LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL HEADLINE HERE FESTIVAL COMEDY REVIEWS FESTIVAL COMEDY
BRENDON BURNS Faded glory and bruised emotions ●●●●● BARRY MORGAN’S WORLD OF ORGANS Bouffant bravado and silly surrealism ●●●●●
Like many hard-living, taste-baiting rock’n’roll comedians of the 90s and 00s, Brendon Burns is slowly coming to terms with the fact that he’s now over 40 and the law requires him to slow down. Turns out he’s pretty comfortable with that and having moved to the countryside, he can reflect on his previous metro-life.
You’d think then that he would be able to brush off some snide remarks recently left on a comedy website forum. But no, they annoyed him so much, he built a show around it. That and the fact that his dad died in January: the only upside to that traumatic event was that he wouldn’t need to ever see his ‘horrible genius’ of a stepmother again. You have to admire the intensity that Burns can
still bring to a stage, and while his passions remain convincing, the show’s theme of faded glory is almost too close to home. The story about his slightly pained experience of watching a limping AC/ DC could just as easily apply to fans of Brendon Burns. (Brian Donaldson) ■ Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 26 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 10pm, £12.50–£14.50 (£11–£12.50).
Organ salesman Barry Morgan, proprietor of Barry Morgan’s World of Organs, Sunnyside Mall, Adelaide, has come among us Edinburgh folk to share his missionary zeal for his instrument. He’s hopeful to cinch a sell in the process, for this is no ordinary organ, this is a Hammond Aurora Classic, featuring Zither Arpeggiator.
The stuff cult figures are made of, sartorially Morgan embodies Wes Anderson’s wardrobe department while his bouffant shares a soft, blow wave voluminosity with David Dickinson. Aesthetically, the whole shooting match has that tremendous hyperreality cum surrealism of Peter Serafinowicz’s TV hit, Look Around You. Barry Morgan is rocking out with his organ
on display, sipping Campari and delighting the audience with memorable finger skills. We can even get up close and personal during medleys of world music, a spot of classical and his own compositions while the ‘Barry cam’ shows his rapid handiwork in action! Oh Barry! Allow him to make your festival. Make sure you tell him I sent you! (Peggy Hughes) ■ Underbelly, Bristo Square, 0844 545 8252, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 7.20pm, £11.50–£13.50 (£10.50–£12.50).
HANNIBAL BURESS Artful segues and bad impressions ●●●●●
2011 was Hannibal Buress’ first year at the Fringe and it was a dream one, with sell-out performanc- es and a Comedy Award nomination for Best Newcomer. He claims to have been reluctant to return this year because it’s ‘just too many shows’, but on the basis of this assured performance, he’s on to another winner.
There’s no theme or postmodern gimmick to Buress’ routine: he just stands up and says funny
stuff. He can’t even do accents, which makes his impressions of the British characters in his stories even more amusing. Buress’ targets range wildly – from the many women he’s slept with to the sus- piciousness of going to see a kids’ show as a lone male – but he artfully segues into each one. Since 2010, Buress has written for acclaimed NBC comedy 30 Rock, and this hour has much of
the same slickness as that sitcom. Inevitably, some stories work better than others and, annoyingly, the women that feature are usually sex partners or hotel cleaners. Holding these disparate thoughts together is a tall order, but Buress succeeds effortlessly. Whether he’s talking about having to relieve himself on an aeroplane or getting mugged when he was 13, it’s all delivered with the same calm confidence and perfect timing.
He’s also uncompromisingly American in his references. He does a brief but hilarious impression of 30 Rock’s Tracy Morgan (who plays Tracy Jordan) and there are other, non-alienating mentions of NBC stars of today, like Community’s Donald Glover and Parks and Recreation’s Aziz Ansari, as well as US comedy legend Eddie Griffin. It’s a clever strategy: Buress is making us think of himself in the same breath as these acclaimed comics, who have already found widespread success. Judging by this show, he’s not far behind them. (Yasmin Sulaiman) ■ Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 26 Aug (not 13), 9.45pm, £10–£10.50 (£9–£9.50).
BELIEVE You gotta have faith ●●●●●
It’s easy to believe why Shane Dundas from the Umbilical Brothers is nervous. We join him on his leap into the unknown of solo stand-up, and the vehicle to ‘nirvana or train wreck’ is a raked lecture theatre with a raised stage: a combo with all the atmosphere of a urinal. He talks to individual audience members and the
teddy bear joining him on stage for comfort and company with toilet humour and politics mulled upon. Chickens, too. A meandering set piece about religious stereotyping has the misfortune of being unfunny, but an accidental round of sound effects is impressive. But is the anxiety he frequently expresses real or a posture? Managing to alienate some of the audience results in a confusing, sour ending and Believe doesn’t seem to cater for those seeking a belly laugh a minute, and this was light on laughs. It could come good for Dundas if the stars align, his confidence grows and he has a little more faith in his crowd. (Peggy Hughes) ■ Assembly George Square, 623 3030, until 27 Aug (not 13), 10.10pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).
9–16 Aug 2012 THE LIST 45 9–16 Aug 2012 THE LIST 45