FESTIVAL COMEDY REVIEWS AT A GLANCE
and indulges in some awkward romance with a not-overly willing female from the audience. While Billy the Mime is the darker side of silence, the spirit of Keaton and co has found a new home in Flanagan. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly, Bristo Square, 0844 545 8252, until 27 Aug (not 13, 20), 3.05pm, £11–£13 (£10–£12). Lie. Cheat. Steal. Confessions of a Real Hustler ●●●●● It’s a tricky old business recreating small- screen success on stage, but Paul Wilson, writer and star of BBC Three’s The Real Hustle handles it with reasonable gusto. Without the nifty camera angles and replays, however, it’s difficult to fully get the wow factor from the card tricks being played out in front of you. Slightly underwhelming. (Anna Millar) Zoo, 662 6892, until 27 Aug, 8pm, £10–£12 (£9–£11). McNeil and Pamphilon ●●●●● With their third and final Fringe (Pamphilon insists, to McNeil’s bemusement), the duo have cranked up the double-act-not-getting-on concept to extreme levels. Repartee about the pain in their lives feels all-too real and their quantum leap into each other’s bodies c/o Pamphilon’s ‘The Machine’ is an intriguing but not altogether successful twist. If they do return, let’s hope it’s with more of the self-contained darker sketches that they delivered in 2010. (Brian Donaldson) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 14), 4.30pm, £10–£11 (£8–£9). Mae Day ●●●●● She dresses stylishly in old-school punk fashion, has got a strong voice for singing songs and can play the guitar and seems pretty relaxed standing in front of a crowd chatting into the mic. So it comes as a surprise to find that this Canadian comedian is presenting a Fringe show about how utterly neurotic she is; a neurotic whose timing and delivery is right on the money. (Miles Fielder) The Caves, 556 5375, until 26 Aug (not 14), 4pm, £7–£8. Markus Birdman ●●●●● Birdman is here to address the big things in life and what comes next. As well he might, having turned 40 and suffered an unexplained stroke, he’s in a contemplative place. Against a giant hand-drawn poster that looks like something from the frontispiece of an Alasdair Gray novel crossed with Mexican Day of the Dead-style skull illustrations, he takes us amiably through his near death experience and its after- effects. (Laura Ennor) The Stand II, 558 7272, until 26 Aug (not 13, 20), 9.20pm, £8 (£7). Martin Mor ●●●●● Snap judgments are the exact reactions Mor tries to dismantle over his hour-long stand-up show, as he performs in an intimate venue decorated with portrait artwork submitted by fans and friends. At first, this set looks like a fairly standard knob gags routine (there’s about one per minute), but it actually turns into an infectiously amusing exploit. (Andrew Latimer) The Stand II, 558 7272, until 26 Aug (not 13), 8.10pm, £8 (£7). Nick Page ●●●●● It’s lucky for us and a consolation for Page that he has such a catalogue of desperate behaviour on which to draw for his material. With a dry, defeated yet measured demeanour, he talks of academic failure, three broken marriages and some brushes with the law and appearances on daytime TV. (Marissa Burgess) The Shack, 226 0000, until 25 Aug (not 13), 3.30pm, £8 (£6). Pat Burtscher ●●●●● A Patopotamoose is, by another name, a MacGuffin. In this instance, it’s the nonsense title this whacked-out young Canadian gave his show before he’d written it in order to secure a spot on the Fringe. And yet, the guy is effortlessly funny with a method to this madness. 58 THE LIST 9–16 Aug 2012
THOM TUCK
The ex-Penny Dreadful scored a glorious hit last year with his paean to maligned Disney sequels, Straight to DVD. Thom Tuck Flips Out doesn’t scale quite the same heights, but it’s a solid show nonetheless, with some genuine emotion and conviction powering the material along. ■ Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 12), 8.10pm, £10–£11 (£8.50–£9.50).
(Miles Fielder) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 14), 8.30pm, £11–£12 (£9.50–£11). The Pauly Show ●●●●● Paul F Taylor always dreamed of having his own show, but in the absence of interest from TV executives and embracing a do-it-yourself attitude, Taylor’s created his own programme with a few flip charts, unreliable sound effects and some borrowed audience members as his cast. Overall it’s good fun, delivered with a buzzy energy from Taylor and his impromptu cast members. (Marissa Burgess) The Tron, 556 5375, until 26 Aug (not 14), 5pm, £7–£10. Rob Beckett ●●●●● Depicting an upbringing of You’ve Been Framed and potato waffles, Beckett regales us with obscure tales of his childhood, family and relationship with upper-class girlfriend Louise. While there are many positives to glean from the 26-year-old’s show, the occasional awkwardness of his delivery lets down an otherwise well-conceived set. (Jamie Cameron) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £10–£12 (£8.50– £10.50). Sad Faces ●●●●● With a punchy beginning, we’re hurtled into the Sad Faces’ flat, where the foursome are having a ferocious argument. In flashback, each one casts her/himself as the hero and the action draws on a range of dramatic styles, from film noir to musicals. It’s testament to the professionalism of Sad Faces that despite the multiple plot strands, they never get tangled up. (Yasmin Sulaiman) Underbelly, Cowgate, 0844 545 8252, until 26 Aug (not 13), 1pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50). Seann Walsh ●●●●● Much of Walsh’s observational material is lukewarm; plenty on the ennui of reality TV, the dangers of bus travel and the perils of the snooze button. But the vast majority of his set is dedicated to the travails of drinking and it’s with this subject he’s visibly most comfortable as he builds to a bravura slow motion crescendo, neatly tying up his scattered thoughts. (Murray Robertson) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 26 Aug (not 13, 23), 7.50pm, £11–£12 (£9.50– £10.50). Sex Money Death ●●●●● Having recently hit the big Four-O, sad sack pessimist Stuart Black has been fondly reminiscing about his childhood. He reasons that adult issues of sex, money and death represent the end of innocence and he yearns for simpler times. Black deftly covers a broad spectrum of material including some delightful observations on growing up and getting old and his bittersweet nostalgia is infectious enough to keep his thoughtful hour on track. (Murray Robertson) The Shack, 226 0000, until 25 Aug (not 13), 8.45pm, £7 (£6). Square Eye Pair ●●●●● Kiwi duo Eli and Hamish’s bromance was borne out of crippling teenage loserdom, and is sustained in the present day by a couch and a shared obsession with TV. Their ‘story of what happens when you start looking for something more’ is aided and abetted by Elise, playing the roughest, toughest girl at school as well as the threatening object of affection in this sweetly whimsical hour. (Peggy Hughes) Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 27 Aug (not 14, 21), 2.30pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50). Stephen Carlin ●●●●● Carlin’s core argument here is, broadly speaking, that Scots are penguins (hardy, obtuse) and the English are pandas (picky about food, crap in bed). He doesn’t go so far,
or can’t quite bring himself to admit it, but Carlin’s clearly part penguin, part panda. His observations might not be particularly original, but he is a likeable, impish comedian. (Miles Fielder) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 14), 6pm, £11–£12 (£9.50–£11). Tania Edwards ●●●●● The likeable Edwards has not been dealt a lucky hand by being in such a late-night slot with her severely underpowered show about killer instincts. She doesn’t have them, by the way, which is why the cat lives and her career might not be going to the areas she wishes it would. (Brian Donaldson) Underbelly, Bristo Square, 0844 545 8252, until 26 Aug (not 14), 10.50pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Thom Tuck ●●●●● Having previously established a stage persona as a cheerfully bewildered toff, Tuck relaxes that role a little and chortles on about gender politics and animal instincts before becoming a bit more fired-up about the current state of the economy and those people responsible for creating the mess. Along the way, he delivers a solid slice of stand-up. (Miles Fielder) Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 12), 8.10pm, £10–£11 (£8.50–£9.50). Will Marsh ●●●●● Marsh’s aim here is to tell us how rubbish Britain is, but veers off into more generalised complaints which everyone from Birmingham (his hometown) to Barcelona might share. Saddled with a slightly nervy stage persona, he has some very good gags amid material about green politics, health and safety, race and charity that shifts from contentious to obvious. (Brian Donaldson) The Caves, 556 5375, until 26 Aug (not 14), 1.20pm, £5–£8 (£7).