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Caroline Rhea NEW FACES
Brian Donaldson picks out a quintet of bright and shiny debutants from closer to home
JOE ROWNTREE Hindsight is a great thing, but who knows where this guy would be now had his planned collaboration with Laura Solon in 2005 arrived in Edinburgh. She only went and won the Perrier on her tod and half a decade later, he’s making his maiden solo voyage with Peaceful Worrier. He does look quite anxious in his press pic, right enough. ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 7–29 Aug (not 16), 7.45pm, £9–£10 (£7–£9). Previews until 6 Aug, £5.
SARA PASCOE Not content with shoving around Toulson and Harvey (in a non- aggressive, directorial fashion, we trust), the heavily-tipped comic stars in her very own production. And Sara Pascoe vs Her Ego is its name-o. ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 6–30 Aug (not 16), 8.15pm, £9.50–£12 (£8–£10.50). Previews until 5 Aug, £5.
MARK NELSON The inaugural Scottish Comedian of the Year has kept us waiting a while for this Fringe debut, but with Offending the Senses, he’ll surely deliver a shock (or five) to Edinburgh’s system. ■ Underbelly, 08445 458 252, 7–29 Aug (not 16), 6.30pm, £9–£10.50 (£6.50–£9.50). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £6.
HENRY PAKER This chap was part of the Superclump gang last year and is hooking up with Mike Wozniak for their own Golden Lizard sketch affair. But he’s also flying solo with a 3D Bugle. A case of blowing his own trumpet? ■ The GRV, 226 0000, 7–29 Aug (not 16), 7.50pm, £5. Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £2.50.
CHRIS RAMSEY How far would you go to escape a confrontation? Ramsey would go further. In Aggrophobic, this genial Geordie explores the lengths he will stretch to in order to avoid a rammy. Not a terrible ambition, it has to be said. ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 7–30 Aug, 8.30pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7–£8). Previews until 6 Aug, £5.
5–12 Aug 2010 THE LIST 21
Charlyne Yi
yesterday. I gave her a Hello Kitty clock, but she can’t pronounce “L” yet,’ she exhales. And then she’s off again, this time about the emergency nappy she had to fashion ‘MacGyver-style’ out of an airplane cushion. But despite Rhea’s pally material, there’s a sophistication to her delivery that has come about after over 20 years of performing stand-up. ‘I like acting, but I’m the sort of person that needs to go off-script. Humour is better when you can be silly and organic. I like to improvise, but knowing I’ve got hours and hours of material to pick from, depending on the crowd.’ The Edinburgh crowds will be privy to some marital insights too, as Rhea’s support act also happens to be her partner, Costaki Economopoulos: ‘He’s the biggest name in comedy,’ she adds, quick as a flash. ‘He opens for me, talks about me, then I go on and correct him.’
Although this will be Rhea’s first performance in Edinburgh, she’s very familiar with Scotland, after holidaying in the Hebrides every summer as a child. Her grandfather was from Islay, but emigrated to Canada. ‘Can’t you see the Scottish genes in me?’ she gasps. ‘I’ve got that whole doughy, Scottish-Canadian look. And absolutely no sunlight in my DNA. I suffer from SAD every winter.’
After the breathless, self-effacing charm of Mrs Nineteen-to-the-Dozen, there is something surreal and slightly unnerving about the talented Charlyne Yi, aka ‘The Obtuse Musician’ one. Bo Burnham is already a big fan, and describes her comedy as ‘slightly crazy; a little like Andy Kaufman’. Anyone who caught last year’s Paper Heart, the pseudo-documentary about Yi falling in love with clumsy indie golden-boy, Michael Cera, will know what he means. Like Kaufman – played by Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon –
Yi loves to mess with an audience’s idea of reality. So when she told an LA audience a few months ago that she was about to shave her head – then reassured them she was wearing a bald wig underneath – they didn’t know whether to laugh or gasp as her long black hair fell to the floor. It wasn’t a wig, and Yi reckons her hair will be about two inches long by the time she gets to Edinburgh. In between the pranks, Yi likes to show a softer side too, performing quirky love songs accompanied by harp, keyboard and guitar. Her version of Sinead O Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ has become a hit online, and may make it into the Edinburgh show. ‘Growing up, Harpo Marx was one of my favourites. I loved that vaudeville thing of doing funny bits, then throwing in something sincere. They’d turn on you when you weren’t expecting it. I like to create a flow of different emotions.’
Jennifer Coolidge, Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, 7–29 Aug (not 16, 24), 8.15pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £5; Bo Burnham, Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, 7–29 Aug (not 16), 9.35pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8–£9). Previews until 6 Aug, £5; Caroline Rhea, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 7–25 Aug, 9.30pm, £14–£15 (£13–£14). Preview 6 Aug, £10; Charlyne Yi, Assembly Rooms, 7–30 Aug (not 17, 24), 7pm, £12–£13 (£11–£12). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £5.
Bo Burnham ‘PEOPLE WHO EXPECT SOME DISNEY- CLEAN SHOW MAY BE SHOCKED’