HATTIE HAYRIDGE The meek might not inherit the earth 0.
She may have one of the slowest openings to any comedy show on the Fringe. but Hattie Hayridge is in no mood to speed things along at any point. This is either fantastically brave or a sign that her nervy stage disposition is not as much of an act as it appears. The truth might actually he somewhere in the middle. Slow is one thing but weak is another, and her early uninspired garnbrts culled from things she's casually observed in Edinburgh since her arrival don't do much to lift the crowd's potentially fraught mood. Everyone in the room vrsibly relaxes when she veers back to her scripted material. some of which borders on killer.
With many of the 19903 British Fringe staples being resurrected this August. Hayridge is a reminder of a gentler style of comic. and one which should never really have made rt out of the harsh comedy circuit enVirons alive. Her survwal instincts cannot be faulted, but her material seems grounded in a bygone age.
(Brian Donaldson)
I Underbelly: 0870 745 3083, until 26 Aug, 7.55pm, £9.50—EIO.50 (l‘860—L‘950).
KIRSTEN O’BRIEN
Tales from the media hinterland
Early on in what feels rather like a light-hearted c0rporate seminar fOr C- List celebrities. Kirsten O'Brien talks of her status as a ‘borderline borler‘ and the probability of male audience members havmg entertained bedroom fantasies for the toothy northern lass. And this sums up the show rather well. Confess/ons of a Children '3 TV Presenter never provmg wholly shocking to most but distant
TONY LEE
Aggressive comedy hypnotism
enciigh from her Si‘vfa'.‘ persona ti: engage with an adult audience
The ball; CBBC presenter .s ... unsurprisingly mom, on stage as s'ie peppers taies of the kztsch. and Beside t'w '. f w s; ' .i ' {*- famous .vrth embarrassmg titoits from 'aaq'essiw ' if
her personal life as a COmmOl‘ or a wmi. s 't. garden. everyday media type As if rehearsmg her teleVisual farewell, the
Show is bookended by clips of her ttiemsei'.es at as n it 3'. ' 1 On-SCreen antics. and the presence of ties the one: t'taf air 1 .w the CBBC props department show begins t‘. r», ‘Ti'Ttl ‘ .f cements an endearing W nostalgia ESLiSCODI‘t‘ilt? anti a...” 1m; _,t appeal. In all fairness. this is a cynicaE with a mum “ ..: . performance to raise fitters rather relaxation terthniri re;
than belly laughs. (Mark Edmundsoni The XX) of the tztir» tr‘a' ‘Au t ."L‘1 I P/easance Courtyard. 555 6:350, out to be the usual s'r'tuiatr‘ 1 mix. until 27Aug, 2. 70pm, 57.50—69.50 faking orgasrrzs and Ear» ten "'11 WG-17). antics; all fU\.(?il(}(l in ii. a ltlfi‘ i‘ in?
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PHIL NICHOL
Eddies winner with a far from heroic show 0
When a comic stands before his crowd after yet another uninspired anecdote and asks ‘don’t you think that was hilarious? I thought that was hilarious’, you can only conclude that he knows he is in big trouble. With Him Worship, last year's inaugural Eddies main award winner Phil Nichol has bags of bother to contend with. Blaming the lack of enthusiasm in the room somewhat randomly on those in the audience who have never seen him perform before, he ploughs on through a tepid and repetitive story of being stalked by a disturbed Japanese guy with a Rolling Stones infatuation. And just in case you don’t know what the Rolling Stones sound like, Phil and his merry band launch into snippets of their songs, a wholly futile exercise that could have been dumped without losing any of the show’s ‘impact' and would have allowed us to escape ten minutes earlier.
Sure, Phil Nichol has got energy by the truckload, but when there is no real focus to it or proper location for its channelling, it all just becomes so much white noise. But the worst sin he commits here follows the only memorable segment of the show, while recounting the moment that he has to finally say goodbye to the stalker he has grown to like. On reconstructing the scene, Nichol acts his little socks off to wring genuine emotion out of his performance, only to turn on the audience and mock those who made the crucial mistake of being moved by his acting. Awful. (Brian Donaldson) I The Stand. 558 7272. anti/26 Aug. 8. 70pm, £70 i£8r
72 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE Aug-6 Sep 2007
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Shaggy dogs and furry faces 0.
If ever a coinir had an appropriate
surname. then it's this Tilllrftélll‘.lll, Canadian. You could knit a Jlllllli‘7f Wlill the inaiorit‘,’ of illl‘; set. but ‘.'.’l‘rlll:l may be o\./er‘lloi.viiig ‘.‘/|lll material. ’ll‘.": one of its many loose ends a l'l’l and all the threads would come aiiziit. lo be blunt. the best bit is over before he has even sauntered onstage. with a magnificent inoustachioed montage full of everyone you r/iiid mm( of western poiiular cultaire that", war: a tiny rat growing abox; their tor, Iii; “:Jll or othen-iisei. It's a hypnotic ’){i‘:lllll’l which is aided and abetted b, a fer. moments taken up .vith a friiitles'. search for other iriouser‘, lll the audience.
Billed as being a show about ‘.‘low struggling Wlilt his identity. it offer', intriguing insights into the pitfalls 0‘ alcohol dependency‘ biit loses it’, .‘Ja, COleCIC'l," .‘.’lil‘i .vhat initial. sec-rum like an aSide about his search for adequate genitalia onl, To tiirr .r.to "it; shows beef. lt's neither frinny ruor partiCularl/ shocking and ends so .veakl,’ exen he .‘ior‘ider’. whether it .vas worth the effort Gleriru flooi has a might, show ' turf. bit t’ii‘. t’flbi’l
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I Underbeiix 08 7C 74'? 3083, ar til 26 Aug. 70-2- id 't.’j—!. IO).