Festival Comedy
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MARK NELSON A jolt to the comedy system ●●●●● Armed with a stage presence that makes Wil Hodgson appear as hyper
as any of the comedy Russells, Mark Nelson has opted to simply be a cracking joke-teller. And ultimately, in a Fringe packed to their mainly low rafters with weak concept shows, miserable sketch affairs and big names firing on fewer cylinders than normal, it’s refreshing to encounter an act who just wants to tell us some quality gags.
Anyone who has followed his slow- burning circuit career will nod sagely when confronted by a title such as Offending the Senses, while Nelson virgins in attendance should be prepared for a good old jolt to the system. His comedy takes a merciless
swipe at Scotland for having a high opinion of itself amid a landscape of gnarled 12-year-olds and abandoned trampolines. While easy targets such as Katie Price and Americans are nonetheless laid into without pity, it’s Nelson’s material about his loved ones that truly hits home. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Underbelly, 08445 458 252, until 29 Aug, 6.30pm, £9–£10.50 (£6.50–£9.50). MATTHEW HARDY: WILLY WONKA EXPLAINED Nostalgic trip back to a time of Everlasting Gobstoppers ●●●●●
MIKE KEAT A massively talented and very entertaining tool ●●●●●
You may know Edinburgh boy Mike Keat as one third of the creosote- tanned Cuban Brothers, and here he delivers a homecoming hero act in this first solo show. Actually, it’s hard to describe him as a hero really, watching him lunge and prance around in Lycra bodysocks and animal print shellsuit tops, but making a very entertaining tool of himself is one of his special skills. A talented character comic, he introduces us to a few folks from his
past. There’s Tantric Dougie, the East Lothian Buddhist who delivers spiritual wisdom in a uniquely uncouth way; a Bradford complainer who accosted Keat during his time as a Pontin’s entertainer (they nicknamed him Singer, because he had an ‘arse like a sewing machine’ in those days) and, of course, his body-popping sidekicks from the Cuban Brothers, who crop up in learn-to-dance-like-Sasha-Fierce video clips, as well as extras during the show. Admittedly, it may be slightly more enjoyable if you know where Haddington and Gilmerton are, but he’s on top form here, and his David Hasselhoff-and-me story at the end is the icing on the cake. (Claire Sawers) ■ Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 30 Aug (not 22), 7.15pm, £10–£11.50 (£9–£10).
38 THE LIST 19–26 Aug 2010
When Australian comedian Matthew Hardy reached a low point in his life, he turned to the movies for solace. He would often be caught in his underpants with a tinny in one hand and a remote in the other, watching the original Willy Wonka film; in particular he seemed besotted with the character of Veruca Salt; so much so that he finally tracked down actress Julie Dawn Cole and wrote this comic
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play for and with her.
Willy Wonka Explained: The Veruca Salt Sessions is a nostalgic trip for any fans of the movie and is presented as a dual psychiatric session exploring Hardy and Cole’s individual neuroses. The story seems to almost cut itself short at the point where they first meet and while the gags don’t always hit the mark, the story is engaging and the pair make for excellent company, unusually and pleasingly open to indulge an audience’s fascination by hanging around once the lights have gone back up. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 7pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50).
PAPPY’S Bringing you sketch sunshine ●●●●●
Now streamlined to a three-man act and with a shortened moniker to boot, Pappy’s bound onto the stage and launch into All Business with a big musical number. The flimsy premise that they need to impress impresario ‘Four Foot Freddy’ to gain funding is the springboard for a cavalcade of quickfire, low-budget sketches and musical numbers mostly using little more than cardboard boxes for props. Dark, edgy and dangerous are not words that you need in your vocabulary when describing an hour with Pappy’s. Often reminiscent of Morecambe and Wise, this is humour from a bygone era with wince-inducing puns and the silliest of throwaway gags.
There is so much about this that shouldn’t work and yet the sheer enjoyment the trio have with the material and each other is infectious. The knowing looks and asides create a remarkable sense of complicity within the audience so that you feel part of the whole process as opposed to just acting as a witness. They may have taken the ‘Fun’ out of their name but it certainly hasn’t been removed from the performance. (Gordon Eldrett) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 7.20pm, £12–£14 (£10.50–£12.50).
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