THE TRAP Making art out of rubbish 0000
The Cult of the self-reflexwe corned, show 1') rust getting a bit Out of hand You know the kind of thing, where the comedians come out of character to complain about the Show. their careers and those they are sharing a stage With? Noble and Silver built a career around it. Laurence and Gus have been caught in the act this
l ringe, and here. The Trap's trio (plus their conspiratorial tech guyi are at it
as well With this year's Bad P/ay.
But the beauty of The Trap is that they very nearly convmce us that things are indeed falling apart before our very eyes (and the eyes among us today, celeb spotters. included Scott Capurro. Alex Horne and Sue Perkins). This really is top notch silliness as the story of the Second Coming is told With a very angry Messmh being sprouted in deepest. darkest Bethnal Green. Amid a series of Intentional cock-ups and postmodern forays. the screen behind them is utilised in ever ingenious ways to suggest that what we are Witnessing is pure farce. And a hysterical one at that.
(Brian Donaldson)
I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550. unfi/ 28 Aug, 3.25pm, 860—5950 (137—88).
MIKE WILMOT Close to the bone revelry 0000
In the true spirit of the Fringe. this late-night show aims to be the nastiest in town. but with Mike Wilmot at the helm that's a toughie. Though he's no stranger to a good knob gag. Wilmot is so amiable that it's hard to be offended by him. However he has guests on to help. so the level of filth is largely dependent on who's inVited. On this night Wilmot is self-deprecatingly conscious of the lack of audience but bonds everyone With his cheery tubby guy persona.
Tonight he persuades the sweet- natured Sarah Kendall to tell the dirtiest story she knows and then hands the stage over to Steve Hughes. a man so inciSive in his
RUSSELL BRAND Tabloid tales and sex stories .0000
As the crowd patiently waits in the huge Assembly Rooms queue, a woman snakes along: ‘any spare tickets? Any spare tickets? I’ll give you £20 for yours.‘ Such rock'n’roll behaviour is unheard of at the Fringe. Are there groupies awaiting Mervyn Stutter backstage? Have we heard unconfirmed stories of the Dutch Elm Conservatoire trashing hotel room after hotel room across the city? Not simply for that reason alone is Russell Brand unique. Where some stand-up comics clearly lose the plot when the world of TV has loomed into their lives, Brand seems to have found the time and energy to sharpen and hone his already exceptional live act. Yes, he does some of the weird Dickensian fop voices and florid gestures that he employs on Big Brother's Big Mouth but what comes
to dig far to find some close to the bone observations. Before leaving,
GLENN WOOL _. , Heavenly slice of hell o... . r .
he swaggeis onstage stint/u fetching hariiiletgar "' Wool has been stearfi‘. rein” ' r," laconic. incredulous tirar‘l at” up to appreciatixe l node {tli'li‘:".’ e“, fora number of ,earr; .'.'itl",.i‘. e.e' (itiite acquirhr; tt‘e sir“ household nairie. The noir‘iinal the”
shov. is the (“asthma
lift .2 'i' .‘. .‘:/:",
out of that gob is absolute comic genius.
Now that he is a former drug addict and ex-alcoholic. he has been forced to find other avenues for his source material. While two of the four stories might have some of his crowd nodding in recognition (the trauma and triumph of standing near airport baggage carousels and the things we shouldn‘t say during sex), it‘s highly unlikely that many in attendance will have ever been called a ‘cunt’ on stage by Bob Geldof or have been at the centre of a tabloid fabrication involving Ms Tamara Beckwith. If you haven't seen Russell Brand on stage, you may find it difficult to conceive that he is more than a pretty face and a preposterous hairdo. He just so happens to be the most blazineg hilarious stand-up in Britain right now. (Brian Donaldson) I/‘isrwrrrfl. H w . . .‘r .-.'. -- "
.'ri.".‘ r'.i’/(/(r " '.i' .'
If there was an, iiistw- i" 1‘ in i; ,r: ’
forsaken (:onierly .‘xorlil. (iii-n" r: "i ;'° :’ " «- ‘: i: would be much better krto.‘ is. Maybe it‘s because he weer; I I N f, .' ." f.’ " w ri‘ u r'. ' changing his; appearance ith". .e’i’ i" ' ’i/i, ." A 'ir "
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Wilmot swears us into his own secret ‘fight Club' and feeling Just a bit speCial, off we trundle into the night. (Marissa Burgessi
I Assembly Rooms. 226 2428. MM 28 Aug. midnight, 57 7—5 73 ($70—$72).
76 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 2-1 Aug-7 Sep 2006,
political humour that he doesn't have
as ever. this s a bi. 0" rar‘ ext use Wool to 77 aw: some .e'. afera :)b8(:r‘.ati.;".s; abi'if T“ s ll‘éiSSC’l-Lib world .'.e ‘l.‘: Gu': ' portra,ed as a sei‘matinri homosexuai, while H 0/1.: depicted as the reig‘cr‘ m; u: a