PAvomm . Giving clowning a modern twust L.
hidden resentments bubbling up. Yet there are also some gems in here: the ‘backing singers' routine and the running gag about their ill-fated
After five minutes of classical music in a strictly straight-faced. show-off
virtuoso style, from a string quartet in coat-tails and white bow-ties, the first signs of slapstick start to appear. It’s from the Spanish mime and physical theatre troupe, Yllana who've brought Star Trip and 666 in the past, and this
, international adventures. in a festival 3 full of jobbing stand-ups grasping a
mic, this dance duo will bring you a little bit of sunshine. (Brian Donaldson) I Gilded Balloon Teviot, 668 1633.
? until 25 Aug, 3. 75pm, 59—210
I (28—29). MICHAEL MCINTYRE
3 The accent is on over-familiarity JASON COOK 00 Finding comfort and joy in the darkest of places 00000 ~ "W - ~—--- '—--- -
year they've gone for something a bit more subtle and sophisticated. When solemn violin master Ari Malakian steps off stage for a second, the other three use their instruments as banjos or African drums, and ditch the Mozart and Vivaldi to play the Looney Tunes theme, make birdsong noises. or put on a one-man concert using a loop pedal and an electric violin.
Flawless choreography means the show runs like a Swiss watch, and they manage flamenco dancing while still playing cello. Already liking classical music obviously helps but if not, the foursome do a good job of giving clowning a modern twist. and making innocent, child-friendly entertainment along the same lines as actors like Roberto Benigni or Charlie Chaplin. (Claire Sawers)
I Freemason '3 Hall, 220 0743, until 25 Aug, 7.05pm, 212—214 (£8—£‘70).
NUDE
Non-gratuitous meanderings for art's sake m0
It’s his birthday today, so you’d expect Jason Cook to be in party mode. His sister has even showed up for Joy in this tiny and packed Stand back- room. But while we pile out onto the street having hugged strangers and armed with paraphernalia that would suggest we’ve all had a swinging old time, our eyes are simultaneously stinging with fresh tears. There really can’t be another show like this on the Fringe and amid a festival of largely uninspired stand-up, ropy sketch shows and flat character creations, Jason Cook sticks out like a throbbing Geordie thumb.
This hour is not so much a rollercoaster of emotion as a tsunami of feeling as wave after wave of heart-massaging material comes at you from this wild-eyed Iivewire. He certainly has a story to tell, mainly of growing up in a family for whom bad luck is worn almost like a badge. They even have a rotating tap five ‘Cook family disasters’ that is refreshed on an annual basis. But an event that occurred at the start of the year has shot straight into the number one slot and forms the centrepiece for his show. If you don’t know the tale, it would be wholly wrong to spill it here as the unravelling pain and accompanying humour that Cook somehow springs from this well of sorrow needs to be fully experienced.
It will be rare at this Fringe or anywhere else to find an hour-long show that plays with the emotions on so many levels. Not one for the cynically challenged, this is a joy to behold and a pleasure to have witnessed.
(Brian Donaldson) I The Stand II, 558 7272, until 24 Aug, 5.20pm, £8 (£7).
Last year, Michael McIntyre apparently harangued two judges on the if.comedy panel for doing this nation 5 the great disservice of not handing him the award on a plate. Still, he could at least reassure himself of his genius with all those flattering star ratings, boasting from the stage that his poster looked like a planetarium. Because. you know. it's got lots of stars on it. This year. who knows what the _ constellations have in store for him, 9 though if judges fancy comics who bellow into their tiny mics, do an absolutely fantastic Scottish accent (Michael can do taxi driver Scottish. Morningside Scottish and camp : Scottish) and breezin chat to the audience for ages, then he's sorted. Regards the actual material, there was passable stuff about other parents having him down as a Nazi paedophile after a series of silly misunderstandings. And then there‘s the routine about an awkward incident when he was first trying to impress his future in-laws. Amusing in itself, but less so when you realise he was telling it in a Pleasance cupboard back in 2003. According to his MySpace page, Groundhog Day is among his favourite films. (Brian Donaldson) certainly going to get you some press I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, attention and interest from audiences until 25 Aug, 9pm, $14-$16 who wouldn't normally consider . (£72.50—El450); Assembly Rooms, seeing any kind of dance. but the l 623 3030, 22 Aug, midnight, £1 7 downside is obvious: you have a heck of a task on your hands proving that _
Don't worry, there is no gratuitous nudity in Nude, just two actors flexing and posing their naked bodies in close proximity to the front row. But it's all done in the name of art, and the context of a life drawing class, in which the reluctant audience are its students. The flamboyant art teacher of indistinct origin takes no time to tell the punters to ‘sit down and shut up!’ and we prepare for the social awkwardness of staring at a stranger's
penis for the next hour. 1 NEW ART CLUB
Like Peep Show, Nude features the 3 some tame Stu“ in their eXtra internal monologues of its characters : BEBEEEXX’PEQ m (pre-recordings rather than theatrical ' soliloquies), and their thoughts, with perfectly timed facial musing, meander down some arbitrary paths. What is the name of the girl in ‘My Girl'? What does Kelis' ‘Milkshake' song mean? Even the most banal thoughts. however, are charged with excruciating, embarrassed hilarity which may be too much for the prudish. The resolution is audacious as it is cringewonhy, but makes for a strangely uplifting climax. (Emma Lennox) I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 2pm, until 25 Aug, £7—E8 (£5.50—E6 50).
When you are dubbed the ‘Morecambe and Wise of dance' that has to be a mixed blessing. lt's
; this analogy is justified. Certainly Pete Shenton and Tom Roden have a unique selling point (how on earth can ; contemporary dance be made funny?) but their attempts to inject quality comedy in and around their movement i doesn't always fly. l = Kicking off with the rather hackneyed tactic of explaining that, yes, they were introducing themselves from behind . the curtain they move on with the l equally tired motif of a double act 3 starting to unravel at the seams with
.0 TH. LIST FISTIVAL MAOAZINI 21 Aug—4 Sep 2008