Fest 2011 Issue 3

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INSIDE: TS EN E PARDY COLLIDE MHEENEMOTTHTERH HOOD & COME W

LE RONIC BIRD ICH IND-UP S FLIGHT KE TA THE W AM -MEDIA MURAK MULTI

BONES

A TON'S STREET-SMART NEW DRAM JOE DOHERTY STARS IN JANE UP

COMEDY, THEATRE, MUSIC AND MORE: YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE FESTIVALS

SON P M I S LEE E • C H N C N A A S R RD V HANE PLEA A H C I N•R IKE McS 4pm show GRAND O T R E M ws 22-25: ge.com G U A n o 7 PAUL MWEBSTER• i h r s f 2 d 000 e d 4pm in.com 19SUKnId 26-27: 11.30aanmce.acno.uk 01p3la1y2e2rs6.c0om mickperr 19-21 a 6550 pleas comedystore 56 0131 5

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Welcome to

Fest

FEST IS YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE EDINBURGH FESTIVALS Pick us up from venues across Edinburgh.

PUBLISHER Sam Friedman EDITORIAL Editor Evan Beswick Deputy Editor Joe Spurgeon Comedy Editor Lyle Brennan Theatre Editor Yasmin Sulaiman Music Editor Marcus Kernohan Books Editor Dan Heap Kids Editor Ruth Dawkins Editorial Assistant Ben Judge PRODUCTION Creative Director Matthew MacLeod Photography Editor Claudine Quinn Copy Editors Hannah Van Den Bergh, Sydney Tichenor Web Editor Marcus Kernohan Production Deputy Dan Heap Office Manager Marthe Lamp Sandvik

festcontents

Exhibit: A

are quite a few at dubiously—that there We've been told—somewh , we're hauling ory the s thi t tes se parts. To creative types round the fill this page to and giving them free rein in some prime suspects as they see fit. three shows at group Dumbshow have Lively, colourful theatre disconcertingly iciously bawdy Roar, the this year's Fringe: the del eet favourite sw , old ir ve Story and the romantic Oedipus: A Lo be mostly ht mig g win dra e Th . ed below e ain't.

Clockheart Boy, pictur sur tion duc can be sure the pro black and white - but you ROAR AUG, NOT 16, C VENUES 8:45PM – 10:00PM, 3–29 CLOCKHEART BOY AUG, NOT 16, C VENUES 4:25PM – 5:40PM, 3–29 Y OEDIPUS: A LOVE STOR AUG, C VENUES 2:15PM – 3:30PM, 3–16

SALES TEAM Sophie Kyle, Lara Moloney, Jan Webster CONTACT FEST hello@festmag.co.uk PUBLISHED BY FEST MEDIA LIMITED Registered in Scotland number SC344852 REGISTERED ADDRESS 30-38 Dalmeny Street, Edinburgh EH6 8RG

Cover image Claudine Quinn Every effort has been made to check the accuracy of the information in this magazine, but the publisher cannot accept liability for information which is inaccurate.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the explicit permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the printer or the publisher. © Fest Media Limited 2011

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festcontents 8 FEATURES 8 Bones

Gripping, pitch-perfect social deprivation drama hits the spot

12 Mother courage

Mum’s the word: when parenting and comedy combine

16 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami’s masterful novel gets a lavish multimedia makeover

19 COMEDY

21 Mark Thomas

Comedy’s hero of the left offers up a measured and highly important response to the IsraelPalestine impasse – not to mention a fair few laughs

23 Humphrey Ker

Another solo offshoot from the Penny Dreadfuls stable and another breeze to victory. Hammy, Nazi-smashing fun

33 Henry Paker

It’s a small room for a big man and his even bigger personality, but Paker’s offbeat wanderings certainly do a lot with little

38 Holly Walsh

With this much-anticipated solo effort, the death-defying debutant doesn’t disappoint

41 THEATRE 45 Real Men Dream in Black and White

The growing pains of four adolescent boys are laid bare in this touching piece

55 The Dark Philosophers

Gwyn Thomas becomes a character in his own work in this delightfully metafictional production

52 Orlando

Cryptic deliver a stunning adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando

61 Your Last Breath

This devised work skillfully weaves four stories together with quiet moments of beauty

62 KIDS

62 Marty Jopson

Television’s “science bloke” talks about his passion for half-baked experiments

64 Press gang

Our crack team of kid critics give their verdicts

65 BOOKS

65 Sniping from the foothils

Political diaries can be dull as dishwater – but not in the hands of Chris Mullin and Ion Trewin

68 MUSIC

71 Le Gateau Chocolat

Funny, musically powerful and at times intensely sad cabaret

72 LISTINGS

Your essential what's on guide to the world's biggest arts festival

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 5

perfectday

y a d t c e f r e p e h t

ing that the ing to see or do everyth Face it: you're never go u can at least ing th a bit of plann , yo wi t Bu er. off to ve ha festivals perfect day e fest team plan your th let ll, sti r tte Be st. see the be

Bonham’s Ten at Ten CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS

White Rabbit Red Rabbit ST GEORGE’S WEST

from an everStart the day with a free reading d the rest of changing set of authors and spen fast in the the morning enjoying a lazy break ns. peace of Charlotte Square garde

lines for Audience might be grabbing head audience, the way it manipulates its, um, Soleimanbut this new play from Nassim actor each pour (performed by a different nsible— day) challenges us in a more respo perhaps more rewarding—way.

12:1 5

10 :0 0

5 :1 1 1

The Butterfly Effect HILL STREET THEATRE If you still need waking up, the iped virtuosic Swedes from Varieté Veloc le and can help. Charmingly ramshack make yet technically brilliant, the trio tic musical magic from the most eclec collection of objects.

6 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

14 :0 0

The Dogs 110 HANNOVER ST This stylish and centrally located restaurant has recently filled a gap in the Edinburgh dining scene, offering simple, traditional and locally sourced food at highly affordable prices.

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perfectday Kalpna 2-3 ST PATRICK SQUARE

19 :4 0

ution, Kalpna is an Something of an Edinburgh instit serving the very atmospheric family-run restaurant food. highest quality Indian vegetarian

This one-man crime parody and sendup of cinema began its life with Bane in 2009. This year, it’s alternating performances of all three installments in the trilogy so catch them all while you can.

18 :30

Bane 1, 2, 3 PLEASANCE DOME

and Ben Brailsford: My Fortnum Mason Hell PLEASANCE COURTYARD

17 :20

ality, Far from being a cheap bid for topic al trithis little-known but highly origin charm umph of storytelling is full of nerdy and indignation.

15 :25

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Dave Gorman’s PowerPoint Presentation ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQAURE A billion boardroom slideshows and a litany of Fringe sets owe their existence to the ubiquitous office software, but there is only one master. Even without his usual quest narrative, comedy giant Gorman nails it.

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STICKS &

STONES Bones, Jane Upton’s hard-hitting Nottingham-set drama, has proved to be one of the Fringe’s most prescient plays on modern Britain. Peter Geoghegan speaks to the playwright and its star Joe Doherty just days after riots rocked the city

O

N TUESDAY August 9th, riots broke out in Nottingham. In St Ann’s, gangs attacked cars and threw petrol bombs at the local police station, while shops and businesses in the city centre were looted. So far, almost 100 people have been arrested in connection with the disturbances.

The rarefied atmosphere of Edinburgh in August might seem a world away from inner-city violence, but for Joe Doherty— star of Jane Upton’s explosive debut play Bones—the riots in Nottingham are all too real. “I grew up not that far from St Ann’s,” says Doherty, an articulate, intelligent 24-year-old who was a youth worker in the city before taking up acting a couple of years ago. “Where I’m from, you only have to walk five minutes and you’ll see everything – crack, alcoholics, gambling addicts.”

Nineteen-year-old Mark—Bones’ only character—is definitely the kind of lad the Daily Mail might label a “feral youth”. Angry, violent, lost in the world, Mark has no friends, no manners and even fewer prospects. At home, his drug-addicted mother struggles to care for her young baby.

Bones is raw, gritty, yet surprisingly compassionate theatre. And unlike the vast majority of myriad editorials on the recent riots in England, the play understands the difference between excusing violence and explaining the rage-fuelled youth culture and dysfunctional family dynamics that spawn it.

“Nineteen years of growing up in that kind of situation is going to make anyone like that,” opines Doherty, who speaks with a broad East Midlands accent and— with his shaved beard and scalp for the performance—could pass on the street for

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Left, overleaf Joe Doherty Photo: Claudine Quinn Right Jane Upton

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festfeature what Scots describe as a Ned. “If you bring anyone up in squalor, you can’t expect them to behave like a prince. It’s as simple as that.”

Mark is certainly no prince – he steals, scrounges, even beats up prostitutes.

But he is also a vivid, three-dimensional person, neither a cipher for “the youth of today” nor a naïve victim. In 45 intense, fevered and occasionally blackly hilarious minutes, Bones takes the audience into Mark’s world, on a journey through the seminal experiences that turned him into the almost unremittingly ugly piece of work we see before us.

“I’m amazed by how black and white people can be, how they can just pass snap judgements on someone else as good or bad. I didn’t want to be like that with this play,” playwright Jane Upton says, on the phone from her home in Long Eaton outside Nottingham. “You can try and pass off something like the riots as just copycat behaviour but that’s just burying your head from so many of the issues that make up the problem.”

Upton certainly couldn’t be accused of denying the complexity of life. Told in monologue, through a series of reminiscences from Mark’s rose-tinted view of his own past (all Panda Pops and Brian Clough) as well as his grim present, Bones draws you in with its brutal realism from the opening words and refuses to let go until the bitter end.

The echoes of Shane Meadows’ oeuvre, most obviously This Is England, are undeniable but Upton, who still works as a copywriter at the University of Nottingham, has a distinctive voice all of her own.

Written a week before her 30th birthday, inspiration for Bones wasn’t difficult to find. “A lot of it comes from my own school days. I’m not saying my life was anything like Mark’s but I do remember things – like one of the girls at my school was a prostitute, another was homeless and living in Nottingham city centre. It’s based on those sorts of stories.”

Like Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird, Upton’s aim is to put her audience in another person’s shoes. “I want people to come away from the show with a bit more compassion for people and the situations they might be in. My father was a teacher and he taught some kids from really difficult backgrounds but I saw how—just by giving them encouragement and attention—he was able to change their lives.

I want people to say ‘OK, I’m going to try and understand a bit’.”

"If you bring anyone up in squalor, you can’t expect them to behave like a prince. It’s as simple as that" Although Bones feels very contemporary—indeed, in light of recent events, frighteningly prescient—the drama is actually set in 1998, and many of the memories from Mark’s childhood (Nottingham Forest in the top flight, Skegness) are drawn from the late ‘80s. “I set the play in 1998 very consciously, because I didn’t want it to be interpreted as a statement about political parties. I didn’t want it to be like ‘the Tories are back in so this is what happens’,” Upton explains.

Bones might not have been written as a rejoinder to the Conservative-led Coalition, but the play’s cast and production company, Fifth Word Theatre, are already feeling the impact of the current government’s austerity program. The company, which found success in Edinburgh with 2007’s Painkillers, are unsure of future funding for their community work in Derby and Nottingham, while last year Joe Doherty lost his job as a youth worker following a round of swingeing budget cuts.

Now delivering pizzas part-time, the aspiring actor understands all too well young people’s frustrations. “The kids used to be able to go to the youth centre but now that’s gone. What are they supposed to do? Every day, all they hear is

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bad news – there’s no jobs, you’ll never get a house, the economy is ruined.”

Doherty, however, is at pains to stress the differences between his own background and that of Mark. Although both live with their mother, the similarities end there: “My mum is one of those crazy mums, she keeps yapping to everyone about me, about how well I’m doing.”

Indeed, Mrs Doherty is due in Edinburgh this week, bringing with her some urgent supplies – new jeans for her son. “She’ll go to Primark before she comes up,“ Doherty beams, looking for a moment like a smiling vision of what Mark could have been with similar attention, encouragement and, of course, love.

And what would Mark be up to now?

Would he be rioting in St Ann’s last week?

Upton, who is considering addressing this very question in an expanded two-act version of the play, has her doubts. “I don’t think he would be on the streets. I imagine him with a girlfriend in a house that she owns, with a dog living in a cupboard in the kitchen. But I can’t imagine he’s very happy.”

Zoo, 4:10pm – 4:55pm, 14–28 Aug, not 22, £9.00

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MOTHER

COURAGE Photos: Claudine Quinn Clockwise from top left: Emily Watson Howes, Meryll O'Rourke, Wendy Wason, Scott Capurro

Fringe audiences are well used to the father figure as a comedic foil. But mothers and their children remain, perhaps, a relatively untapped source of material. Jay Richardson speaks to the performers with mummy issues aplenty

T

HEY FUCK you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had. And add some extra, just for material...

Recent festivals have seen hugely popular “Dead Dad” shows from the likes of Russell Kane, Des Bishop and Jason Cook, with the comics recalling their fathers’ passing in poignant episodes that resonated powerfully with audiences.

This year, though, Fringe comedy is aiming for the emotional motherlode, alongside the occasional reference to miscarriage, the Holocaust or the Columbine High School massacre. And you thought your mum was difficult.

Standups in particular tend to project an ambivalent view of parenting, acknowledging the enormous wealth of material children generate—the “drunk midgets” of Dylan Moran’s perception—while understanding that the topic instantly divides a room into the havebabysitters and the have-nots.

Pregnant at her first Fringe in 2001, Wendy Wason is eight months gone this time round and enjoys the bond that motherhood fosters with a crowd.

“People come up and say ‘that happened to my son!’ when I tell them about mine getting an erection as a baby and how it freaked me out,” she reveals.

On the other hand, Meryl O’Rourke, who had difficulties conceiving, says: “I used to hate hearing people talking about

having kids, so when I went back on the circuit after having my daughter I was very aware that there were people in the audience who didn’t want to hear it.”

She remembers how, bizarrely, she would hear mutterings of “Oh, she’s not really had a kid, she’s just making it up for material!”

Confounding preconceptions will undoubtedly be a challenge for Scott Capurro, whose reflections on parenting used to be restricted to Madeleine McCann gags. Sharing his grief for his late mother and his nascent nesting urges, the controversial gay comic has written arguably his most shocking Fringe show yet.

Who Are The Jocks? takes its title from the last words the Columbine killers uttered before they opened fire, bleak inspiration even for the San Franciscan. And yet, it’s reflective of his residual anger at the macho homophobia that started in school and continued through to a recent assault in a Cardiff comedy club.

However, in discussing the death of his “only authority figure” and the exemplar for his abrasive wit, who sold him cocaine at 18, outed him to the world and whom he describes the “funniest person I’ve ever known”, Capurro risks having audiences empathise with him.

“I’ve never looked for common ground – it embarrasses me,” he shudders. “This is the first show I’ve written where I think there’s going to be familiarity with my

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feelings. And I’ve never wanted that, an audience relating to me.”

“The only way I could deal with my mom’s passing was to do so creatively,” he says. But can he keep empathy at arm’s length and do her irreverent humour justice? Resolving this dilemma ought to be cathartic, if not oddly Oedipal.

“Mothers do date their gay sons. They treat us like boyfriends,” he laments.

“Apparently women feel safer watching me now than ever before. I know that’s supposed to make me feel good, but it doesn’t. I think ‘Oh how can I fuck you up, how can I torture you?’ Then my director reminds me that’s not the point this time.”

In Bad Mother, O’Rourke reflects upon the psychological influence of her Holocaust escapee mother, whose approach to parenting combined social inhibition with a celebrity worship that bordered on stalking, often with young Meryl in tow.

The standup’s catalogue of inherited traits—“My oddness, my inability to do housework, my inability to get off the internet and have a proper life, my difficulty in being a normal, non-slutty person”—has manifested itself in incidents such as her arrival at a superhero-themed kid’s party in a PVC catsuit, scandalising the other mums.

Because of the sanctity of motherhood, admitting you’re a bad mother or even a “wobbly one” in O’Rourke’s selfestimation, can still shock. Echoing 

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festfeature  her unabashed material about being a slut, she muses that “they’re both difficult things to come out and admit to, both taboos for women”.

“There’s a strange kind of female machismo with mums, in that we all claim to each other that we’re tired and that we’re worried we’re doing it wrong – but you can’t ever mean it. Saying you never clean the house or cook them nutritious meals is fine as a joke, yet woe betide you if anyone comes to your house and sees that.”

So pregnant is the disparity between society’s idealisation of motherhood and the frequently grim, mundane and frightening reality that it’s a wonder more comedians haven’t written plays about it – as Emily Watson Howes has done.

Touching on relationship tensions, infertility and miscarriage, The Baby Diary is a tenderly funny combination of live performance and filmed inserts that’s outgrown the BBC Comedy website.

Mother-of-one Watson Howes stars as a mother-to-be in a Christian couple, relating their experiences to camera for awkward posterity.

“Motherhood is such a universal experience, so intense, so bleak, so funny and joyful, it’s all the things good comic writing should be,” she reflects.

“Infertility, especially, is an area that’s not very much explored and all the slightly nervy jokes running through the script reference the fear you face if you’re going to try to create new life.

“Some people obsess about babies, but I found it one of the biggest and bleakest areas of being a woman. ‘How nice to have all these lovely cuddles with a tiny squidgy thing’. Really? I found it horrific for the first year. I could see a vista of centuries of oppression for women, of being this milked monster whose own personality and life were temporarily eradicated.”

And yet, she adds: “Sacrificing yourself for someone else is probably one of the most extraordinary things you can do”.

Especially when that sacrifice precludes exploiting your offspring for laughs.

“My social worker friend asked me if I’ve thought about when my daughter is 11 or 12 and her friends look me up on YouTube,” says O’Rourke. “And it’s good to have that perspective. A lot of comedians have said to me ‘sod it, it’s just jokes’, but it’s actually important to me that my daughter won’t have to deal with my shit.

"Mothers do date their gay sons.

They treat us like boyfriends" I suppose that’s what my show is about really, that I have a lot of shit and I’m trying to compartmentalise it, to keep it to the evenings.”

In contrast, Wason believes “It’s as important to share my point of view as it is my son’s. An open relationship at home, where I talk about everything with them, is more important than what I talk about at work. I really don’t think it’s a question of respecting their privacy.”

She mock-admonishes: “I can do that shit when you’re under my roof, everything is public property!”

Both Watson Howes and O’Rourke wrestled with the notion of using their baby photos in their shows but admit to having doubts.

“It depends on the context,” says Watson Howes. “It can be quite harsh if standups talk specifically about their children or put them into a public forum, like on a DVD – especially if they’re laughing at them. But I don’t think it’s as invasive as some of these awful documentaries.

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The further you can get away from reality and push it into character and art form, the better.”

“If I’m doing a show about whether I’m going to fuck her up or not,” observes O’Rourke dryly, “having a great big photo of her, saying ‘this is her name and address’, would probably answer that question.” f Who Are The Jocks? (Scott Capurro) Pleasance Dome, 8:00pm – 9:00pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, £9.50 – £10.50 Wendy Watson's Flashbacks The Stand Comedy Club II, 3:30pm – 4:30pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, £8.00 The Baby Diary (Watson Howes) Assembly George Square, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, £8.50 – £9.50 Meryl O'Rouke - Bad Mother Underbelly, Cowgate, 2:45pm – 3:45pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, £9.00 – £10.00

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festfeature

DREAM WORLD It’s taken seven years for former Miramax producer Stephen Earnhart’s multi-media production of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle to make it to the stage. Yasmin Sulaiman chats to him and puppet director Tom Lee before its EIF world premiere

“I

N A place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment,” says Toru, the main character in Haruki Murakami’s 1994 novel, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. They’re only 15 words in a book that exceeds 600 pages, but they’re indicative of a dream-like state that suffuses the atmosphere of the celebrated author’s lauded tome – a Japanese classic that’s been treated to a lavish stage adaptation and will receive its world premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

One of Murakami’s most popular novels, the production fits neatly into the Festival’s 2011 mission to represent a dialogue between East and West. Writer-director Stephen Earnhart and much of his creative team are American, while many of its actors are Japanese or of Japanese origin.

Moreover, the play was developed in the US and Japan, is performed in English and Japanese (with English subtitles), and Bunraku—a three-person operated style of Japanese puppetry—plays a major role in its more surreal sequences. Much of this cross-cultural ethos stems from Murakami himself, who has otherwise been uninvolved in its seven-year development.

“I first met Haruki in May 2004,” Earnhart explains, “I flew to Japan, spent the day with him and told him about my crazy idea to adapt the novel. He seemed really intrigued by the concept and we hit it off but I thought it would be a hindrance that I was not Japanese. I asked him if he’d prefer that the project originated from Japan and I even said I would move here, but he insisted it should be made in my country.

He wrote the novel here in America and I think it fulfilled some sort of a cycle for him. He actually went to his agent and said he wanted me to have complete permission to do whatever I wanted.”

Earnhart is a former producer at Miramax but has an eclectic background rooted in live performance. He first read Murakami’s novel in 2003 on a trip to South East Asia, and was instantly struck by its dramatic potential. He says, “I

thought this is a way I can combine all of the things I really love: live performance, film and sound design. It was a chance to do a more ambitious project than I’ve ever done before and yet put together all of these disparate loves into one project.”

Still, the intricacy of its structure—together with a complex funding process— has been a strong contributor to the show’s long development. “I was so naïve,” he says.

“It took a while to recalibrate my aesthetic and to understand that in live contexts you can’t give people too much to look at any one time, it makes people anxious

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that they’re going to miss something. Now we’re working with much less technology and we’re using puppetry, which operates as a bridge between the performers and the film.”

The man behind the puppets that play such an important role in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is Tom Lee, a principal puppeteer in the Metropolitan Opera who’s also working on the Broadway run of the National Theatre’s War Horse this year. Operating as both puppet director and set designer, Lee has tried to emphasise the hypnagogic quality of Murakami’s novel in his original

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festfeature design, without overshadowing its simple central narrative.

“Toru experiences a series of unfortunate events that lead him to lose his wife,” he explains. “He goes into a place where he’s unsure of what is reality and what is a product of his own sexual fantasies. What the production tries to do is to offer a visual palette for that to happen. There’s not a lot of large physical scenery. They’re more like pieces of gauze drawn over, like you’re watching something you’re not supposed to see from behind a gauzy curtain. As the show goes on, these layers of gauze and mesh are peeled away and every once in a while, the action snaps back to Toru’s mundane life.”

For Earnhart, it’s the tension between these two worlds that lies at the heart of Murakami’s story. “What I love about reading Murakami is the worlds that he creates,” he says, “this feeling of the other world that you find yourself in when you’re reading his novels. It makes you look at reality in a different way. Even when you stop reading, you’re sort of still living in that world. One of my approaches to film is a collision between gritty realism and dreamy surrealism. And so I wanted to take what I’d got from Murakami’s text and, using a film aesthetic, create a world the audience could disappear into in a live context. I feel that film is very much like a dream and the experience of going to the cinema is very dreamy, so I wanted to try to bring that feeling to the stage.”

For Earnhart and his co-writer Greg Pierce, one of the primary challenges was tackling The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle’s considerable length. Through several script drafts, the two have managed to slim down the weighty tome to a two-hourlong production, without an intermission.

But while its visual aesthetic and narrative structure have been carefully controlled over its seven-year development, some factors have been completely out of the creative team’s control.

“The March earthquake and tsunami in Japan have absolutely affected the show,” Earnhart admits. “Water is the central metaphor in the piece. Long before this year, we used to use the term ‘tsunami’ in development – that a metaphorical tsunami had ripped Toru’s life apart and now he’s drifting around in the wreckage of his life.

We used to use that term all the time and suddenly it almost felt blasphemous. After the tsunami, some of our cast members went back to help. Our lead actor helped with translations and to talk to people first

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hand – one actor from Japan decided not to continue with the project.

“Japan has a huge history of not wanting to speak about atrocities and things that might embarrass the country, but pretty much all of our Japanese collaborators really encouraged us to continue using images of water. The play is so much about loss, and unexpected loss and we spent a lot of time talking about what it feels like when the ground just gets physically sucked out from under your feet. So even though they’re not directly related, the event has definitely found its way into the piece.”

Lee adds: “It was a pretty crushing time for many of the cast members who had family in Japan. But the piece is about the cultural identity of modern man inside modern Japan and while I don’t know that the events of this year have made the actual production any different, I do

know that all of us felt at the time that we wanted to do our best work.”

It’s an effort that Murakami, who recently donated €80,000 of prize money to victims of the disaster, is sure to appreciate – even though the notoriously shy author might never actually see the piece himself. “He sent some people to our New York preview this year and they gave him a favourable report,” Earnhart says. “I went over last May, too – I took my laptop and basically edited six years of my life into a 15-minute video. I put headphones on him in his office and made him watch it. Later, I found out that only one ear of the headphones was working, but he said he was really was impressed. I’m hoping that at some point he’ll be able to come and see it.”

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, times vary, 20–24 Aug, £10.00

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HHHHH

A wordless and weird descent into madness Page 21 Photo: Claudine Quinn

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festcomedy

DOCTOR BROWN

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festcomedy Mark Nelson: Guilty Pleasure

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Despite a grim worldview and propensity for darkness, Mark Nelson is one of the brighter sparks of the Scottish comedy circuit, a strong writer and solid performer. His subject matter rarely strays from the stuff of hysterical tabloid headlines— alcohol, violence, poverty and obesity, with an unremarkable routine on page three girls thrown in for good measure— but there’s no doubting the relevance of these subjects to his hometown of Glasgow.

As a bona fide Scottish standup he’s in a minority at Scotland’s big arts festival, giving him a distinctive perspective. He begins strongly with a cheeky dig at the English riots and a neatly built-up Arnold Schwarzenegger gag, and thereafter focuses on the west of Scotland and his hometown of Dumfries. A wry social observer, he tends to evoke a horrific spectacle, such as a music festivalgoer employing a pizza box as a makeshift toilet, then slaughters the offending individual with lacerating cruelty.

Some of his humour, such as a routine where he channels sectarian malevolence into a throwaway gag about rape is as black and dubious as anything you’ll hear in standup, though more often he turns the stinging criticism on himself. He rejected computer games after an especially harsh wake-up call, wittily recalled, and he has a particularly good joke on why he no longer possesses a moustache and performs in a suit. Fewer easy targets and more surprises, like his pitiless take on McDonalds colonising China, would push him towards the standup elite.

[Jay Richardson] Underbelly, Cowgate, 7:10pm – 8:10pm, 14–28 Aug, not 17, £10.00 – £11.00

Dave Gorman’s Powerpoint Presentation

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Dave Gorman has a reputation for being a bit obsessive. This is a guy, after all, who has travelled the world in search of people who shared his name; crossed the length and breadth of the country trying to beat strangers at parlour games and journeyed across America stopping only at independent stores and hotels.

And with each project, Gorman can always be trusted to turn it into an illustrative slideshow, chronicling the minute details of his adventures. Powerpoint Presentation may be a much more domesticated affair than his previous exploits, but Gorman still delights in analysing the mundane and daft things he comes across day-to-day, complete with charts and graphs.

Far from being at all gimmicky, the Powerpoint element is woven seamlessly into the

Simon Munnery: Hats Off for the 101ers, and Other Material

opening gambit features in the title of the show, but it’s quickly clear that there is no discernible theme or structure in this evening’s set.

Instead, Munnery whips One of the Fringe’s most prolific through an array of stories, innovators, Simon Munnery songs and poems, filling any has never promised polished gaps with snippets of standup. or crowd-pleasing comedy.

And within the scattergun Instead, his is a brand of enigcompilation there are definitely matic, experimental humour some hidden gems. The epic which, this year, follows a migration tale of a group of familiar hit-and-miss trajectory. foolhardy head lice and a Appearing stage left with lecture on women’s studies bubbles floating from his top by a perverted professor are hat, Munnery scuttles around particularly inspired, as is a sathe Stand One audience, tirical ditty about Sainsbury’s. delivering lines from an obscure But while Munnery’s shambolic song about the 1930s airship, approach only enhances the the R101, and occasionally getabsurdity of his poems and ting himself caught on people’s stories, it loses its charm chairs and bags. This bizarre during the standup interludes.

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20 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 9-11

performance. Indeed, Gorman is essentially a standup with footnotes; his laughs are evidence-driven, fact-based and hugely satisfying.

When Gorman tells us that a lifestyle magazine considers him among the finest literary Jews in the UK (he’s not Jewish), we don’t have to take his word for it: he’s got proof. Similarly, his pitchperfect deconstruction of the stupidity of advertising is backed up with real-life examples, projected for all to see. It is an approach that feels fresh, is executed perfectly and allows Gorman to craft some genuinely creative routines.

Powerpoint Presentation is clearly a labour of love borne out of an inherent nerdiness and an eye for the very silly.

And judged by the frequency and intensity of the laughter, it is a storming success. A perfect, universally enjoyable, hour of comedy. [Ben Judge] Assembly George Square, 7:40pm – 8:40pm, 14–28 Aug, £15.00

Munnery looks uncomfortable playing himself, and this awkwardness filters through to the audience, who look increasingly restless as the show progresses.

Every Edinburgh show needs a structure, Munnery quips at one point, referring to a bridge-like edifice he’s specially constructed to accompany him on the stage. It’s an intentional irony, an acknowledgment of his chaotic, form-bending methods. But while Munnery’s comedy often brilliantly subverts such doctrines, the experimentation can sometimes come at a comic price. [Sam Friedman] The Stand Comedy Club, 3:40pm – 4:40pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £10.00

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festcomedy Doctor Brown: Becaves

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Doctor Brown doesn’t get the same sort of laughs as other comics. The convulsive squawks he elicits tonight seem wholly involuntary, escaping like steam as he ratchets up the pressure with his bizarre and largely silent clowning.

An alienating, stop-start intro sets the tone for a silly yet deeply unnerving hour before the Doctor enters, literally throwing himself into a slapstick routine that sucks all menace from Carl Orff’s ‘O Fortuna’.

The hairy American peers out, curious and pensive.

His rapt yet slightly fraught audience gawps back. And from there, with utmost purpose, his careful procedure of absurd behaviour sparks off laughter no one can quite explain.

Bushy of beard, lean of build, he brings to mind an extra from The Life of Brian and is, this year, resplendent in a Chinese skullcap and silk robe (yes, it comes

Mark Thomas: Extreme Rambling (Walking The Wall)

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How do you tackle the IsraelPalestine conflict, the world’s most intractable political problem, in a comedy show?

Like many people before him, Mark Thomas decided to solve this conundrum by going for a walk.

Last year Thomas walked the length of the 723km wall being built between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank.

Flitting between both sides of the barrier, there was plenty of clear air to focus his mind and the tear gas from the Israeli Defence Force and stones hurled by Palestinian youths focused it further.

The result is a hugely entertaining travelogue. Absurdity lurks on both sides, from the

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giraffe declared a martyr and enshrined in a moth-eaten Palestinian zoo, to the Zionist estate agent with dreams of grabbing land in Iraq.

For a comedian so firmly associated with the left—and

by association anti-Zionism—Thomas is admirably even-handed. He recounts conversations with Israelis verbatim. Even the IDF soldiers receive some sympathy and fatherly advice.

off – but then what?).

He has about him the air of an isolated tribesman working out how to interact with other humans, and failing to brilliantly strange effect. Intrigued by his spectators, he coaxes a few onstage and, through playful set pieces devoid of inhibition, moulds each into the butt of the joke or star of the show.

Edinburgh hardly lacks proud, outgoing performers, but it’s what this trait allows Doctor Brown achieve that matters – namely wordless corruptions of mime and Peking opera. The latter parody, starting out daft and growing fearlessly obscene, is unforgettable.

Woe betide anyone who stumbles across Becaves without some idea of what they’re in for. But for those jaded by the pedestrian bilge that litters the comedy landscape, Doctor Brown is good for what ails you.

[Lyle Brennan] Underbelly, Cowgate, 9:50pm – 10:50pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, £9.50 – £10.50

But it is when he starts talking about the inhuman conditions forced upon the Palestinians that his narrative becomes most powerful. This is really a masterful storytelling session first, a comedy show second. His heart might be with those on the West Bank and he is scathing about the wall, but a tub-thumping polemic it is not.

Thomas knows when to hush the crowd and when to go for a big laugh. When to vividly describe Palestinian kids running down a hill, when to mock mime artists at protests.

The result is a clearheaded, urgent show. Most definitely not a ramble. [Edd McCracken] The Bongo Club, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, 14–20 Aug, not 16, £14.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 21

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festcomedy Humphrey Ker is Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!

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While Marvel Studios spent umpteen millions giving Captain America the full Hollywood makeover, Humphrey Ker was putting together a very British kind of war hero, loosely based on his own grandfather, armed with just a set of old paratrooper fatigues, a lamp and some magic tricks.

The special effects may not be as good but the 3D is excellent, given that Ker turns up and does it in person.

A sketch veteran with the Penny Dreadfuls, Ker’s solo show is a captivating hour of character-based tomfoolery, told via the plummy tones of Watson, a slightly geeky chap who meets a beautiful woman, is drafted into a secret unit and ends up singlehandedly taking on a major Nazi compound – exactly the same plot as Captain America, in fact. This one is a lot more satisfying.

Ker’s show is brilliantly silly throughout–and beautifully played. The sheer quantity and

Colm O’Regan: Dislike! A Facebook Guide to Crisis

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Colm O’Regan opens his show with a promise of—sound the Comedy-killing Phrase Klaxon now—“lessons we can learn” from Facebook and the Irish debt crisis. But the best part of Dislike! A Facebook Guide To Crisis involves neither social networking nor the IMF bailout, and we all learn something about the legal system.

Irishman O’Regan boasts the dubious accolade of once being

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quality of gags is impressive—a hit-rate right up there with early Luftwaffe—and Ker introduces a whole platoon of hammy personnel. Particularly splendid is the psychotic combat instructor whose raison d’etre is turning out that one sadistic soldier all movie armies seem to end up with.

It’s bayonet-in-the-abdomen funny.

The dialogue zings with ludicrous similes and judicious swearing, and while there are hints of Armstrong and Miller’s street-talking pilots when he juxtaposes the stiff upper lip with modern slang, it’s a minor gripe. Dymock Watson: Nazi

informed in a solicitor’s letter that his material “went far beyond what is accepted as comedy”. It’s a gift to his show so great he’s put it on the poster. Yet the comic’s context for this memorable correspondence is just a little too jumbled to do it justice, comprising a tangle of Powerpoint and standup that clumsily works in Mills & Boon, the internet, Irish history and O’Regan’s own life.

He excels while quipping his way through his family album slides.

The likes of “I look like I’ve just been let off a sexual assault charge,” or “these shorts are so short I think

Smasher is an almost-perfect hour of character comedy.

There’s even a gag about comedy reviewers, involving swastikas – bet he enjoyed writing that one. [Si Hawkins] Pleasance Courtyard, 7:15pm – 8:10pm, 14–29 Aug, not 17, £10.00 – £12.50

I handed them down to myself,” perhaps explain why the show takes Facebook as its fulcrum. Those are some brilliant photo captions there.

But in the analogue world of standup, O’Regan’s delivery is rather too rigid and rushed to generate the proper laugh breaks his monologue demands. The neatly scheduled callbacks leave him no option to drop earlier spiels that fall flat, as some do. A Facebook friend, yes, but O’Regan’s real world request is pending approval.

[Catherine Sylvain] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, £8.50 – £9.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 23

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB

0131 558 7272 | thestand.co.uk

AUGUST5-292011

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB

comedy at the heart of the fringe T: 0131 558 7272 www.thestand.co.uk Alun Cochrane // Andy Zaltzman Ava Vidal // Bob Doolally Bridget Christie // Bruce Devlin Craig Campbell // Dave Fulton Damien Crow // Francesca Martinez Fred MacAulay // Gavin Webster James Dowdeswell // Joanna Neary Josh Howie // Lee Camp // Lloyd Langford Markus Birdman // Martin Mor Michael Legge // Mick Sergeant Mitch Benn // Omid Djalili // Paul Sinha Phil Nichol // Phill Jupitus Raymond Mearns // Richard Herring Ro Campbell // Robin Ince Sally-Anne Hayward // Seymour Mace Simon Donald // Simon Munnery Singing' I'm No a Billy, he's a Tim Stephen Carlin // Steve Day // Stewart Lee Steve Gribbin // Susan Murray The Stand Late Club // Tiffany Stevenson Todd Barry // Tony Law // Vladimir McTavish Wendy Wason // Wil Hodgson

festcomedy McNeil and Pamphilon: Which One Are You?

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The key to a great doubleact—from Eric and Ernie to Vic and Bob—is chemistry. It’s something which can’t be faked, and Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon have enough to start their own laboratory. Their excellent sketch show never falters and builds up to a satisfying denouement without missing a beat.

The format is simple: a sketch or two followed by the pair playing (presumably) exaggerated versions of themselves. Pamphilon is the pretty but dim one while McNeil is the uptight intellectual who “makes clothes look shit”. It’s a similar dynamic to the Mighty Boosh boys but with a more mainstream feel.

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to one of several musical numbers in the set—asking the audience which they identify most with, “the dullard or the sexy idiot”—all of which are performed with stage school aplomb.

Other sketches, which are mostly short and sweet, play second fiddle to the slow unfurling of the duo’s increas-

ingly confused relationship.

Two particularly memorable skits include a politically correct version of Jay-Z’s ‘99 Problems’ and a man receiving bad news at the fertility clinic. It is a measure of the partnership that a particularly bizarre and potentially offensive section incorporating a rubber glove, lubricant and intimate fondling

almost seems sweet.

A storming musical finale seals the deal, as does the always-popular free badge on the way out – this duo are destined for great things.

[David Hepburn] Pleasance Dome, 5:40pm – 6:35pm, 14–28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

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festcomedy Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire 2: Back in the Habit

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If, as John Lydon proclaimed in PiL’s 1986 hit ‘Rise’, “anger is an energy”, then Fringe regulars Michael Legge and Robin Ince could plug this show straight into the national grid.

There’d be enough anger generated in one hour to keep the Stand running for a year.

The premise is simple enough: a member of the audience volunteers something that makes them really angry, with the crowd voting on whether their disaffection is justified or pointless. The results, at times, are pure comic gold, from people meditating in cafes to leaving used swabs in public places.

Fresh from last year’s show, Ince and Legge are seasoned guides through this sea of discontent. The former cuts a slightly misanthropic, croaky voiced figure, skulking

around the background, making the occasional caustic interjection, while the Irish funnyman leads from the front, conducting the votes and mocking some of the more foolish suggestions from the floor.

About halfway through, once the sell-out crowd has burned themselves out, the pair turn to a list of their “angry heroes”, which includes the unctuous Amanda Platell, Wayne Sleep and “people who say ‘see Bridesmaids, you must see Bridesmaids’”. As if that isn’t enough animosity for one afternoon, Ince reads a wonderfully disturbing extract about killing a wasp from his angry hero par excellence, Klaus Kinski.

Anger might be pointless most of the time, but that doesn’t stop it being damned funny too. [Peter Geoghegan] The Stand Comedy Club V, 2:35pm – 3:35pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, £8.00

Al Murray’s Compete for the Meat

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The history of Al Murray’s pub landlord is perhaps one of standup comedy’s great tragedies. What started out as an ironic sendup of a xenophobic little-Englander has morphed into something completely different. First the audience changed: the people coming to Murray’s shows weren’t so much those who understood that the character was satirical as those who found it funny at face value. But then something worse happened: Murray stopped trying. The creativity of the Perrier Award-winning Pub Landlord gave way to the what-you-see-is-what-youget character act of Compete for the Meat.

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Indeed, this isn’t so much a comedy show as a straight-up pub quiz hosted

by Murray’s belligerent idiot.

Unfortunately, though, there

isn’t enough room for everyone to play. Consequently, for non-participants—about two thirds of the audience—it is excruciatingly boring. Sure,

we can all laugh as Murray points out a fat guy. And, oh look, a posh guy. He’s got a beard... that means he must be gay! Ha ha ha! But that’s really all there is. No jokes, no stories, just Murray picking on strangers. This is a show that revolves entirely around audience participation and yet leaves out the majority of the audience. It’s mindbogglingly ill-conceived.

Wait, that guy’s fat and ginger!

It is a profoundly unpleasant show. But, in the end, it’s difficult not to feel sorry for Oxford-educated Murray, a man effectively trapped by his wretched character’s success and doomed to repeat this tripe over and over again. [Ben Judge] Assembly George Square, 4:00pm – 5:30pm, 14–27 Aug, £10.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 27

festcomedy Glenn Wool: No Lands Man

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“If you don’t know who I am,” snarls Glenn Wool, eyes ablaze. “I’m Glenn Wool! And I’ve done the Fringe for over 10 years! Two years ago…”

Another pause, another fierce glare, “…Hollywood came calling. And told me I should move to LA and start making movies!”

Pause. Eyes lower. “And now I’m back doing the Fringe.”

It’s a pitch-perfect, selfdeprecating start to a show full of knowing cultural quips (“all Americans love to stereotype! Which, of course, is a stereotype”), incredulous observations (“Belgian beer ain’t beer… it’s fucking wine with a shot of vodka in it!”) and carefully worded liberal-baiting (“girlfriend rape” and a steroidenhanced Down’s Syndrome farmer among the choicest cuts).

The story arc of Wool’s show, No Lands Man, centres on the Canadian comic’s extensive

worldwide travel and one incident—involving a strip search at the Indonesian border—in particular. Standing naked, surrounded by men in a severely lit, small room, he’s asked to prepare for a cavity search. As a customs official cheerfully gloves up and slowly lubricates his index finger, Wool ponders the possible escape routes which form the backbone of tonight’s set. It proves a great story, but a bit of a stretch for a whole show which at times feels straitjacketed as a result.

Blessed with a razor-sharp audience reflex, Wool is at his best riffing off the room or tearing down the walls of idiocy in that trademark hyper-theatrical voice, but neither fire often enough tonight. With a looser, freewheeling framework perhaps, you suspect this often exceptional No Lands Man might finally find home. [Joe Spurgeon] Assembly George Square, 9:30pm – 10:30pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £12.00 – £14.00

Matt Forde: Dishonorable Member

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Given the backdrop of budget cuts, a Tory-led government and, more recently— riots on the street—it’s no great surprise that political comedy is back on the agenda in 2011.

But where comics like Mark Thomas and Josie Long vent spleen at the system, for Matt Forde politics is a lot like football: you pick your side early and cheer them faithfully on come what may.

A one-time apparatchik in Labour’s Nottingham office, there is only one party in Forde’s affections. There is only one man, too. “I got the same feeling watching Tony Blair as I got watching Saved by the Bell. All warm and fuzzy and happy,” he

swoons. No wonder that inane anthem ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ is the show’s intro music.

At its heart, New Labour’s was a rather vacuous,

28 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

technocratic vision that traded style for substance. The same, unfortunately, could be said of Forde: he’s

a very likeable guy, with an infectious giggle and an easy onstage manner, but his political insight boils down to hagiographic tales of Blair and Mandelson at party conference and compendiums of the best New Labour oneliners–which almost certainly worked better at the dispatch box than inside a Fringe sweatbox.

The best material is political with a small p–tales of growing up in Nottingham, meeting Brian Clough and sexual encounters dressed as Alan Partridge. Forde has comic talent but would do well to wake from his late ‘90s champagne socialism stupor and engage a bit more with the world as it is today. [Peter Geoghegan] Udderbelly’s Pasture, 2:55pm – 3:55pm, 14–28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

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festcomedy Ben Brailsford: My Fortnum and Mason Hell

nerdy show. Not nerdy in a cool sense – just plain nerdy.

Nerdy enough that lines like “oooh, that’s classic bassoon” go down swimmingly. It’s perhaps not for everyone, but serves as an offbeat and thoroughly charming way of doing what is purportedly political comedy.

But despite his gawky affectations, this isn’t the naïve skip through the political park that it appears to be. To give away this show’s fantastic twist would be a real crime against what is, in fact, a carefully choreographed performance. Sure, this lacks the spontaneity of standup but, if anything, it’s the originality of Brailsford’s style that’s his real strength. [Evan Beswick]

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Ben Brailsford is not a standup comedian. He hasn’t played the Fringe before. He has certainly never done “the circuit” which, we’re told, is the making of any young comic. In fact, he is a professional bassoonist. Perhaps because of this, but most definitely not in spite of it, this is a throroughly unusual and highly enjoyable show.

It’s not, to be fair, a laugh riot. But then again, this is less standup comedy than storytelling – albeit faintly conversational and sweetly amusing storytelling. Ostensibly, My Fortnum and Mason Hell tells the tale of Ben Brailsford’s arrest, on 26 March 2011, as part of the

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peaceful UK Uncut protest in the luxury department store.

It’s a narrative full of indignant ire at the unfairness of it all –

but the anger is shot through with the gawkiness of, well, a professional bassoonist. As a result, this is a thoroughly

Pleasance Courtyard, 3:25pm – 4:15pm, 14–28 Aug, not 22, £9.00 – £10.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 29

festcomedy Brett Goldstein Grew Up In A Strip Club

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By the age of 21, Brett Goldstein had run a strip club and dealt with an Armenian assassin. It’s fair to say he’s got an interesting story to tell. He’s not the most natural performer, and readily admits to nervousness and the tendency to stutter when faced with a breast. But he does succeed in building and, for the most part, maintaining interest through knowing exactly what we’re interested in (the girls, the drugs and why they have to wipe the poles) while throwing in some

Ian D Montfort: Spiritual Comedium

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For the sheer number of gags, Tom Binns is hard to beat. He proved this with his hospital radio DJ character Ivan Brackenbury, a creation who earned him a nomination for the 2007 if.comedy award, as the big Fringe gong was known back then. Last year, he replaced

Brackenbury with Sunderland pyschic Ian D Montfort, a character who merged bona fide mentalist skills learnt from Philip Escoffey with bulletproof gags.

This year’s outing has the same tidal wave of jokes, but is somehow a bit more distant. Montfort’s backstory was always pretty light but it has receded into the spirit world altogether now, and

30 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

hyperbole for comic effect.

This sometimes works, but sometimes compromises the reality of the story.

Occasional exaggerated moments jar with an otherwise enjoyable hour, but his hit-and-miss delivery actually works in his favour; he has an endearing quality bizarrely at odds with the subject matter.

He is certainly not the sort of person you’d imagine in a strip joint, let alone running one.

That said, Goldstein focuses too hard on constructing clever callbacks when it really is a case of less is more; a running gag about the idiosyncratic greeting of his colleague is unnecessary and overdone.

Cutting out the weaker among

these would strengthen the few that are left as, when unexpected, they catch the audience off guard nicely.

Goldstein does, however, avoid straying into flippancy, which would endanger the nice-guy-surrounded-bybreasts concept he works so well. Though a mixed bag, his set does make for an entertaining, often poignant hour and, though inconsistent, it has a pertinent message to convey about the industry, leaving the audience with something more than comedy to consider. [Stevie Martin]

even some lovely quirks from last year have been sacrificed.

Meanwhile, the addition of a lame assistant does not add enough of a dimension to the show to compensate.

This relatively safe followup lacks variety and emotion and any acknowledgement to Binns’ training and multidisciplinary skill. The staple of the show is the juxtaposition between Montfort’s comic

groping for a handle on the subject’s life, covering himself if he guesses incorrectly, before proffering statements that turn out to be eerily accurate. For anyone new to the character, this in itself will prove value for money. [Julian Hall]

Pleasance Dome, 5:30pm – 6:30pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £8.50 – £9.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 6:15pm – 7:15pm, 14–28 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 31

festcomedy Ahir Shah: Astrology

HHHHH This fascinating but flawed debut solo Fringe appearance from 21-year-old Ahir Shah marks him out as one to watch in future years.

The title of the show refers to the janmaakshar—or Hindu astrological forecast—ordered by his parents when Shah was born. The reading was partly responsibly for giving him his name and purported to determine what life had to hold in the future – from character traits to career choices.

Shah uses this premise to explore the part fate plays—or doesn’t play—in our lives.

What if he had been called something else? he wonders.

Would his life have gone in a different direction?

Shah has got the mechanics and tricks of standup

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour

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If nostalgia really is the new rock and roll—as the music press would have us believe—then The Fitzrovia Radio Hour should be primetime listening.

Set in the 1940s, this sketch show of radio plays is both loving tribute and soft-hearted pastiche of the kind of “live transmissions to the Empire” that were the stock in trade

down to a fine art with a slick, impressive style – but this can’t disguise some patchy writing.

Occasionally the references can be a little obscure for those— unlike Shah—not studying politics at Cambridge University.

Attempts to chide those baffled by, for example, Iranian politicians seem at best misjudged and at worst arrogant.

The most entertaining parts of the set come when Shah explores his Indian heritage and his relationship with his parents. There is also an impressive extended riff about internet pornography which challenges and confronts while avoiding the usual well-worn paths forged by so many other comedians.

The overall impression is one of a performer close to brilliance but who needs to hone his material. Shah is never less than interesting but doesn’t always have the jokes to back up his obvious ambition. [David Hepburn]

of Auntie Beeb’s early days.

There’s faux adverts for “calming” Clipstone tea and lashings of smooth, mellifluous voices as the cast, Jon Edgley Bond, Alix Dunmore, Alex Ratcliffe, Phil Mulryne, Tom Mallaburn and Martin Pengelly, perform three short routines—a whodunnit, a horror and a thriller—in a rather farcical fashion that calls to mind a cross between ‘Allo ‘Allo and PG Woodhouse.

The performance is impressively slick–with colanders

clanging, bread bins closing and watering cans tinkling as the actors frantically rush around the stage producing all the live sound effects. When a character is killed the front row are splattered with watermelon pulp, while squashed pink grapefruit accompanies an operation scene.

It’s amusing stuff—if more smug chuckle than openmouthed guffaw—but after half an hour or so the enterprise starts to feel just a little samey.

The plays are ridiculous enough—the final installment centres around a dastardly plot to inflate the price of tin by blowing up mines—but the writing is not quite up to scratch.

A pleasing—if shallow—distraction, The Fitzrovia Radio Hour is a bit too Tony Blackburn and not enough John Peel.

[Peter Geoghegan]

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 5:25pm – 6:25pm, 14–28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, 14–29 Aug, not 17, £10.00 – £11.00

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festcomedy Daniel Sloss: The Joker

theme, his interest in Batman’s most famous nemesis.

This tenuous triptych acts as a framework for his gags – broadly consisting of an introduction, family, his last girlfriend and some final thoughts.

Sloss is a true crowd-pleaser and is scarily at ease performing, but there’s something lacking. It’s not his delivery, which is perfect – it’s the nagging feeling that the jokes are being targeted to hit the broadest possible demographic. There are lines about his young person’s hair for the more mature members of the audience to scoff at.

Conversely, the youngsters are delighted when he insists that oldies don’t get his act.

This comic duplicity will no doubt help to further his career, but it’s unlikely to inspire much true devotion. [David Hepburn]

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Daniel Sloss is young. How young? Well, near the beginning of his set he reveals that one of the inspirations behind The Joker’s title was the song at number one on the day he was born.

There is a palpable gasp among half of the audience when he reveals that it was the 1990 reissue of the stillubiquitous Steve Miller Band track – a demonstration of the wide age range lured in by his television appearances.

He doesn’t even look 21, and the admission that he barely needs to shave comes as no surprise. When he starts to talk about sex it seems a call to his parents, or social services, might be in order.

The title, of course, also refers to him being the joker of his family and, in a slightly desperate attempt to continue the

Henry Paker: Cabin Fever

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For up-and-coming comics a month in a Portakabin parked outside the Pleasance Grand can be a sobering experience, as your place in the industry pecking order stares you grimly in the face. Henry Paker has embraced these insalubrious surroundings, however, and fashioned a show that basks in the claustrophobia of cramped temporary accommodation. “I’m going loopy,” is the overall message, “and you’re stuck here with me.”

That loose setup is really just a platform for Paker to embark on a series of free-floating observations and elaborate audience interactions, but as the rain beats down on the cabin roof we begin in a more down-to-earth fashion. The Edinburgh public are in denial about the quality of their weather, he ponders, but invariably live in buildings with

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Assembly George Square, 7:35pm – 8:35pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, £11.50 – £13.50

wonderfully high ceilings. Which brings us back to the low, flat reality of this one.

From there we’re on a trek up Kilimanjaro, then back to the ups and downs of Paker’s love life and his preference for meeting internet dates in the woods. It’s hard to believe this tall, charming chap with a GSOH struggles quite so abjectly with the opposite sex, but such humiliations do at least provide the grist for some fine physical comedy.

The more abstract asides veer a little too closely to the canon of the sacred Izzard on occasions, and a few in the front row stare on with stony-faced bemusement – but perhaps that’s just the thought of venturing outside again. There are far worse places to be than a Portakabin with Paker. [Si Hawkins] Pleasance Courtyard, 8:30pm – 9:30pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £8.50 – £9.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 33

festcomedy Colm O’Regan: Dislike! A Facebook Guide to Crisis

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Colm O’Regan opens his show with a promise of—sound the Comedy-killing Phrase Klaxon now—“lessons we can learn” from Facebook and the Irish debt crisis. But the best part of Dislike! A Facebook Guide To Crisis involves neither social networking nor the IMF bailout, and we all learn something about the legal system.

Irishman O’Regan boasts the dubious accolade of once being informed in a solicitor’s letter that his material “went far beyond what is accepted as comedy”. It’s a gift to his show so great he’s put it on the poster. Yet the comic’s context for this memorable correspondence is just a little too jumbled to do it justice, comprising a tangle of Powerpoint and standup that clumsily works in Mills & Boon, the internet, Irish history and O’Regan’s own life.

He excels while quipping his way through his family album slides. The likes of “I look like I’ve just been let off a sexual assault charge,” or “these shorts are so short I think I handed them down to myself,” perhaps explain why the show takes Facebook as its fulcrum. Those are some brilliant photo captions there.

But in the analogue world of standup, O’Regan’s delivery is rather too rigid and rushed to generate the proper laugh breaks his monologue demands. The neatly scheduled callbacks leave him no option to drop earlier spiels that fall flat, as some do. A Facebook friend, yes, but O’Regan’s real world request is pending approval.

[Catherine Sylvain] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, £8.50 – £9.50

Shappi Khorsandi: Me and My Brother in Our Pants, Holding Hands

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Unlike most people, Shappi Khorsandi has a very interesting family. For instance, in one well documented incident the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini sent assassins to kill her father, an exile in England.

Not the usual dinner party chat.

They failed—of course—which is why the story is appropriate for a comedy show.

So it is understandable that Khorsandi would look to her nearest and dearest for great material. She covered her relationship with her father in a previous Fringe show and this year it is her elder brother’s turn.

Khorsandi is an elegant storyteller. She exhumes vignettes from growing up in Iran and then England with her brother– only 16 months her senior.

Tales of drowning chicks in her grandmother’s lake and trying to “make” her brother gay are breezily shared. Khorsandi is engaging and personable enough to never let it dip below the entertaining waterline.

The Lunchtime Club

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“This is all very bawdy for twenty past one,” says Fin Taylor, the Lunchtime Club’s penultimate turn. The lanky Bristolian isn’t wrong: an extended wife-swapping riff with two couples in the front row that began almost an hour ago shows no signs of letting up. A few minutes earlier compere Max Dickens procured a bowl, which now sits onstage half-filled with keys.

The Lunchtime Club has become something of an Edinburgh institution: Tom Rosenthal, Joel Dommett and Ivo Graham are just some

34 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Yet, it never soars. It always remains at the same, chatty level, ruminating about family dynamics and how parents screw up their children. It’s not great comedy. It is just—not wanting to damn with faint praise—very pleasant.

Khorsandi does cut loose at one point, though. She goes on a rant about the looters in

London, calling them “joyless fuckers” and damns them for ruining many an Edinburgh show. It is also the best part of the hour. The lesson is more bite, less cosiness next time, please. [Edd McCracken]

of the comics that have graduated from the Tron’s hot, sticky basement space to better things.

Once the razor-sharp Dickens has warmed the room— and identified the putative swingers at the front—Suzi Ruffell—full of sparky nervous energy—makes her entrance.

Her short set brims with wry observations about coming out, breakups and middle-class travails. Even if not all the material is the freshest, Ruffell’s charm and comic timing are enough to see her through.

A self-avowed political comic, Joe Wells is a different prospect. There are some wellworked gags about Nick Clegg and the coalition but a slightly

over-preachy section about the British working class falls disappointingly flat. After Fin Taylor’s nicely realised quips about love and life, John Kearns’ dark, surreal persona is a rather abrupt change of pace.

The confrontational shtick wears a bit thin but there are enough laughs and wacky antics—an audience member is forced to impersonate a whale on stage—to keep interest up.

With five comics spread over an hour and a half for just seven quid, if you fancy a ribald lunch you could do a lot worse. [Peter Geoghegan]

Pleasance Courtyard, 7:50pm – 8:50pm, 14–28 Aug, £13.00 – £14.00

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 12:30pm – 2:00pm, 15–28 Aug, not 16, 23, £7.00

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 35

festcomedy Gareth Richards: It’s Not The End of the World

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Hirsute Fringe debutant Gareth Richards hails from Bournemouth, “a place where people go to die”.

South Coast inhabitants might be shuffling off this mortal coil in increasing numbers, but Richards doesn’t think his time will be up anytime soon. Instead, drawing on a mixture of observational humour and bizarre musical numbers, he makes the case that the world is not going to end. At least not in 2012.

The material ranges from the prosaic (shopping in the Co-operative) to the gleefully apocalyptic (having sex with the last woman on earth).

His choice of instrument, the omnichord—”omni means re-

Steve Hall’s Very Still Life

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Steve Hall has dubbed himself a “reverse Midas”: everything that he touches turns to shit. From an Immac-related incident that left his backside “like the Chenobyl exclusion zone” to him committing an act of public indecency trying to face down a young thug, he does seem to manage to screw everything up. The

ally, chord means brilliant”—is inspired: rescued from the 80s, its tinny, hollow sounds provide the perfect accompaniment for anti-Bob Dylan

ditties like ‘What Would You Do Nick Clegg?’.

Nominated for Best Newcomer at last year’s Fringe, Richards possesses

same, however, can’t be said for this engaging, intelligent and ultimately quite moving hour from the former We Are Klang member.

As he says at the start, this is a very simple show: there is no elaborate overarching concept and Hall never tries to be too clever. At its centre is the story of how he and his Australian wife were separated by the vagaries of the immigration system and his attempts to be reunited

with her.

The public schoolboy background that makes Jack Whitehall so obnoxious only endears the audience to Hall, formerly of Habs Boys and Oxford, who manages to weave both a knob joke and a classical mythological reference into the same brilliant little sketch.

Perhaps too much of the humour comes from the sayings of his ballsy wife or his apparently very eccentric and

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a pleasingly quirky onstage persona. His slow, overly considered speech is redolent of both Russell Brand and Emo Philips, although a tendency to laugh early at his own gags somewhat punctures the deadpan shtick.

Before the show starts Richards warns us that there will be lulls —”at points in this show you will wish you were dead,” he croaks—but it’s weak punch lines that are the show’s biggest failing. At times Richards sells himself short by going for the easy, shallow laugh. But there’s promise here, and every indication Richards has a bright future ahead of him.

Provided, of course, that the world doesn’t end first.

[Peter Geoghegan] Pleasance Courtyard, 8:30pm – 9:30pm, 14–29 Aug, not 18, £8.50 – £9.50

spectacularly crude father, making Hall seem more like an adept relayer of other people’s jokes and leaving little room for his own original material.

But these moments are nevertheless worked seamlessly into an accomplished hour which ends in a touching reflection on the joys of being in love. [Dan Heap] Pleasance Courtyard, 8:30pm – 9:30pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £8.50 – £9.50

8:30PM

3 - 28 AUG (not 15)

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festcomedy Markus Birdman: Dreaming

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Edward Aczel Doesn’t Exist

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With minimal fanfare, Edward Aczel shuffles onstage and plants both hands on hips. His mic stand is too high. He doesn’t bother adjusting it. Quiet, overweight, balding, sweaty and shambolic, he cuts a mightily unimpressive figure, kicking off with a mumbled procession of unrelated facts and trivia to demonstrate “how the mind can wander when you’re nervous”.

Such an inauspicious start might spell death for any other comedian, but for Aczel, master of the understated, lo-fi, “anticomedy” school of standup, this faux-naîf funny business has become an artform. Except these days, without that vital weapon of surprise, it’s all a bit familiar.

The conceit for this year’s show is simple: Aczel, knowingly referencing the fact that his downbeat shtick isn’t exactly TV gold, runs through a series of programme

proposals that might raise his profile, including one about a time-travelling ACAS mediator who visits notorious industrial disputes of the past, and a show called Ed Aczel’s Warning, May Contain Nuts, where celebrities dress up as squirrels. These, and his repeated application of harebrained business jargon and management techniques to comedy (via his “creative process flow PowerPoint presentation”), raise the biggest laughs until a prolonged sequence involving a box of hats and three Frenchmen called Pierre outstays its welcome.

Yes, it’s a refreshing antidote to the egocentric, skinny jeansporting school of standup, but you sense Aczel needs to refresh his own template a touch, so when he closes with typical flamboyance (“um, so that’s the end of my show”) a large chunk of the audience seem quite relieved. [Joe Spurgeon] Underbelly, Cowgate, 7:20pm – 8:20pm, 14–28 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Against a backdrop of whimsical doodles, set to a live guitar backing track and interspersed with jaunty vinyl songs detailing the title of each section, Markus Birdman delivers a perfectly listenable, if formulaic, hour. His fast pace, affecting subject matter (he’s battled with numerous serious health problems) and good rapport with the ample audience make for an hour that’s nice to watch, but predictable.

He’s capable of firing off some wonderfully pithy oneliners when you least expect it, but the majority of his standup is fairly straightforward. In fact, it renders the kooky backdrop, flip chart and vinyl somewhat at odds with the actual gags.

The guitarist is utterly superfluous. More bizarrely, despite his efforts to impose a regimented format, the act of pausing between sections and flipping a chart to reveal the title before playing the vinyl disrupts the flow.

It also highlights what is essentially a fragmented, meandering set that actually lacks structure, regardless of his best efforts to conceal the fact.

One minute he’s talking about growing up, getting old and parenting; the next he’s explaining why he’s not that into televised comedy. He skips around, often without convincing segues.

The material itself is sometimes engaging, peppered with his seemingly favourite phrase, “go fuck yourself”, which when used sparingly is really rather funny. There are moments of promise where his material dips into the unexpected, but Birdman relies too heavily on such well-worn territory as turning 40 and knob gags which, ultimately, fail to pack a punch. [Stevie Martin] The Stand Comedy Club II, 9:20pm – 10:20pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, 23, £8.00

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Noel Fielding

8:30PM

3 - 28 AUG (not 15)

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 37

festcomedy Holly Walsh: The Hollycopter

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Though a fixture on the circuit for a while now, Holly Walsh has bided her time before taking the plunge into the Fringe fray, busying herself with numerous other projects such as the innovative Popcorn Comedy nights that mix standup with short films.

Taking the plunge is what her anticipated debut is all about – jumping off Worthing Pier, to be precise. Recognised for her children’s TV presenting duties, Walsh was approached by the organisers of the Worthing Birdman event to don fancy dress and throw herself off the town’s landmark.

The comedian injured herself in the process but in so doing she faced up to a previous incident in her life and the notion that she was risk-averse. It’s a trait that Sarah

Millican will be talking about in her show too this year, and it’s hard to believe it of two people who are so accomplished at live comedy–so it’s an intriguing paradox.

With a gentle pace, occasional wry asides and delicate puns, Walsh riffs well on her time in hospital after the accident. But, given the context of the story, proceedings are always incredibly upbeat, with lots of levity including some messing about with Venn diagrams.

Easygoing and genuinely endearing, the 30 year old has been rewarded for her patience.

She has come up with an accomplished and pleasing show, and has therefore convalesced from that other unfortunate incident she once endured: The TNT Show with Jack Whitehall.

[Julian Hall] Pleasance Courtyard, 6:00pm – 7:00pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £8.50 – £9.50

38 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

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WS ADDED EXTRA SHO 23rd at 5:10pm AUG 22nd &

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 39 www.boundandgaggedcomedy.com

festcomedy Tom Deacon: Can I Be Honest?

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Yes, it’s Tom Deacon from Radio 1, a fact the comedian and DJ is quick to point out to his audience tonight. To be fair he does balance this gratuitous point of information with a rundown of his Twitter detractors, and this journey from one extreme to the other is pretty much indicative of the flow of his show – from happy-go-lucky chappy to inexplicably low energy comic.

The change in register—particularly evident at the end—got me thinking that perhaps I had missed some hidden meaning and “Deaco”, as he refers to himself, was toying with some anti-comedy. But no, what the 24 year old offers is a very safe, stately canter through some unspectacular terrain, notwithstanding a handful of cracking one-liners.

The Mutley-haired comic has nothing more dastardly to offer than a few domestic potboliers that involve admitting he is more interested in his Xbox than his former girlfriend, that he can elicit funny noises from his flatmate who dislikes being touched, and that teabagging sounds a lot like a northerner saying “tea bag in”.

Perhaps the best gag of the evening was one that had apparently come from an audience member the night before, who said to Deacon: “I’d rather be bald than have earmuffs”.

It’s likely that Deacon crafted that line himself, of course, and there are flashes of his writing ability throughout. The problem is that, like radio, he could all too easily be relegated to background noise. [Julian Hall] Pleasance Dome, 8:20pm – 9:20pm, 15–27 Aug, not 21, £8.50 – £9.50

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Alzheimer’s the Musical Award g Winnin y Comed

A night to remember!

‘Hilarious!’ The Age

August 3–29 @ 5pm Don’t forget to book!

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Gilded Balloon Teviot, Bristo Square

40 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

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festcomedy Marcel Lucont Etc: A Chat Show

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It seems that every year another few chat shows spring up in Edinburgh. It’s easy to see why – the host needs only to prepare a small amount of material, while the guests get the chance to promote their own shows and get bums on seats.

This particularly excellent example of the breed stars French raconteur and bon viveur Marcel Lucont – the perfectly realised comic creation of Alexis Dubus. Shrugging his way around the wine bar set dressed in the Parisian artist’s uniform of suit and polo-neck, Lucont drips contempt for all while being completely unaware of his own ridiculousness. It’s a classic combination and the laughs come easily throughout.

Of course it’s the very

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nature of these types of show that they live and die by the quality of their guests. This winning performance saw Lucont lasciviously spar with a very game Meryl O’Rourke then swap misanthropic banter with Liam Mullone.

The interviews tread the line between blatant self-promotion and interesting revelation well, with both guests more than

holding their own against their Gallic host. This is in no small part down to the expert way Dubus uses his oddly loveable character—as well as a plentiful supply of booze—to draw out anecdotes which might otherwise remain hidden.

A raucous burlesque song and dance act breaks up proceedings, adding to the naughty nighttime fun.

Meanwhile, Lucont bookends the hour with a spot of standup which pokes fun at the stereotypical Frenchman’s views of the English speaking world.

It’s a one-joke act, sure – but it’s a damn good joke. [David Hepburn] Underbelly, Cowgate, 9:20pm – 10:20pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, £9.00 – £10.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 41

wordonthestreet

SCOTT

isabelle

AO

Vox Location: Royal Mile

Location: Royal Mile

Location: Royal Mile

Name: Scott

Name: Isabelle

Name: Ao

From: All the way from Falkirik

From: Spain

First Fest?

No, second time!

First Fest?

Nope What are you most excited about this festival?

Camille O’Sullivan as it’s the only thing I’ve seen so far at the festival!! No, but really she was fantastic. I’d also like to get some comedy in; like Andrew Maxwell. I always try to see him and Camille O’Sullivan.

They’re always good.

What’s your most bizarre fringe experience to date?

No but I could make some up!

Top Edinburgh-insider Fest spot: I like the Pleasance, it’s got a nice vibe.

First Fest?

First time, it’s amazing!

From: China

What are you most excited about this festival?

We’ve seen some comedians and lots of live music. The atmosphere is the best thing, just on the streets walking around.

Everything is a new adventure for us.

What are you most excited about this festival?

Basically last time I came with a friend and only saw things she liked so this year I’m hoping to see some International Festival shows especially the Scottish Ballet and maybe the Chinese ballet.

What’s your most bizarre fringe experience to date?

Nothing too strange yet!

What’s your most bizarre fringe experience to date?

Every person seems quite weird!

Top Edinburgh-insider Fest spot: Being here on the Royal Mile or just on Bristo Place.

Top Edinburgh-insider Fest spot: The Royal Mile is the best bit. There are so many things to see all around!

42 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

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Only dark and dream-like possibilities await in Grid Iron's new show set in a university medical school Page 43

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Photo: Claudine Quinn

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festtheatre

WHAT REMAINS

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 43

festtheatre Ten Plagues

HHHHH The atmosphere in the Traverse tonight feels more like that of a stadium gig than a Fringe play. Despite the calibre of Ten Plagues’ composer (Conor Mitchell), designer/ director (Stewart Laing) and librettist (Mark Ravenhill), this audience seems to be here for just one person: Marc Almond.

The British singer and artist might be best known as the former Soft Cell frontman but he has also been celebrated for his large catalogue of solo work. And many of his fans have turned out in Edinburgh to see this new opera, which takes the Plague of 1665 as its departure point and in which he is the lone star.

For the most part, Almond delivers. There are a few clumsy hiccups as he navigates his way around the people of

Plague-ridden London—represented in Laing’s sparse design by carefully placed stands laden with sheet music—with fear and disgust. He and the on stage pianist show impressive stamina in sustaining this gory, grim tale through its full hour.

Ravenhill’s writing is perhaps the biggest triumph of Ten Plagues. Using eye-wit-

44 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

ness accounts of the Plague, the award-winning writer behind Shopping and Fucking has crafted an affecting and emotional tale that transcends the boundaries of time, while remaining aesthetically rooted in the language of 1665. Frustratingly, the pace lags in the middle section. But the story, along with Mitchell’s gener-

ally even-keeled composition, crescendos at the end in a haunting refrain that stays with you for long after, acting as a frightening reminder of the impulses of men in times of despair. [Yasmin Sulaiman] Traverse Theatre, times vary, 16–28 Aug, not 22, £17.00 – £19.00

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festtheatre What Remains

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Something peculiar strikes as we’re lying in makeshift beds in an old medical school.

Somewhere between listening to a disembodied child’s voice recite a creepy nursery rhyme and the entrance of a man who stalks between the vulnerable audience members with the calmness of a graveyard, a thrill ripples through the room: only dark and dream-like possibilities await.

What Remains has been a long held dream for horror film fan and Grid Iron coArtistic Director, Ben Harrison.

Together with composer and singer David Paul Jones, they have finally realised their dark fantasies.

Jones plays The Maestro.

An obsessive pianist, he greets the audience at the start of its promenade around the University of Edinburgh’s medical school and anatomy museum.

He plays a complex, beautiful piece on the grand piano. It

leaves musical clues of what awaits and nursery rhyme idyll is interrupted by terrifying dissonance.

As the macabre ratchets up, What Remains explores the idea that music can create madness as well as joy. But this is not a slasher horror.

There is nothing that goes bump in the night. Rather it creeps under the skin by pulling gauze over the audience’s eyes alongside weird piano lessons and ringing phones.

Like all horror films, it succumbs to a bout of silliness towards the end. A talking piano means it does not quite hold its creepy nerve. But with great use of the medical school’s eerie spaces, dark corridors and Gothic skeletons, combined with a chilling soundtrack, What Remains certainly stays with you. [Edd McCracken] Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, times vary, 14–28 Aug, not 15, 22, £17.00 – £19.00

Real Men Dream in Black and White

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Real Men Dream in Black and White is an intimate exploration of the growing pains of four adolescent boys on the cusp of manhood. In the absence of a tribal right of passage, when do boys become men and what even is a “real man”? Mixing movement, storytelling, posing and peacocking, these four performers open up their hearts to us in a piece which feels touchingly genuine.

Their gaucheness perfectly fits the subject matter at hand. They mumble a bit and are hesitant, but this is easily forgiven since the audience really gets a sense of the difficulties of this performance and we see more of each personality with every new

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revelation. In fresh-faced performances, the foursome fluctuate between cocky confidence and stuttering naïveté, seeming both wise and very young.

Addressing us straight-on with eyeballing directness, they tell us about their personal experiences: their family, being beaten up, being in love. It’s engaging and

revealing but also very funny – swinging wonderfully between poignant moments of soul searching and comedy muscleman posturing.

As they manage to walk the fine line between twee and endearing, Real Men Dream in Black and White feels like a brave piece of theatre. Ultimately, they may not completely answer

their own questions but it feels as though the performers and the audience have a clearer idea about what it is to be a man – and, perhaps most importantly, the kind of men that these boys will eventually be. [Honour Bayes] Greenside, 1:55pm – 2:40pm, 15–20 Aug, £5.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 45

festtheatre Audience

HHHHH Belgium’s theatrical agent provocateurs Ontroerend Goed know how to grab a headline or two. If they’re not canoodling punters and baring breasts (Internal), they’re getting febrile teens to strip, snog and dice up worms (Teenage Riot/Once and For All We’re Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen).

2011’s Fringe offering, the aptly-named Audience, takes the action offstage and attempts the further dissection of us, the paying public, examining our role as passive consumers and our susceptibility to follow the herd, protect each other, speak out or just sit in complicit silence.

A camera is wheeled out and our faces are projected onto an exposing, floor-to-ceiling close-up on a huge white screen.

Nervous titters and disquiet spread across the faces of those

in focus. Music is played loudly.

Some imbedded actors dance and we, apparently, are offered the choice of joining in. Some do, some don’t. Coats from the cloakroom are paraded in a mock fashion show; some bags are even emptied. An old couple walk out.

Despite some moments of acute discomfort—including a now infamous section when a

Confessions of a Mormon Boy

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LGBT meets LDS (Latter-day Saints) in this autobiographical tale of a Mormon man’s struggles with his own sexuality.

Written, produced and starring Steven Fales, a sixthgeneration Mormon from Salt Lake City, Confessions of a Mormon Boy details his battle to control his homosexual desires.

Despite falling for another brother during his compulsory missionary service in Portugal (like a gap year for Mormons but with added proselytising), Fales returns to Utah, marries and has two kids. “We were the Tom and Nicole of Mormondom,” he proclaims in his high-pitched timbre, flashing one of the wide, white-toothed smiles that seem to be his stock in trade.

Marriage, rather inevitably, wasn’t for Fales: he continued studying musical theatre and,

46 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

young female is aggressively confronted and asked to uncross her legs on camera—Audience is not the morally deficient devil’s work that some have frothily declaimed. But disappointingly, despite the fascinating premise and theatrical rule-bending, nor is it that interesting either, unearthing little in its heavyhanded deconstruction of crowd mentality.

A closing video montage of intercut rallies, speeches and gatherings drives home the obvious: that groups of people behave differently from the isolated individual. Got it?

Yeah. Now let’s move on. [Joe Spurgeon] St George’s West, 10:55pm – 12:00am, 14–28 Aug, not 17, 24, £10.00 – £12.00

after years of repression and Church-funded hypnotherapy to “cure” him, eventually he came out. Next stop New York City where, penniless, he started a new life as a highclass male escort: “the job Mary Magdalene had before she met Jesus Christ.”

Fales is a curious character, his delivery enthusiastic bordering on effusive, but his stage school persona is hard to really warm to. Confessions works best when describing his experience growing up as a gay man in the Mormon faith, which denies the very existence of homosexuality. The final half hour, when Fales flits between prostitution and the promiscuity and drugs of the gay scene, is less compelling.

Nevertheless Confessions of a Mormon Boy is still an unusual and engaging coming of age tale. [Peter Geoghegan] Hill Street Theatre, 9:00pm – 10:15pm, 14–29 Aug, not 17, 24, £8.00 – £10.00

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 47

festtheatre Julian Sands in a Celebration of Harold Pinter

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When Harold Pinter died in late 2008, he left a massive hole in the fabric of Britain’s literary and theatrical landscape.

However, this collection of Pinter’s poetry, performed by his friend Julian Sands, fails to properly do justice to the vibrancy and importance of the great playwright’s life.

Unfortunately, this Celebration of Harold Pinter tends more towards a sober, stony-faced reading of his poetry than anything warmer or more personal. Sands is a likeable and passionate stage presence, and when he does recount anecdotes from Pinter’s life, the production really does come alive, but these moments are too few and far between. Perhaps a consequence of a lack of time spent putting it together, this show isn’t so much theatre as a poetry reading. It lacks anything of the vibrancy so strongly associated with Pinter’s work that you have to question why it is being performed on stage and not in a lecture hall.

Much has been made of John Malkovich’s role in directing this production, not least his affable participation in publicising and flyering for the show. Yet there is very little to be seen in terms of results. Sands hovers at the edge of the stage, reading from a book. And that’s all. It is a set-up so simple a child could direct it. Were one a conspiracy theorist, one might suggest attaching Malkovich’s name to the production was little more than a ploy to drum up interest and get people talking.

Certainly, none of the chatter has been about the production itself. [Ben Judge] Pleasance Courtyard, 3:00pm – 4:00pm, 15–21 Aug, £12.50 – £15.00

Darkness

HHHHH It’s Ascension Day, and a reverent family of Welsh lumberjacks await the apocalypse.

Their vigil is interrupted by two arrivals: one, a lost son, the other, an immigrant and atheist. With Darkness, Fringe First winner Jonathan Lichtenstein explores religious fundamentalism, asking why God always seems to demand we sacrifice our family.

Lichtenstein intelligently synthesises Bible stories and wrenching family drama.

He mostly resists didacticism, keeping the focus on Earthly matters and Earthly consequences. The proclama-

Roar

HHHHH There’s a delightful incongruity to the way Roar fuses its 16thcentury aesthetic with modern pop music. Four creatures of the night—downtrodden in filthy, authoritarian London—greet you on your way in, bedecked in wigs and bright, patchwork period dresses. They adore Beyonce and there’s definitely something of that singer’s recent single, ‘Run the World (Girls)’, that emanates from this piece by Dumbshow (also behind the lauded Clockheart Boy, which is enjoying another Fringe run this year). In it, the beautiful

48 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

tions and chainsaw-swinging testosterone are undercut by bathetic humour: apocalyptic prophecies interrupted by arguments about crisps and eBay. The cast are assured. They all have to shout an awful lot, and quote a fair amount of scripture, but you believe they are a family. This authenticity is vital, making you realise this isn’t about religion so much as how people wield it over others. David Tarkenter deserves particular praise as the patriarch and would-be prophet, but each actor brings their own, unspoken stories to their characters.

Indeed, Darkness is at its best when dealing with the

unseen and unsaid. Some of its more on-the-nose elements rankle. The returning, bearded son could do with looking less messianic and initially, Yann the Muslim immigrant doesn’t register properly, partly due to an unconvincing accent. The play’s programme listing also includes misleading references to George W Bush, an example of mission creep that the play doesn’t need and can’t support.

But these are minor complaints. Overall, this is a disturbing examination of the sins of a father, and how he inflicts them on his sons.

[Jonathan Holmes]

and commanding Moll Cutpurse has arrived from the New World and is raising an army, hell bent on toppling London’s Chief Justice—also her twin brother from whom she was cut at birth—from his seat.

The actors in Roar are impressive, particularly the bawdy foursome that make up Moll’s minions. The obsequious judges are wonderful too, offering up some of the sickest laughs in a play that revels in the grotesque. Together, these characters give the play much of its momentum, ensuring that it is huge fun when it wants to be but also sobering the atmosphere when events take a

violent turn.

However, while it begins strongly, the narrative loses its way in the last third. The climactic fight feels jumbled rather than skilfully chaotic, and the devastating ending is a little abrupt. What Dumbshow really excel at is creating striking images that stick in your mind long after you’ve left the theatre – the very last scene providing an unforgettable snapshot of the perils of hero-worship and the nasty side of power. [Yasmin Sulaiman]

Zoo Roxy, 3:30pm – 4:55pm, 16–29 Aug, not 22, £10.00

C venues - C, 8:45pm – 10:00pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, £9.50 – £11.50

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 51 th Sou

festtheatre Orlando

HHHHH Keeping with tradition, Cryptic has yet again delivered a stunning rendition of Orlando, based on the novel written by Virginia Woolf in dedication to her lover Vita SackvilleWest. Premiering last year in Edinburgh, it has returned to capture the Fringe audience en masse. Darryl Pickney’s adaptation of the novel carefully molds it into a new shape without breaking its relationship with the old – a true triumph in the world of established theatre, where some stories are so well known that any change would be deemed destructive.

Through his eerie and witty process of self-discovery, Orlando is trapped in time and undergoes a sex-change, showing how alluring a persona can be when left to live for centuries. Dynamic on-stage delivery as well as pioneering technology brings us into a universe where lights, sounds and clever illusions come together from the first moment to offer a Fringe experience set apart from the

rest. It is a substantial treat for every sense an audience possesses.

The story of Orlando, first the man, later the woman, truly brings forth Woolf’s eccentricity and love of unconventional beauty. Light and

witty, it displays the confusion around sexuality, love and death that only she could have penned. Seeing her work transposed in the modern age with ground-breaking lighting technology can be frazzling but Cryptic succeed in creating

Rain

HHHHH For punters and performers, complaining about Edinburgh’s inclement weather is something of a Fringe trope – and, given recent deluges, with good reason. But Rain is one show that really is only happy when it rains.

Taking place in one of this year’s more imaginative venues—a bijou spot on the outdoor terrace at C venues on Chambers Street—this charming, if rather diaphanous, little play is a magical tale of one man’s powerful obsession with precipitation (the clue’s in the title) and his daughter’s sad attempts to separate myth from reality.

There are echoes of American novelist Shane Jones’ fragmentary fairytale Light Boxes, in which downtrodden townspeople rise up against the elements. Here, the father collects rain, which he proudly

52 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

shows off in jars that line the walls, with a view to reaching the moon, all the while spinning a series of intricate myths for the benefit of both his daughter and the audience.

The acting is suitably

something new and exciting without compromising the history behind this decades-old tale. [Marthe Lamp Sandvik] St George’s West, 4:00pm – 5:05pm, 15–29 Aug, not 17, 24, £9.00 – £12.00

whole-hearted and, while it’s difficult to get too worked up about the tales of “misty rain” and “light drizzle” from 1975, the piece is nicely realised. The real star, however, is the venue.

Murphy’s Law decreed that the performance reviewed took place on probably the wettest day of the Fringe – and of the year so far. But the series of umbrellas that act as a makeshift roof come in very handy, while the open-air setting gives the whole performance a wonderful sense of space – a fitting tribute to a muchmaligned festival regular.

[Peter Geoghegan] C venues - C, 5:15pm – 6:15pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, £8.50 – £10.50

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festtheatre 

‘A genuinely new musical every time.

Has to be seen to be believed.’ TIME OUT

THE AWARD-WINNING WEST END HIT AS HEARD ON BBC RADIO FOUR Gilded Balloon Teviot, Bristo Square 5-28 Aug 10.50pm (not 17) + Tuesdays 3.20pm  0131 622 6552 ShowstopperMusical.com

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 53

festtheatre Silken Veils

HHHHH “Iran”, Leila Ghaznavi’s character Darya tells her jilted (and never seen) fiancé Ahamad, “is not an exotic land of milk and honey. It holds just as much beauty as it does pain.” It’s this dichotomy that is written into every level of this performance – in its relationships, its politics and its evocation of memory.

Fundamentally, this is a performance in which the beauty of its careful choreography and Rumi-inspired language is matched only by the viciousness of the memories the central character has attempted to escape.

Particularly successful is the use of puppetry–both marionettes and shadows.

Memories of Darya’s mother and father are re-enacted using the marionettes, while

Oedipus: A Love Story

HHHHH

Oedipus: A Love Story is not your usual Greek tragedy.

Narrated by a flock of Welsh sheep and with a sphinx that’s a sexual maneater in leopard print and heels, Dumbshow’s take on this twisted love story is jolly good fun. Using puppetry, physical theatre and good old fashioned storytelling, four energetic performers take

at the same time those characters are played by live actors that appear solely in shadow behind a screen. It’s a neat effect, allowing memories

to appear both distant and oddly present. It also permits some inspired imagery – Darya’s father—puffed up with the overblown rhetoric

us through Oedipus’ tragic tale with a fruity wink. From the off, they engage with us directly, learning people’s names and calling back to them throughout the show. It’s a clever trick and gets the audience on side immediately.

Reminiscent of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, this is a strange, imaginative world.

Here, Kings and Queens sit around in dressing gowns doing crosswords whilst the Oracle gets his prophecies in

the form of snatches of pop music from Britney Spears to The Beatles. The whole thing is immensely humanising, which is just what this melodramatic story needs – although all the silliness does take away from the tragedy somewhat, with no real feeling of disaster at the end.

But if that’s the price Dumbshow’s imaginative and light-hearted take has to pay, it’s one well worth it in a show which will open up this

Bashir Lazhar

of ideological zeal—appears looming and out of focus, only to be brought down to human size by a tender word from his wife.

There’s the odd weakness: a little too much suspension of disbelief is required to accept not only that Darya and her fiancé know next to nothing about each other on their wedding day, but also that Darya would spill all so offhandedly. The line between the petulant childishness of her young self and the psychological trauma of the grown up is sometimes poorly differentiated. But Ghaznavi more than compensates for this with her vivid puppetry, creating a truly moving artistic response to Iran’s ‘79 revolution. [Evan Beswick] Assembly George Square, 3:40pm – 4:40pm, 15–28 Aug, not 16, £9.00 – £10.00

tale to a whole new audience.

They’ve also done a fantastic job of making this a genuine love story. At one point you find yourself rooting for Oedipus and Jocasta to get together, which is a disconcerting experience to say the least.

Dumbshow deliver an hour of pure entertainment that’s guaranteed to leave you grinning. [Honour Bayes] C venues - C soco, 2:15pm – 3:30pm, 15–16 Aug, £9.50

“Critic’s Pick” - Time Out

LLWYTH [TRIBE]

(VUE magazine, Canada)

In Welsh with English surtitles

BY DAFYDD JAMES

“Passionate .... Chilling...”

August 6-28th, ALL SHOWS @14:25 54 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

20—28 August / 11.45am St George’s West - Venue 157 0131 226 0000 **** The Guardian

www.edfringe.com

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festtheatre The Dark Philosophers

HHHHH

This rich, handsome and darkly comic staging of Gwyn Thomas’s The Dark Philosophers has given its Welsh author the ultimate gift: not one, but several lives beyond his 1981 death.

Not only has it skilfully woven together several of his Depression-era stories from Rhondda Valley but, in one of its many masterstrokes, places the deceased Thomas in the centre of things.

We see him in half-mask, flitting about the stage, a one-man Greek chorus; a dark deity creating like an artist. He sets the scene in the cramped slums beautifully. “We in the Terraces tended to live operatically, in shouts.” We see him write the scenes as they play out. When the action reaches a crux, he whispers the next lines into the characters’ ears.

It is an impish piece of metafiction that works

wonderfully. In fact, this whole production by Told By An Idiot and National Theatre Wales is a triumph. From its magical stage design to the giddy use of absurd theatrical techniques, everything is in harmony with Thomas’ world-view.

In one unexpected and brilliantly handled detour from 1930s South Wales, Thomas finds himself on Michael Parkinson’s chat show. Flanked by Dolly Parton and Billy Connolly, the script is verbatim from the real 1970s interview.

As we see his crisp tales of murder, love, pride and coal play out, it gives proceedings a melancholic undertow. Ultimately, Thomas’ stories provide a glimpse into a world without heroes or moral certitudes. You can see why absurdity appeals to him. “It’s all a joke,” he says. “One great, sad, beautiful joke!” [Edd McCracken] Traverse Theatre, times vary, 16–28 Aug, not 22, £17.00 – £19.00

3D Hamlet: A Lost Generation

HHHHH

What to do with a problem like Hamlet? Staging Shakespeare’s towering psychological tragedy with its intimate soliloquies, wide-angle fight scenes, courtly gatherings and spectral apparitions isn’t easy at the best of times. Halve the cast, cut the four-hour running time by 75% and perform the whole thing in a low-ceilinged hotel conference room with a stage the size of a snooker table, and you’re really dancing with the devil.

NYC’s Fundamental Theater Project’s “casting” of Alec Baldwin (who doesn’t actually appear in person, but via pre-recorded video projection as Hamlet Snr) may have bolstered the pre-publicity, but also seems to spark an overzealous use of visual

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technology and all-too-obvious modernist tweaks including Ophelia’s Facebook predilection and intercut topical TV news footage.

The audience are also given 3D glasses for the mid-section play-within-a-play, filmed in 3D for no discernible reason other than to justify the show’s title and to remind you, again, that this is a new Hamlet for a new generation.

It feels somewhat shoe-

horned. Thankfully, the acting— in a tight space with no props or set to speak of—is exceptionally well-drilled. Jonathan Walker’s statesmanlike King Claudius is icily suave and dulled with powerlust, his ever-faithful aide Queen Gertrude (Jennifer Van Dyck) a mother divided.

And Anthony Rapp keeps his mental degradations, suspicions and procrastinations at an intelligently muted level in the title role.

But without a sabre, skull or gravedigger in sight, this was always going to feel a little threadbare and, despite some innovative textual re-jigs (a still-breathing Hamlet closes the play with his poignant “…if it be now” speech), this Hamlet sinks under the weight of its own ambition. [Joe Spurgeon] theSpaces on the Mile , 8:40pm – 10:00pm, 15–27 Aug, not 21, £10.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 55

CaLARTS Festival Theater - 8th Season on the Fringe!

16:00

CalArts Center for New Performance

19:00

Daugh t e r of a Cuban Revo l u t iona r y Written and Performed by Marissa Chibas

‘s

14:45

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atin gT

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11:45

by Am y

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20:30

Hôtel de l’Avenir CaLARTS Festival Theater @

Broken Wing Hôtel de l’Avenir Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary Flesh Eating Tiger Little Eyolf

11:45 14:45 16:00 19:00 20:30

5-20 August - not 8,15,16 Aug

On Lochend Close Just off the Royal Mile 100m past Cannongate Kirk

General £5 Concessions | tix: 07074 20 13 13 | www.venue13.com 56 fest £8 edinburgh festival- guide 2011 | August 16-18 www.festmag.co.uk

festtheatre Dream Pill

HHHHH From the outset, it’s obvious that Dream Pill is a wellresearched play that aims to raise awareness of the sex trafficking of children from Nigeria to the UK. It’s equally clear that this important issue is conveyed in a unique and engaging manner in a 30-minute play that is as likely to make you laugh as it is cry.

Written by Rebecca Prichard, this brilliant piece of drama forces the viewer to see sex trafficking through a child’s eyes. Ushered into a small dark room, the audience take their seats before Tunde and Bola, two nine-year-old Nigerian girls who have been trafficked to London, make themselves known. They address the audience directly, interspersing their account of the harrowing journey they have taken with segments of play and inquisitive question-

ing of audience members.

Whipping out a radio, they throw themselves around to the music, doing their best Beyoncé impression, and then proceed to comment on half the room’s appearance.

Samantha Pearl and Danielle Vitalis are fantastic as Tunde and Bola, conveying childlike innocence with consummate ease. Their naïve view of the wickedness that they are being subjected to makes the play all the more heart-wrenching.

Unlike many plays that attempt to educate as well as entertain, Dream Pill does not let the issue of sex trafficking dominate. Instead, Tunde and Bola’s self-told story ensures that you won’t forget their plight or the plight of those like them for a very long time.

[Matthew Macaulay] Underbelly, Cowgate, 4:05pm – 4:35pm, 16–28 Aug, £8.00 – £9.00

Belt Up’s Twenty Minutes to Nine

HHHHH

Charles Dickens obviously left something out. If this play is anything to go by, Miss Havisham—that pin-up for old ladies fossilised by loss and bitterness—still had a lot to share.

The allusion to that fantastic character from Great Expectations is not overt in this studied if slightly starchy one-woman show. She is never named. But clues litter the immersive, fusty boudoir in which the audience are invited to sit.

The title relates to the time of day that Miss Havisham discovered that her love, Compeyson, betrayed her. She only wears one shoe, as she is getting dressed when she hears the news. And of course there is the lace, Victorian wedding dress that she never takes off.

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Lucy Farrett ably plays the old woman with bug-eyed creepiness, resembling an Edward Gorey sketch. Her voice wails and creaks, like the mansion in which she has entombed herself.

After a brief tête a tête with the audience, she engages in a storytelling session. She leaves Dickens’ tale untouched, instead sharing memories

from her youth. Through her doomed back story, she explains her melancholic philosophy.

Her Victorian sensibilities and rigid class distinctions come through as she talks about visiting an insane asylum for fun, her prudishness and fascination with sex, and the “peasant wailing” that greeted the death of a child in

her youth. Most telling of all is an encounter with an old lady equally mummified in her past.

Fans of Dickens will lap up Havisham’s imagined life story. Those unfamiliar might have their expectations confounded. [Edd McCracken] C venues - C soco, 5:45pm – 6:45pm, 14–29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 57

festtheatre White Rabbit Red Rabbit

HHHHH

Over at St George’s West there’s a show exploring the idea of audience culpability and responsibility. It’s not Audience, currently making a big noise for its questionable ethics and shock tactics, but rather the infinitely more subtle White Rabbit Red Rabbit. Read cold by a different actor each day, we are asked to partake in a series of choices both for ourselves and them. We are told that this is an experiment, not a piece of theatre and are asked to look at the idea of separating oneself from the crowd, the fear involved in that decision, and its rewards and downfalls.

It is a completely democratic room because the performer is making all their choices at the moment of reading them.

Sometimes, she is genuinely

Matilda and the Tales She Told

HHHHH

Save for a muddled opening five minutes—when Hilaire Belloc himself would struggle to tell what’s going on, let alone the young audience members at whom this play is essentially aimed—Tell Tale Theatre waste little time in charming their audience. Indeed, their rhyming adaptation of one of the prolific early 20th century Anglo-French writer’s most famous cautionary tales (its title agreeably softened from the somewhat blunt original: Matilda, Who Told Lies and Was Burnt to Death) turns out to be colourful, exuberant and funny.

After their parents pass away, Matilda and her older brother Charles are sent to live with their uncle and aunt, a highly-strung, heartless pair who miss the days “when children were not seen and not heard.” Charles—tubby lad, “eats breads and makes no crumbs,

surprised by the actions she is asked to do, and by the ones she is asking us to carry out.

What will playwright Nassim Soleimanpour ask us to do next?

Today, Bridget Christie takes up the mantle of being the body for Soleimanpour’s voice. Her natural playfulness brings a cheeky atmosphere to this experiment. It would be fascinating to see what a more solemn performer would bring, and what a more playful audience would do. Will the slightly disturbing ending always be the same and, if not, just what are our roles, as audience, performer and writer in its outcome? Whilst Audience may be grabbing the headlines, White Rabbit Red Rabbit is asking fascinating parallel questions in a truly unique format. [Honour Bayes] St George’s West, 12:15pm – 1:30pm, 15–29 Aug, £12.00

enjoys his sums” and so on—is the goody two-shoes golden boy upon whom their guardians bestow endless praise. Often, this is only to emotionally wound his sister, whose overactive imagination and longing for her tragically departed folks causes her to tell tall tales and do mischievous things like prank call the fire brigade, with The Boy Who Cried Wolf­-style consequences.

For all the painted faces, bright costumes and multi-part harmonising songs, it’s possibly all a little too quick-fire for kids to keep up. But the performances fizz with energy, and there are a few wickedly funny flourishes for the grown-ups. Perhaps best of all is the wise-guy travelling animal trader, who stocks tigers, frogs and pythons but needs to work on his sales pitch. “I had an auntie who had a python,” he deadpans, “she died.” [Malcolm Jack] Udderbelly’s Pasture, 12:15pm – 1:15pm, 15–29 Aug, not 16, £8.00 – £9.00

58 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

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festtheatre Fetch

HHHHH

Somewhere Beneath It All, A Small Fire Burns Still

HHHHH

Somewhere Beneath It All...’s initially locateable premise is seems straightforwar. A Joycean monologue microscopically recording the grisly sexual fantasies of a greasy spoon loser. Self-loathing Scot Kevin lusts after waitress Daina and draws intermittent snickers and grimaces from the audience with his claim that the 1966 World Cup final was staged.

But Royal Court Young Writer Dave Florez favours the pull-back-and-reveal narrative method. So much so

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that the audience stumbles rather helplessly through the manifold layers of the play’s reality. One minute Kevin’s in bed with Daina, next he’s in a club. Then it’s apparent he’s merely ordering a chicken parmigiana from her via thriftily emotive gestures.

The production hinges on an astonishing interlude in which the cafe window of a fourth wall is smashed.

The floor lights go up and the one-man magic is abruptly demystified as Kevin unmasks himself as Edinburgh Comedy Award winning Phil Nichol self-professedly gunning for another trophy. The charisma-drenched comic relates the play’s touching

backstory—Kevin is a disabled teen Nichol once cared for—then resumes his act flawlessly.

This should be the play’s weakest moment but it turns out to be its most devastating. Nichol is an engaging and unpredictable performer.

His animation of Kevin is too unpalatable to feel cheaply exploitative while the play’s alienating format further serves to displace any gratuity. Somewhere Beneath It All... is the least sentimental show that you’ll leave with tears in your eyes. [Catherine Sylvain] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 12pm – 1pm, 16–29 Aug, £9.00 – £10

Fetch, the debut from Leithbased company Twa Dugs Theatre, is a new play about an old, thorny topic: how men in Scotland communicate—or fail to communicate—with one another.

Set in the Central Belt, the narrative pivots around two very different siblings: Douglas, who left for university, and his younger brother Andy, who remained at home to work. The death of their father, David, who for a time left the family home while the children were young, brings the pair back together, but both find talking about emotions and feelings as difficult as ever.

Told through a mixture of flashbacks and scenes from the day of David’s funeral, we build up an image of a family dynamic left rotten by silence.

Unable to speak of his sense of being trapped, 30-year-old David abandons his family; Douglas can’t articulate his anger at his father or the truth of his own sexuality; and emotionally stunted Andy cheats on his girlfriend rather than address his fear of commitment. Meanwhile, Poppy the dog is the family’s only source of therapy.

Written in a sanitised Scots—there’s no shortage of kens, hooses, touns and dinnaes—lan Gordon’s script offers an unashamedly regional voice, while Lewis Kennan, as Douglas, and Iain Rutherford, as Andy and David, are wellcast and believable.

Poignant, challenging but also sympathetic, Fetch is a timely and welcome examination of the culture of silence that all too often pervades, and slowly destroys, human relations. [Peter Geoghegan] Greenside, 12:40pm – 1:30pm, 15–27 Aug, not 21, £7.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 59

festtheatre Free Run

The Wheel

Free running, in its purest form, is a celebration of complete freedom of movement. Its creator, Sebastien Foucan, saw the discipline as a mode of selfexpression, a form of acrobatics that allowed runners to defy urban obstacles in the pursuit of their “own way”. Considering this liberating philosophy, it is somewhat perplexing that Free Run takes place within the restricted confines of the Udderbelly.

To be fair to 3Run—the troupe of free runners behind the show—they have made every effort to break, vault and karate kick through any semblance of a fourth wall.

And there’s no disputing their abilities. Set against an arresting digital backdrop of London’s great urban expanse, the group perform all manner of breathtaking stunts, using every angle of the arena (including above, behind and between the audience) to leap from obstacle to obstacle, showcasing aesthetic as well as athletic prowess.

But although the physics of Free Run are nothing short of incredible, the show itself is flawed. The runners may be athletes, but they’re certainly not actors. Unfortunately, in an attempt to bulk up the show, the producers have decided to introduce some storytelling and this culminates in a bizarre figurative battle between what appears to be good—essentially a bunch of topless runners—and evil: some more topless runners, but this time wearing ludicrous black American Football helmets.

As a spectacle, Free Run is both polished and impressive.

However, as a 50-minute attempt at Fringe theatre, it’s at least half an hour too long. [Sam Friedman]

Examining the harsh insanity of life in a war-zone and the devastating impact it has upon ordinary people, The Wheel is the latest production from the National Theatre of Scotland and the exciting young playwright Zinnie Harris. It is a powerful, intense and mysterious allegorical drama that seeks to cast light on the very darkest elements of human nature.

Opening amid a FrancoSpanish conflict from a pre-industrial age, The Wheel follows one peasant girl and a rag-tag collection of young children as they chase across a series of devastated landscapes. As they travel, each new group of soldiers they encounter are echoes from different and distant eras: peasants with pitchforks, scarred veterans of the Somme’s trenches, Nazi uniforms and Vietnam-era American GIs. It is a clever and effective way of showing that, although times might change, human nature remains violently the same.

Special mention should be given to beautiful staging and

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Udderbelly, 6:20pm – 7:20pm, 14–29 Aug, not 16, 22, £15.00 – £17.00

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Bosom Buddies

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Now in its third non-consecutive Fringe incarnation since its 1994 debut, Bosom Buddies sees the writer and actor Jack Klaff portray some two dozen of the 20th century’s greatest intellectuals, statesmen and villains in the space of 75 minutes. It’s a bold attempt to explore the interactions between great men from history, but unfortunately Klaff tends to lose himself in a mire of caricature acting and dense esoterica.

Bosom Buddies is more philosophical treatise than theatrical biography. Each of

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the superbly strong cast, in particular The Wheel’s youngest stars. The starkness of their vulnerability—expressed powerfully through their silent minimalist performances—makes the horror of war feel all the more potent.

However, almost all The Wheel’s merit is in its allegorical aspiration. Indeed, at face value, its plot development can be messy, requiring sometimes massive leaps of faith

from the audience. But the message is an important one: each generation is shaped by the environment it grows up in, and a callous, violent world breeds callous, violent people.

As fires burn across some of our country’s great cities, this is a pertinent message indeed. [Ben Judge]

Klaff’s characters is treated to only a cursory examination, and although he co-opts their accents and manners of speech and paraphrases their ideas, there is little true insight into their personalities.

As Hitler and Stalin, Klaff is blandly psychopathic, while his Gandhi and Mandela are faint caricatures.

But Bosom Buddies’ greatest flaw is the narrative dissonance which pervades it: while Klaff tries to weave together stories and vignettes from the lives of his subjects, the shifting of characters is so frequent as to render it completely disorienting. Einstein, Bohr, Freud and Jung all

sound much the same, which becomes infuriating when they spend much of the show talking to one another.

There is a vague attempt to focus on these men through the lens of the women who knew and loved them—as Sabina Spielrein, colleague of Jung and Freud, or Bertrand Russell’s mistress Lady Ottoline Morrell, for example—but this falls by the wayside as an underexplored secondary theme. As academia, Bosom Buddies could have been interesting; as theatre it’s just a mess. [Marcus Kernohan]

Traverse Theatre, times vary, 14–28 Aug, not 15, 22, £17.00 – £19.00

Hill Street Theatre, 5:30pm – 6:45pm, 14–16 Aug, £8.50

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festtheatre Your Last Breath

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Hotly-tipped young upstarts Curious Directive are the nascent team behind this impressive theatrical fusion of science and storytelling.

Their devised work comprises a quartet of storylines, spread across the centuries, all inextricably bound to the wild, snow-smothered Norwegian mountains and the incredible true story of extreme skier Anna Bågenholm who survived extreme hypothermia after being trapped under ice in 1999. Her body temperature fell to 13.7°C—the lowest temperature ever recorded in a surviving human—and her heart stopped for three hours.

The other three stories interweave and unfold episodically. In 1876, Christopher, a family man and cartographer, tries to map an unchartered area of northern Norway; in 2011, a city-dwelling distant relative, Freija, returns to the area to scatter her father’s ashes and makes a

life-changing discovery; and in 2034, a man, likely Freija’s son, explains how Anna’s miracle helped saved his life.

It takes a while to catch hold of each narrative thread as they’re spun, often at speed in a blur of stage-shifts, video projections, mime and object manipulation. But having gained a foot-hold, there’s

some moving moments of quiet beauty here, played out on an evocative white stage upon which the five actors invoke the fizz of London and the brutal Scandinavian winter with nimble skill.

At the end, each story meshes into a wonderfully composed finale as Christopher, alone and stranded

Hamlet House of Horror

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Hamlet House of Horror, Chris Barton’s re-envisioning of the Danish drama, fuses Shakespeare’s first quarto of the play with a mishmash of toetapping music hall numbers, vaudeville-cum-Adams Family costuming and unexpected 21st-century twists aplenty.

The show’s real strength is in Barton’s ingenuity. The “get thee to a nunnery” confrontation between Hamlet and Ofelia [sic] is imaginatively reinvented as a frantic back-andforth SMS conversation–and a heavily-hazed stage. A single electric torch create a low-tech lightshow through which the ghost’s bestowing of Hamlet’s destiny is lent a genuinely

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haunting eeriness. Both are brilliantly inspired and well-executed set pieces. The most outstanding performer is the ghost of Hamlet’s dead father, played by Max Barton: the ever-present spectre rather steals the show as both

a vibrant, sinister character and the multi-talented leader of the Horror House Band, turning his hand to multiple instruments and bringing effortless musical coherence to the show.

Despite the ingeniously

in the dark with the bitter cold closing in, sombrely concludes with a final gaze at the mountain, “the map is finally closing in on me”. As for Curious Directive, they’re only just approaching the summit.

[Joe Spurgeon] Pleasance Dome, 12:15pm – 1:25pm, 15–18 Aug, £9.00

creative direction and many talented performances, the show doesn’t always hit the mark. Some individuals in the cast underwhelm–thanks to a lack of focus in chorus numbers, a few weak singing voices and some slightly wooden acting. The young company are not entirely polished–and neither is the entire show itself. Some scenes, like Hamlet’s final fight scene with Laertes, seem relatively uninspired and fall a tad flat. Still, any lovers of the Bard that are willing to forgive these shortcomings will find Hamlet House of Horrors an unholy treat. [Joe Bunce] The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 5:30pm – 6:45pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £10.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 61

festkids

BIG BANG MAN Photos: Claudine Quinn

Marty Jopson—that science bloke off the telly—talks to Ruth Dawkins about quantum physics, setting fire to himself, and how much he hates to flyer

“I

WOULD BE happy to meet,” writes Marty Jopson. “We can blow a couple of things up if you want, or just chat.

Whatever takes your fancy.”

Blow a couple of things up? With this, Jopson has surely put himself in contention for the best ever response to an interview request.

Walking into George Square, you would never guess that the unassuming, slightly wild-haired man sitting on a bench is something of a TV star; watched by 5 million viewers every week on BBC’s The One Show. Jopson’s official title is “technology reporter”, although he refers to himself as “the science bloke”. He is Edinburgh for three weeks with Inventions Going Bang – an historical tour of explosive and implosive inventions, from the ancient Greeks right up until the modern day.

“If I could invent anything right now, it’s be a machine to automatically hand out flyers for my show,” Jopson says, looking pained. “Because I’m terrible at it. I’m far too polite and I hate to bother people.”

He is keen to point out, thought, that he is not an inventor. “I describe myself as a science communicator, because that’s the only title that covers all three of my income streams.” Those three areas are his extensive work in television, both behind and in front of the camera; his prop building for television programmes and museums; and his live performances and workshops.

“The live stuff, like I’m doing in Edinburgh, is the most fun, because there’s such an immediacy about it, there are people in front of you responding right away. My favourite thing to do at the moment is setting fire to my hand with

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gun cotton (nitrocellulose). It’s a great demonstration because the crowd loves it, and the jeopardy is genuine, there’s a real risk that I’ll burn my hand.”

“Sometimes the props don’t work, they fall apart, and that’s awful. I don’t think there’s an equivalent in other kinds of show – if you’re a comedian and you’re dying on stage it’s usually because your jokes aren’t good enough. If a scientific prop doesn’t work, it’s not often my fault, it’s just the nature of the thing.”

Despite this risk, Jopson is adamant that his self-built props (which he describes as being “made of wood, bits of plastic, gaffer tape, nails and string”) are an important factor in making science accessible. “If you can demonstrate something using everyday objects, it’s immediately more understandable. You can focus on explaining the harder bits,

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festkids

rather than spending a long time explaining the equipment that you’re using.”

The two other things that he believes are crucial to making science less mysterious are using the right language, and having a positive attitude.

“People get scared of scientific words, which I think is wrong.

Kids are used to hearing new words all the time. All it ever needs is someone who takes the time to explain the meaning of a new word clearly, and that gives people the confidence to use it. You don’t need to over simplify or patronise anyone, but nor should you try and dress science up as something difficult and mysterious, because then that’s what people will expect it to be.

“We don’t apologise for complexity of economics or politics; we just assume people will step up and make the effort that’s needed to understand them. Science is no different. Even the most ridiculously complicated quantum physics is something you can explain to an audience of eight year olds or fourteen year olds, if you take your time and break it down.”

This is sensible reasoning, and Jopson takes care to practice what he preaches. His enthusiasm is hugely infectious. “Liquid oxygen is blue.

How cool is that?!” he gushes.

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“A beautiful shade of sky blue. I love playing with liquefied gases!” I find myself nodding away and grinning at the thought of it, despite not knowing what the heck he’s on about.

Throughout the interview he continues to drop in little snippets of information that are memorable, interesting, and entirely unscary – even for someone with as little science background as me.

“If you’re going to cut your toast up, you should cut it into square quarters,” he says.

“Because if it slips off your plate, the physics of falling toast means it’s more likely to land butter side up. If a large piece of toast falls, because of rotational dynamics, it’ll land butter side down, but if you cut it up, it rotates more quickly and lands butter side up.”

Unfortunately, Jopson has a radio interview to do, so there is not time for him to blow anything up as promised.

He does, however, spend a good twenty minutes with a blowtorch and some spray bottles, creating some beautiful multicoloured flames for Fest’s photographer, and drawing quite a crowd in George Square. If that small taster is anything to go by, Inventions Going Bang will be a real treat.

Assembly George Square, 1:00pm – 2:00pm, 14–21 Aug, not 15, £9.00

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 63

festkids kid

As seen by our^critics Reviews of kids' shows by the people who Ellie Rutherford know best (8) Anna Morrison (5)

for 7+ year-olds Toybox

for 5-7 year-olds A Stone’s Throw

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A Stone’s Throw is about a girl who threw a stone at the sun and the sun broke into lots of pieces. The story is about her trying to put the sun back together again.

I sat in the front row, and I was the youngest person there and the hall was very dark and a bit scary. The actors had kits of clothes, lights and a big sheet and shadow puppets. I liked the bird monster but I did not like the sea monster and was frightened and jumped. I did not really enjoy the show because it was frightening and I think maybe it would be better for people older than me. The music was quite nice though.

I would not recommend it to five-year-olds or younger children though, as it was dark and a bit too scary.

[Anna Morrison] Zoo Roxy, 11:30am – 12:15pm, 14–20 Aug, £6.00 – £7.00

HHHHH Toybox was a very funny comedy show where Billy, Sian and Steven told jokes, played games and showed unbelievable magic! The audience loved it and laughed all the way through.

Billy started by running around the room giving highfives and throwing out sweets – that was cool! His jokes were hilarious.

Sian came on next and played the “change” game with Billy. It was brilliant and all the audience took part. The comedians had to think quickly because everyone kept saying “change change change!!!!!!!”

I liked Steven, the magician, the best as he turned a £20 note into a £50 note – it was amazing and very clever!

I really enjoyed Toybox but one boy kept shouting out throughout. It was funny at first but got really annoying.

Maybe the comedians should keep their sweets until the end and use them as missiles to hit anyone who had given them a hard time! [Ellie Rutherford] The Stand Comedy Club, 12:45pm – 1:45pm, various dates between 14 Aug and 28 Aug, £6.00

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Stick Man Live on Stage!

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Given the astounding number of children’s books that are scattered around my house, it’s surprising that Julia Donaldson’s Stick Man isn’t among them.

The stage version from Scamp Theatre is my first encounter with the twiggy protagonist, along with his Stick Lady Love and their three stick children.

Poor Stick Man, who only wants to go for a quick jog, finds himself chewed by a dog, pecked by a swan and sent out to sea. If that wasn’t enough, he’s then used as a cricket bat

Lapin Wants Breakfast

HHHHH If proof were ever needed that you don’t need too many bright lights, bells and whistles to keep children entertained, then Lapin Wants Breakfast certainly provides it.

This is a sweet, gentle wee show about a rabbit in search of his perfect “petit dejeuner”. He is helped along the way by his friends – snail, bird and worm. The performance is mainly in English, but with key words repeated in French, and plenty of audience involvement (including a rendition of Frère Jacques, which my toddler belted out

before spending a winter stuck in the snow. Someone very special finally rescues him and reunites him with the rest of the Stick family, who have spent a sad, lonely few months in their sycamore tree.

This is a visually attractive, extremely well performed show – it’s both entertaining and surprisingly moving. I’m only slightly embarrassed to admit to having a tear in my eye at one point. A wonderful piece of family theatre. [Ruth Dawkins] Udderbelly, 11:15am – 12:05pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, £10.00 – £11.00

with great enthusiasm).

The performance is held together by the charming Tania Czajka, founder of Le Petit Monde theatre company. She narrates the story, works the puppets and even stands by the door on the way out, handing pieces of apple to the young audience members.

It was disappointing to see such a small audience at this show. Those who did brave the rain to take their seats at the Scottish Storytelling Centre thought it was très jolie. [Ruth Dawkins] Scottish Storytelling Centre, 11:00am – 11:40am, 14–23 Aug, not 17, 18, £7.00

www.festmag.co.uk

festbooks

Hot Tickets Very few tickets for the EIBF remain come August. Every issue, we’ll bring you a pick of the tickets that you can still get – if you hurry

Steve Backshall

17TH AUGUST, 4.30PM-5.30PM

CBBC presenter Backshall is a surefire hit with any remotely adventurous children, and with the release of a memoir, his appeal looks set to be extended to a more adult audience. Described as “a cross between Bear Grylls, Mr Darcy and a Blue Peter presenter”, expect this gentleman explorer to incite some serious swooning. The perfect mother-and-son event.

Czeslaw Milosz the Poet: Tribute to a Giant of Modern Poetry 18 AUGUST, 3:30PM - 4:30PM

One of the real joys of the EIBF is the diversity of talent it champions. This event sees Nobel Prize winning Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz get his dues from contemporary writers, who will consider just what gave his work such power. With a host of reliably fascinating contributors, including the fantastic John Burnside, this is a must for poetry fans.

Nick Holdstock and Roger Hunt: Caught in the Terrorist Crossfire 19 AUGUST, 11:00AM-12:00PM

Not the lightest start to your Friday, admittedly, but this promises to be a fascinating and moving event. Mumbai terrorist attack survivor Roger Hunt attempts to get to the root causes of terrorism with Nick Holdstock, whose book, The Treet that Bleeds, disects the ethnic conflict in the western Chinese town of Yining, where more than 200 people were executed in 1997. [Anna Feintuck]

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THE AMNESTY IMPRISONED WRITERS SERIES Stevie Martin talks to writers Linda Strachan and Penny Simpson about paying tribute to their persecuted colleagues in the Amnesty Imprisoned Writers series

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N 1995 Ken Saro Wiwa was sentenced to death by hanging after unwarranted charges and bribed witnesses, causing an international outcry and the expulsion of Nigeria from the Commonwealth. This August, acclaimed author Linda Strachan will read the dreamlike ghost story On the Death of Ken Saro Wiwa written by Wiwa himself a short time before this premonition became reality. It’s all part of Amnesty International’s Imprisoned Writers series, now a Book Festival tradition, bringing literature bourne out of persecution to life with the help of other writers from around the world.

“Wiwa said that a writer is not just a storyteller, but a voice able to shape the present and the future,” says Strachan, a writer of children’s fiction and a strong believer in Wiwa’s ethos. “Young fiction is often dismissed as childish, but I’m aware what I say has a vast impact shaping young minds. It’s a delight to be reading Wiwa’s work.”

Penny Simpson, meanwhile, the author of The Deer Wedding, will be reading work by Irina Ratushinskaya, a Ukrainian born poet who wrote while in a Soviet labour camp. “Irina famously wrote some of her poems on bars of soap,” says Simpson, “What a defiantly creative gesture to have made in such appalling circumstances.”

Compiling the series is a hefty job, explains Amnesty’s John Watson, who receives more requests for involvement than he can handle: “It becomes a case of checking which writers are already at the Festival, and seeing if there are any connections between them and the authors they read.” All feel a particular connection with the author’s work – whether it’s the admiration of an ethos, like Strachan, or of their triumph over adversity, like Simpson.

“The series offers an opportunity to celebrate writers who sacrificed so much and yet came out winning simply because they persisted in doing what they most valued,” she says.

“That very act of survival is impressive, as is the realisation that it echoes further than a country’s borders through the medium of the written word.”

This being its twelfth run, the range from previous years has been vast – from poet Iyad Hayateleh, who grew up in a Palestinian refugee camp and, after years in exile, was recently granted leave to remain in the UK, to the Malawian Jack Mapanje, put behind bars for his politically subversive verse. For nearly two years he was refused all contact with the outside world and, after Amnesty campaigned for his unconditional release, was eventually freed and able to return to his career as an academic and poet.

Such success stories mix with the tragic, as authors come together to express solidarity with those who were not so lucky, fatally punished for the act of putting pen to paper. “It’s a wonderful, powerful thing to be involved in,” says Watson, “to hear modern writers so passionately bringing to life the voices of the persecuted is a beautiful, heartbreaking thing.”

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 65

festbooks

SNIPING FROM THE FOOTHILLS

Dan Heap talks to Alan Clark’s biographer Ion Trewin and diarist and former Labour minister Chris Mullin about why some of the least-known politicians make the best observers of public life

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IKE NO other period in recent political history, the New Labour decade has produced a slew of political diaries, memoirs and autobiographies, each pushing the author’s version of events and justifying his or her role in government. Many may be written, but few are loved or retain significance long after the red boxes in the corner start to collect dust. Accounts by the big names are often eagerly awaited, but rarely do they make much of a crfitical impact: Blair’s A Journey received distinctly mixed reviews and was memorable only for the dodgy Mills & Boon-like Tony/Cherie sex scenes, while Thatcher’s tumultuous 11 years in power produced a turgid 800-page policy tract now propping open many middle England doors.

Some, though, do break through to be read beyond the Westminster village: Chris Mullin, the self-confessed “Minister for Folding Deckchairs” but now celebrated diarist on the cusp of releasing his third set in less than two years and Ion Trewin—editor of the Alan Clark diaries and now the former Tory MP’s biographer—are well placed to shed some light on the secret of recording the most compelling accounts of the cut and thrust of politics.

Both immediately draw attention to the fact that almost all of the best political observers have produced the best accounts from the lower reaches of government – what Mullin called “the foothills” in his first book. “The great political diarists,” Trewin says, “Harold Nicholson, Chipps Channon, Alan Clark, never reach anything other than a pretty lowly position in government. Once you get to cabinet level, however much you think you are not restrained, you are. There is a limit to what you can record. There’s no inhibitions left when you write a diary from Alan’s level.”

This distance from the main action,

"The great political diarists never reach anything other than a pretty lowly position in government. There’s no inhibitions left when you write a diary from that level" Mullin says, is key in allowing observers to develop the neutrality that readers find so refreshing: “It allows you to be more objective. You don’t have so much to justify. Bad diaries feel obliged to trumpet their own achievements. Those lower down the pecking order don’t suffer from the same disease.” By way of confirming his thesis, Mullin cheekily ads that some of the less compelling accounts have come from those who have occupied what he calls, with perhaps more than a touch of irony, “the Olympian heights” of politics.

One of the secrets, it seems, is to be well positioned – not so lowly that nobody bothers to keep you in the loop, but not right in the upper echelons where nobody trusts each other. Mullin says of the

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legendary 1930s political diarist Chipps Channon: “his career peaked at parliamentary private secretary to the deputy foreign secretary—for just one year—but his secret was that he had married into the Guinness family and entertained on an awesome scale. The King comes to dinner, in the middle of the abdication crisis.

Everyone who mattered gathered at his dinner table.”

Mullin himself seems to have occupied the perfect position in between Labour’s various warring tribes: neither New Labour nor Old, equally disdainful of both Blairites and Brownites, confided in by “the usual suspects”—the left wing rebels—but also consulted by Blair as a reliable barometer of backbench opinion and was

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festbooks

Far left: Alan Clark Left, top to bottom: Sir Henry "Chips" Channon MargretThatcher Tony Blair

one of the few to return to government after rebelling against it over the Iraq war.

Trewin nods sagely when this proposition is put to him: Clark’s secret was that “people trusted him. People were always telling him things and gossiping because he was that kind of person.”

Writing well, both men point out, is a dying art in a political world suffused with the impenetrable management speak of “best practice”, “strategic management” and “umbrella partnerships” and as such it is no surprise, Trewin says, that the most compelling diarists are those that do more than “just unremittingly tell people what happened”. They have “a sparkle, a glitter in their writing” and a profound love of and talent for telling stories. Clark was a professional historian before he entered politics whilst Mullin was a well-known journalist and wrote a critically-acclaimed political thriller, A Very British Coup, later adapted into the hit television series starring Ray MacAnally. Recalling Clark’s bombastic description of the time he was drunk when answering ministerial questions, Trewin singles out for praise these highly novelistic, stylized parts of Clark’s work, “those set pieces are the things that people remember in his diaries. The passages there are evidence of somebody who really enjoyed writing.”

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In a such a tightly cosseted world, so marked by rigid control of the media message, a certain amount of indiscretion and an indifference to how an account will be interpreted is key in producing such compelling diaries. Clark, Trewin insists, had “no thought of ever publishing his diaries when he first started writing,” and as such they present a brutally honest and consequently highly entertaining perspective on politics: “It wasn’t a question of writing after the time and seeing everything through rose-tinted spectacles later on. They were as it was. I don’t think he really worried very much about how he came across. What he wrote is what he believed and he was big enough to say it, however unpopular or non-PC it was. He was a politician without fear or favour and those diaries reflect that.” He was also, Trewin adds, fantastically, spectacularly rude about some of his colleagues, the bitchy style of his diaries winning him legions of fans.

It is shame, he says, that Clark didn’t live to see the new era of politics we have moved into: “He would have probably been very rude about Cameron and Clegg.

Coalition wasn’t quite his style of politics.

He had his views, he believed in them, he stood by what he believed in. He would have loved to bash away at the coalition.”

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 67

festmusic&cabaret Kiss of the Red Menace

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John Kander and Fred Ebb are the songwriting duo behind a string of Broadway and Hollywood smashes, including Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Chicago and Funny Lady. This spritely tribute to the multiple Tony Award winners stars Kerry Hodgkin as cabaret star Melody La Rouge and takes a whistlestop tour of some of their greatest hits.

Hodgkin has a fine voice and is every inch the diva–resplendent in patent leather boots and lace bustiere. She struts and stamps the stage with confidence and an infectious smile–oozing the showbiz glitz of the songs and the sexiness of cabaret.

A four-piece band stay very much in the background, wisely leaving the spotlight to Madame La Rouge.

Between songs she explains some of the history behind the music, the composers and the famous names who were fated to become Kander and Ebb’s muses. The show would benefit from these narrative segues being expanded upon as they only scratch at the surface of the musical duo’s story.

The audience are left wanting to hear more about such luminaries as Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisland and Chita Rivera, while the relationship between the songwriters themselves doesn’t get a look-in.

The songs are all big hitters – ‘Willkommen’, ‘All That Jazz’, ‘Cabaret’ and ‘How Lucky Can You Get?’ are all present and correct in the 14-song set. What it lacks is that extra bit of magical razzle dazzle – leaving a show which is nothing more– or less–than a well-sung set of much-loved standards by a charismatic performer. [David Hepburn] Greenside, 11:05pm – 12:05am, 5–13 Aug

Camille O’Sullivan: Feel

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“Hiv you been cryin’?” a man on the way out asks his burly, bald mate, who replies with a terse “naw,” despite conspicuously puffy eyes. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, sir – Camille O’Sullivan has ravishing emotional song down to an art fine enough to make a squint-nosed nightclub bouncer shed a tear.

Eight years a Fringe veteran, the French-Irish vocalist has outgrown her cabaret roots to inhabit a space of her own somewhere between theatrical chanteuse and fullyblown rock singer. An opener of Arcade Fire’s ‘Wake Up’—a

The Butterfly Effect

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As The Butterfly Effect begins, a tray laden with 28 wine glasses is set to ringing, and Erik Petersen steps to the microphone with his violin. He starts to play Vittorio Monti’s ‘Csardas’, but within moments a string snaps, prompting a rapid key change and a valiant attempt to carry on. Then two more strings break, and from here Petersen segues neatly into the musical exploration of chaos theory which is the show’s basic premise.

What follows is not so much a narrative as a series of loose

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new addition to O’Sullivan’s repertoire in Feel—typifies her expanding range: dressed like Little Red Riding Hood, illuminated by a spotlight on a stage decorated with fairy lights, a doll’s house and vintage dresses hanging from the ceiling, she moves through the gears sublimely from breathy coo to lusty wail. “Don’t be scared,” she whispers, “it’s just a song.”

Her three-piece band’s arrangements carve a space for O’Sullivan to inhabit that’s delicately spare and raggedly powerful in all the right places.

Though, as her a capella reading of Jacques Brel’s salty ‘Amsterdam’ proves, she can craft raw, dynamic emotion

practically out of the ether.

All the baby-ish babbling, cat noises and general I’mmad-as-a-fish shtick could be disposed with – O’Sullivan’s alluringly unpolished voice alone is perfectly capable of elevating her show far above the mundane. All the coached and preened X Factor starlets combined couldn’t treat Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Hurt’, Nick Cave’s ‘(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For’ or Radiohead’s ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ with this much affecting fragility. [Malcolm Jack]

tableaus which provide the opportunity for the Swedish trio behind The Butterfly Effect to create music in ever more off-the-wall ways. A bass constructed from a pair of skis; a sort of pedal-steel guitar which is really just a fretboard screwed to an old radio; a finely-tuned bicycle which doubles as a Jamaican steel-drum and a kind of harp – these, and Svante Drake’s remarkable beat-boxing ability are the tools of Varieté Velociped’s trade, and altogether it makes for hilarious viewing.

By the time they get around to the promised Monti performance, it is on a makeshift

instrument so ludicrous that the viewer feels quietly confident that Petersen is going to fail – only he doesn’t.

The Butterfly Effect is at once delightfully ramshackle and astonishingly well put together. The trio are all gifted musicians, but one suspects they set out on this endeavour to see just how far they could push that talent. It is, essentially, an utterly virtuosic and infectiously carefree 45-minute botch-job, and an amazing spectacle to watch.

[Marcus Kernohan]

Pleasance Courtyard, 8:00pm – 9:10pm, 14–29 Aug, not 15, 18, 24, 27, £16.50 – £18.50

Hill Street Theatre, 11:15am – 12:00pm, 14–15 Aug, £9.00

www.festmag.co.uk

The Scandinavian Rock Show That Reinvents A Cappella

THE ARCHWAY CAFÉ

Pleasance Courtyard, 60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ

Quarter_FstMag02_08.indd 1

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02/08/2011 12:17:27

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 69

70 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

www.festmag.co.uk

festmusic&cabaret Le Gateau Chocolat

larger-than-life presence, a master of flirtatiously witty asides with an uncanny ability to let his flamboyant body language finish a joke. But at times his exposition can also be intensely sad.

Physically and thematically, he flits across the line between onstage and off – from outrageously camp cabaret dilettante to a lonely figure seemingly wracked by doubt. He talks of the Nigerian mother who doesn’t know that he’s gay or a performer, and of parrots.

He moves among the crowd, drawing even the most reluctant participant into the heart of his performance. He makes them dance, and forces some into lycra bodysuits. But however silly he makes the audience look or feel, they seem only to adore him all the more. [Marcus Kernohan]

HHHHH

A single cello plays, and from the back of the room a statuesque man in a blonde bob wig and a kimono starts to sing. A mournful number builds to a heart-rending crescendo, and then disappears into a sultry “Hello, Edinburgh”.

This is Le Gateau Chocolat’s entrance, and the last time the audience’s eyes are anywhere but on the consummate entertainer before them.

Le Gateau’s most remarkable talent is immediately apparent, in the form of a voice so enormous and versatile as to turn whatever he sings into a quasi-operatic epic. In his rendition, Streisand’s ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ finds a soul it never knew it had, while Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ becomes a sublime moment of touching introspection.

As much of the magic is found between songs as during them: Le Gateau is a hilarious,

MOVIN’

Bojangles Ray Charles Sam Cooke Jackie Wilson James Brown Chuck Berry and more !!!

Assembly George Square, 9:15 – 10:15pm, 14–28 Aug, not 15, 22, £12.00 – £14.00

MELVIN BROWN “Exceptional, sheer brilliance...

Brown is a one-man concert!”  Scotsman C venues vibrant vivacious variety 3 – 29 Aug (not 15, 22) 7.50pm (1hr15) Tickets £11.50 – £13.50 Concessions £9.50 – £11.50 Children £7.50 – £9.50 recommended PG

MMB Edin 43 x 64.indd 1

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fringe box office 0131 226 0000 online sales www.edfringe.com

05/08/2011 16:10

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2010 fest 71

comedylistings

FESTIVAL

LISTINGS When it's this time...

...this show is on...

20:15 ❤ Elis James HHHH

... at this place...

Pleasance Courtyard 9-29 Aug, not 18, £9.50-£12

...for this price

...on these dates...

09:00 BBC: Broadcasting House BBC @ Potterrow, 21 Aug, £free

Live at the Gilded Balloon Podcast

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-28 Aug, not 22, 23, 24, £5

Tony Law: Go Mr Tony Go!

10:30

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, not 21, £8

BBC: MacAulay & Co

Alison Thea-Skot: The Human Tuning Fork HH

BBC @ Potterrow, 16-26 Aug, weekdays only, £free

11:00 BBC: Loose Ends

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £6.50 – £7.50

Quoth the Raven Free Sketch Comedy

BBC @ Potterrow, 20 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 20-27 Aug, £free

11:30

BBC @ Potterrow, 27 Aug, £free

Let Them Eat Cake!

Quaker Meeting House, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Mind Reading for Breakfast

Sweet Grassmarket, 1629 Aug, £9

Paul Merton’s Impro Chums

Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £14.50

11:55 Croft and Pearce - Funnier Than It Sounds

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Rom Com Con - Free

Medina, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Sally-Anne Hayward: Don’t Judge Me

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

As Drawn on FaceTube - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 24-25 Aug, £free

12:10 Cheese-Badger presents... The Epic of Hairy Dave - Free

I am Google

Carl Sagan is My God, Oh and Richard Feynman Too

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 18, 25, £free

The Improveteers

The Canons’ Gait, 16-28 Aug, not 18, £free

Cabaret Voltaire, 21-28 Aug, £3

12:15

Martin Semple ‘I Don’t Do Jokes’

Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised! - Free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 19-27 Aug, £free

Office Girls Go Crazy: Lazy Lunch - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-20 Aug, £free

Making Life Taste Funny - Free

Eric Mutch: Schizophrene - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-19 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-18 Aug, £free

Dates and times can sometimes change, so check with the venue before planning ahead. Listings for other festivals can be found at festmag.co.uk or on the Festival websites.

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Lauren and Marc’s Comedy Snack - Free

The listings are arranged by type - Comedy or Theatre - and then by time. We've listed the dates that each show is running, but remember that it might be on at different times too - check our website for more information.

BBC: Off the Ball

12:00 Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Fest is the only place you can get daily listings for all of the Comedy and Theatre shows at the Fringe.

Him and Me TV - Free

12:05 Best of Whyteleafe Comedy Club - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 26-28 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Tourists - A Free Festival Sketch Show Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-20 Aug, £free

About Comedy: Stand-up Comedy Courses

Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 16-28 Aug, not 18, 19, 22, 25, 26, £99

Desperately Sikhing Fusion - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 21-28 Aug, £free

72 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Shakespeare’s Monkeys

12:40

We Need to Talk

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £free

The Gherkin Fantasies

12:45

Scott Agnew’s Scottish Breakfast Chat Show

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, £free

12:20 Happiness - Free

The Voodoo Rooms, 1727 Aug, not 23, £free

The Durham Revue’s 33rd Annual Surprise Party!

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

12:30 Barely Legal Corn - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-18 Aug, £free

Fisting a Nun

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-29 Aug, £free

Those Bloody Teenagers - Free

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 22-28 Aug, £free

The Malcolm Muggeridge Memorial Hour - Free Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-21 Aug, £free

The Lunchtime Club 2011 HHH

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £7

Please Hold, You’re Being Transferred to a UK Based Asian Representative

Milo McCabe: Get Brown

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

The Hamiltons: High Jinks with the Hamiltons!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £11.50

How Do I Get Up There?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 25-29 Aug, £8

12:50 Those Two - Free

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

12:55 Eric Gudmunsen - Ryanair Lost My Baby (God Bless Them) - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 21-28 Aug, £free

Which One’s Fergal?

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7.50

The Bob Blackman Appreciation Society Southsider, 22-27 Aug, £free

12:35

13:00

Come Hell Or High Water This Sick World Will Know I Was Here

Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 23, £9 – £10

Just the Tonic’s Afternoon Delight

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £5

Ciao Roma, 16-27 Aug, £free

Cabaret Voltaire, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £7

The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £11

Card Ninja

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £8

13:05 The Right Dishonourable Dickie Daventry Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Biscuit and Brawn Make a Meal of It

Paradise in The Vault, 16-29 Aug, not 21, 22, 28, £5

Adventures in Comedy: Murder, Madness and Mayhem! - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 20-28 Aug, £free

Give Me The Funnies!

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-19 Aug, £free

Punching Mice

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

13:10 Mythbunking

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £8.50 – £10

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings Run, Deaf Boy, Run! H

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £8

The Showcase Show

13:30 Three Blokes Tell Jokes

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

13:15

After Lunch Laugh Lounge* - Free

This is Soap

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

BBC: Festival Café

BBC @ Potterrow, 16-26 Aug, weekdays only, £free

Attention Deficit Let’s Go Ride Bikes! - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £free

Big Dave’s Gay-B-C of Life - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 17-28 Aug, not 21, £free

Laughing Penguin Showcase

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Four Sad Faces, Suddenly

The Canons’ Gait, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Fred Cooke: Comfort in Chaos

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

13:20 Schoolbooks in Wallpaper - Ian Perth - Free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Joe Fairbrother: Characters

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

Meditation Ruined My Life Medina, 16-27 Aug, £free

Kieran and The Joes: Teampowered

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £8.50

Lunch With Quattro Formaggio Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

13:25 Steve Pretty’s Perfect Mixtape HH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £9.50

Peeling PVA in Happier Maché

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £5 – £7

www.festmag.co.uk

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-29 Aug, £free

Gadd, Kirk and Winning: Well, This is Awkward...

Bannermans, 16 Aug, £free

The Great Brain Robbery

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 21-28 Aug, £5

Jollyboat

Gagtanamo Bay

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, not 17, £free

Tomorrow’s Stand-Up Today - Free

Bannermans, 17-27 Aug, £free

The Royal Mile Tavern, 16-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Beckett and Smith Whistlebinkies, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £free

Chat Masala with Hardeep Singh Kohli Gilded Balloon Teviot, 26 Aug, £12

Mugging Chickens

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Sophie Alderson is Running for President HHH

The Voodoo Rooms, 1727 Aug, not 23, £free

13:35 Pockets of Suspense - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-27 Aug, £free

Catriona Knox: Packed Lunch

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

13:40 This Next One is About Putting Salt in Your Tea The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

Dicking a Great Big Hole

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7

13:45 Nathan Cassidy: Fantastica!

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16 Aug, 18 Aug, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, £5 – £6

Ben Target in Discover Ben Target

14:00

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-20 Aug, £free

Gagging For Attention

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £3

Arguments and Nosebleeds - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 21-25 Aug, £free

Shinoxcy Presents: There’s No ‘I’ in Shinoxcy - Free

Fingers Piano Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Hannah Gadsby Mary. Contrary.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Various dates from 17 Aug to 26 Aug, £5 – £12

People I Tried to Like Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Chat Masala with Hardeep Singh Kohli Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, not 26, £11 – £12

The Earl and the InstruMentalist

Dragonfly, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £free

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience

B’est Restaurant, 16-30 Aug, not 20, 27, £38

14:05 Amused Moose Laughter Awards Top Ten Semi-Final The Bongo Club, 19 Aug, £10

Amused Moose Comedy Awards Final The Bongo Club, 21 Aug, £12

The Man Who Was Nearly There - Free

Assembly Hall, 17-28 Aug, £8 – £10

Shmozle

Do Not Take Advice From This Man - Jim Smallman and Friends - Free

The Banshee Labyrinth, 17-29 Aug, £free

Cab Fare for the Common Man

Tiernan Douieb vs the World

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, 26, £12 – £13

BBC: Comic Fringes

Big School

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Best of the Fest Daytime

It’s Two O’Clock Live at Two O’Clock

Huggers - Free Festival Family Fun

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-28 Aug, £free

14:15

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £6.50

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1627 Aug, not 21, £8

14:10 Seminar HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

BBC @ Potterrow, 20 Aug, £free

Globe, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £free

Jackson Voorhaar Can’t Play Guitar - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, £free

The End of the World Show Bar 50, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Sink or Spin

Bannatyne’s Health Club, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9.50

14:20 The World of Shrimpology

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-19 Aug, £6.50

Seymour Mace: Happypotamus

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £7

David Morgan: Triple Threat

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £6

Tom Toal and Joe Wells Rom-Coms and Revolutions Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Richard Herring’s Edinburgh Fringe Podcast

The Stand Comedy Club, 16-29 Aug, £10

Fresh Bread Presents Johnny’s Favourite Show The Banshee Labyrinth, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

14:25 Free Tea and Biscuit Hour The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, £free

Richard Sandling Performs Music and Comedy as Pot Pourri and Does Some Poetry as Spak Whitman The Canons’ Gait, 16-28 Aug, not 18, £free

Tiffany Stevenson: Cavewoman

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, not 25, £8

14:30 Ray Time in the Daytime: An Audience With Ray Green and Friends

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Rrrantin’ Free at the Pear Tree Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree, 21-28 Aug, £free

Ze Hoff Und Friends - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, £free

Ian Fox Exposes Himself - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Quotidian Revue The Bongo Club, 16 Aug, 17 Aug, 18 Aug, 20 Aug, £6

Jody Kamali’s Business Coaching for Idiots - Free

Jon Richardson: It’s Not Me, It’s You

Pleasance Dome, 20-28 Aug, £12

Peeling PVA Stands Up Base Nightclub, 16-27 Aug, £free

The Squiffy Journals Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8 – £9.50

14:35 Three Man Roast - Free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-26 Aug, not 21, £free

❤ Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire 2: Back in the Habit HHHH The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £8

Catherine Semark: The Truth About Lions

Medina, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £free

14:40 Eric Hutton and Ben Ellwood - The Best of the Sh*ttest - Free Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

Mike Newall’s ‘Get Better Box’

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £5 – £8

Moonshine and Trumpery

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, £free

Zeus’ Pamphlet

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Funny Women

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, £free

Assembly George Square, 17-21 Aug, £10 – £12

Monkhouse and Me

Jollygoodlarks - How to Make it Huge

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 2227 Aug, £8 – £9

The Seven Deadly Sings (Remastered) - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £6 – £7.50

A Slightly Dangerous Comedy Occasion - Free

Taking the Piff

The Royal Mile Tavern, 1627 Aug, not 21, £free

Cheshire Liberation Front’s Political Indoctrination Rally

Free Cuddles With 007

Buffs Club (RAOB), 16-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 22-28 Aug, £free

Chris Coxen’s Space Clone Audition

Making Faces: Introspectacles - Free

Jay Foreman: We’re Living in the Future

Music Box

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 21-28 Aug, £free

Cabaret Voltaire, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £5 – £7

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9 – £10

14:45

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, £free C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 73

comedylistings Gemma Goggin: Double G

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

Itch: A Scratch Event Pleasance Courtyard, 16 Aug, £8

Fran Moulds Curtains - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Lorcan McGrath is ...

Not in Love - Free

Rory and Tim Are Free at Last

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-27 Aug, not 18, £free

Horse and Louis: Top Trumpin’! - Free HHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 26 Aug, £10

James Sherwood - I Fed My Best Friend Her Favourite Cow HHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1728 Aug, not 23, £8

BBC: Front Row

BBC @ Potterrow, 17 Aug, £free

Playtime - Free

Alex Horne: Taskmaster II

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 20-28 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Funny as Muck

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

The Improlympians - Free

Mabbs & Justice: Love Machine

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 17-23 Aug, £free

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 16 Aug, £free

Wedding Band: A Comedy by Charlie Baker Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £10.50 – £12.50

AAA Batteries (Not Included) - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Edinburgh Revue Show Opium, 16-29 Aug, £free

Meryl O’Rourke - Bad Mother...

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

14:55 Matt Forde: Dishonourable Member HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

15:00 The 90’s in Half an Hour - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Todd Barry: American Hot The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £10

Merv’s 20th Year Gala Show Pleasance Courtyard, 17 Aug, £12.50

This Arthurs Seat Belongs to Lionel Richie

Arthur’s Seat, 20 Aug, £free

Bannermans, 16-27 Aug, £free

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Adam Larter: The Legend of Bob Geldof (and Other Short Stories) - Free Comedy Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-28 Aug, £free

15:05 Nobody’s Darling

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £5

A Brief History of Time - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Philosophical Investigations

Rush Bar, 16-27 Aug, £free

Writer’s Block - Free Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 22-28 Aug, £free

15:10 Eric’s Tales of the Sea - A Submariner’s Yarn Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 22, £8.50 – £9.50

You For Coffee?

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

A Kind Of Surprise

Dragonfly, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

15:15 BBC: What’s So Funny?

Worbey and Farrell: Well Strung!

BBC @ Potterrow, 18 Aug, £free

BBC: Ricky Gervais and Warwick Davis discuss the making of Life’s Too Short

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-19 Aug, £free

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £12

BBC @ Potterrow, 26 Aug, £free

Hanks and Conran: Scruples? - Free

BBC Comedy Writers’ Workshop BBC @ Potterrow, 16 Aug, £free

Samurai Grandma

Tom Allen’s Afternoon Tea

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Mission Suggestible Paradise in The Vault, 16-21 Aug, £7.50

15:20 Hit Comet

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £7

David O’Doherty Presents: Rory Sheridan’s Tales of The Antarctica

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10

The Gentlemen of Leisure Present: The Death of the Novel HHH Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

Present...

Ciao Roma, 17-28 Aug, £free

15:25 Ben Brailsford - My Fortnum and Mason Hell Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

15:30 Ben Verth: Not With That Attitude The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, not 18, 25, £free

Max and Ivan Are Holmes and Watson

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £10 – £11

Morgan & West: Crime Solving Magicians Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9.50 – £10.50

Wendy Wason’s Flashbacks HH

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £8

Phill Jupitus Quartet - ‘Made Up’

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-28 Aug, not 23, 26, £12 – £14

74 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Parris and Dowler: Special Delivery

Bar 50, 16-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Slap & Giggle: Revealed

Globe, 16 Aug, £free

Enjoy Yourself - It’s Later Than You Think! - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Ford and Akram: Humdinger

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Ivor’s Other Show

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Apocalypse Meow – Doomsday for Dummies

Ciao Roma, 18 Aug, £free

Patsy Blades’ Mid-Life Crisis Sweet Grassmarket, 1621 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

15:35 Super Crazy Fun Fun - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Deemed Unsafe

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £5

Wil Hodgson

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

Flyerman

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7

Olver: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 21, 22, £7

15:40 Tom Bell Begins

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, not 21, £7 – £8.50

Bristol Revunions: National Friends

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Simon Munnery: Hats Off for the 101ers, and Other Material The Stand Comedy Club, 16-29 Aug, £10

Richard Dawkins Does Not Exist, and We Can Prove It

Jo and Brydie Play Doctor

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

Movin’ On Up! With Politically Erect - Free

The Dog-Eared Collective: You’re Better Than This

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £6.50 – £7.50

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour HHH

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £10 – £11

The Tim Vine Chat Show

John Kearns’ Dinner Party

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £12.50 – £13.50

Yorkshire Comedy Cabaret - Free

Base Nightclub, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Whistlebinkies, 16-29 Aug, £free

❤ Nick Helm - Dare to Dream HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

Tom Goodliffe: The Good Liffe

Me, Myself and Iona

Just Havin’ a Fiddle

Billy Kirkwood: Show Me Your Tattoo - Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 16-29 Aug, £5 Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 17-28 Aug, £free

Comedy Manifesto

The Voodoo Rooms, 1728 Aug, £free

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £free

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-27 Aug, £free

Can You Dig It?

The Oxford Imps

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - John Hope Gateway, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £12

15:50

Colm O’Regan: Dislike! A Facebook Guide to Crisis HH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £8 – £10

Uncle Ivan Pest Controller - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Joanna Neary: Youth Club

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £9

Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards Show

Pleasance Courtyard, 28 Aug, £14

Hatty Ashdown: Nan-Child

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-26 Aug, not 21, £free

Kevin Cruise

Assembly George Square, 17-29 Aug, £10 – £12

15:55 Cariad Lloyd: Lady Cariad’s Characters

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, not 17, £free

16:00

15:45

Amused Moose Comedy Awards Showcase

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £10

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

The Return of O’Farahan and Keith - Free

The Canons’ Gait, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Totally Tom

The Street, 16-29 Aug, £free

Pleasance Dome, Various dates from 17 Aug to 27 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1729 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Don’t Trust Salmon: Fin

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, £8

The Baby Diary

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Al Murray’s Compete for the Meat

Assembly George Square, 16-27 Aug, £10

Barry Fox – Poems, Pamphlets, Props and Pissing About Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-20 Aug, £free

Conor O’Toole’s Manual of Style

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7.50

Damion Larkin: Cuddly Dreamer

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £9

Paul Merton’s Impro Chums

Pleasance Courtyard, 1927 Aug, £13 – £14.50

Sally Outen: Non-Bio? The Bongo Club, 20-29 Aug, not 21, £7 – £8

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings Rrrantin’ Free at the Pear Tree Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree, 21-28 Aug, £free

This Next One is About Putting Salt in Your Tea The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-26 Aug, £free

The Three Englishmen: Optimists

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8 – £9

Chortle Student Comedy Awards Final Assembly George Square, 28 Aug, £8.50

Down and Out Comedy With Mike Belgrave

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

A Girl, a Ghost and the Little Yellow Man - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 21-28 Aug, £free

Manos the Greek: The Tale Of An Immigrant - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

16:05 Endemic

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 16-20 Aug, £free

The Truth (Explained in Doodles!)

Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, £free

Four Screws Loose Present ‘ScrewedOver-Again!’

Bannermans, 16-26 Aug, not 20, £free

Yianni: Things That Make You Go ‘Oooooh!’ - Free Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, £free

Scott Capurro’s Position HH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

Fat Kitten vs the World

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, £free

16:20 The Beta Males: The Train Job Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Rory O’Hanlon: Is it Just Me That’s Mental?

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50

Fin Taylor and Jared Hardy - With Full Orchestra Dragonfly, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £free

Tweeting Beauty (and Other Stories)

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

Leila’s Ladies

Flyerman

Fingers Piano Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

I Didn’t Mean to be a Virgin in the 80s

Eric Gudmunsen - Ryanair Lost My Baby (God Bless Them) - Free

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

Sweet Grassmarket, 1629 Aug, £8

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

16:10

16:25

John Hegley Family Word Ship

Andy Zaltzman: Armchair Revolutionary

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-18 Aug, £12

Ruby Wax: Losing It HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £15 – £17.50

Nathan Penlington: Uri and Me

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £9

The Oxford Revue: But Seriously

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10.50

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

16:30

16:15

Morningside Malcolm Meets the Weegies

❤ Luke Wright’s Cynical Ballads HHHH

Toby - Lucky

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Quest for Human Happiness - Free Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-28 Aug, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

The Royal Oak, 16-18 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £9.50

Holden and Revill: The North South Divide - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Noise Next Door – Their Finest Hour Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

The Unexpected Items Are On It, In the Zone, Off the Hook and Down With the Kids

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1729 Aug, not 23, £9 – £10

Pam Ford Curl Up and Dye Salon Secrets Southsider, 16-27 Aug, £free

Ronnie Golden - First a Fender Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Tony Bournemouth: Bournemouth’s All Time Second Greatest Comedian Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, £free

Apocalypse Meow – Doomsday for Dummies

Ciao Roma, 17 Aug, £free

They Came With Outer Script - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-19 Aug, £free

The Real MacGuffins: Skitsophrenic Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £11

16:35 Vinegar Knickers: Sketchy Beast

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alistair Green: Outpatient

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 23, £7 – £8

16:40 Bridget Christie: Housewife Surrealist HH The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £8

So On and So Forth present ‘Human Era’ Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £7.50

❤ Bring Me the Head of Adam Riches HHHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Matthew Crosby: AdventureParty HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9.50 – £12

James Dowdeswell: Doofus

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

Lewis Schaffer is Free Until Famous in a Smaller Room at an Earlier Time Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, £free

Sheeps: A Sketch Show HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1728 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Stuff and Nonsense

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-26 Aug, not 21, £free

John-Luke Roberts and Nadia Kamil: The Behemoth HH Pleasance Courtyard, 17-29 Aug, £9 – £11

Jem Brookes: Pintification - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

16:50 Phil Mann’s Full Mind and Michael Keane: Intelligent Shuffle - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Parents Evening

The Voodoo Rooms, 1727 Aug, £free

Brit-Hot Comedy

Little Howard’s Big Show

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 16-28 Aug, £free

16:45

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1627 Aug, not 22, £10

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £10

Edinburgh Tonight with Joe Simmons and Lorraine Chase

Who is Jean? Go the Distance

16:55

Hannah Gadsby - Mrs Chuckles

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £6.50

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £10 – £11

The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek - All New Show Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9.50 – £12

Christmas For Two: Friends With You

17:00 Totally Ninja

Belushi’s, 27 Aug, £free

The Inflatables - Free Ryan’s Cellar Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Joe Bor: In Search of the Six Pack

The Great Big Comedy Picnic - Free

Moon Horse vs the Mars Men of Jupiter

John Scott: Totally Made Up - Totally Free

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Buffs Club (RAOB), 16-20 Aug, £free

RadioHead Redux - Free!

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Alzheimer’s the Musical: A Night to Remember!

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £10.50 – £11.50

Eddie Naessens: Butter People

Dropkick Murphy’s, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £free

Smut - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Aberdeen vs Glasgow vs the World! - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 18-28 Aug, £free

And The Award Goes To...

Base Nightclub, 21-27 Aug, £free

Baker and Thompson: Never Made it to the RSC - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-17 Aug, £free

How to be Awesome: An Introduction Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, £8 – £9

The Leeds Tealights: Animals with Jobs

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Paul Daniels: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, £14 – £15

The Warm Up Show Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, £free

BBC Comedy Presents - Early and Late BBC @ Potterrow, 16-27 Aug, £10

❤ Isy Suttie: Pearl and Dave HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Luke McQueen - Your Love is Mine Cabaret Voltaire, 16-28 Aug, not 22, 24, £7

Dave Gibson and Charlie Talbot - Battle of Britain: North vs South Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

17:05 Laugh Or Your Money Back - Free Medina, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Ava Vidal: The Hardest Word

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £9

Big Noise

The Voodoo Rooms, 1727 Aug, £free

Channel Hopping!

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

17:10 Jack Whitehall and his father Michael - Back Chat Pleasance Courtyard, 2428 Aug, £11 – £12.50

Doctors Do Little

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6

Jessica Ransom: Unsung Heroes

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

Mogic

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Nicholas Parsons’ Happy Hour

Pleasance Courtyard, 1620 Aug, £11 – £12

17:15 Guy Pratt - Wake up Call

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £10

Rik ‘n’ Mix - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Stewart Lee – Flickwerk 2011.

Work In Progress

The Stand Comedy Club, 16-29 Aug, £10

The Good, the Bad and the Cuddlier ‘Ride Again’ VI - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

SomeNews - The Free Topical Show Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, £free

Lewis Gray and Friend

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 75

comedylistings Singles Collection

Opium, 16-27 Aug, £free

Down to the Bone HHH

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 18-28 Aug, £free

Maff Brown - Pacman Is Actually Allergic to Ghosts Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

17:20 Footlights in ‘Pretty Little Panic’ Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Danny Pensive’s Map of Britain Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £6 – £7

Clare Plested: Vegas, Jesus and Me Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Neil Dougan - Rough Rared

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £6 – £7

17:25 Ahir Shah: Astrology HHH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

17:30 Monsters: A History of Villainy

Fingers Piano Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Award-winning Comedian Nik Coppin - Free HH Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-27 Aug, £free

Brett Goldstein Grew Up in a Strip Club Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Jason Cook - The Search for Happiness Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £12 – £13

Out - But Not on Good Behaviour The Jazz Bar, 16-26 Aug, £5

Fresh Faces at the Free Fringe

Rush Bar, 16-27 Aug, £free

Tom Webb Fixes 2012

Dragonfly, 16-27 Aug, £free

Tokyo Game: The Body Tights Man Show

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 25, £8 – £9

So Much Potential

Sin Club and Lounge, 1727 Aug, not 23, £free

We Love Comedy

Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, £free

17:31 Harpurs Bizarre!

Immortal Combat

The Rat Pack, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

17:35 James Loveridge ... and Other Losers!

- Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Rita Trump and Julie Jones: Screw Loose Women - Free Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 16-27 Aug, £free

17:40 Juliet Meyers: I’m Not Spartacus!

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7 – £8

❤ McNeil and Pamphilon: Which One Are You? HHHH Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

17:45 Bad Bread: TV Times

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Olivia Lee Chats Them Up

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

❤ Diane Spencer: All-Pervading Madness HHHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-28 Aug, £9

A Betrayal of Penguins: Endangered for a Reason

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 19, 20, £8.50 – £9.50

Rowena Haley: Nothing to Write Home About

Southsider, 16-27 Aug, £free

❤ Dan Antopolski, Tom Craine & Nat Luurtsema: Jigsaw HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Joe Wilkinson: My Mum’s Called Stella and My Dad’s Called Brian

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £8.50 – £9.50

Roisin Conaty: Destiny’s Dickhead HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

A Free Pro-Zach: An Antidepressant Guaranteed to Lift Your Spirits but With the Side-Effect of Nullifying Your Libido Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

Gavin Webster: All Young People Are C**ts

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £8

17:55 Susan Murray’s Photo Booth The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

Patsy Blades’ Mid-Life Crisis Sweet Grassmarket, 2228 Aug, £9.50

18:00 Brave New Irish Showcase - Free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 16-26 Aug, not 21, £free

Chris Mayo’s Panic Attack

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

Edinburgh Bloody Edinburgh

The Wee Windaes , 16-29 Aug, £12

Lady Garden HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Sammy J and Randy: Ricketts Lane

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £12.50 – £14

Transformer

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £8

Hitch and Mitch Genisis

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

❤ Holly Walsh - The Hollycopter HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

4 Poofs and a Piano Business as Usual Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £14 – £15

The Big Value Comedy Show - Early Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £10

Beer and Loathing and Lost Wages - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, £free

Eric Lampaert

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9.50 – £12

❤ Kerry Godliman - Wonder Woman HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

5-Step Guide to Being German - Free

Absolute Improv

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Chronic

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 20-28 Aug, £free

18:10 Michael J Dolan Dress to Depress

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, £free

James W Smith: Living in Syntax

The Royal Mile Tavern, 17-27 Aug, £free

18:15 Thomas Hardie & Co Ryan’s Cellar Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £free

WitTank

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

Original

Free Jewish Comedy

Globe, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

18:05 Thirty-seven ways of deceiving you, the audience, into believing I have written a new one-man show for 2011 even though I probably haven’t, or something The Canons’ Gait, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

OCD: The Singing Obsessive - Free

17:50

Jenny Ha’s, 16-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Oklahomaphobia!

The Brandreth Papers

Sarah Archer - Bumfluff and Brimstone

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £10 – £12

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £10

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Dying to Help - Free

Ciao Roma, 17-29 Aug, £free

Best of Irish Comedy

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Caroline Mabey’s One Minute Silence Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Frank Sanazi’s Comedy Blitzkrieg - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-21 Aug, £free

Ian D Montfort - Spirit Comedium HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

Asian Provocateurs: Rule Britannia! - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

3:45PM (4:45PM) 04-28 AUGUST 2011 (NOT 15)

76 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

tallyTom_EdinburghFringe2011_A5PreviewGuideAdvert (W64mm x01/07/2011 H43mm).indd19:26 1

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings Dan Willis: Inspired - Free!

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarghh! It’s the Malcolm Hardee Spaghetti-Juggling Contest - Year One

Outside the Beehive Inn, 24-25 Aug, £free

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarghh!

It’s the Malcolm Hardee Comedy Punch-Up Debates And They’re Free!

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 22-23 Aug, £free

Neil By Mouth

Cabaret Voltaire, 16-28 Aug, not 24, £5 – £8

A Mixed Bag - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Bog Standard Britain Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 22 Aug, £9

Bob Slayer’s Marmite Gameshow - Free Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 24-28 Aug, £free

Foil, Arms and Hog: Comedy Doesn’t Pay

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £10

www.festmag.co.uk

18:20 You’re Being Lied To - 2011 / PBH’s Free Fringe Medina, 17-27 Aug, £free

Andrew Doyle’s Crash Course in Depravity Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £6.50 – £7.50

Josh Howie: I Am A Dick HH

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £9

New Art Club: Quiet Act of Destruction HHH

Assembly George Square, 17-28 Aug, £12 – £14

Delete the Banjax: Pigs and Ponies HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Keith Farnan: Money, Money, Money HH Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9 – £10.50

NewsRevue

Pleasance Courtyard, 1728 Aug, £12.50 – £15

Paul McCaffrey: Saying Something Stupid

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Rosie’s Pop Diary

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Fraser Millward’s Little Men

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, £free

John Robertson: Dragon Punch! - Free

Quiz in my Pants Opium, 17-27 Aug, £free

An Austrian, an Italian and Someone from Slough Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Silky Pair: Jealous People - Free

18:30

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Top Secret Comedy Club

Dana McCoy: ‘Cube Rat’

Whistlebinkies, 16-26 Aug, not 20, £free

Danny Bevins: Infectious Waste

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Dave Callan Presents ?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Henning Wehn / Otto Kuhnle: Das Very Best Of German Humour Assembly George Square, 16 Aug, £12.50

An Evening With David Sedaris

Venue150 @ EICC, 16-20 Aug, £15

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 17-27 Aug, £free

Charmian Hughes: The Ten Charmandments

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Mae Day: I’m Not Waving, I’m Drowning The Rat Pack, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Andi Osho: All the Single Ladies HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £12 – £14

Piff the Magic Dragon: Last of the Magic Dragons

18:40

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £9 – £10

The Phoenix: A Failure On a Mission

Chortle Presents: Fast Fringe

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £9

Joel Sanders - Jokes That Got Me Kicked Out Of Tennessee

Pleasance Dome, 16-27 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Rayguns Look Real Enough: Balls Deep

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Dragonfly, 16-29 Aug, £free

18:45

Laurence Clark: Health Hazard! HHH

Richard Sandling’s Perfect Movie

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £11

The Cameo Cinema, 1628 Aug, not 22, £9

The Artisan

Sin Club and Lounge, 1727 Aug, not 23, £free

Applied_Optimism Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Ridiculous - Free

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-19 Aug, £free

Barry Cryer - Innit Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-18 Aug, £12

Shirley and Shirley: The Wonder Years Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Festival of the Spoken Nerd

Sin Club and Lounge, 16 Aug, £free

The Naked Busker: Seeing More of Me - Free

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 20-28 Aug, £free

18:50 Joel Dommett: Neon Hero HHH Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Best of Whyteleafe Comedy Club - Free

Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 21-28 Aug, £free

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 77

comedylistings ❤ Alun Cochrane: Moments of Alun HHHH

Chris McCausland Big Time HHH

The Infinite Delusions of Victor Pope - Free

Dr Phil’s Rude Health Show

The Stand Comedy Club, 16-29 Aug, £10

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £9 – £10

Mark Dolan - Sharing Too Much

19:00

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1726 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Steve Gribbin: Laugh at First Sight

The Maybe Pile

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £9

Henry Rollins

The Queen’s Hall, 18-19 Aug, £15

❤ Imran Yusuf - Bring the Thunder HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £11 – £12

Josie Long: The Future Is Another Place HHH

Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £10 – £12

Jarlath Regan - Shock and Ahhh! HHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1729 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The Quotidian Revue The Bongo Club, 21-28 Aug, £9

Jessica Fostekew: Luxury Tramp

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1728 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Sara Pascoe vs the Apocalypse HHH

Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Steve-O

The Edge Festival @ The Liquid Room, 16-17 Aug, £17.50

Amateur Transplants: Adam Kay’s Smutty Songs Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Southsider, 16-27 Aug, £free

Stuart Goldsmith: Another Lovely Crisis HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Pearse James Presents Freesome

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Frimston and Rowett

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £8

John Robins: Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8 – £9

19:05 Aslan - The Lockdown theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

Colin Hoult’s Inferno

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £12 – £14

Kev Orkian The Guilty Pianist – The Closed Venues Tour

Vladimir McTavish: A Scotsman’s Guide to Betting HH The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £8

19:10 Chris Cox: Fatal Distraction

Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, £12 – £14

Devious Minds

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 16-22 Aug, £9

Mark Nelson - Guilty Pleasure Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £10 – £11

19:15 Edinburgh Bloody Edinburgh

The Wee Windaes , 16-29 Aug, £12

Fear of a Brown Planet

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Alistair Greaves Mixed Grill - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 17-28 Aug, not 22, £free

❤ Humphrey Ker is Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher! HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £10 – £12.50

Mickey Anderson Unlocks the Key to Human Happiness

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, not 18, 25, £free

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1627 Aug, £12

Morris & Vyse: Daylords Return

An Evening in With Henry the Hoover and Friends

AAA Stand-Up

Ciao Roma, 16-27 Aug, £free

Jenny Ha’s, 20-27 Aug, £free Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

78 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Bob Slayer’s Marmite Gameshow - Free

Edward Aczel Doesn’t Exist

Lights! Camera!

Improvise!

19:25

Matt Rudge - We Could Be Heroes

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7.50

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-22 Aug, £free

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

The Social Anxiety Network

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

JEWELSH

The Canons’ Gait, 18-28 Aug, £free

Josh Widdicombe: If This Show Saves One Life

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

❤ Robin Ince - Star Corpse Apple Child HHHH

The Canons’ Gait, 16-17 Aug, £free

19:20

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Brown and Corley: Born in the 80s

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1627 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

19:30

Comedy Gala 2011: In Aid of Waverley Care

Pete Bennett’s Tourette’s and Stuff Cabaret Voltaire, 16-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Dave Nelder and Vague Acquaintances - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-18 Aug, £free

Sitting on a Cornflake - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Age of Treason - Free

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £14 – £15

One Handed Show: A History of Pornography

The Royal Mile Tavern, 1628 Aug, not 22, £free

Recovering Catholics Anonymous and Other Crosses I’ve Had to Bear - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 21-28 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £10 – £12

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, £free

Mark Thomas: Extreme Rambling (Walking the Wall)

David O’Doherty is Looking Up

Tim FitzHigham: Gambler

Andrew Bird’s Village Fete

Spaghetti Lolognaise - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-20 Aug, £free

Assembly Hall, 16-28 Aug, £14 – £16

Spring Day: Sushi Souffle - Free

Walking On Broken Das

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, £free

Sarah MillicanThoroughly Modern Millican

City Edinburgh, 16-20 Aug, £10

The Bongo Club, 17-20 Aug, £14.50

The Ad-Libertines

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 21-25 Aug, £free

The Big Value Comedy Show - Middle

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £10

Free Agent - A Free Show by James Hazelden Base Nightclub, 18-27 Aug, £free

Up to the Eyeballs

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 17-28 Aug, £free

Festival Theatre Edinburgh, 16 Aug, £25

Craig Hill - Blown By a Fan...!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16-29 Aug, not 21, £12.50 – £14.50

Gangsters of Laugh - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Indoor Fox Hunting

C venues - C aquila, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Lastminute Comedy Club

Buffs Club (RAOB), 16-27 Aug, £free

Zoe Lyons Clownbusting

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10 – £12

God Bless, God Speed, God Damn You All

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 28 Aug, £free

Lewis Schaffer is Free Until Famous 18th Year

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Many Mental Minds of Dr Jackson

The Voodoo Rooms, 1626 Aug, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings 19:35 The World According to Damien Crow

The Stand Comedy Club V, 22 Aug, £8

Daniel Sloss - The Joker HHH

Assembly George Square, 17-29 Aug, £11.50 – £13.50

Chris Martin: No. Not That One

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Matt Tiller: Just Du-et Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

Francesca Martinez: What the **** is Normal?!

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, not 22, 23, £9

Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen

Assembly George Square, 16-27 Aug, £15 – £16

19:40 Paul Foot: Still Life

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £6.50 – £11

❤ Dave Gorman’s Power Point Presentation HHHHH Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, £15

Ed Byrne: Crowd Pleaser

Venue150 @ EICC, 16-27 Aug, £16.50 – £18.50

19:45 The Lalorpalooza Show

Opium, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: The End is Nigh Zoo Southside, 16-27 Aug, £8

Anil Desai...

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-18 Aug, £10

The Cloud Girls and Ryan Withers - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 24, 25, £free

ACME Stand-Up - Free Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek - Best of 09/10 Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9.50 – £12

Martha McBrier - I’m Eric Barthram

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Jim Smallman: Tattooligan HHH

Improvised Plays from Austin, Texas

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, not 17, £10

Iain Stirling and Sean McLoughlin

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-27 Aug, £15

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Joey Page - Sparklehorse Superbrain

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £8

Neil Delamere: Divilment

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £11 – £12

www.festmag.co.uk

Mark Watson’s 2012 Preview Trevor Browne Greaterness

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 16-29 Aug, £free

19:50 Fingers on Buzzards: The Improvised Pub-Quiz Dragonfly, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Fred MacAulay: Legally Bald

Golden Showers of Love

Roughhausers Comedy Sideshow

Shappi Khorsandi: Me and My Brother in Our Pants, Holding Hands HHH

Jen Brister is British(ish)

20:05

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-17 Aug, £10

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £13 – £14

Giants of Comedy

Fingers Piano Bar, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Omid Djalili: Work in Progress

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 18-28 Aug, £10

Carl Donnelly 3: Carl Donnelier!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £10 – £12

Don’t Mess

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 25, £free

Chastity Butterworth and the Spanish Hamster Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

19:55 Squirrel Party

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

20:00 Bob Downe: 20 Golden Greats

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-29 Aug, not 25, £12 – £14

So You Think You’re Funny? Final

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 25 Aug, £15

❤ Who Are the Jocks?

HHHH

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Catie Wilkins: A Chip Off the Odd Block

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Nathan Dean Williams presents... ‘The Buffet’ Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £6.50 – £7.50

Patrick Monahan: Hug Me I Feel Good

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, not 22, 24, 25, £10.50 – £12.50

Chat Masala with Hardeep Singh Kohli Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16 Aug, £11

Dana Alexander: New Arrival Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Javier Jarquin: Bullets Before Bedtime Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Stephens and Thomas

Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, £free

Andrew Lawrence The Best Kept Secret in Comedy Tour Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £11 – £12.50

Michael Winslow HHH

Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1729 Aug, £12 – £14

About Tam O’Shanter

Psycho Big Top Comedy Club

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, not 22, £7

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 17 Aug, £10

Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 26-27 Aug, £10

The Queen’s Speech

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

Nothing to Show

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Kevin Shepherd: Caronicle - Free HHH Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, £free

Sharron Matthews Superstar: Jesus Thinks I’m Funny

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1627 Aug, not 21, £12.50

20:10 High Ape - Free Show Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

The Life Doctor

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10.50

Martin Mor: The Call of the Golden Frog

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £9

❤ Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 21, £9 – £10

20:15 Seann Walsh: Ying and Young

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

Shazia Mirza: Busybody

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Nathan Caton: Get Rich or Die Cryin’

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Raymond Mearns: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Stress But Were Afraid to Ask

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

The Wee Man

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 16-28 Aug, £free

Aaaaaaaaargh! It’s the Monster Stand Up Show

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

Des Clarke - Des Comedy Jam

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £12 – £13

❤ DeAnne Smith: The Best DeAnne Smith DeAnne Smith Can Be HHHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

❤ Elis James: Do You Remember the First Time? HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 18, £9.50 – £12

Baby Wants Candy

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £13 – £15

20:20 Alex Horne: Seven Years in the Bathroom

Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Peacock and Gamble Podcast Live

Pleasance Dome, 21 Aug, 28 Aug, £9.50

Tom Deacon: Can I Be Honest? HH Pleasance Dome, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8.50 – £9.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 79

comedylistings The Chris and Paul Show

Pete Firman: Jiggery Pokery HHH

Jenneke Wonders - Free

The News at Kate 2011

Rich Fulcher: Tiny Acts of Rebellion HHH

Please Retain For Your Records

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Ciao Roma, 17-28 Aug, £free

20:25 Helen Keen’s Spacetacular! - Free The Canons’ Gait, 22 Aug, £free

Phill Jupitus: Stand Down

The Stand Comedy Club, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12

Bob Doolally Live and Half-Cut The Stand Comedy Club, 22 Aug, £9

Norman Lovett - Free The Canons’ Gait, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £free

20:30 The Best of Boyd & Metcalfe

The Royal Mile Tavern, 1727 Aug, not 23, £free

David Reed: Shamblehouse

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £10 – £12

❤ Henry Paker Cabin Fever HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Songs I’ll Never Sing - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, £free

Alfie Joey Monopolise!

Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, £12 – £14

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £11 – £12

The Moonfish Rhumba: The Chronicles of Moonfish

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £6.50 – £8.50

Fabulous Abs

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-29 Aug, £free

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience

B’est Restaurant, 16-30 Aug, not 19, 20, 26, 27, £43

Gareth Richards: It’s Not the End of the World Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 18, £8.50 – £9.50

Sammy J: Potentially Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £10 – £12.50

Matt Green: Too Much Information Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £9 – £11

Playing Politics

Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides, 19 Aug, £10

Steve Hall’s Very Still Life HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

20:35 Matt Kirshen: Wide-eyed

Pleasance Courtyard, 22 Aug, £9

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £12

Idiots of Ants

Nonsense Duet - Free

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £10 – £11

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 21-28 Aug, £free

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 16-20 Aug, £10

20:40 ❤ Asher Treleaven: Matador HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Kelly Kingham and Guy Manners: Infectious - Free

The Voodoo Rooms, 1727 Aug, not 23, £free

Mud Wrestling With Words The Banshee Labyrinth, 18-27 Aug, £free

20:45 It’s The End of the World As We Know It - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-20 Aug, £free

Lach, the Waitress, the Walls & the Weirdos

Cabaret Voltaire, 16-29 Aug, £free

A Sketchy Idea - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 21-28 Aug, £free

10 Films With my Dad / PBH’s Free Fringe Ryan’s Cellar Bar, 16-27 Aug, £free

The Fudge Shop

The Fudge Kitchen, 16-28 Aug, £7

Hiroshi Shimizu: From Japan With ‘Rub’ - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Loose Men

Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 21-27 Aug, £free

20:50 Dawn of the Dawn

Medina, 27 Aug, £free

❤ Richard Herring: What is Love Anyway? HHHH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

Alfie Brown - The Love You Take

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

❤ Phil Nichol: The Simple Hour HHHH

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £10

21:00 The TinaMarinas Being Gorgeous - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-20 Aug, £free

Chaps on Legs

Andrew Maxwell: The Lights Are On

Found Objects Present Live Low Budget Comedy Adventures - Free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Assembly George Square, 17-29 Aug, £13 – £15

Fiona O’Loughlin: Spirited (Tales from an Angel in a Bottle)

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

The Pajama Men: In the Middle of No One Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £13 – £14

David Kelly is Shameless - Free

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Fosters Comedy Live @ highlight highlight, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Tom Stade: What Year Was That? HHH

Russell Kane: Manscaping

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £12

BBC: Great Unanswered Questions

20:55

Assembly Hall, 20-28 Aug, £16

BBC @ Potterrow, 16 Aug, £free

The Book of Quincy - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-27 Aug, £free

Claudia O’Doherty What Is Soil Erosion?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Funt

Base Nightclub, 16-27 Aug, £free

80 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Pleasance Courtyard, 1626 Aug, not 22, £17.50

Tim Clare: How to Be a Leader

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Keeping the Captain Warm Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

Slim In Wonderland

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £11.50 – £12.50

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Aidan Bishop Misspelled

Pope Benedict: Bond Villain Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Adventures in Comedy: Murder, Madness and Mayhem! - Free

Andy Parsons: Gruntled

Asli and Ashley: Audacious and Angry The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

The Big Value Comedy Show - Late Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £10

What a Palaver! - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 21-28 Aug, £free

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £6

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, £free

Jimeoin - Lovely!

Assembly George Square, 17-29 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

Playing Politics

Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides, 20 Aug, £10

Alan Anderson: Whisky Fir Dummies

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £10 – £11

James Christopher: Triangle Man - Free

Dragonfly, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Margaret Cho - Cho Dependent HH

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £15 – £16

21:05 The Artists Currently Known As Magpie & Stump theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £6

When I’m King

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £6

Shawn Hitchins: Survival of the Fiercest

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £12

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings 21:10 The Boy With Tape On His Face Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Warning: May Contain Jokes Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, £free

❤ Marcel Lucont Etc: A Chat Show HHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Randy is Sober

Adam Crow - Ashton Kutcher’s Dead Girlfriends

Pistol & Jack – Smash.

Glam.Sex.Music.

Jack Mink: Making Light

M. Croser - Unpleasant Man

Christophe Davidson: No Less of a Man - Free

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £10 – £12

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1627 Aug, not 21, £7

21:15 Naz Osmanoglu: 1000% Awesome Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

Henning Wehn No Surrender

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 18-28 Aug, £6.50 – £10.50

Künt and the Gang Free HH

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 16-28 Aug, £free

Sam Simmons Meanwhile

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £11.50

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-29 Aug, £free

Sin Club and Lounge, 16-27 Aug, £free

21:20 Shane and Eddie: Picking up the Pieces Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Craig Campbell

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £10

Sanderson Jones - ComedySale.com/ Fringe

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Markus Birdman: Dreaming

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, not 23, £8

Terry Alderton

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10.50 – £12

Assembly George Square, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £10 – £12

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

21:21 Take the Red Pill - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

21:25 An Evening with Helen Lederer

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 21 Aug, £15

Eric Davidson Verses the World SpaceCabaret @ 54, 16-27 Aug, not 21, 22, £10

Stephen Carlin: Guilty Bystander The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

21:30 Sketchatron: Nano Bedlam Theatre, 21 Aug, £9

Tom Rosenthal: Child of Privilege HH Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Stand Up For Freedom

Venue150 @ EICC, 17-18 Aug, £18

The Comedy Reserve Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £8 – £9

Mick Ferry: Sod It!

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Robin Ince’s Struggle for Existence Buffs Club (RAOB), 16 Aug, £free

All the Fun of the Unfair

Glenn Wool: No Lands Man

Fly Me to Baboon - Free!

John Lynn: Social Notworking

The W. Kamau Bell Curve – Ending Racism In About An Hour

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £12 – £14

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Frisky and Mannish: Pop Centre Plus Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £14

Jack Whitehall- Let’s Not Speak Of This Again

Venue150 @ EICC, 18-27 Aug, not 22, 23, £15

The Rob Deering Experience

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Bruce Fummey - My Afro Celtic Angst

Southsider, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

2 Comedians, 1 Bucket - Free

Ali Cook - Principles and Deceptions

Bar 50, 16-27 Aug, not 18, 25, £free

The Axis of Awesome Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 25, £12 – £14

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £12 – £13

Dregs

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

21:35 Off the Top of Our Heads

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £6.50

Sarah Archer - Bumfluff and Brimstone theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7

London Is Funny Presents...

Ciao Roma, 16-27 Aug, £free

Peter Buckley Hill and Some Comedians XV The Canons’ Gait, 16-27 Aug, £free

Abacus Danger Present... ‘The Search for Blank’ theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6.50

Jonathan Prager August 4th -­ 27th, 2011 23:00

THE COUNTING HOUSE

38 WEST NICOLSON STREET EH8 9DD VENUE 170 0131 667 7533

www.festmag.co.uk

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 81

comedylistings 21:40

21:50

Harmon Leon/Bush Monologues: Comedy Double Feature

Conway’s ‘Time of the Month’

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, £7 – £9

Jimmy McGhie: Artificial Intelligence Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Rich Hall

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £15 – £17

Arthur Smith’s Pissed-Up Chat Show

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, £free

Chris Ramsey: Offermation HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

❤ Doctor Brown: Becaves HHHHH Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarghh!

It’s the Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards Show - And It’s Free!

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 26-27 Aug, £free

Aisle16 R Kool!

The Banshee Labyrinth, 17-27 Aug, £free

Couch Impro

Buffs Club (RAOB), 18-27 Aug, £free

22:05

Carey Marx: Laziness and Stuff Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Jocks and Geordies - Free!

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-28 Aug, £free

22:20 The Germans Are Coming

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-17 Aug, £11

Drags Aloud

One Threw Up in the Cuckoo’s Nest - Free

Five Alive! The Musical

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1828 Aug, £10 – £12

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 17-28 Aug, £free

21:55

Lloyd Langford: The Cold Hard Facts of Life

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £8 – £9

21:45

The Stand Comedy Club, 16-28 Aug, £12

Tom Price: Say When HHH

To Be ... Or Not to Be ... Or Whatever It Will Be?

Pleasance Dome, 19-27 Aug, £10 – £11.50

The Ultimate Quiz Show featuring Silly Milly

Pleasance Courtyard, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £12

❤ My Name Is Hannibal: The Hannibal Montanabal Experience HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Auntie Netta and the Trouble With Asian Men Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £10 – £12

Cowboys and Indians: Black Man in the White House Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Good

Jenny Ha’s, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Agonise, the Comedy Problem Page - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, not 26, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Best of Scottish Comedy

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £5

22:00 Damian Clark: Stand UP HHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Naked in a Fishbowl Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 22-27 Aug, £10

Armageddapocalypse: The Explosioning

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

Get Up, Stand Up! Gala

Venue150 @ EICC, 16-17 Aug, £14

R U Smarter Than an Irishman? - Free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

❤ Tim Key Masterslut HHHH

Robert Taylor is ‘So Inappropriate’

Prepare to Be Tuned

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, £12 – £14

❤ James Acaster: Amongst Other Things HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Benny Boot: Set-Up, Punchline... Pause for Laughter Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Alan Sharp: Hate It With Me

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 16-29 Aug, not 27, £12

Storytellers’ Club

Pleasance Courtyard, Various dates from 18 Aug to 27 Aug, £10

The Kingsley and I (Free Stand Up Compilation Show)

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

Alive and Breathing...

Almost Sweet Grassmarket, 1628 Aug, £7

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £5

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £9

22:10 Bob and Jim - Modern Urges Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Cooking Granny

theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 25-26 Aug, £10

Mary Christ - The Unmusical!

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7 – £8.50

Chimprovisations!

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 16-29 Aug, £6.50

22:15 Simply the Jest - Free The Banshee Labyrinth, 17-27 Aug, £free

BattleActs!

Improvised Comedy - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Guilt & Shame

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

The Improlympians: Three’s Company - Free The Banshee Labyrinth, 16 Aug, £free

The Segue Sisters in ... Jailbirds

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, not 17, £8 – £10

Matthew Highton’s Shadowed Vagary

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £6.50

Barry and Stuart Show and Tell: The Show

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £12 – £14

82 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Get Happy in Edinburgh

22:25 Charlie Chuck’s Laughter Lounge

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1621 Aug, £8

Matt and Ian Don’t Know

Sweet Grassmarket, 1621 Aug, £9

Jason John Whitehead: Letters from Mindy

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1728 Aug, £10 – £12

22:30 BUG Hosted By Adam Buxton Pleasance Courtyard, 25-29 Aug, £15

Comic Strip

Assembly George Square, 21 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

John Robertson - Blood & Charm: Disturbing Stories for Disturbing Bedtimes Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £9

Kai Humphries - BareFaced Cheek HH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9.50 – £10.50

Robert Taylor is ‘So Inappropriate’

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 27 Aug, £12

Simon Donald’s Dirty Great Fringepiece

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £8

Dead Cat Bounce: Caged Heat

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £11 – £12

The Calpol Flashbacks - Free Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Two Wrongies

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Deborah Frances White- How to Get Almost Anyone to Want to Sleep with You Assembly Hall, 18-27 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

Strong and Wrong get Funked Up - Free Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-28 Aug, £free

❤ Andrew O’Neill: Alternative HHHH

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12

Best of So You Think You’re Funny?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1829 Aug, not 25, £10.50

Al Murray the Pub Landlord’s Compete for the Meat - Late Night

Assembly George Square, Various dates from 18 Aug to 27 Aug, £15

Late Night Gimp Fight!

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 20, £9.50 – £12

Obsession - A Life With Magic Zoo, 20 Aug, £10

Puppetry of the Penis: 3D HH

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £15 – £17.50

So You Think You’re Funny?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-17 Aug, £10

22:35 Lifestyles of the Weird and Aimless

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, £free

Ro Campbell: Uttering Bad Shillings The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

North vs South

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Rom Com Wrong

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

Wade McElwain - The Littlest Hobo Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8 – £9

22:40 Angelos Epithemiou and Friends Pleasance Courtyard, 16-20 Aug, £14

Jeff Mirza’s Jihad: Heresy Or Hearsay

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

No Pants Thursday

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7.50

Casual Violence: Choose Death

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, not 23, £6

Neil Hamburger: Discounted Entertainer

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, £12

Paul Sinha: Looking at the Stars

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £9

22:45 Nick Gibb: Crumpled Antipodean Dandy Southsider, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Hal Sparks - Evolution Overdrive HH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Laughing Horse Free Late Night Comedy Selection

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, £free

Rubber Chicken Disorder - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 21-28 Aug, £free

The Comedy Zone

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10.50

Kitty Cointreau’s BraHaHa

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Michael Workman - Humans Are Beautiful

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Geoff Cotton - Light Relief - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, £free

The Boom Jennies: Blowout

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Robin and Partridge: Worlds Collide Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9

BBC Comedy Presents Radio 1 Live @ Edinburgh BBC @ Potterrow, 16-18 Aug, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings Brady, Brush and French: A Triple Action Stand-Up Show

Bar 50, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £free

22:50 Flood

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8 – £9

Peacock and Gamble Emergency Broadcast Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The Silly Beggar Comedy Affair

The Voodoo Rooms, 1627 Aug, £free

Writing Blanks Greenside, 26-27 Aug, £4

22:55 Katherine Ryan: Little Miss Conception Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £8 – £9.50

23:00 Rob Deering: Beat This

Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £9.50

Dan Hoy’s Stag Do

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

Hypnotist,Titan Knight

City Edinburgh, 16 Aug, 17 Aug, 18 Aug, 21 Aug, £13

Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Special Reserve Comedy Benefit Pleasance Courtyard, 23-24 Aug, £10

Jeff Leach: A Leach On Society Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 19, 20, 21, £8 – £9.50

Jo Wharmby - Dick & Gina

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-28 Aug, not 22, £6

Late Night Comedy Revolution

Revolution Bar, Various dates from 16 Aug to 25 Aug, £5

Vikki Stone & The Flashbacks: Big Neon Letters Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

AAA Stand-Up Late

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

www.festmag.co.uk

The Horne Section

Assembly George Square, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £12 – £14

Jonathan Prager: Live From New York! - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-27 Aug, £free

BBC Comedy Presents - Early and Late BBC @ Potterrow, 19-27 Aug, £10

Men Of War HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1728 Aug, £9 – £10

3 Comics to Midnight Globe, 16-27 Aug, £free

Just for Laughs Showcase

Pleasance Dome, 16 Aug, 17 Aug, 23 Aug, 24 Aug, £7

23:05 Stand Up, Fall Down The Voodoo Rooms, 1620 Aug, £free

Urban Shaman - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Brian and Queen Tallulah’s Glamorous Intergalactic Magic!

The Voodoo Rooms, 2127 Aug, £free

23:10 The Suitcase Royale in Zombatland Pleasance Courtyard, 17-28 Aug, £10

Best of Scottish Comedian of the Year Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

23:15 Rich Hall’s Hoedown HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £15 – £17

Gags, Songs and Bombs – Free!

23:25 Charlie Chuck’s Laughter Lounge

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 2227 Aug, £8

Monkhouse and Me

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1621 Aug, £8 – £9

23:30 Hypnotist,Titan Knight

City Edinburgh, 22 Aug, 23 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 28 Aug, £13

Shaggers - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

All Over Your Face

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-27 Aug, £free

Interpretive Dances to My Diary! (72% Non-Fiction) Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £8 – £9

Wilfredo: Erecto!

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9 – £10.50

PLAY LATE

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 28-29 Aug, £12.50

COMX

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8 – £10

You Shoulda Been Here Last Week

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-28 Aug, £free

23:40 Political Collective Gone Mad HHH

The Stand Comedy Club II, 16-28 Aug, £8

Set List: Standup Without a Net

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 17-28 Aug, £8 – £10

88MPH

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £7.50

PLAY LATE

23:45

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 16-29 Aug, not 28, £10.50 – £12.50

❤ Dave Eastgate: I Wish I Had a Band HHHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

23:20 Dave Fulton ‘...Based on a True Story’

The Stand Comedy Club V, 16-28 Aug, £9

TakeOut Comedy Presents Paul Ogata - USAhole! – Free Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 21-28 Aug, £free

The Great Big Sketch Off! Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, 26 Aug, £6

Lee Camp Is: Yet Another American Mistake

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

Snippets - Late Night Comedy Feast Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-20 Aug, £free

23:50 Laughing Horse’s Funny Fillies - Free Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 16-28 Aug, £free

Jamie Griffin’s War on Fear - Free Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 18-28 Aug, £free

23:55 Tony Littler the Middle Age Punk Rides Again

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 16-28 Aug, £free

23:59 Best of the Fest

Assembly Hall, 18-28 Aug, not 22, 23, 24, £14 – £15

The Midnight Hour

The Canons’ Gait, 16-29 Aug, not 21, 28, £free

Barry and Stuart - Show and Tell: The Tell

Last Orders

The Improverts

Comedy Countdown

How to Be Patient With Arseholes

C Venues - C eca, 17-30 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50 Gilded Balloon Teviot, Various dates from 17 Aug to 26 Aug, £5

Cowboys and Indians: Black Man in the White House Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 17-29 Aug, not 23, £free

Gemma Goggin’s Celebrity Sleepover

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 23, 24, 25, £8 – £9

Just the Tonic Comedy Club’s Midnight Show Just The Tonic at the Caves, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £10

Spank!

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1729 Aug, £10 – £15

00:05 Mostly Comedy Club - Free

Bedlam Theatre, 16-28 Aug, £7.50

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-29 Aug, £free

00:35 Spanktacular!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 21 Aug, £14

Sanity Valve: Get Old or Die Tryin’ - Free

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

The Late Show

Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, not 23, 24, 25, £10.50 – £14.50

00:40 Bruce Devlin: Devlin After Dark The Stand Comedy Club V, 18-29 Aug, not 23, 24, £8

After Hours Comedy

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-21 Aug, £free

Pleasance Dome, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £10.50 – £11.50

Best of Whyteleafe Comedy Club - Free

Comic Strip

The Stand Late Show

Pokermen

Going Nowhere

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £10 – £12 The Stand Comedy Club, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £15

Assembly George Square, 17-28 Aug, not 22, 23, 24, £12

Political Animal

The Stand Comedy Club, Various dates from 16 Aug to 25 Aug, £10

The Room

Assembly George Square, 18 Aug, 21 Aug, £8

00:00 This Show Left Intentionally Blank Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 28-29 Aug, £free

Car Crash Comedy / Fooling Around for Free! With Julia Sutherland and Sarah-May Philo Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £free

Adult Pantomime: Jack and the Beanstalk

Zoo Roxy, 21 Aug, £10

Comedy in the Dark

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 26 Aug, £free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 28-29 Aug, £free

As Drawn on FaceTube - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 22-25 Aug, £free

00:15 The New Conway Experience

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-30 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Late ‘n’ Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-29 Aug, £free

Late Night Irish Pick and Mick’s - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-29 Aug, £free

00:20 Midnight Laughzzz Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-29 Aug, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1730 Aug, £10 – £11.50

00:30

Disco in a Dungeon

Briefs

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-29 Aug, not 23, 24, 25, £8

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-30 Aug, not 17, 26, £10 – £12

Assembly George Square, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

00:45 Dr Ettrick-Hogg’s Late Night Manly Stand-Ups - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 16-29 Aug, £free

01:00 Late ‘n’ Live

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1630 Aug, £13 – £15

Hurt and Anderson: A Bit Sketchy Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 16-17 Aug, £free

Dave Baucutt - Good Guy Gone Bad Ass Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 18-27 Aug, £free

01:15 The Smiley Show - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 20-29 Aug, £free

Adventures in Comedy: Murder, Madness and Mayhem! - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-19 Aug, £free

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 83

theatrelistings 09:15 ‘New York’ by David Rimmer Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Just Before Sleep

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

The Trek Electric

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

10:15 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Suddenly Shakespeare

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

10:20 Travelers: A Comedy with Music

09:30

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Check, Please!

10:30

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

10:00 ❤ The Dark Philosophers HHHHH

Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

Us and Them

Quaker Meeting House, 23-24 Aug, £free

Shakespeare for Breakfast

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

❤ The Wheel HHHH Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Timothy HHH

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £6.50

Alice in Wonderland

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Futureproof

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

The Big Bite Size Breakfast

Pleasance Dome, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £10

The Golden Dragon HHH

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £15 – £17

We See Fireworks

Museum of Edinburgh, 22 Aug, £free

Tearoom

Lauriston Hall, 22-28 Aug, £15

Blood and Roses

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, 28 Aug, £11 – £17

Two by Jim Cartwright

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-19 Aug, £7.50

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, £15

Death of a Salesman Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, 27 Aug, £15 – £17

Wondrous Flitting HHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, £15 – £17

10:45 Creditors

theSpaces on North Bridge, 25 Aug, £6

Odd Man Out

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9

Hotel Methuselah

St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, £12 – £15

Summerhall, 22-26 Aug, £12

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson

The Torture Show

Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, £11

Medea’s Children

St George’s West, 18-29 Aug, not 23, 24, £8

Romeo and Juliet

theSpace @ Venue45, 26-27 Aug, £free

The Simple Things in Life

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 1927 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

theSpaces on North Bridge, 26 Aug, £6

10:50 The Moon Under the Water theSpace on Niddry St, 16-18 Aug, £5

11:00 Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 16-26 Aug, not 20, 21, 22, £10

84 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Tales From the Vienna Woods

theSpace on Niddry St, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, £5

The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol

11:15 ‘New York’ by David Rimmer Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

theSpace on Niddry St, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £5

Just Before Sleep

101

The Trek Electric

Alice in Cha

11:20

C venues - C soco, 16-21 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50 theSpaces on North Bridge, 27 Aug, £5

Kitty Litter

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £8

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Dinner with the Dinner Ladies

C venues - C soco, 16-20 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Belleville Rendezvous

Bedlam Theatre, 16-20 Aug, £8

Mary Blandy’s Gallows Tree

Sweet Grassmarket, 1621 Aug, £7

11:05 Story Shakespeare: Love’s Labour’s Lost C venues - C too, 16-20 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Malfi

Bedlam Theatre, 22-27 Aug, £8

11:10

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5 Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Emergence HHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £8.50 – £9

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Alice in Wonderland and Other Adventures With Lewis Carroll New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £free – £8

Andrea’s Got Two Boyfriends

Greenside, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Alma Mater

Invisible Show II

11:25

Even in Edinburgh/ Glasgow

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Agamemnon by Steven Berkoff

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £8

The End

Pleasance Courtyard, 2227 Aug, £9 – £10

11:30 Nostalgia for Reality theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £7

Please Patricia

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 25-26 Aug, £7

Masterclass - The Edinburgh Sessions Pleasance Courtyard, 16-19 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

Blood and Roses

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, £12 – £15

Sold

Fool’s Gold

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £8 – £9

The Trial: an Original Adaptation of the Novel by Franz Kafka of the Same Name

C Venues - C eca, 16-20 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 22-27 Aug, £7.50

Under the Departure Boards at Waverley Station, 20 Aug, £free

11:35 Poor Caroline

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-20 Aug, £7.50

11:40 After Miss Julie

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7.50

Lie Back and Think of America theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £8

The Star Child

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 17-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Street Dreams HHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £8.50 – £9

Aladdin

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £6

theatrelistings 11:45 Broken Wing

Venue 13, 17-20 Aug, £8

Llwyth (Tribe)

St George’s West, 20-28 Aug, £10

Lost in Mozart

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £7.50

Much Ado About Nothing

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £9

Alphonse by Wajdi Mouawad Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

The Diaries of Adam and Eve

Assembly George Square, 17-29 Aug, £12 – £13

11:50 Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

www.festmag.co.uk

First Light

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 23-29 Aug, £9.50

12:00 Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 16-26 Aug, not 20, 21, 22, £10

Pleasance Bytes

Pleasance Courtyard, 20 Aug, 27 Aug, £5

Show Me the World

Phillipa and Will Are Now in a Relationship

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £7 – £8

❤ Somewhere Beneath It All, A Small Fire Burns Still HHHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Who Killed the Counsellor?

Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 17-27 Aug, not 21, 26, £7

101

Exsomnia

C venues - C soco, 16-21 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The One Hour Plays Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Ethometric Museum

Hill Street Theatre, 19-28 Aug, £9

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Masses Man

C venues - C aquila, 16 Aug, £7.50

C venues - C soco, 16-27 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Mr Darwin’s Tree

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 16-21 Aug, £9.50

Pool (No Water)

Zoo Roxy, 21-29 Aug, £7

12:05 The Historians

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £10

The Undoing of Man theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6

12:10 The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley Pleasance Courtyard, 20-29 Aug, £10

The Simple Things in Life Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 1927 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

Bette and Joan - The Final Curtain

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 22, £12 – £13

The Crucible

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Julius Caesar - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 16-28 Aug, £free

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Rules for Drowning

Suddenly Shakespeare

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

Replaying Macbeth Paradise in The Vault, 23-27 Aug, £6

The Distant Near (Shakespeare and Bengal’s Bard)

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £5

If Walls Could Talk

C venues - C aquila, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Matilda and the Tales She Told HHH

Alma Mater

Hill Street Theatre, 16-18 Aug, £8

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 17-29 Aug, £8 – £9

❤ White Rabbit Red Rabbit HHHH

Magicians Do Exist

The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts HHH

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5 Pleasance Dome, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £9

12:15 ❤ Your Last Breath HHHH Pleasance Dome, 16-18 Aug, £9

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Me, Myself and Miss Gibbs

Hill Street Theatre, 19-29 Aug, £8

Secret Window, Secret Garden

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £12

12:20 Travelers: A Comedy with Music Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 85

theatrelistings How to Catch a Rabbit HHH

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £7

12:25 The Dreamcatchers Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, £5

The Overcoat HHH

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, £10 – £11

12:30 Paper Tom

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £8.50

Remember This

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £6

The Oh F**k Moment St George’s West, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Nostalgia for Reality theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £7

The Games

Zoo Roxy, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £10

Now is the Winter Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Rock ‘n’ Soul

C venues - C soco, 16-20 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Tales From the Vienna Woods

theSpace on Niddry St, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £5

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

❤ Federer Versus Murray HHHH

Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £13 – £14

Waiting For Alice

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £7 – £9

Futureproof

Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £17 – £19

12:35 The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol

theSpace on Niddry St, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, £5

I am the Dead - Free Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 16-28 Aug, not 21, £free

12:40

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £8 – £9

The Golden Dragon HHH

Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £15 – £17

One Under

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

The Proceedings of That Night

Pleasance Courtyard, 16 Aug, 17 Aug, 18 Aug, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, £6

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

The Observatory

Alma Mater

Fetch HHH

Greenside, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Still Life Dreaming

A Resounding Tinkle

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

A Visit From Miss Prothero

Italia ‘n’ Caledonia

Ships of Sand

C Venues - C eca, 16 Aug, 18 Aug, 20 Aug, £7.50

❤ Singing ‘I’m No a Billy, He’s a Tim’ HHHH

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £10

Chips on Shoulders

13:00

Zoo Roxy, 16-20 Aug, £7

The Girl Who Thought She Was Irish Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-24 Aug, not 22, £7 – £9

Hotel Methuselah Summerhall, 19-26 Aug, £12

Wondrous Flitting HHH

The Truth About Black Suburban Girls

Zoo, 16-20 Aug, £9

Black Slap HHH

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-20 Aug, £free

Lol

The Little Mermaid

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £9

The Dead!

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 23, £7.50 – £8.50

Unanswered, We Ride

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £10

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Fit for Purpose

Traverse Theatre, 28 Aug, £15

St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, £12 – £15

Blood and Roses

12:45

12:50 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £9

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

‘Tis I, Shakespeare the Brit

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Educate

theSpace on Niddry St, 16-18 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

12:55 The Bald Prima Donna

C Venues - C eca, 17 Aug, 19 Aug, £7.50

The Frequency D’ici & New Wolsey Theatre

Pleasance Courtyard 3 -‐ 28 Aug, 13.10 www.pleasance.co.uk thefrequencydici.co.uk

86 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £8

...In for a Pound

Sweet Grassmarket, 1629 Aug, £8

Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 16-26 Aug, not 20, 21, 22, £10

❤ The Dark Philosophers HHHHH

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH Hill Street Theatre, 21 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

101

C venues - C soco, 16-21 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

❤ Little Matter HHHH

Bedlam Chambers, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £9

Hammerpuzzle’s Measure for Measure Princes Mall, 16-25 Aug, £free

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Belarus Free Theatre Pleasance Courtyard, 22-29 Aug, £10

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

Valvona & Crolla, 16 Aug, 22 Aug, £12 Valvona & Crolla, 23-24 Aug, £12

The Magical Faraway Tree Just The Tonic at the Caves, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £4

Macbeth

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £10 – £12

Vivaldi and the Number 3

Valvona & Crolla, 21 Aug, £10

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

A Funny Valentine

Valvona & Crolla, 18 Aug, 19 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, 29 Aug, £12

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, £15

The Scotsman Best of the Fest Assembly George Square, 22 Aug, £12

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-19 Aug, £5

Pleasance Courtyard, 23-28 Aug, £8 – £9 Venue 13, 16-20 Aug, £6

13:05 PoeZest

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 16-20 Aug, £6

Chasing Dragons

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Generation 9/11: So Far / So Close theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7

13:10 The Yellow Wallpaper

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £8

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Bond, James Bond

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

❤ One Thousand Paper Cranes HHHH

The Translator’s Dilemma

Assembly George Square, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £10

❤ The Wheel HHHH

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £free – £12

Princes Mall, 19-27 Aug, £free Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

Laundry Boy

Miss Julie

Free Time Radical Pleasance Courtyard, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £10 – £12

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

13:15

Drift

Eunuchs in My Wardrobe

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £10 – £11

theatrelistings Nobody’s Home: A Modern Odyssey Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £9 – £10

Richard Parker

C venues - C soco, 21-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Outside

C venues - C soco, 16-20 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Commencement

C venues - C, 16-20 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Cusp

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 21-28 Aug, £free

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson Traverse Theatre, 24 Aug, £15

Just Before Sleep

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Kafka’s Metamorphosis as Performed by the Actors of the Nowy Teatr Kameralny Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Those Magnificent Men Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £11 – £12

Anyone For A Witch Hunt? - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-20 Aug, £free

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup Gilded Balloon Teviot, 17-29 Aug, £9 – £10

The Trek Electric

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Look / Alive

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-20 Aug, £4.50

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

A Midlife Crisis: Live!

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 16-28 Aug, £8

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, £15

13:20 You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Oedipus by Steven Berkoff (After Sophocles) HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £16 – £17.50

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

The Dante Sisters and the Dare Club

Paradise in Augustine’s, 23-27 Aug, £7

13:30 Love Song

C venues - C soco, 16-20 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Pip Utton is Charles Dickens

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £9 – £10

Ethometric Museum

Hill Street Theatre, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9

Musical Much Ado

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £7

Blood and Roses

St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, £12 – £15

The Dick and the Rose

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

The Trial: an Original Adaptation of the Novel by Franz Kafka of the Same Name Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

In Confidence

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, £9

The Wright Brothers Pleasance Courtyard, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £10 – £11

Waterproof HHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1729 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

13:35 ❤ The Girl With the Iron Claws HHHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, £8.50 – £10

Breathing Water

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £10

AGM

The Bongo Club, 22-27 Aug, £10

Zoo Southside, 16-29 Aug, not 21, 28, £8

From My Sleep with Horror

Paradise in The Vault, 1627 Aug, not 22, £8

Lost in Mozart

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £8.50

Whistle HHH

Zoo, 16-29 Aug, not 25, £7.50

13:50 Snap.Catch.Slam HHH

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 21 Aug, £10-28

MonologueSlam - The Ultimate Actors’ Showcase! theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 26 Aug, £10

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH Hill Street Theatre, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £15

Wee Andy HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, Various dates from 17 Aug to 28 Aug, £9 – £10

Teddy and Topsy - Isadora Duncan’s Love Letters to Gordon Craig

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £11

Rachael’s Cafe

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-28 Aug, £free

Posthumous Works

Danish Institute, 20 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Dusk Rings a Bell

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £11 – £12

King of Scotland

Assembly Hall, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12

Lights, Camera, Walkies

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-28 Aug, not 23, £9.50 – £10.50

Voices

Partially Mouse - Free

I, the Dictator

13:40

After the End

You Once Said Yes

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

You Once Said Yes

Anton’s Uncles HHH

Splendid Isolation

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £9

Definitely-NotEveryman

Howling Moon

The Spectacular Tales of Grinburrell

theSpace on Niddry St, 16-18 Aug, £5

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9.50

Chaos

Release

Sweet Grassmarket, 1620 Aug, £8

Unanswered, We Ride

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £9

Eyes Wide Open

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 24-25 Aug, £5

Terezin: Children of the Holocaust HH theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £8

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Happiness

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £9.50

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 16-19 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £11

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Grim(m) Tales of the Woods - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 20-28 Aug, £free

Alma Mater

13:55

Gaksi, Mago

❤ Real Men Dream in Black and White HHHH

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £10

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 18-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10

New Town Theatre, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £8 – £9

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Institut français d’Ecosse, 16-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

Alma Mater

14:00 One Thousand and One Nights Part 1

❤ Fleeto HHHH

The Pretender

Sailing On

Grisly Tales From Tumblewater

Aladdin

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-21 Aug, £7

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £10 – £11

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £6.50 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6

New Town Theatre, 1628 Aug, £10 – £12

Greenside, 16-20 Aug, £5

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Various dates from 21 Aug to 3 Sep, £10

The Watchers

Leave Hitler to Me Lad

Al Bowlly’s Croon Manifesto

A Preoccupation With Romance

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7

Check, Please!

Wondrous Flitting HHH

www.festmag.co.uk

Minute After Midday

13:45

Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £15 – £17

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Zoo Roxy, 17-29 Aug, £9

Riot

Coffin Up

Pleasance Courtyard, Various dates from 16 Aug to 29 Aug, £9 – £10

The Firebird

Fairmilehead Parish Church Hall, 16-20 Aug, £6

I Hope My Heart Goes First HHH St George’s West, 16 Aug, £10

Pleasance Courtyard, 17-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Invisible Show II

Pleasance Courtyard, 21-27 Aug, £7.50

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Simon Callow in Tuesday at Tescos HH Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £17.50 – £20

Swamp Juice

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 18, £9 – £10

The Split Second

C venues - C aquila, 22-27 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

14:05 Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £12 – £14

C venues - C too, 16-20 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

‘Tis in My Memory Locked: an adaptation of Hamlet

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Principal Parts

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Skittles

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9 – £10

The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £7

Generation 9/11: So Far / So Close theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

14:10 You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Click

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7

Heartbreak

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 24-25 Aug, £6

The Secret of Monkey Island

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-23 Aug, £6

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 87

theatrelistings

Assembly George Square, 17-29 Aug, £12 – £14

14:15 Three of Hearts

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

A Midsummer Night’s Dream theSpace on Niddry St, 22-27 Aug, £8

The Screwtape Letters

Palmerston Place Church, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Cry of the Mountain Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, £7 – £8

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £8

14:20 You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Travelers: A Comedy with Music Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

M House

Sweet Grassmarket, 2426 Aug, £7

❤ Mad About the Boy HHHH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1729 Aug, £9 – £10

The Simple Things in Life

Meow Meow

The Hub, 17-18 Aug, £6

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 21 Aug, £10

HR’d Day’s Night - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-20 Aug, £free

It Takes Four to Tango with Panto

BAC at Summerhall

Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £free

The Long Road

Voices

Alma Mater

Fragments of Ash

Nuclear Family

Another Macbeth

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Quaker Meeting House, 16-20 Aug, £8

Oedipus: a Love Story HHH C venues - C soco, 16 Aug, £9.50

rogerandtom

C venues - C too, 21-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Box - Free!

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 27-28 Aug, £free

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Pathos, Wholesale

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £11 – £12

14:25 Bashir Lazhar

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £11 – £12

The Dreamcatchers Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

14:30 Glasgow GirlsPachamama Productions

The Hub, 25-26 Aug, £6

Motortown

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50

Bawbees and Ducats or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Piazza by Alan Richardson St Serf’s Church Hall, 20 Aug, £9

Zoo Southside, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £10 – £11

14:50 The Last Days of Gilda

14:40

New Town Theatre, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £free – £11

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

Politically Incorrect - Free

The Dumb Waiter

Go to Your God Like a Soldier

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Opposition

The Infant HHH

Jamie Blake

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £10

Blood and Roses

Zoo Roxy, Various dates from 17 Aug to 29 Aug, £9.50

A Machine To See With

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £8

Paradise in The Vault, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9.50

St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, £12 – £15

Summerhall, 19-26 Aug, £12

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £free

Time for the Good Looking Boy

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, £9 – £10

You Once Said Yes

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

A3 OPTION 1

Princes Mall, 16-20 Aug, £free

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Venue 13, 21-27 Aug, £8

Hotel Methuselah

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

88 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

theSpace on Niddry St, 16-18 Aug, £5

Batman! Holy Spoof Musical Batstravaganza!

Paradise in Augustine’s, 23-29 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

14:55

Greenside, 16-20 Aug, £7.50

Noh No Noh

Banter Into Bed

Four For Jericho

Be My Baby

14:35

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Pleasance Courtyard, 18-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £10 – £11

Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £free

Alma Mater

Hotel De L’avenir

Venue 13, 17-20 Aug, £8

Hannah Ringham’s Free Show (Bring Money)

Zoo Roxy, Various dates from 16 Aug to 28 Aug, £10

Quaker Meeting House, 22-27 Aug, £6

Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £8.50 – £9.50

Dr Apple’s Last Lecture HH

Bouncers Remix

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo

The Chippit Chantie

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 1927 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

The Crucible

14:45

St Ninian’s Hall, 20 Aug, £10

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 1627 Aug, not 22, £free

Assembly George Square, 22-27 Aug, £9 – £10

Moll Flanders

You Once Said Yes

Are You Happy Now? - Free

Letting Go

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

St Peter’s, 20 Aug, £10

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 17-29 Aug, £15

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £5

A Machine To See With

Zambezi Express

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, £12 – £14

Frozen Stills

St Peter’s, 27 Aug, £10

The Duchess of Malfi theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £7

Inbetween

C venues - C aquila, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The World Holds Everyone Apart, Apart From Us

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10

❤ Spent HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 23, £9 – £9.50

15:00 Debris

Zoo Roxy, Various dates from 17 Aug to 29 Aug, £8

Encounters: Theatre Uncut Traverse Theatre, 22 Aug, £10

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 16 Aug, 20 Aug, £10-28

Untouchable Voices Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 20-21 Aug, £7.50

www.thespaceuk.com

Penny Dreadful’s Etherdome

Suddenly Shakespeare

on North Bridge (V36)

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 26-27 Aug, £6

VISIBLE AREA 297mm (w) x 373mm (h)

Romance with a Double Bass

theatrelistings Gutter Junky

Assembly Hall, 16-28 Aug, £9

Julian Sands in a Celebration of Harold Pinter HH

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Ruskin Live!

If That’s All There Is?

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart

Valvona & Crolla, 20 Aug, £12

Pleasance Courtyard, 1621 Aug, £12.50 – £15

Pleasance Courtyard, Various dates from 23 Aug to 29 Aug, £12

May I Have the Pleasure...?

Summerhall, 20 Aug, £5

Traverse @ The Point Hotel Conference Centre, 18 Aug, £17

The Station: Fourstones

Zoo, 16-29 Aug, not 23, £9

Tearoom

Lauriston Hall, 22-28 Aug, £15

Ethometric Museum

Hill Street Theatre, 19-28 Aug, £9

4.3 Miles From Nowhere Zoo, 17-29 Aug, £8 – £10

Constantinople

Electric Circus, 20 Aug, 27 Aug, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

Singapore Turandot

New Town Theatre, 16-27 Aug, not 17, £12 – £13

Vivaldi and the Number 3

Valvona & Crolla, 23 Aug, 26 Aug, £10

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

The Matchmaker

Scottish Storytelling Centre, 22-29 Aug, £9

Little Sparrow

Greenside, 16-20 Aug, £free

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Scottish National Gallery, 16 Aug, 18 Aug, 19 Aug, £10

15:10 Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

To Hold an Apple

Traverse @ Ghillie Dhu, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £15

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1627 Aug, not 21, £8

Stacy

Eight

Zoo Roxy, Various dates from 16 Aug to 28 Aug, £8

Zanzibar Cats by Heathcote Williams

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £11 – £12

15:05 Cigarettes and Chocolate

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £6.50

Fameless

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

To Have and to Hold

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £7

The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £7

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £8

Kafka’s Metamorphosis as Performed by the Actors of the Nowy Teatr Kameralny Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, £5

Babbling Comedy 2

C venues - C, 17-28 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

❤ Cul-De-Sac HHHH

15:15

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, not 22, £10

The Golden Dragon HHH

A Machine To See With

Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, £15

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Caligula

PCUK - A Midsummer Night’s Remix

C venues - C, 16-20 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

‘New York’ by David Rimmer Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea HHH St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £10 – £12

Fear and Misery of the Third Reich

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

theSpace @ Venue45, 16-20 Aug, £7

Taketh Me Away

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

15:20 Thirty Two Teeth

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Lullabies of Broadmoor - Venus at Broadmoor C venues - C, 27 Aug, £10.50

Sideshow

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Tempest

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-27 Aug, £7.50

15:25 Body of Water

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

The Ducks

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £9 – £10

Myrtle Chops

Paradise in The Vault, 23-29 Aug, £5

15:30 Blonde Compassion

Princes Mall, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 22, £free

The Golden Dragon HHH Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 89

theatrelistings Tea with Queenie

Greenside, 16-27 Aug, not 21, 22, £6.50

Lethal Injection

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Blood and Roses

St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, £12 – £15

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson Traverse Theatre, 28 Aug, £15

The Trial: an Original Adaptation of the Novel by Franz Kafka of the Same Name Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Welcome to the Kerryman

Princes Mall, 18-27 Aug, £free

Check, Please!

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

❤ Dust HHHH

15:35 Black Mirrors

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

15:40 ❤ Translunar Paradise HHHHH Pleasance Dome, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £9.50 – £10

Of Sound Mind

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1629 Aug, £10 – £12

❤ Silken Veils HHHH Assembly George Square, 17-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Macbeth

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-21 Aug, £8

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Life Still

Pleasance Courtyard, 1729 Aug, £9 – £10

Fantasmagoriana

C venues - C aquila, 17-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Wives of War

theSpace @ Venue45, 22-27 Aug, £8

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £11 – £13

15:45

❤ Darkness HHHH

Wondrous Flitting HHH

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £10

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

Wireless Mystery Theatre Presents...

Globe, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

❤ Ten Plagues HHHH

Traverse Theatre, Various dates from 16 Aug to 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £15 – £17

Shylock HHH

Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £12.50 – £14

One Night Stan

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £11 – £12

Caruso and the Monkey House Trial

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £9 – £11

Fire and the Rose

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 16-28 Aug, £free

The Little Prince

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Ink

Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 1729 Aug, not 22, £free

Adolf

St George’s West, 17 Aug, 24 Aug, £12.50

David Lee Nelson...

Status Update

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 17-28 Aug, not 22, £free

I, Malvolio

16:00 Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

Chekhov Shorts

Duddingston Kirk Manse Garden, 16-20 Aug, £8

Force Quit

The Bongo Club, 16 Aug, £7

Just Good Friends

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, £8

Love

St John’s Church, 19 Aug, £10

Request Programme

Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, £15

Inlingua Edinburgh, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, £12

A Machine To See With

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson

Beef

Ed Reardon: A Writer’s Burden HH

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12 C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 24 Aug, £15

Traverse Theatre, 25 Aug, £15

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, £10 – £12

The Simple Things in Life

15:50

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 1927 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

Playing Cards and Cigarettes

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

theSpace on Niddry St, 16-18 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

Institut français d’Ecosse, 16-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Alma Mater

15:55

The Curse of Macbeth

❤ My Filthy Hunt HHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Samira

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5 The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 16-29 Aug, £10.50

Killing Bill Gates - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 17-28 Aug, not 22, 23, £free

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Nine Suitcases

Venue 13, 21-27 Aug, £8

❤ Orlando HHHHH

St George's West, 1629 Aug, not 17, 24, £9 – £12

This Twisted Tale HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, £12

❤ An Instinct for Kindness HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10

Celebration

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 16-29 Aug, £12

Alma Mater

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Sleeping Beauty

Pleasance Courtyard, 18-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, £17

Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £14

❤ Ten Plagues HHHH

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

16:05

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5 theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7.50

❤ Bones HHHHH

Zoo, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £9

The Captain of Köpenick

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £10

16:15 A Midsummer Night’s Dream Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, £5

❤ Dream Pill HHHH

Traumatikon

Be Prepared

The Crucible

Pulse

Sailing On

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Greenside, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7.50 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £8.50

Henna Night

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7.50

16:10 Cautionary Tales

Paradise in The Vault, 1629 Aug, not 22, £7

LULLABIES OF BROADMOOR A Broadmoor Quartet

FOUR PLAYS BY STEVE HENNESSY DIRECTED BY CHRIS LOVELESS

90 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

The Animals and Children Took to the Streets

Summerhall, 16-20 Aug, £9 Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5 New Town Theatre, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £8 – £9

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Phys Ed HHH

Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £10

theatrelistings ❤ Ten Plagues HHHH

Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

16:20 Slavery to Star Trek C Venues - C eca, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

16:25 Clockheart Boy

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

The Dreamcatchers Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

I See Simon

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, £7

16:30

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Waterloo

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £free – £10

What It Feels Like

C venues - C too, 16-21 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Yours, Isabel

Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides, 16-19 Aug, £8

The Alchemystorium Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £8

Recursion

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Stand Up and Be Counted

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £6

Ethometric Museum

Hill Street Theatre, 19-28 Aug, £9

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Casablanca: The Gin Joint Cut Pleasance Courtyard, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £11 – £15

Invisible Show II

Pleasance Courtyard, 21-27 Aug, £7.50

An Imaginary History of Tango

C venues - C aquila, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The First Day of My Life

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

17 Things

Paradise in The Vault, 1629 Aug, not 22, £5

C venues - C too, 22-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

16:40

17:00

Young Pretender HHH

Allotment

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9.50 – £10.50

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

The F Word

LodeSTAR

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £10

2401 Objects HHH

Act Before You Think

16:55

Pleasance Courtyard, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £10 – £12

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

16:45 Haverfordwest

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

The Fall of the House of Usher theSpace @ Venue45, 23-27 Aug, £8

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

The Mourning Party

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

St George’s West, 16-18 Aug, £9

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 18 Aug, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, £10-28

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH Hill Street Theatre, 21 Aug, 22 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

Repent / Words

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 20-28 Aug, £free

Soldier and Death

Princes Mall, 21-27 Aug, £free

Bepo & Co

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame HH

16:50

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1729 Aug, £10 – £12

Alma Mater

The Prodigals

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

1745 174 45

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1629 Aug, £12.50 – £15

The Gospel of Matthew

Venue150 @ EICC, 22 Aug, £11.50

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Uglies Do Edinburgh

Mildred McManus for World Minister theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £8

The Red Dress

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 16-20 Aug, £6

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-29 Aug, not 21, £10

Alma Mater

A Day in November

Application for Life

Zoo Southside, 16-29 Aug, £8.50

Like a Virgin

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16 Aug, £12

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Posthumous Works Danish Institute, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £8 – £10

Brotherly Love - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £free

Shopping and F***ing Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £10

17:05 Kafka and Son HHH

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £10 – £11

Multiple Choice

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

Ophelia

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

17:10 Excess Baggage

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £8

What Are Little Boys Made of? theSpace @ Venue45, 16-20 Aug, £5

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5 theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 22-27 Aug, £7

Snow White: The Way Through the Woods

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-21 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 18-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

Colour Me Happy

Zoo, 16-27 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

17:15 Donna Disco HHH

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £9

Lost Orders

Sweet Grassmarket, 1620 Aug, £9

Perffection

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, £8

Tempus Incognit

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £10

‘New York’ by David Rimmer

Kafka’s Metamorphosis as Performed by the Actors of the Nowy Teatr Kameralny Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Helmsman Pete: Postcards From The Edge Of The World!

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

The Trek Electric

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

The Rape of Lucrece Zoo Southside, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £9

Rain HHH

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

The School of Night Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-18 Aug, £10

17:20 Midnight Your Time performed by Diana Quick HH

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £15

❤ Bane 1, 2 and 3 HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, £10

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down

Greenside, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

17:25

Just Before Sleep

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 16-19 Aug, £free

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Counting Syllables

FRINGE FIRST WINNERS 2009 IRON SHOES in association with the National Theatre Studio & ScenePool

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August 220 0th 2011.

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August A ugust 5th – August

MAD ABOUT THE BOY

by Gbolahan Obisesan

Underbelly Dairy Room 2:20pm

6.05 p.m. – 6.55 p.m.

www.festmag.co.uk

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 91

theatrelistings Kalagora HH

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50

Are There More of You?

C venues - C aquila, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

❤ Rose (starring Keira and Art Malik) HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 17-29 Aug, £13.50 – £14.50

Trog and Clay (an imagined history of the electric chair) C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Now That She’s Gone HH

Assembly Hall, 16-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Jus’ Like That!

Assembly Hall, 16-29 Aug, £14 – £15

❤ John Peel’s Shed

by John Osborne HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

Berkoff’s Graft – Tales of an Actor Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, £11.50

Berkoff’s Hell

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 24 Aug, £9

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Valvona & Crolla, 26-27 Aug, £12

Bosom Buddies

Dostoevsky’s ‘Dream of a Ridiculous Man’

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £8.50

A Machine To See With

17:30

❤ Thirsty HHHH

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 26 Aug, £10

The Toll

Ships of Sand

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Oh F**k Moment

Check, Please!

Vivaldi and the Number 3

Venue 13, 21-27 Aug, £6 St George’s West, 16-27 Aug, not 17, 24, 25, 26, £10

The Moment I Saw You I Knew I Could Love You Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £12

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

17:35 Superbard and the Sexy Quantum Stories

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Agnes of God

Paradise in The Vault, 1629 Aug, not 22, £6

17:40

Bosom Buddies HH

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Hill Street Theatre, 16 Aug, £8.50

Fragments of Ash Venue 13, 16-20 Aug, £8

A Hero Of Our Time Zoo, 16-29 Aug, £8

Roll Out the Beryl

Hill Street Theatre, 17-28 Aug, £9

Hamlet House of Horror HHH

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 16-29 Aug, £10.50

Alma Mater

17:45 ❤ The Dark Philosophers HHHHH

Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £17 – £19

The Man Who Was Hamlet

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 27 Aug, £11.50

Valvona & Crolla, 19 Aug, £10

Kaddish for Pinter HH

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Belt Up’s Twenty Minutes to Nine HHH C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Futureproof

Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

17:50 The Tragedy of Titus

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

The Questionnaire

theSpace on Niddry St, 22-27 Aug, £8 – £9

17:55 Blood Brothers

C venues - C too, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

18:00 ❤ The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik HHHH Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £10 – £12.50

Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

The Golden Dragon HHH

Home to the biggest names in comedy

5-29 Aug, 11.15pm ‘til late Hawke & Hunter Green Room: 12 Picardy Place www.edinburghplayhouse.org.uk for details & daily line-up

92 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

The 2 Sides of Eddie Ramone theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £5

Devil in the Detail

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £12

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Criminy

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £5

Satellites

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £8

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

Double Act

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

18:15 The 39 Steps

Your Lounge, 16-29 Aug, £free

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Pip Utton is the Hunchback of Notre Dame

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Peep Show

Conference of Strange

You Wouldn’t Know Him, He Lives in Texas

The Crucible

Hill Street Theatre, 17-27 Aug, not 21, 22, 23, £12.50 – £15

Princes Mall, 17-27 Aug, not 23, £free

David Leddy’s ‘Untitled Love Story’ HH St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £15 – £17

Love

St John’s Church, 17-18 Aug, £10

Request Programme

Ethometric Museum

produced by

18:10

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH

Wrens

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

Alma Mater

Paradise in The Vault, 1628 Aug, not 22, £8

The Royal Scots Club, 16-20 Aug, £10

theSpace on Niddry St, 16-20 Aug, £7

/++ 38 $

The Great Goddess Bazaar

Institut français d’Ecosse, 16-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

The Lounge Room Confabulators HHH

Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

Inlingua Edinburgh, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, £12

Sweet Grassmarket, 1628 Aug, not 17, £9

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Hill Street Theatre, 19-28 Aug, £9

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £free – £10

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

Wondrous Flitting HHH Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, £15

18:05 1745 - The Last Hopeful Epistle of Bonnie Prince Charlie theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £8

The Life and Times of Albert Lymes - Free Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 16-19 Aug, £free

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7 Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Doris Day Can F**k Off HHH Zoo Southside, 17-29 Aug, £9

Kitty Litter

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £8

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 24 Aug, £15

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Suddenly Shakespeare

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

theatrelistings The Tour Guide HHH

The Tour Guide Departing from Market Street, 1628 Aug, not 22, £free

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, £17

Wondrous Flitting HHH Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

Theseus is Dead

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

18:20 Travelers: A Comedy with Music Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

Free Run HHH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 17-29 Aug, not 22, £15 – £17

Rathmore’s Whippet C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 18-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

18:25 Liberace: Live From Heaven

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, £13 – £14

18:30 ❤ What Remains HHHHH

Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £17 – £19

www.festmag.co.uk

The Voyage of St Brendan: A Postmodern Retelling Through a Mosaic of Mediums St John’s Church, 20 Aug, £5

Sticks, Stones, Broken Bones

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 16 Aug, £11

BAC at Summerhall Summerhall, 21 Aug, £free

Dostoevsky’s ‘Dream of a Ridiculous Man’

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 24 Aug, £10

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson Traverse Theatre, 26 Aug, £17

Medea

Assembly George Square, 16-29 Aug, £12 – £13

One Fine Day

Zoo Roxy, 16-28 Aug, not 21, £8.50

Totty Galore and the Expanding Suitcase Quaker Meeting House, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Tomboy Blues – The Theory of Disappointment Zoo Southside, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

Viewless

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £9

❤ The Wheel HHHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 21 Aug, £15

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 25 Aug, £15

18:35

A Machine To See With

Encounters: Theatre Uncut

Chamber Music

Faust/us

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12 theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £7.50

Othello

Death Song HH

Zoo Roxy, 16-20 Aug, £8

Shakespeare Bingo: Titus!

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1628 Aug, £10 – £11

theSpace @ Venue45, 16-20 Aug, £7

18:40 How Desperate Can it Get?

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 26-27 Aug, £7.50

Love Songs for a Timewaster

18:50 Naive Dance Masterclass

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

The Trials of Galileo

C venues - C aquila, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Scottish Sperm

Berkoff’s Hell

Stockholm

Alma Mater

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1627 Aug, not 21, £4 Whitespace, 17-20 Aug, £9

Wonder Bread

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-20 Aug, £8

Alma Mater

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £5

Mr Kolpert

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

18:45 Third Person: Bonnie and Clyde Redux Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 22-27 Aug, £9

❤ Cutting the Cord HHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1627 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 26 Aug, £9 St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, £5

18:55 Bluebeard: A Fairy Tale for Adults

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1728 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Room of Unlimited Possibilities theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £8

19:00 One Thousand and One Nights Part 1 Royal Lyceum Theatre, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 30 Aug, £10

One Thousand and One Nights Part 2

Royal Lyceum Theatre, 21 Aug - 3 Sep, not 22 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 29 Aug, 30 Aug, £10

Traverse Theatre, 22 Aug, £10

Sweet Grassmarket, 2228 Aug, £9

Mystery and Murder on the Menu at The Scottish Cafe

The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant , 16 Aug, 22 Aug, 23 Aug, £39

❤ Little Matter HHHH

Bedlam Chambers, 16-28 Aug, £9

The Kidnapper’s Guide Zoo, 16 Aug, £7.50

Petrol Jesus Nightmare No.5 (In the Time of the Messiah)

Metropolitain Bar, 16-17 Aug, £7

19:05 The Nose

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

The Questionnaire

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £8 – £9

Woof! A Werepunk

Zoo, 16-29 Aug, £7.50

19:10 An Audience With Shurl

Robert Burns: Not in My Name

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £6

Imaginarium

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £5

National Library of Scotland, 24-28 Aug, £8 Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 28-29 Aug, £7

Subsist

Sweet Grassmarket, 1621 Aug, £9

Yellow Moon: The Ballad of Leila and Lee

C venues - C soco, 17-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Jane Austen invites...

Royal Over-Seas League, 26-27 Aug, £10

Flesh Eating Tiger

Venue 13, 17-20 Aug, £8

Abbi Patrix and Linda Edsjö: A Concert of Stories Scottish Storytelling Centre, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £8

Livewire Theatre’s Peter Pan

Look Back in Anger

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

The Carroll Myth

Sweet Grassmarket, 1628 Aug, £10

19:15 The Screwtape Letters

Palmerston Place Church, 22-26 Aug, £10

A Clockwork Orange HHH

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

VOICES

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £11 – £13

Handling Bach

Rosslyn Chapel, 20 Aug, £30

Pushing Up Poppies

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, £10

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 93

theatrelistings 19:20 The World According to Bertie HH C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Devotion

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £10

At the Sans Hotel

Assembly Hall, 16-28 Aug, £10 – £11

eXclusion

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £8 – £9.50

19:30 The Tempest

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 16 Aug, £10

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 20-24 Aug, £10

Unnatural Selection theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8.50

The Cherry Orchard

Duddingston Kirk Manse Garden, 17-28 Aug, not 22, 23, £10

Cutting the Cord

The Tom Fleming Centre, 16 Aug, 18 Aug, £7

Request Programme

Inlingua Edinburgh, 1626 Aug, not 20, 21, 22, £10 – £12

Bawbees and Ducats or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Piazza by Alan Richardson St Serf’s Church Hall, 16-19 Aug, £9

Diamond Dick

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour

Outside the Beehive Inn, 16 Aug - 4 Sep, £10

The Perils of Love and Gravity HHH

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £8

The Secretary Bird

Doors Close, They Never Lock

The Tom Fleming Centre, 17 Aug, £8

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 18-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

Handling Bach

Rosslyn Chapel, 16-19 Aug, £12

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £5

The Tempest

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Tonight Sandy Grierson Will Lecture, Dance and Box HHH

20:00

The Banshee Labyrinth, 16-27 Aug, £free

The Chippit Chantie St Peter’s, 16-19 Aug, £10

Hannah Ringham’s Free Show (Bring Money)

Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £free

19:35 Sii Me

theSpace @ Venue45, 17 Aug, 19 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £5

When Abel Met Cain

Paradise in The Vault, 1628 Aug, not 22, £5

Golden Aged

theSpace @ Venue45, Various dates from 16 Aug to 27 Aug, £5

19:40 Perfectly Public

Zoo Southside, 21-27 Aug, £7

Radio Deluxembourg Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 16-29 Aug, £9.50

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Demon Box HHH

C venues - C, 27 Aug, £10.50

Moll Flanders

St Ninian’s Hall, 16-20 Aug, £10

19:45

May I Have the Pleasure...?

Antigone

C Venues - C eca, 16 Aug, £7.50

Hydronomicon

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £free – £12.50

It Takes Four to Tango with Panto

C venues - C, 16-25 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

The Zanniskinheads and the Quest for the Holy Balls

Cock and Bull Story

2011: A Space Oddity

Dinner

20:05

We Draupadi’s and Sitas

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £13

Murrayfield Parish Church Centre, 16-20 Aug, £10.50

St Peter’s, 24-27 Aug, £10

19:50

Zoo Roxy, 21-29 Aug, £6 – £12

Traverse @ The Point Hotel Conference Centre, 16-28 Aug, not 20, 25, 26, £12 – £19

Man to Man HHH

Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 1628 Aug, not 22, £10

King Lear

Royal Lyceum Theatre, 16 Aug, £10

Silence in Court

New Town Theatre, 1728 Aug, £free – £12.50

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 16 Aug, 18 Aug, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, £10-28

❤ What Remains HHHHH

Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £17 – £19

Le Cochon Entier

Zoo Roxy, 16-20 Aug, £7.50

Love

St John’s Church, 21 Aug, £10

The Man Who Was Hamlet

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £7

Samantha’s Hotline

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1627 Aug, not 21, £7

20:10 One Man and His Masks - Arthur: Britain’s Making

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, Various dates from 16 Aug to 27 Aug, £7

One Man and His Masks - Boudicca: Britain’s Dreaming

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 17 Aug, 19 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £7

You Will Be Rare HH Zoo, 16-29 Aug, £9

The Lift

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Livewire Theatre’s Frankenstein

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £5

Bash

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £8

Assembly George Square, 22 Aug, £11.50

20:15

Random

The Golden Dragon HHH

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Institut français d’Ecosse, 16-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

7 Day Drunk HHH

Assembly George Square, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £12

Jawbone Of An Ass

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £9

The Arrangement

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £15

You Wouldn’t Know Him, He Lives in Texas

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

94 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

Thugz N Tearz

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, £10

The Tour Guide HHH

The Tour Guide Departing from Market Street, 1628 Aug, not 22, £free

Antony and Cleopatra Quaker Meeting House, 16-20 Aug, £10

20:20 Decadence

Sweet Grassmarket, 1621 Aug, £8

Wretch

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 22-29 Aug, £8

20:30 Coal Head, Toadstool Mouth and Other Stories theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £7

The Golden Dragon HHH Traverse Theatre, 24 Aug, £15

I Hope My Heart Goes First HHH St George’s West, 24 Aug, £10

❤ Leo HHHH

St George’s West, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £11 – £13.50

Belt Up’s Outland

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Elegy

Whitespace, 17-28 Aug, not 23, £10

Little Eyolf

Venue 13, 17-20 Aug, £8

Trainspotting

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 16-20 Aug, £8.50

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Valvona & Crolla, 23 Aug, £12

Italia ‘n’ Caledonia

Valvona & Crolla, 16 Aug, 18 Aug, 20 Aug, £12

The House of Yes The Royal Scots Club, 16-20 Aug, £10

On the Bench

C venues - C aquila, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

A Funny Valentine

Valvona & Crolla, 17 Aug, 24 Aug, £12

My Big Gay Italian Wedding

C venues - C, 16-22 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 28 Aug, £15

20:35 Manipulators

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 17-27 Aug, not 22, 23, £12

Phantasmagoria

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 18-29 Aug, £7

From the Dark Hills

theSpace @ Venue45, 17 Aug, 19 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £5

Put a Sock in It Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £8

Give the Fig a Roll

theSpace @ Venue45, Various dates from 16 Aug to 27 Aug, £5

20:40 3D Hamlet: A Lost Generation HH

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £10

The Gospel Of Matthew

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 27 Aug, £11.50

20:45 ❤ The Dark Philosophers HHHHH

Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Emblem: Spontaneous Thoughts on Perception Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 16-20 Aug, £free

Nourish

Paradise in The Vault, 23-28 Aug, £5

Female Hitchhiker: The Truth About Getting Around - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 16-29 Aug, £free

Roar HHH

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

❤ The Wheel HHHH Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £17 – £19

Futureproof

Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

20:50 Foursome

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7.50

20:55 Rosie Thorn, Butter Would Not Melt

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7 – £9

Ink

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

21:00 Bluebird

Bedlam Theatre, 22-27 Aug, £8

Confessions of a Mormon Boy HHH

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £8 – £10

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August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 95

theatrelistings Festive Season

Quaker Meeting House, 22-27 Aug, £5

The World According to Bertie HH C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson

Scary Gorgeous

Bedlam Theatre, 16-20 Aug, £10

The Lounge Room Confabulators HHH

❤ A Slow Air HHHH

Strip Search

Entitled

Devil in the Deck

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH

21:10

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Murder Club

Summerhall, 23-26 Aug, £10

Rockertinkler

Traverse Theatre, 16 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £15 – £17

The Investigation

Wondrous Flitting HHH

Zoo Southside, 16-29 Aug, not 21, £7.50

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £15 – £17

Lullabies of Broadmoor - Venus at Broadmoor C venues - C, 17 Aug, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

How the Money Goes

Your Lounge, 16-29 Aug, £free

Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £8

C Venues - C eca, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50 theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £7 – £8

Traverse Theatre, 17 Aug, £15

C venues - C, Various dates from 16 Aug to 27 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Dirt HHH

Traverse Theatre, 18 Aug, 23 Aug, £15

The Oh F**k Moment St George’s West, 25-26 Aug, £10

21:05 The Presentment

Paradise in Augustine’s, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £12

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £10 Zoo Roxy, 17-29 Aug, not 23, £10

21:25 Hex

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £8

21:30 Grim(m) Tales of the Woods - Free Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £free

Hitler Alone

Bash

theSpaces on the Mile , 16-20 Aug, £8

Livewire Theatre’s Salem

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £5

21:15 ❤ The Caroline Carter Show HHHH Zoo, 16-29 Aug, £10

Sherica

Paradise in The Vault, 1629 Aug, not 22, £10

Inlingua Edinburgh, 16-25 Aug, £12

❤ What Remains HHHHH

Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, 16-28 Aug, not 22, £17 – £19

Dances for Wolves

C venues - C aquila, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Und

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, not 22, £9.50 – £11.50

The Gospel of Matthew by Candlelight

My Best Friend Drowned in a Swimming Pool

St John’s Church, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £10

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Mojo

Twelve Men Good and True

Zoo, 16-25 Aug, £10

Witzelsucht and Moria

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £6

Zoo Roxy, 16-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Tonight Sandy Grierson Will Lecture, Dance and Box HHH

21:35 Single, Mother of Two

Assembly George Square, 22 Aug, £12

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Hood!

theSpace @ Venue45, 22-27 Aug, £8

21:40 Babushka

C venues - C aquila, 16-26 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Dry Ice

Underbelly, Cowgate, 16-28 Aug, not 17, £9 – £10.50

21:45 In Your Dreams

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £6 – £8

21:55 Rosie Thorn, Butter Would Not Melt

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £7 – £9

22:00 Drinking in America - Free

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 16-29 Aug, not 21, £free

lloon, Next to Gilded Ba re ua Bristo Sq

Savour delicious crêpes from

Wines, Ales & Spirits

A Feast for all the Family

The Best Medieval Pub in Edinburgh

Spicy Fayre from

Succulent Meat, Burgers and Wraps from

The Sims Experience

Half_FestMag02_08.indd 1

96 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

and win prizes

02/08/2011 12:25:48

theatrelistings The Table

Pleasance Dome, 16-28 Aug, £12 – £14

22:05 Peep Show

Greenside, 16-20 Aug, £7

Museum of Horror H theSpaces on the Mile , 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8

22:10 Flirt Fiction

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £10

Last Train to Wigan

C venues - C soco, 16-20 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

22:15 Philosophy in the Bedroom

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-27 Aug, not 21, £8 – £10

Titus Andronicus

C venues - C, 17-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

www.festmag.co.uk

The Bus Paradise in The Vault, 23-29 Aug, £8

Bouncers theSpace on Niddry St, 16-20 Aug, £10

Get Carter theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-27 Aug, not 21, 22, £10

Vive le Cabaret

Pleasance Courtyard, 1629 Aug, not 22, £12

52 Man Pickup

Hill Street Theatre, 16-29 Aug, not 17, 24, £8 – £10

Blood Moon

Paradise in The Vault, 1728 Aug, not 22, £7

To Do List

22:20

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £5

Lullabies of Broadmoor - Wilderness

22:35

C venues - C, Various dates from 16 Aug to 27 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Murder at Warrabah House

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Demon Box HHH

22:40

C venues - C, 17 Aug, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

22:30 Constantinople

Electric Circus, 16-29 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 16-20 Aug, £8

Flirt Fiction

theSpaces on North Bridge, 16-20 Aug, £10

22:45 Around the World on 80 Quid Pleasance Courtyard, 18-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Spielpalast Cabaret

Hill Street Theatre, 16-18 Aug, £8

What Goes Up

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Looser Women

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 16-29 Aug, not 17, £10 – £11

Tales from Edgar Allan Poe

C Venues - C eca, 16-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

22:50

Audience – Ontroerend Goed HH

St George’s West, 16-28 Aug, not 17, 24, £10 – £12

23:45 Hotel Medea Summerhall, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug,

23:00 When Women Wee

27 Aug, £29.50

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10.50

00:00

Debbie Does My Dad HHH

(g)Host City

Bedlam Theatre, 16-27 Aug, £8

www.virtualfestival.org, 17 Aug - 5 Sep, £free

Reservoir Dogs

theSpace @ Venue45, 16-20 Aug, £10

❤ Belt Up’s The Boy James HHHHH

C venues - C soco, 16-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

22:55 Love’s Labour’s Lost and Found C Venues - C eca, 17-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

23:15

The One Man Show HHH

The Forum

C venues - C, 17-30 Aug,

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1628 Aug, £9 – £10.50

£7.50 – £9.50

Sodom

Zoo, 16-29 Aug, £9

23:40 Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Murder Club

C venues - C, 21-22 Aug, £7.50

01:00 Lullabies of Broadmoor - Wilderness C venues - C, 22 Aug, £7.50

August 16-18 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 97

festafriend

Show mates

end— Fest has teamed up with festafri burgh Edin s help the handy website that s to see date or ds frien find oers ivalg fest pups on a shows with—to send two lucky thought… free night out. Here’s what they Photos: Claudine Quinn

Who hia Steiger (20) Jesse Jones (23) and Sop did they see?

What , ASANCE COURTYARD NATHAN CATON, PLE 16 8:15PM, 3–29 AUG, NOT

Sophia

Describe the show.

Standup comedy, a lot of it focused on the comedian being black.

Did you like your companion for the evening?

Yes, he was friendly and interesting to talk to.

Do you think he enjoyed the show?

Yes. Could you describe your companion’s laugh?

Very loud.

Did you enjoy the show?

Yes, made me laugh a lot! Not very original, but still very enjoyable.

Favourite joke/sketch?

The “your mum”-off with a nine-year-old girl.

What would be the best type of person to take to this show?

Someone not used to standup.

Your best (or worst!) ever festival experience?

Flyering in the pouring rain!

Seen any other shows you’d recommend at the Fringe?

Some Small Love Story, Matilda and the Tales She Told, The Star Child, Dave Gorman’s PowerPoint Presentation.

98 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 16-18

Jesse

Did you like your companion for the evening?

She was great; really down to earth and sweet.

Do you think she enjoyed the show?

Yes, she seemed to quite enjoy it

Could you describe your companion’s laugh?

Quiet!

Favourite bit?

The section that contained a lot of “your mum” jokes.

What would be the best type of person to take to this show?

A group of lads.

Did you enjoy the show?

Yes, I thought he was good – it’s a shame the audience was really small, but I found it really funny.

Your best ever festival experience?

Walking into completely the wrong show and being pleasantly surprised.

Seen any other shows you’d recommend at the Fringe?

The Seagull Effect, Dream Pill and The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik.

IT? H UP FORG A SHOW WIT T IN NEX E E E S H Y T C AN G IN IF YOU F , OR APPEARIN FRIEND.COM E TA SOMEON IGN UP AT FES ISSUE, S

www.festmag.co.uk

Making ideas happen rs r and resident Star Wa IdeasTap’s theatre edito ng uri po the the raining, robot Nell Frizzell loves no snoring… re’s the t tha t fac and the a Well, that boob-tube was the mistake. Not to mention ught sandals. Quite why I tho would two weeks in Edinburgh g be a sun-kissed stroll alon one’s heat-baked streets is any n more guess. In truth, it has bee de a like setting up camp insi noisy and bagpipe: damp, warm, t spitting. punctuated by frequen use, Which is just perfect. Beca all the when the rain comes out, usiastic interesting, creative and enth hub. You people rush into the IdeasTap ervatoire know the hub – it’s the cons wifi and of free drinks, free sofas, free arts profesfantastic free advice from inflatable sionals next to a big purple cow in Bristo Square. thinkNow, if you are reading this porridge ing, who in the name of salty flapping is this woman and what the let me tartan is she talking about, charity explain. IdeasTap is an arts ing and and website that gives fund le trying practical advice to young peop e, but fewer to “go pro”. Like Byker Grov a heck-load drooping moustaches and more cash. e Over at the IdeasTap hub we’v kshop had our Victorian magic wor uffling, interrupted by the wallet-sh e had wild-eyed Paul Daniels, we’v ns in the lovely RashDash Productio Monday for tea and tutoring and on telling 18 August we’re going to be ,000 for you lovely lot how to win £30 the Sky Arts your creative project with Ignition: Futures Fund.

That’s right – not content with h this funding 12 shows at Edinburg t 100 year alone, along with abou now, in projects every year, we are going to association with Sky Arts, tives from transform five young crea . So if you potentials to professionals big thing, think you could be the next come down and convince us. king.

Okay, I know what you’re thin me what Cut the shoptalk and just tell it is my huge to see at the festival. Well,

pleasure to recommend the IdeasTap star Sabrina Mahfouz’s show Dry Ice (pictured). This one-woman-of-a-hundred-accents-show is a zooming, witty, innovative and poetic look at the life of Nina, a young stripper living in a London limbo, directed by David Schwimmer (yes, I know, we call him Ross from Friends too). We have also hugely enjoyed The Bridge Theatre Project’s Show Me the World and were dazzled by psychic magician and comedian Peter Antoniou’s Comedium.

So there you have it; friends, funds, fans and free fun. Oh, and if you go on to IdeasTap right now, you can submit

Sabrina Mahfouz’s Dry Ice

your very own piece of Edinburgh creativity to our Editor’s Brief and earn yourself a tidy £250. So come along !

Spit spot!

For more information about Ideas Tap’s Edinburgh schedule, our courses and the shows we’re funding, visit www.ideastap.com/Edinburgh

Underbelly Productions in association with World Dance Management present

Best Fringe Performance 2010

3-­29 AUGUST productions