f;.- lid-7 i \.'E NM} GIVE US A LAUGH Queen‘s Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 17 Dec 00
There’s nothing wrong in playing to your strengths. God knows Fred MacAulay has made a fine living out of his one-step—removed-from-your- pervy-uncle stage persona. He’s now veered off the slimier side of cheeky and is grappling his way back into our hearts with a bit of cosy banter. Throwing in a bit of Weegie-bashing, budget airline dissing and a good visual gag involving a digital camera and prudish Edinburgh councillors, MacAulay is onto a winner with tonight’s audience.
Only the sad fact is, there really isn’t much of an audience in tonight. The Queen’s Hall is half-empty — and it’s a charity gig, dammit. I’ve witnessed more atmosphere in an episode of Scotland Today. It’s an older crowd and
the old crowd-pleasers work best.
Which is perhaps why compere Julia Morris died a slow, humiliating stage death. Whether it was the new material that wrong-footed the Australian comic or the deathly silence that greeted each of her punchlines, the tone was set, and lowered, for the rest of the night. There was no comeback and no safe refuge from the glaring eyes, only audible groans of the clearly unamused spectators.
On came Phil Kay with his laptop-theft story (didn’t the newspapers report it convincingly enough?). Sporting a new cropped hairdo, Kay is a language piston-engine whose humour lies as much in his wildly visual style as in his rapid delivery. Boy, can that man talk.
Danny Bhoy earns Brownie points for eliciting most laughs, charming his way through routines on schoolboy French, naked neighbours and, would you believe, Glaswegians (‘If you ever see four Glaswegians in a boat, you know one of them isn‘t coming back’). Oozing confidence, and relying heavily on charisma and his damn fine appearance, Bhoy is capable of contesting this year’s comedy’s bratpack crown.
A hard act to follow, but no match for Dylan Moran. Charismatic and scatty, experimenting with the malleability of language, Moran is a stand- up standard par excellence. Only there was a perceptible element of going through the motions. Out came material on children, parenting, coupledom and the war on Iraq. All slightly mundane subjects that hit the mark with the audience, but left this spectator thinking more of Rab C Nesbitt’s drunken philosophising than the heralded comic visionary before us.
There were no real winners tonight. The children‘s charity lost out on empty seats, Julia Morris lost her self—respect and the audience lost a night of their lives forking out for a comedy ‘spectacular’ that was anything
but. (Maureen Ellis)
Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least ten days before publication to comedy@list.co.uk, by post or by fax on 0131 557 8500. Listings are compiled by Maureen Ellis.
Thursday 2 .
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Glasgow
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Edinburgh
The Stand lhc Slund. 5 York l’lucc. 555 7373. ‘lpin. £7 iL'oi. .\luniucul ll’l\lllll;lll Km in (iildcu ix lhc cwning'x lcillling ingln. llix \upporlin; c;l\l includcx l.cilh lllL‘ill (‘olin Ruinonc. .loliii Scoll and Sarah l.cd3_'ci‘. Suxun .\lorrixon l;il\c\ conipci'ing lllllllllll'\.
Saturday 4
Glasgow
Jongleurs Comedy Club .longlcurx. l‘(i(‘ Building. chli‘cxi Slit-cl, (lell TH," (PUT. 7.30pm. L‘ l 2 /./il' Him)“ X/ioii li'oopci' l'lilllhlt‘ Ho} lc inli‘oduccx \l;ihlc inulc. and So You 'l‘hiiilx Yoii'i'c l‘uiin} \\ inncr .\lilc\ .lupii. [ilux lii‘cndon l)cniii\c_\ :inil lhc cxcr cniginulic Sinion Bligh.
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Edinburgh
Whose Lunch is it Anyway? 'l’lic Slnnd. 5 York l’lucc. 55.\ “352. lpm. l‘i‘cc. l'i'ccxl) lc llllllllllt'\\ ;ind li;in;_'o\ci' li;iiii\hin:: :lllll\‘\ li’oin lt'Slllt‘lll duo l’;iu| (ii';lh;ini and Small .\lui'pli}.
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Tuesday 7
Edinburgh
Bruce Morton Presents l’lic Slund. 5 York l’l;icc. 55.\' "3"} “pm. to it'll. ()l' lli’licc l\ lmck \\llll hix iiioiilhl} coinic cncoiiiilci \lioixc.i\iii;' ;i \clcclion ol' Scoll.inil\ llollc\l \l.ind up l;ilcnl.
Wednesday 8
Glasgow
Bruce Morton Presents lllx' Sldllll. ‘5‘ \\I\H‘tllilllkl\ l\’i\.lll. llS 'll (HM 0055. S. illpin, to i [5i Scc l'uc
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THE LIST 53