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LESBIAN BATHHOUSE A feminist comic romp ●●●●● In Helen Eisenbach’s comic piece, actresses turn up for an audition to a sexually charged theatre production, the creation of the heard but never seen Rod Laselle (voiced by Harry Shearer of The Simpsons and Spinal Tap fame). By coincidence, the strait- laced Grace’s rather more laidback ex- girlfriend turns up too and so begins her journey of sexual discovery. As the passions spill over from the tongue-in- cheek (no pun intended) soft porn scenarios such as pizza delivery girl, repair (wo)man, and so on, it’s refreshing to see women behaving blatantly badly: wanking, making out
and acting like the sexual beings we are is still largely taboo behaviour. After all, how often do you read that a fella is a slag scrawled on a public toilet door? It’s not laugh-a-minute, more mildly amusing and as for the ‘is it art or titillation’ question, you can safely say that Assembly Rooms audiences are there for the feminism. Well, for the most part anyway . . . (Marissa Burgess) ■ Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, until 29 Aug (not 16), 10.40pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).
PAUL ZENON Old tricks with some new twists ●●●●●
Paul Zenon was once a TV regular. Now he’s performing in a Chinese- themed nightclub basement on the Five Pound Fringe. His quips to that effect, while delivered with self- deprecation rather than bitterness, carry an uneasy ring of truth that echoes through his act. Paul Zenon appears to be coasting. He’s still an excellent magician and wouldn’t have achieved success to start with if his patter and sleight-of-hand weren’t seriously slick. But the tricks he applies his skills to are mostly nothing new. It’s enjoyable to see him substituting
the mic cable into the ‘cut the
40 THE LIST 12–19 Aug 2010
for GLASGOW COMEDY see page 122
wonder he keeps having to rebuke the audience for failing to applaud; his body language says that there’s nothing worth getting excited about. (Matt Boothman) ■ Le Monde, 270 3914, until 30 Aug (not 16), 9.15pm, £5.
LAURA SOLON A curious show about owls and oddballs ●●●●●
It seems like a very long time ago since Laura Solon popped up to Edinburgh with a hastily rewritten show and astonished the comedy world by walking away with the last ever Perrier Award. Five years on and Solon is getting into her stride with narrative pieces which gently amuse and mildly arrest in stark contrast to the compulsive grip which her trophy- nabbing character show had on most who witnessed it. Following up her bunny-based hour of last year, she’s now appearing with a stuffed owl for the tale of a ferry trip to the island of Steven and the nature film which is to be made there. The
island, the owl and the trip are merely backdrops to allow her to get stuck into another array of characters, which includes a slutty TV presenter, an earnest documentary-maker, a ferryman who is one half of detachable conjoined twins and a pair of rubbish secret agents à la France. Altogether a curious and slight number which delivers little in the way of genuine bellylaughs but much in the way of Radio 4 lite-comedy. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 5pm, £12–£14 (£10–£12).
rope/magically repair the rope’ routine, but the old tricks outnumber the new twists. And while a signed tenner appearing inside a lemon is still amazing when you don’t know how it’s done, Zenon himself comes across as unimpressed, even bored by it. No NEXT ISSUE OUT WEDNESDAY 18 AUGUST
PAUL FOOT Comedy connoisseurs only ●●●●●
‘Not exactly Danny Bhoy, is it?’ An Irish woman presumably out for a rollicking night of mainstream stand-up comedy has chosen/been dragged along to a show in which a man with cream slacks, white slip-on shoes, plain shirt, 70s semi-kipper tie and hair that’s beyond description has just convinced a portion of his audience to pass round an imaginary phone. Into which they are ‘listening’ to a distraught woman whose cat has recently gone missing and has taken grave exception to our host’s somewhat insensitive comments.
Welcome to the off-kilter world of Paul Foot, a man who attracts a clientele which he dubs the ‘comedy connoisseur’ and whose show this year, Ash in the Attic, is being directed by Noel Fielding. Having witnessed Foot in the same Underbelly room last year without such an esteemed star on board, it’s not
instantly clear what the Boosh boy has brought to the table, given that the comic’s mania is in full flight from the off. Within seconds he is over-analysing the conventions of an audience applauding an act as they come on stage for the first time, cavorting in pseudo- anger about the public image of the humble shire horse and acting out a fairy tale with a non-PC cuddly toy. These three elements contrive to take up about 45 minutes of the show, the other 15 take place on that imaginary phone. Being blunt, none of the above words really get any kind of handle on the experience of seeing Paul Foot live. That just happens to be a wildly divisive yet oddly invigorating hour out during a Fringe full of bog- standard observational stand-ups. But if you really do want Danny Bhoy, you should probably know where to find him. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly, 08445 458 252, until 29 Aug (not 16), 7.40pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£6.50–£9.50).