep the humour going. The ridiculous ending could be forgiven if it makes the audience laugh. It raises little more than a titter. (Davie Archibald) m Psycho Babble On (Fringe) Unknown _. ' P Theatre Company, Pleasance (Venue ' _ 50 Aug' 1 1' 10pm Innuendo face: Kissing The Goldfish With not a fish bowl in sight, the nearest thing to lip to lip activity in this COMEDY REVIEW session of song and dance is when singer Charlotte Bicknell. clad in a black "W w H PVC jumpsuit, gets pally with a few males in the audience. Instead of "’ _ e o goldfish we are served The Beatles. Queen and The Carpenters sprinkled ) . u, v x . . skirting: with a few Wagner arias, dashed with a bit of innuendo. Cooking with pdviszvflemine "may Theplot IS implau5ible, you couldn't Fronted by .Bicknell and Sebastian Michael With guest singer Sally call it parody and there's no punchline. Bradshaw, Kissmg The Goldfish Sing easy listening songs and perform easy- Cop, Kid, Blind Man and Rude Boy - This super-slick spoof is soap as it going routines. ‘Dance To The Masochism Tango‘ with lines such as 'l ache the four perspectives in this black, one- should be: brainless brilliance. The for your kiss but more for the touch of your whip', is as risqué as it gets. man neighbourhood are amusing and script is pure Sunset Beach, the plot And Michael's appearance in drag to sing Don't Cry For Me, Tina has to be familiar (though perhaps not totally on just marginally condensed to make described as old-hat humour that bargains on 'man in a dress' laughs. the Edinburgh streets). way for the heightened hamminess. Bradshaw gives 'Stay At Home Sunday Girl' operatic treatment and Bicknell More effective, however, is the It's not really satirical, rather a has a fine line, not only in PVC outfits, but also in sequinned dresses. Each pulsating pelvis of his 70s porn-a-like, remarkable replica, complete with song, including her tribute to the happy life of a natural blonde, marks a Valentine Superfly. Lavishing smooth anguished agonising, posturing pouts costume change. insults upon his audience, and shoving and a feast of gratuitously naked Relief came when the up—til-then accompanist Harry, broke his silence and in a few well-timed interaction devices, torsos. Fortunately, it doesn't even chatted to the audience during one lengthy wardrobe visit. He then played a he boasts a virile amount of cocky pretend to take itself seriously: any brilliant hybrid: Tony Hatch's theme tune to Neighbours and Rachmaninov’s charisma. It's not exactly brainfodder - delusions of quality are camply thrust Brief Encounter Piano Concerto. The evening had its moments but not quite too often his pitch is aimed at the into the We(st) Ho(||ywood) wind. enough magic. (Susanna Beaumont) contents positioned below his garish More gay glamour, flashbacks galore a Kissing The Goldfish (Fringe) Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 30 Aug, hipster belt. and multi-way sexual tension than 11.15pm, £8l£ 7 (£6.50/£ 5.50). However, from deep within his Alexis Colby's had hot dynasties. glittery get-up, he possesses a certain (Judith Ho) star quality making this show more fun a WeHo (Fringe) Frantic Redhead women and children. Part of the show for those with a twisted sense of fun. than it should be. (Judith Ho) Productions, Randolph Studios (Venue involves a re-enactment of ’Man The (Allan Radcliffe) & Four Gimps And A Pimp (Fringe) 55), 225 5366, until 30 Aug, 1 1.20pm, Destroyer’, a theatre workshop % Ubu (Fringe) Group 51, Old St Paul 's Valentine Flyguy, Gilded Balloon ll £6 (£5). designed to exploit the underprivileged Church (Venue 45) 556 04 76, until 28 (Venue 36) 226 2151, until 30 Aug, by introducing them to the dramatic Aug, midnight, £6.50 (£4). 1 0. 15pm, £6 (£5). COMEDY REVIEW arts at inordinate cost. Women stroke kittens while men club seals. THEATRE REVIEW COMEDY REVIEW man?” And N" Flute Musical numbers include the self- M Ni ht With Re psycho Babble on fink ’8‘ * explanatory 'Shafted In The Hole’ in ' y g g _ Mallory And Mr Flute are strange fruit this quality bad taste entertainment. first: ink if * indeed. Describing themselves as ’quasi- (Catherine Bromley) High camp and hi-jinx abound in this In this bawdy bedroom farce, two twins of bitterness' they live up to their a Mallory And Mr Flute (Fringe) Off sordid tale of love and lust between six psychoanalysing sex therapists offer an title with darkly comic entertainment. The Back Of A Truck Comedy Venue gay friends. Shocking, funny and inexperienced couple free There's no tippy-toeing around (Venue 8) 07803 126177, until 30 moving in turns, the lives of the accommodation in return for some politically incorrect faux-pas here, just Aug, 10.45pm, £6 (£5). thirtysomethings are laid bare (quite hands-on experimentation. What ensues direct, sick humour targeted literally in one scene) and the audience is a tale of attempted sexual liberation indiscriminately, but specialising on THEATRE REVIEW are invited to share secrets unknown to mm the other characters, creating a tension which never quite breaks. ’W“ ’W" The characters are built up in such a The 1896 premiere of Alfred Jarry’s way that you feel genuine sympathy scatological romp Ubu Roi was greeted for them, without which the tragedy with a riot from its bourgeois Paris and irony would be much less audience. 100 years on and toilet effective. This is a high-class humour may be two-a-penny in the production, excellently performed by theatre, but Group 51's musical version an able cast who are great fun to perfectly captures the outrageous spend a night with. (Kirsty Knaggs) depravity of Jarry's original. 3 My Night With Reg (Fringe) Wisepart i;i;. Chris Storer's translation and songs Productions, C, Over-Seas House are brilliantly inventive, introducing us (Venue 19) 225 5105, until 30 Aug, to 'the shittage pot', 'the shitstick’ and 10.30pm, £6 (£5). a motle band of stooges known as ' ' ‘the Shulwelshitts‘. Production values STAR _ are slick, and the cast grunt, fart and ::::* (in ‘( 1‘ grimace their way tirelessly through ’ . ,. , . - - . . . . a . - . . .. . the numerous grotty roles. * * Unhappy ending: Psycho Babble On? Delicious, late night entertainment *
48 THE llS'I' 26 Aug-9 Sep I999