Fest 2011 Issue 4

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EE FR

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ED ACZEL IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

ISSUE 4: 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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THE STAND COMEDY CLUB

0131 558 7272 | thestand.co.uk

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

festcontents

Exhibit: A are quite a at dubiously—that there We've been told—somewh ory, we're the s thi t tes To ts. these par few creative types round rein to fill e fre m pects and giving the hauling in some prime sus this page as they see fit. itting his time a multitalented man, spl Alex Horne is a clearly rne Section of shows this Fringe. Ho between a whole heap s may just old yn e illustrator Ben Re bandmate and sometim d… min , ret sec at man’s have unearthed the gre E DOME PM, 17-28 AUG, PLEASANC S IN THE BATHROOM, 8.20 ALEX HORNE: SEVEN YEAR ARE SQU GE GEOR 21), ASSEMBLY 11PM, 17-27 AUG (NOT THE HORNE SECTION,

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

4 fest edinburgh edinburgh festival festivalguide guide2011 2011 | August 19-22

festcontents 8 FEATURES 8 Edward Aczel

The shuffling, SWOT analysis-loving “anti-comic” goes in search of fun

12 The biggest venue at the Fringe?

An audience of two million and upwards of 5,000 shows: we take a walk down Edinburgh’s boulevard of boundless dreams

16 An Instinct for Kindness

Chris Larner’s stunning, true tale of assisted suicide comes to the Fringe

19 COMEDY 20 David O'Doherty

The Irish Fringe fixture is back wielding his tiny keyboard and a whole new selection of beefs

23 Russell Kane

Edinburgh's reigning champion faces up to something of an identity crisis, but remains on top of his game

28 Conor O'Toole

This newcomer's esoteric tour of typography throws up something a little different

29 Tim FitzHigham

You can bet your grandmother these tales of outlandish gambling feats will deliver the goods

41 THEATRE 46 Belleville Rendez-vous

A loveable stage adaptation of Sylvain Chomet's Oscar-nominated Tour de France film

54 Belt Up's Outland

Excellent performances underpin this innovative take on Lewis Carroll's fatal illness

55 Titus Andronicus

Shakespeare's grisly play is a blood and sex infused Machiavellian delight

57 The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik

A clever mixture of animation, puppetry, live action and wetsuits make for a bittersweet tale of adventure

62 KIDS

62 Workshop wonderland

Hands-on fun and games for the littler ones

64 Press gang

Our crack team of kid critics give their verdicts

65 MUSIC

65 Fascinating Aïda

The legendary cabaret troupe spill the beans on their third decade in the business

71 BOOKS 71 Slow going

We catch up with a bunch of writers seeking solace outside of the rat race

72 LISTINGS

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

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August 19-22 | 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 n at least Face it: you're never go a bit of planning, you ca th wi t Bu er. off to ve festivals ha perfect day e fest team plan your th let ll, sti r tte Be st. see the be

Storytime CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS

Lunch at Forest Café 3 BRISTO PLACE

of kid-lit's There's free storytelling from some . Tickets are biggest names every day at 10:00 get there early available from the box office, but or they'll be snapped up

Café, grab Slide into the inimitable Forest and tick a bargain vegan/veggie light bite, s as off your favourite Fringe performer . Oh, and they stumble through the doors featuring they also have their own fringe, Hero artists like Bristol-based Action

13:30

10 :0 0

5 :1 2 1

Your Last Breath PLEASANCE DOME

16 :30

The Alchemystorium BEDLAM THEATRE Romance and coffee come together in this delightfully funny, impeccably performed hour of silent physical theatre from Gomito Productions

devised Curious Directive impress in this of exwork, based on the real-life story rvivor treme skiier and hypothermia-su Anna Bågenholm

6 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

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perfectday Le Gateau Chocolat ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE

22 :4 5

led with Le Gateau A powerful operatic voice, coup nce make the Chocolat's warm, funny stage prese a genuine pleasure to flamboyant cabaret performer watch

Smash the hunger pangs at an Edinburgh institution, synonymous with BYOB fine Indian dining, 2011-style

The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic UNDERBELLY

19 :45

WitTank JUST THE TONIC AT THE CAVES ring a Big, dumb sketch group fun featu quotable gaggle of ridiculous and highly characters

21 :15

Fill your face at Kushi's Dine r 23B WEST NICOLSON STREET

The darling of last year's Mebourne Fringe, Vachel Spirason promises a heartwarming and inventive hour of physical comedy

18 :15

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 7

THINGS TO DO IN

EDINBURGH WHEN YOU’RE

ED ACZEL Photos: Claudine Quinn

Sublimely shambolic, brow-beaten “anti-comic” Edward Aczel rarely seems to be having a good time. His 2011 Fringe show claims he doesn’t even exist. Time to cheer him up, reckons Stevie Martin

T

rd e favourite Edwa HIS YEAR, Fring al tiv fes h fift his for Aczel is returning ’s Doesn’t Exist. He zel Ac rd wa Ed with ts is Edward. He ge ys wa his in fairly set , potters ch lun s eat , TV tches d. up at midday, wa r and goes to be show, eats dinne It’s nt. around, does a ere diff le things are a litt Today though, foot of Arthur’s standing at the 10am and he is cause we’ve Be e. kit memade Seat flying a ho roy trousers, a du cor ted out in asked him to. Kit ns up wrong) ’s done the butto wonky jacket (he nic intensity, ma of on ssi pre ex and wearing an e, but it smacks up with said kit he attempts a run yells. After he !”

IVE “I FEEL AL activihim in the face. ndpicked “fun” ha of ies ser a this, through h, we attempt urg inb Ed d un ties and jollies aro ; and prove he to Aczel’s world to bring a little joy all.  does exist after

jures any whether this con  When asked a minute st, he thinks for pa his m fro s ” memorie jacket: “Not really. his to on m ea and spills ice-cr as a child? “I did m ea -cr ice like Good. So he didn’t m of Childpefully the Museu okay with it.” Ho ful zeal. uth yo e stir up som hood will better confides, sitting he n,” Ma n tio “I loved Ac politically wogs and other amid dolls, golly , and trains...

“Oh , by ne go days incorrect toys of es for the rch sea tchman.” He I had a Flying Du es sidetracked com be t bu l de mo much-loved the exhibit nding in front of

by Meccano, sta .” no cca e Me murmuring, “I lov lowed ment swiftly fol It’s a poignant mo ve y in the interacti etr pp pu ve glo by a spot of atre curtain, the the a d hin be section. Ducking al shambles; a beguiling, surre performance is th more wi t bu le, ndup sty similar to his sta  . als im waggling an

 “NO.” Within minutes, though, he’s clinging to the side, shouting something about gaining momentum and laughing explosively.

There is little doubt ice skating is the highlight of the day so far. “I have coordination problems,” he explains, wobbling into the middle of rink, “do you want me to dance around?” He is incapable of doing this, astutely pointing out “it’s too slippy ”.

The atmosphere back to the city centre is one of jubilation. “Well I didn’t fall over,” he grins, “I really enjoyed that.“ After such adrenalin highs it’s time to calm down a bit.

With a facial. “I’m not the sort of perso n who gets facials,” he points out, unnecessa rily. “I did shave this morning, though.”

8 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

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 “Do you want to hav e a go with this one?” asks Justin, one of the professionals manipulating the more serious looking kites. Aczel tugs the ropes and pro mptly runs it into the ground. “I think I’m mov ing to a higher plane,” he says, trying once mor e with the crêpe paper kite, which refu ses to remain airborn e, “even if my kite isn’t.”

Perhaps it’s time for som ething less demanding. Packing up the kites, we walk to Ottavio, an ice-cream par lour on the Royal Mile , where Aczel requests a scoop of everything except Pistachio. Raspbe rry cheesecake, apple strudel, vanilla and chocolate fudge are piled into a waffle con e and speared with a Flake. “Can I eat it yet ?” he asks, eyeing the dessert and looking sev en years old. 

 “Where are we off to next?” he ask s, plucking out an Edw ardian bonnet from the dressing up box. When told , he removes the bon net. “The last time I went ice skating wa s 25 years ago and I fell over.”

Meccano now a dis tant memory, he’s quiet on the way to Murrayfield Ice Rin k and, before changi ng into skating boo ts, stares at his feet: “I’m not wearing adequate socks.” Up on being reassured , he then turns to the shoes, convinced they’re different size s. It’s turns out he’s tied one up tighter than the other. Ou t of excuses, Aczel plo ds towards the rink and steps out onto the ice. It’s like watching a deer wit h no legs trying to walk. “This is unnat ural,” he says. Yes, but is he having fun ?

 Disappearing behind the door of Haymarket-based salon Inside & Out, five minutes later he is lying down with his face wrapped in a towel. “It feels odd,” he observes after being exfoliated, “I am quite relaxed though.” Can he describe the experience in one word? “Tibet,” he says as a facemask is applied, and a slice of cucumber slides down his cheek, “I could be wrong about that but it’s just the way I’m feeling.” He eats a chocolate biscuit, and a few crumbs get stuck in the mask. He emerges from the room ten minutes later, fresh faced and interested to know if there’s a visible difference. “This is one of those things I really should do,” he peers into the mirror, “Will I ever again?

Probably not. It felt like glue.” 

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 9

 On the way hom e we quickly nip into an amusement arcade to round off the day . “I’ve been lucky in life, as gambling never rea lly floated my boat,” Acz el explains, fishing for loose change, “maybe this is the start of something.” It isn’t.

After twenty minute s of consistent losses, and nearly a fiver later, it becomes apparent there is little amuse ment to be had. “I think the point is that nothin g in life is simple,” he comments, losing yet another 10p at the mercy of the bleepi ng slot machines, “The pro blem is that the hou se always wins.” Five pound poorer, and slightly frustrated, he cheers up while reflecting on the day’s events . He has, contrary to all expectation, had a damn good time. 

acteristically suc His conclusion is char highlight. It took the was ing skat “Ice t: cinc days as a boy.” over g fallin my to me back ing it’s a fifteen hear n upo With this, and he gets in a taxi. minute walk to Cowgate, e often. For five “I should really do this mor seaside, but the to go to ted wan years I’ve he, after today, Will it.” to d I’ve never got roun pipedreams be more inclined to turn such yes, but probably into reality? “I’d like to say ds off for an spee he , that with not.” And nd, doing a show, evening of pottering arou bed. f eating dinner and going to Exist Edward Aczel Doesn't 7:20pm – 8:20pm, Underbelly, Cowgate, .50 17–28 Aug, £9.50 – £11

WITH THANKS TO…

The K-team kiting duo Di Sotto at Ottavio Ice-cream guru Raymond ate, Royal Mile ice-cream parlour, Canong

Museum of Childhood, 42 High Street, Royal Mile eld Ice Rink, Martin and all at Murrayfi ltd.co.uk www.murrayfieldicerink kating Theatre Vanessa Fogarty, the ice-s o.uk Ninja, www.theatreninjas.c 71 Haymarket Out, & e Insid at Liam and all Terrace, Edinburgh k www.inside-and-out.co.u Place, Edinburgh ick ndw Sha 18 er, ksilv Quic

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 11

THE

ROYAL FAMILY

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Fancy taking your unknown show to Edinburgh to perform in front of a guaranteed audience of thousands? Joe Spurgeon takes a look around the biggest venue at the Fringe Photos: Claudine Quinn and Kate Edwards

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festfeature

I

T’S 9.50AM. At the end of one of the Royal Mile’s snaking little side streets a crowd of 100-odd people chatting, smoking, drinking coffee, stretching and eyeing up the ominous black clouds overhead has gathered.

Most people seem to know each other, though a few newcomers hover at the periphery clutching speakers, whips, juggling batons, hoops, unicycles, ukuleles.

One man starts serenading another. It’s his birthday.

In ten minutes’ time, Andy Meldrum, the Fringe’s street events manager, will commence the draw to select the lucky circus and street artists who’ll bag a 45-minute slot performing to a potentially lucrative, four-figure audience on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.

“In terms of audience numbers, we had over one million walk the High Street last year,” says Andy later on. “We have over 250 shows a day, more than 5,000 over the three weeks. We get the biggest and best audiences in the world. We have the best street performers in the world too. Edinburgh audiences get street performance, they know when to clap, they understand they need to put money in the hat, they know the rules.”

Since RBS hit tough times, Virgin Money, as you probably won’t have failed to notice, has taken over as title sponsor and oversee the various mini-stages and performance ports while Andy and his team work with them, the council and the emergency services to ensure the performers are looked after and the audiences get a safe, enjoyable experience too.

“There are five circus spots, four busker points, three stages as well as a bunch of balloon, statue and other performing areas. Anybody can perform.

They’re all treated the same. It’s the spirit of the Fringe and that’s what makes it so cool. All we ask is that people pick a spot that’s suitable for their act.”

A few years ago, the Fringe also began asking street performers to pay for the privilege. It didn’t go down well. Vince, a performer whose act involves “unicycles, machetes, fire whips and a lot of talking” is philosophical about any potential conflict, however: “In Covent Garden we organise it without the guys in red jackets. They tried to change it and start charging here, but we argued against it. All you need is insurance, and a show. It’s the most honest job going. If you’re good, you get paid.

If you’re not, you don’t.” 

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 13

"Apparently, Eric Clapton has busked before and Alastair Campbell is supposedly coming down this year with his bagpipes.”  Understandably, the performers, many of whom don’t pay more than a £30 admin fee for their pitch, are sensitive about their Edinburgh income, though Andy claims “an average 45-minute show can pull in £300-400, but I’ve heard it going up to a grand on a good day, with a good audience and a good performer who knows how to do a good ‘hat speech’. You can make serious money.”

Back at the draw, Toronto’s Stick Man is the first act to be pulled out. He’s gone for the prime slot of 3pm in Parliament Square to unleash “chainsaws, a bed of nails and some stick-throwing.”

Joe May is another lithe, loose-limbed performer hoping to hear his name called out soon: “We bring entertainment to people who can’t afford it. The street team solves disputes, keeps it fair, plus they own the street… so what are you going to do?”

Eventually, Joe gets his slot. In fact today, after a disastrous run of audiencevanquishing bad weather, everyone gets one. Some even get a second. The weekend ahead is the busiest of the Fringe so Andy gives a short speech about health, safety and crowd-control before disappearing to bash out the programme (published online within minutes) for the day.

The buzz on the High Street is beginning to build. Fringe acts (who all bagged their free slots two weeks before the Fringe began) get 20 minutes of stage time. Six-part all-female a capella ground The Oxford Belles let rip with the crowd-pleasing ‘It’s Raining Men’; there’s a

mournful call-to-arms by the cast of The Curse of Macbeth; a man balances on the shoulders of two passers-by and prepares to do something painful-looking with a giant unicycle; a bunch of teens strip to their underwear and start squaking; a man walks about with a TV for a head; there are painted faces, tricks, statues, songs, dances and flyers. Lots of flyers.

Andy misses our lunchtime rendezvous (“Someone broke a leg. I had to sort it out.

Usual kind of thing”) but we find a quiet few minutes early afternoon.

“We keep things ticking over really,” he says, “We don’t make the Fringe, we just tidy up around the edges. We’re trying to do more by having all our schedules up online, with QR codes providing full listings to smartphone and internet users.

“This year, we’re trying to get some cash out of the performers—about three grand— so we can justify doing all this stuff; but really it’s about getting a commitment from people so they turn up, but it also helps me push to make things better.”

He’s certainly getting there. The chaos of street theatre on The Mound (and The Jungle, for those that remember it) is long forgotten. These days, the Royal Mile is a slickly-run venue in its own right.

“It used to be packed down at The Mound, but it was great. The performers organised it themselves but it just go too manic – people could injure themselves and there wouldn’t be anyone to stop it or get medical help.

“The best thing about it though, is that

14 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

it’s all free. the Fringe Cavalcade isn’t happening this year, Fringe Sunday isn’t happening… the street performances provide something for everyone. And some acts are just spectacular. This guy called Miguel turned up yesterday, not speaking a word of English and registered his ten-minute show—which is a difficult one to schedule— but we squeezed him in. He does this thing with fire sticks and acrobatics and it was incredible, it came out of nowhere. You never know who’s going to turn up. Apparently, Eric Clapton has busked before and Alastair Campbell is supposedly coming down this year with his bagpipes.”

Later that night, Andy finally clocks out just before 10pm. It’s been a long, whirlwind day. An entire arts and craft market has been installed, performers have been diplomatically switched around, there’ve been a couple more broken arms and poor Miguel nearly got mown down by a street-sweeper.

“But it’s worth it. Earlier, I took a break, took my jacket and radio off and went incognito; I saw this beautifully simple Charlie Chaplin show. It was lovely. I’m very lucky.”

We say goodbye until, way beyond bedtime, I get another excitable phonecall: “Oh! I nearly forgot! Yesterday, a man prearranged with one of our street artists, Shaun, to draw him and his girlfriend. In the picture, he’s proposing to her. When the picture was done, he asked her to marry him. She said yes too!”

Looking for real drama at this year’s Fringe? It’s out on the street. f

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SI M O N

C A L L OW

MAGNETS

Federer v Murray

Shylock

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festfeature

A HUMAN INSTINCT Photo: Claudine Quinn

Last year, Chris Larner accompanied his MS-suffering ex-wife to Switzerland’s assisted dying clinic, Dignitas. Here, he tells Joe Bunce about the process of bringing the experience to the Fringe

T

OO LATE do I realise the scheduling of my interview with Chris Larner was somewhat misguided. When we meet, I am shaken, emotionally drained – alongside the rest of the late-afternoon audience, all having just left Larner’s latest show, An Instinct for Kindness, at the Pleasance Dome.

When Larner arrives, it looks like he too, is spent. He has just recounted a story of untold difficulty: of his journey with his ex-wife, Allyson, through their first interactions, their relationship, the developing, enveloping progression of her multiple sclerosis, and the eventual poison draft she consumed in Zurich at the “assisted dying” clinic, Dignitas. A one-man show with no set but a single chair, Larner slips easily from narrating her illness, to recreating dialogues, to the recital of poetry.

“There was somebody today, halfway back, just sobbing, and that’s what got to me,” he tells me.

And it’s true: as I watch the show, the lady beside me can do nothing but bury her head in her hands, and another seems close to wailing when the curtain call arrives. “People have been coming up to me after the show, in various levels of distress or discomfort, and they all have stories that they want to tell. The nexus of the show is about death. And stories about death, generally, are stories that we struggle to share: it’s a huge responsibility, and not an easy one. It can be heartbreaking.”

Why then, I ask, would he decide to repeatedly relive these events? “The lighting designer of the show before mine, Time for the Good Looking Boy—an Israeli man—helped his mother to die ten years ago. He told me that it’s taken him those ten years to get to a point where he could even conceive of writing anything about it. The realisation that this ought to be brought to the stage came to me, in fact, on the morning that Allyson died. I was drinking an espresso in the hotel, alone; at that point, I thought, ‘I need to write a

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play about this’. This thought was quickly followed by a sense of self-revulsion: ‘what the fuck? How could you possibly consider painting this with artifice when it’s somebody that’s just about to die?’

“So, I quashed this seemingly repugnant thought. But, when I returned home, people started to ask about the time in Switzerland. You could see they were conflicted: at once trying to restrain themselves and back off, out of respect, but also dying to ask, ‘what did it taste like? How fast did it work?’ So I started telling people fragments; these fragments became stories, and I began to realise that this ought to be something more. It was around April that I decided I wanted to do a play about it.”

Allyson was also a woman of the theatre. The couple first met through a touring socialist theatre company in the West Country (“doing good theatre too, not just wanky agitprop stuff”), and so the feeling that he needed to write a play about her experience felt natural and “right” to Larner. “The first thing I did was write a single page—a proposal—for James Seabright, the producer,” he says. “I wrote a very brief poetic summary of going to Switzerland, getting on a plane, why I was on a plane, what was wrong with Allyson. I decided where I wanted the play to go: a message of hope, something positive. After that, a sense of catharsis took over and I wrote tirelessly—details of her illness, the nature of multiple sclerosis, the drugs she was on, the process of application to Dignitas—probably ending up with ten times the amount of material that appeared onstage.”

Was it tempting, I ask, to turn the show into a political manifesto? “There were many overtly political parts of the play—facts, figures, statistics—that we took out quite early on in rehearsals. There is a temptation in any ethical or political debate to try to remain standing on an aloof moral cliff. The religious right are particularly guilty of this, looking down judgementally on what life ‘should

be like’. Individual cases or feelings are ignored. But if one’s emotions are stirred by an individual’s story, and it’s a wholly true story, then I think this is a valuable addition to any debate. The fact that I experienced it and now I am performing it renders the piece politically relevant without having to ostensibly preach.”

Larner is well-known at the Fringe for the award-winning comic musicals The Translucent Frogs of Quuup and On The Island of Aars. I ask him about the transition from the farcical and silly to something a little more personally significant. “This is clearly a more intensely personal and serious show than my previous Fringe offerings. But oddly, it has been a far easier production both to write and to perform in. In the end, it’s just me and a chair.

Even as I get used to it, and it becomes a piece of music or a piece of theatre, it doesn’t stop being the experience I had with Allyson, and hence it flows freely as a monologue – the description of the Dignitas house, for example, I don’t even have to remember, because when I close my eyes, I’m still there. I can see it all perfectly.”

He quotes Larkin: “‘Since someone will forever be surprising/A hunger in himself to be more serious’. This process has been massively personally significant. And, without sounding pompous, I think that this play is important. I very much would like it to take some place on the stage of the debate around assisted suicide. I’m proud of the writing of it, and I’m proud of the production of it. It’s moving, yes, but, greater than that, it is a real story, and there are real people out there who are really suffering, just as Allyson did, and just as needlessly. In my opinion, there is a horrible vacuum in our country’s legislation that causes its people terrible pain. Hopefully, for those who are willing to listen, I can help demonstrate some of our country’s shortcomings.”

Pleasance Dome, 4:10pm – 5:20pm, 18–29 Aug, £9.00 – £10.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 17

HHHHH Fringe pros hit comedy pay dirt with a fantastical and fantastic show Page 21 Photo: Claudine Quinn, with thanks to Jenners

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festcomedy

THE PAJAMA MEN

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 19

festcomedy Jeff Leach: A Leach On Society

David O’Doherty is Looking Up

Jeff Leach certainly doesn’t lack in confidence. Taking to the stage wearing nothing but socks and a sandwich board, he spends much of the first five minutes flashing his most intimate body parts.

Thus begins an often excruciating hour which sees the sometime television presenter relive the most embarrassing moments of his life in a baffling attempt to seek some redemption.

No bodily fluid or human waste product is left unspurted in this often puerile and always prurient performance.

Leach seems to have a real issue with being middle-class, white and privately educated, arguing that it makes him unlikeable despite the fact that this would probably place him slap-bang in the middle of a standup venn diagram. “You’d like me more if I was black, gay or in a wheelchair,” he bleats.

He insists more than once that he doesn’t want to be a “vacuous bellend on television any more” but displays no real contrition for his perceived failures.

A finale which initially seems shocking and daring turns out to be nothing more than a psuedo-spiritual justification for what has gone before.

He is charismatic, though, and there is—as he alludes to—a similarity to Russell Brand in presentation, if not in material or timing.

Having said that, his audience—most of whom appeared to be aged around 16—seemed to lap up every ounce of filth.

He’ll probably be married to a popstar and starring in illconsidered Hollywood remakes within a year. [David Hepburn]

Irish purveyor of lo-fi music and playful laughs David O’Doherty constantly finds himself having to correct people who, upon discovering what he does for a living, mistake him for Bridesmaids star Chris O’Dowd. But in the context of the Fringe, the capwearing 35-year-old Dubliner in the gold cape is a sell-out sensation who can barely put a little toe wrong.

If this show seems to feature quite a lot of recycled material, it can be excused by the unfortunate run of ill health O’Doherty has endured over the last few months, worst of which was a severalweek-long spell spent barely off or over (sometimes both at once) the toilet with a bacterial stomach infection.

No matter – it’s little cause for complaint to hear repeat airings of the brilliant ‘Party at My

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Pleasance Courtyard, 11:00pm – 12:00am, 17–29 Aug, not 19, 20, 21, £8.00 – £9.50

House’, or angry diatribe ‘My Beefs’, a list of gripes updated for 2011 to target adverts for Boots’ summer cosmetic range and Travelodge, whose logo O’Doherty reckons should be more accurately changed to a lonely businessman masturbating.

A slide show featuring excerpts from his forthcoming book 100 Facts About Sharks is a feast of childlike, wide-eyed weirdness, while his half-hour closing spiel taking in everything from working as a spilledsausages cleaner in a Cologne supermarket to being mugged by, then befriending, Spanish terrorists is a masterpiece of freewheeling whimsy. Don’t come to his show expecting belly-laughs galore – just a nonstop feel-good glow courtesy of one of the most loveable and natural funny men in the business. [Malcolm Jack]

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Pleasance Courtyard, 7:20pm – 8:20pm, 17–29 Aug, £14.00 – £15.00

Tim Clare: How to Be a Leader

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“How to know how to learn how to get leadership skills” is the suitably long-winded lesson promised by comedian and performance poet Tim Clare’s latest Fringe offering. Save for groaning slightly under the weight of its over-elaborate conceit, it’s more fun than any hour spent in the company of a man with PowerPoint and a laser pen really ought to be.

In six easy steps, Clare maps out the path to power taken by everyone from suicide cult leader Jim Jones (cue brilliant Facebook gag) to former Democratic Republic of Congo president Mobutu Sese Seko (whose “infantile lies” extended to claiming to walk with a cane twice the density of the earth’s core). Among his tips are “never let ‘em see you bleed” and “have

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magic powers”, the latter of which yields the best section of the show, an email exchange with a real life rent-a-witch who promises to make Clare basically omnipotent for three hundred quid.

He could do with scripting less and performing more dynamically, but the incredible quantity of thought and research that has gone into How to Be a Leader has to be saluted. The same goes for his determination not to “pick from the tree of low-hanging fruit”, i.e. make jokes about Messrs

Cameron, Clegg and Osborne.

Gladly, though, Thatcher is fair game and Clare turns her into a trailblazing female from history who, along with Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I and Emily Wilding Davison, becomes the subject of a priceless, climactic rap. It’s a sequence that proves more fun and impressive than any pastyfaced white man rhyming like Ice Cube has any right to be.

[Malcolm Jack] Underbelly, Cowgate, 8:55pm – 9:55pm, 17–28 Aug, £9.00 – £10.00

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festcomedy The Pajama Men: In The Middle Of No One

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If Calvin—the rambunctious kid from the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes—were to write a comedy show directed by Wes Anderson, the result might look something like the Pajama Men’s latest offering: a place where intergalactic time travel and ice beasts meet whimsical songs and off-kilter father-son relationships.

This is meant as high, high praise because In The Middle Of No One is one of the funniest shows of this or any other Fringe.

Since their 2004 debut, comedy duo Shenoah Allen and Mark Chavez have polished their format, combining improvised energy with sharply scripted wordplay. This year, it sparkles brighter than ever. Clad in only their trademark loose-fitting nightwear, they conjure up a show that initially seems like an unrelated series of sketches but builds into a hugely satisfying tale

Sarah Millican: Thoroughly Modern Millican

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Five minutes in: “Give us a cheer if you’re in a relationship!”

Has it come to this, Sarah?

Really? Sadly, it has. Sarah Millican, who won the best newcomer award in 2008 with a bittersweet show about her divorce, and almost bagged the big one last year, has become depressingly conventional.

To be fair, her routine has always revolved around gossipy asides on relationships, her body image, bodily functions, and cake. Yet this year, as the crowds flock and the TV panel shows come calling, it seems soulless and vacuum-packed.

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For all the pseudo-confessional material, delivered as if she were nattering across the garden fence, it feels synthetic. Looking around the packed, voluminous Assembly Hall, it is clear why Millican has become so conservative. Her chirrupy, Geordie lass next door appeal is what has brought her from a Pleasance portakabin to here. It’s what people have come to see. And it’s made her material rather lazy. She complains about her boyfriend, she pokes fun at exercise DVDs, she proclaims a love for chocolate bars – it’s like watching a stereotypical female standup on autopilot.

with cinematic scope.

It stretches from the delivery room in a maternity ward to an intergalactic council full of aliens with talking foreheads.

In reality, though, the plot is incidental. It’s simply a very clever frame upon which to drape scores of cheek-achingly brilliant, cartoonish skits. Nothing fails to hit the mark. Silly voices are bleated, croaked and screamed, lines are wrung within an inch of their comedic life, bodies are shape-shifted, absurdity is tickled and the audience is floored.

Towards the end musician Kevin Hume sings a genuinely sweet song as Allen and Chavez act out a montage of the characters they have blessed us with. And just like one of them, a rare South American bird that emits a cry like an over-eager porn actress, the whole show is nothing short of orgasmic. [Edd McCracken] Assembly Hall, 9:00pm – 10:00pm, 17–29 Aug, £13.00 – £14.00

A much better, if underdeveloped, show lurks within the last 10 minutes. Millican’s one moment of insight comes when she talks about being a risk-averse individual. It leads to a nice line in questioning people’s differing attitudes to life. Her cotton-wool approach will help her live longer, she believes.

By applying the same philosophy to her comedy, however, it looks like having the opposite effect. [Edd McCracken] Assembly Hall, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, 17–28 Aug, £14.00 – £16.00

val guide 2011 fest 21

festcomedy Josh Widdicombe: If This Show Saves One Life

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Josh Widdicombe is one of British standup’s bright young things. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Russell Howard—indeed, looking and sounding stylistically very much like him—his is a TVfriendly face which is certain to take him places. A couple of good years in Edinburgh and the door to panel show success is bound to swing open.

Unfortunately, though, this year’s show is very patchy. There are a number of promising moments, in particular when Widdicombe discusses being the only singleton member of his group of friends and the general sense of isolation that can bring. He is also particularly engaging when talking about

his relationship with his father – a clever inversion of the expected stern father/laidback youngster tale. But most of the rest is a rather staid and hackneyed affair that might raise a few laughs but isn’t anything to set himself apart in a crowded comedy marketplace.

But this show’s great failing is Widdicombe’s excruciat-

ing insistence on engaging his audience in stilted, awkward and dull conversation.

Perhaps it was just tonight’s audience, but when the first few engagements go badly, it’s best to cut one’s losses and move on. But with each new attempt to get some banter going, the rhythm and flow of the set is disrupted and disturbed. There are a number

of comedians out there who handle audience interaction brilliantly—one thinks of Dara O’Briain or Jason Byrne—but it doesn’t seem like Widdicombe has quite the right kind of affability to pull it off. [Ben Judge] Pleasance Courtyard, 7:15pm – 8:15pm, 17–28 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

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22 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

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festcomedy Russell Kane: Manscaping

Frisky and Mannish: Pop Centre Plus

2010’s deserved Foster’s Comedy Award-winner returns this year with something of an identity crisis.

He’s had a busy 12 months having lost love, found it, hit the skids, hit the TV screens and booty-shaken his best Beyoncé moves for the Beeb’s lurid Let’s Dance for Comic Relief (“a desperate bid for mass acceptance”). But mostly, having passed his comedy A-Levels though not yet ready to fill stadiums, he’s just been wondering where he fits in.

The misleadingly metaphorical title of the show concerns this feeling of waywardness, each phase of Kane’s life becoming a shortlived, tangential chapter, a new “manscape”.

It’s an odd conceit, but it matters little as Kane—in skinny jeans and sporting a tidal wave quiff (“the bastard son of Jedward in the clothes of an 11-year-old”)—launches into his trademark high-energy raconteuring, skipping, prancing and darting across the stage

Times are tough and unemployment is high, but Frisky and Mannish are here to help you make your career in pop music.

You’ll need an up-to-date CV and great hair.

The parodying pair’s repertoire has more pop music mish-mash than an iPod on shuffle and, as such, the show assumes a level of familiarity with current charting music.

Roughly speaking, you need the encyclopaedic knowledge of an average tweenage girl/Fest reviewer. Those who can’t recite the lyrics to Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ might be left bewildered, but it’s enough to leave their target audience squealing.

The duo’s main gimmick is transferring singers or songs into a different style. While this shows off their versatility and sometimes creates intriguing hybrids, often they don’t quite hit the mark. For instance, jokes about Madonna’s stylistic transformations have long since become cliché, and the retrospective presented here is neither particularly dead-on nor all that cutting.

Nonetheless, Laura Corcoran and Matthew Jones are consummate performers, experts at working a crowd. The audience participation, which could easily be awkward and pointless, is powered through on the force of their personalities. Indeed, there is the feeling the show must go on, at any cost. Well produced and relentlessly hiNRG, they never let the tempo slip, even if this can make things slightly impersonal.

Still, that’s beside the point.

Gleefully superficial, this is the best kind of style over substance. No one in the audience is going to end up a pop star, but Frisky and Mannish are already there. [Jonathan Holmes]

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Matt Kirshen: Wideeyed

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Imagine if standup could exist in a controlled environment.

Infinite rain-free weekends, purpose-built venues and handpicked, sell-out crowds – how dull.

Unpredictability is part of what makes live comedy special, but on a sodden school night Matt Kirshen is really up against it. A feeble intro sees him squander his chance to grab the audience, so when their beer-filled bladders need emptying the early disruption is enough to tip the show into a nosedive.

Nerdy Kirshen isn’t one to seize command of a room.

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throwing gags and asides around like a hyperactive water sprinkler.

There’s a hilarious anecdote about his first one-night stand in years, another about a brush with a well-to-do bigot in a first class train carriage and, as ever, Kane’s dad—not to mention his own preoccupations with class and his own fey, artsy leanings—get a look in.

It’s wonderfully engaging and, at times, refreshing vulnerable – Kane appears

genuinely affronted when two girls inexplicably walk out, and at the end, seems utterly unwilling to leave the stage on which he’s so clearly adored.

Once again, Kane mentions his identity crisis. In the audience, who he is seems pretty clear to us: he’s a man at the peak of his powers. [Joe Spurgeon]

His wry, well-written takes on miserable Britain, largerthan-life America and his own cringe-worthy gaucheness demand close attention. When a heckler hijacks the show, he is defenceless.

Even to mention this cretin grants him more attention than he already snatches, but his calamitous presence exposes a pre-existing flaw in Kirshen’s act. The diminutive standup suffers from an Ed Miliband-style lack of charisma that could render even the strongest material impotent.

Even when the saboteur shuts up—slobbering into his empty can, perhaps—it’s clear the ideas aren’t quite there.

Bits on air travel and sporting homoeroticism are uninspiring,

while Kirshen’s attempts at biting sarcasm are declawed by his meekness.

He claims, semi-convincingly, to enjoy the show “in a perverse kind of way”, and in a perverse kind of way the heckler does drive home his theme of embarrassment.

But Kirshen’s “default face” says it all: grinning, but with an unmistakable despair in his eyes.

That a portion of the audience stays behind to offer words of support is an encouraging sign, but a more robust performer would not attract such sympathy. [Lyle Brennan]

Pleasance Courtyard, 8:50pm – 9:50pm, 17–26 Aug, not 22, £17.50

Underbelly, Cowgate, 8:35pm – 9:35pm, 17–28 Aug, £10.50 – £12.00

Udderbelly, 9:30pm – 10:30, 17–28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £14

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 23

festcomedy David Reed: Shamblehouse

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On a micro scale, Penny Dreadful David Reed’s first solo show follows the same trajectory as many solo careers: it starts brightly, fades into mediocrity, and then ends abruptly. John Lennon would wryly approve.

Having graced the Fringe since 2006 with his Victoriana-inclined chums, Reed has left the security of the Dreadfuls’ nest and struck out on his own. Fittingly, his gaggle of characters are all loners too: the child who loves space Vikings, the penniless Alan Bennett-style antique dealer, the needy South African pilot stranded in an airport, and the worst ghost in the world.

But it quickly becomes apparent that they would benefit from other characters to bounce off. Their isolation is their point, but also their

undoing. Too many fail to ignite. They remain all too lonely on stage, armed only with well-crafted but strangely cold soliloquies.

But this being Reed, it is always impeccably acted.

His opening salvo—playing a suave Mexican version of Sean Connery who peddles a fine line in snake-oil wisdom—sparkles. As does an early sketch involving a phone conversation with Morgan Freeman and Al Pacino, in which Reed gently needles his gift for impressions.

And then it ends all too quickly. It builds to a crescendo that fails to arrive. The deathly aftertaste of “is that it?” is on several audience members’ lips as they file out.

It might be time to get the band back together. [Edd McCracken] Pleasance Courtyard, 8:30pm – 9:25pm, 17–29 Aug, £10.00 – £12.00

David O’Doherty Presents: Rory Sheridan’s Tales of The Antarctica

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The year is 1914 and the love-struck son of a tent salesman sets off on a seemingly suicidal expedition to Antarctica on a boat captained by a madman.

That’s the background to this whimsical one-man play from David O’Doherty, in character as unwitting adventurer Rory Sheridan. It sees the likable Irishman join his friend Daniel Kitson in supplementing his standup career with storytelling.

Challenged by clothing magnate Rodney Thinsulate, Sheridan must travel to the South Pole to win the hand of the businessman’s daughter Kate – advertising her family’s garments along the way.

On his return to Plymouth

Harbour, after being stuck in an ice sheet for 533 days and accidentally becoming captain, he’s collared by the authorities.

Sheridan must pay back all the money wasted on the voyage by embarking on a lecture tour – a lecture tour we are lucky enough to be invited to.

O’Doherty, dressed head to toe in suitable exploring regalia, conjures up a memorably

24 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

motley crew of characters (and cats) throughout this tall tale. Whether it’s diatribes about penguins or a description of the unhinged Captain Logan the language is rich and satisfying.

The jokes are craftily weaved into the story rather than clumsily forced for laughs. This subtle humour produces a gentle, meandering

and warm show which is impossible not to love.

Never is this sheer heart more apparent than in the ending, which tugs the heartstrings rather than tickles the funnybone. Just lovely. [David Hepburn] Underbelly, Cowgate, 3:20pm – 4:15pm, 17–28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.00

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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 Raymond Mearns: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Stress But Were Afraid to Ask

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The origin of this show lies in garrulous Glaswegian Raymond Mearns being hired by the NHS to present an instructive DVD about dealing with stress. It made the comedian think about his own life, coming to the realisation that he seemed to be exhibiting many of the symptoms himself and eventually resolving to “sort himself out” following an eight-day bender.

The lion’s share of the set is constructed around the 14 tell-tale signs of stress, from tiredness to an overreliance on alcohol. By way of illustration he tells a series of anecdotes from his past Ssc EdinburghGinAd 297x210:Layout 1

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which resulted in these signs being manifested. Worries over tax returns, marital arguments, panic attacks and fights are all wheeled out and

dissected in stupendously sweary detail.

Much of the humour comes from Mearns’ Weegie wit and phraseology—the

highly prized Glesga patter— creating instant rapport with the audience and maintaining it throughout. A final quarter gives hope for those suffering from the condition, urging people to face their fears, be more active and watch what they drink – something which doesn’t seem to come naturally to the self-confessed “bevvy merchant”.

After one particular Stella-soaked tale you might never want to share a sleeper carriage with Mearns, but you have to congratulate him for providing a constantly funny hour which genuinely could make a difference to the lives of those who go and see it. On this evidence, tickets should be available on prescription.

[David Hepburn] The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 8:15pm – 9:15pm, 17–28 Aug, £8.00

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festcomedy WitTank

HHHHH Name one member of The Doors. How about Talking Heads? The Police? If you answered anything other than Jim Morrison, David Byrne and Sting, you’re just showing off.

One big personality is all it takes to make a band stick in the mind and, by the same logic, sketch group WitTank boast an invaluable asset in the rather unforgettable shape of Naz Osmanoglu.

At the risk of releasing the green-eyed monster amid this tight-knit trio, it’s clear they would be nowhere near as memorable without the self-styled Turkish prince. He is seemingly built for comedy: jug-eared, with a full beard on a boyish face and his mouth forever twisting into bizarre sneers and smirks.

The sketches in which Osmanoglu is let off the leash are without doubt the strongest in this hour of big, dumb fun. He bellows, mumbles and

mugs with great gusto as the doddery kleptomaniac bishop, the delusional magician and the meat-obsessed, sexually menacing headmaster.

But while there’s no denying that Osmanoglu steals the show, it is no disservice to his co-stars. Mark Cooper-Jones lends a dose of cool to the proceedings while the slightly ef-

feminate Kieran Boyd provides a gentler counterpoint to the others’ boisterous horseplay.

WitTank are not without their weaknesses: a wacky opening sketch; the clueless scuba instructor who doesn’t merit a second appearance; the occasional petering out of a half-formed idea.

But these are minor gripes,

and all is forgiven when a surreal and sinister take on a simple sugar rush provides a last-minute highlight, ensuring WitTank go out to boy-band adulation. [Lyle Brennan] Just The Tonic at the Caves, 6:15pm – 7:15pm, 18–28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Barry and Stuart: The Show

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Gawkishly handsome doubleact Barry and Stuart are two performers risking the wrath of the Magician’s Alliance with their double bill, The Show and The Tell. The Show, the main event, is an hour of yoof-friendly magic that asks if ignorance really is bliss. The Tell, meanwhile, is designed to pull back the curtain and reveal how all the tricks were done.

However, in spite of their hipster haircuts and edgy pretentions, The Show is a little too safe to ever be particularly exciting. There’s no sense of danger or tension, which—when coupled with the fact that the pair never really manage to be raise anything more than a half-hearted laugh—leads to a rather dull performance.

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Moreover, the tricks, while admittedly sometimes clever, aren’t ever spectacular.

Although it may be impressive that Barry can recall the contents of any given page in this week’s Reveal magazine, it’s not particularly exciting to watch.

Which really begs the question, if The Show isn’t all that impressive, who will pay full whack all over again to see how it’s done in The Tell? [Ben Judge] Udderbelly, 10:15pm – 11:15, 17–28 Aug, £12 – £14

Barry and Stuart: The Tell

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For those curious to see how it was all done, The Tell is a surprisingly rewarding extra hour.

In the more intimate setting of the Wee Coo, Barry and Stuart are a much warmer and funnier presence. Their obvious boyish enthusiasm for the world of magic is infectious, and their historical knowledge and interest in magic is genu-

inely lovely to see.

Some of the techniques used in the tricks are, quite frankly, obvious to all but the dullest mind, but there are a couple of reveals which are indeed surprising and impressive. The Tell certainly improves The Show, but is the whole experience really worth up to £26 a pop? Probably not [Ben Judge] Udderbelly, 11:59pm – 12:59am, 17–28 Aug, £10 – £12

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 27

festcomedy Andy Zaltzman: Armchair Revolutionary

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Perhaps best known for his onstage and on-air partnership with The Daily Show’s John Oliver, Andy Zaltzman returns to Edinburgh with yet another hour of political satire and daft surrealism. But before things can get started, backstage in his dressing room, a terrible tragedy has befallen the “qualified satirist”. In a bizarre archery accident, an arrow has pierced the exact area of Zaltzman’s brain responsible for puns, introspection and political comedy. What’s worse, he has been left with only 66 minutes to live.

Unfortunately, Zaltzman’s real problem is that much of the set is essentially just phoned in. As is perhaps the satirists’ curse, he too often descends into merely spewing low-brow, simplistic rhetoric in place of actually telling jokes.

“Capitalism’s broken, isn’t it?”

“That government are a rotten lot!” “Silvio Berlusconi, eh?” This may draw Pavlovian applause from the militant lefties in the back, but no one else is all that responsive.

It’s a shame because, when he gets going, Zaltzman is a compelling performer capable of great linguistic dexterity.

Anyone who regularly listens to his hit comedy podcast The Bugle will be all too familiar with his infamous “pun runs”, which are brought out to great effect (and groans) on several occasions. Indeed, as Zaltzman drops his political proselytising and allows himself time to be just plain silly, he really wins the audience over. As the laughs get louder, these segments so obviously save the show; it’s a shame Zaltzman doesn’t bring them out more frequently. [Ben Judge] The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 4:25pm – 5:35pm, 17–28 Aug, £9.00

Conor O’Toole’s Manual of Style

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If good comedy is about finding humour in the smallest, most unlikely of places, then Conor O’Toole—still just 20 years old—is set for big things indeed. Not many comics would be able to get laughs out of the difference between the letter “R” in Helvetica font as compared to Arial, but O’Toole manages to do just that in this hilariously pedantic tour through the history of typography.

He could have done without an awkward first few minutes of so-bad-they’re-good jokes, but when he does get to the meat of the show his enthusiasm for his subject becomes obvious and highly infectious, and his ability to tease out the humour and beauty that reside in the smallest of details is remarkable.

Given the subject matter, O’Toole has an appropriately quirky and awkward manner, which instantly endears him to his audience. The middle of the show is given over to a story ostensibly designed to teach children about typography—played out in old-school

Piff the Magic Dragon: Last of the Magic Dragons

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Piff the Magic Dragon is the creation of conjurer John van der Put, whose unlikely idea of pulling on a slightly slap-dash dragon costume has made him one of the most popular magic acts of recent Fringes.

He jokily promises to “dazzle like David Copperfield, astound like Derren Brown and reach the heights of Paul Daniels,” but this show is often far more about the character than the illusions.

Piff is an exasperated, sometimes even belligerent,

28 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

style on acetate and overhead projector—though replete with adult in-jokes.

The best shows should allow you a look at the world from a different perspective as much as they should make you laugh, and Manual of Style does just this. “Keep looking at things,” O’Toole says in the miniature style guide he gives

out as a gift at the end of the show. “The details might not seem important but the bigger picture is nothing but a bunch of smaller pictures in one big collage. And we are all tiny artists.” [Dan Heap]

dragon. He mutters about the cost of his various tricks and moans at the level of audience response. It’s a great comic creation, complete with a range of hang-ups ripe for selfdeprecating quips – everything from his estranged wife to the somewhat more intractable problems of being the last of his species.

He’s frequently joined onstage by truculent assistant Amy and Mr Piffles, “the world’s first levitating chihuahua”, complete with matching dragon costume. In fact, not only does he successfully levitate, he also reads minds, cuts paper, finds cards and carries out his own stunts, as well

as adding a significant amount of cuteness.

Mr Piffles is just one of the gimmicks used, often at the expense of the hugley impressive close-up magic. Watching van der Put manipulate a whole range of objects, from pencil toppers to cigarettes, is utterly bewitching – as items disappear, reappear, burn and reform at will. It’s just a shame that this genuinely amazing talent seems to get slightly lost in the comedy mix. [David Hepburn]

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 4:00pm – 5:00pm, 17–28 Aug, £7.50

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 6:40pm – 7:40pm, 17–28 Aug, £9.00 – £10.00

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festcomedy Tim FitzHigham: Gambler

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Beardy comedian of holey tank top and threadbare mind, Tim FitzHigham (who you may recognise from such stunts as trying to cross the Channel in a steel bath), could probably give a PowerPoint presentation on grass bowls and still make it riveting, such is the Englishman’s animated, near foaming-at-the-mouth enthusiasm. So imagine how much fun he is describing—with the aid of graphs, photos and video clips—a year lost to “gambling archaeology”, i.e. recreating harebrained bets by his gentlemen adventurer forebears.

FitzHigham has variously partaken in wagers with the likes of fellow comedian Alex Horne, Top Gear man Richard Hammond, snooker ace Steve

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Davis and, um, a farmer called Hektar involving everything from cycling to Dover and back before his opponent can draw one million dots, racing a

wheelbarrow across London, playing a survival match against a champion chess player and rolling a cheese board through a field.

The upshot? A roundabout point about how modern economics has turned us all into gamblers of a sort – a theory FitzHigham was invited to present to the World Economic Forum in Vienna (honestly, we’re not making this stuff up). That’s not to mention a partially severed finger, a broken rib, a fractured toe and his house being put up for sale.

Odds are on you’ll leave this show charmed, amused and a little bit exhausted.

FitzHigham even hangs around the door on the way out giving hearty handshakes – just because you gamble with the family home doesn’t mean you aren’t a gent. You won’t stake a safer £12 at the Fringe. [Malcolm Jack] Pleasance Courtyard, 7:30pm – 8:30pm, 18–29 Aug, £10.00 – £12.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 29

festcomedy Mark Dolan: Sharing Jimmy McGhie: Too Much Artificial Intelligence HHHHH If you’re not already aware that Mark Dolan is a TV presenter, Sharing Too Much lets you know within minutes.

Verbal tics like “Fantastic!”, “Lovely!” or “I love it!” not enough? Then the sense that he’s about to introduce the real standup act will be.

Except he never does.

Dolan’s patronising opening brings us up to speed on the royal wedding, the riots and the London Olympics - a time span this set seems to resemble. He then devotes 40% of Sharing Too Much to pestering the front row with the inane likes of “Is this your mum?” and “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Since we’re sharing, how exactly did Dolan prepare for his Fringe run?

The parts that could justifiably be called material turn out to be painfully misjudged, including a tip to bring human rights atrocity photos into the bedroom because apparently “angry sex” is great. In delivery meanwhile, Balls of Steel host Dolan favours the “that’s what she said” school of comic timing. A sample?

“My wife hired a nanny who was ‘wow’ ugly... But I still had sex with her.”

It’s so bad you may question whether this isn’t some meta-comedy character act – perhaps a sort of Hugh-Grant-from-BridgetJones type, floundering past the film’s conclusion with Helen Fielding no longer penning his lines. No, Dolan is more like that compere whose stage time provides an opportunity to get the beers in. You have an hour – get lots. [Catherine Sylvain] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, 17–26 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

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A white, middle-class, tediously handsome young male moping about his internship at the BBC? When you stop chuckling at that recipe for hysteria you’ll understand why standup Jimmy McGhie has been allocated one of Pleasance Dome’s smaller rooms.

His guileless Artificial Intelligence rather flounders with concessions to the audience, self-deprecation and a tendency to rake the obvious middle-ground of observational gags. Still, amid the safety lurks more depth, quirk and cerebral acumen than McGhie readily reveals.

Most compelling is his insight into his mildly sociopathic method of weathering dull conversations. “I’ve got a five-point system of tactical nods,” he boasts, including an ingeniously coined black belt of nods, “The eureka suppression nod”, which he demonstrates like a deadly funny Dragon’s Den pitch.

Further confessions reveal that ex-drama student

Randy is Sober

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Randy is sober. And for 13 months he’s been trying to get healthy and perform a teetotal one-puppet-show.

Randy is alive. Animated and with a tendency to fly off into purple prose, he’s an engaging presence on stage.

Heath McIvor’s puppetry is totally convincing, particularly in the small moments between routines. When he loses his train of thought, you can see Randy’s eyes glaze over, despite them literally being glazed.

Randy is easy to talk to.

Perhaps for the same reason police interview children

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McGhie needs a whole foreign persona just to get through foreplay (charming English gaucheness, check). The same applies to his standup; Artificial Intelligence’s riskiest lines are delivered veiled in McGhie’s diverse dialects.

Most memorable is the co-worker whose Aussie accent mangles the name of television physicist Brian Cox. “Ten million tuned in to watch Brown Cocks!” McGhie lilts gleefully.

He may have “nodded the shit out of” much of the Beeb, but in this third solo Fringe show McGhie still seems to regress back to his days warming up the Loose Women studio audience. Here, with a more cultivated crowd, a little more of his idiosyncracies wouldn’t go amiss.

[Catherine Sylvain]

using sock puppets, audiences open up to Randy. His easy back and forth underscores McIvor’s improvisational skills, helps sell Randy as real and puts the room at ease. This does have its drawbacks. At the performance reviewed, drunk audience members felt comfortable enough to keep noisily leaving and re-entering the theatre. It didn’t help that Randy couldn’t actually see them disappear.

Randy is a bit lazy. With his nice plaid shirt and familiar routines on dieting and pornography, you forget Randy isn’t any other comedian. If he weren’t made of cloth, his observational stories would be unexceptional,

although the novelty factor means they draw big laughs.

When he tries for more nuance, often through a longer setup, he seems worried about losing the crowd. The audience sometimes exerts undue influence, and you wish Randy could cut the strings and be his own man.

These aren’t major flaws.

Overall, Randy is a puppet that wished hard enough, and became a real live comedian.

Apart from anything else, Randy is funny. [Jonathan Holmes]

Pleasance Dome, 9:40pm – 10:40pm, 17–28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 9:10pm – 10:10pm, 17–29 Aug, £10.00 – £12.00

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 31

festcomedy Paul Daniels: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

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Paul Daniels and “The woman who is restoring the economy of Scotland singlehandedly”(that’s Debbie McGee to you and me) are bringing some old-school variety charm to the Fringe. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow is a family-friendly hour that feels like you’re settling down in front of the TV in your slippers, except that here the presenter occasionally talks to you. While his material feels slightly dated, Daniels is lightning-quick when it comes to audience interaction.

In fact, he engages so much he often gets lost in his own tangents, an issue he cheerfully acknowledges.

It’s all in the best possible spirit and any jibes at audience members are done so in the

Terry Alderton

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Terry Alderton—as seen on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow—is a man of many voices and multiple personalities.

Alderton’s main gimmick involves turning away from the audience in order to talk to the voices in his head. It’s a neat trick, and the arguments between the parts of his split-psyche deliver the most consistent laughs of the show.

most gentlemanly fashion. As such, latecomers get it in the neck but the London riots, we are told, are not to be made fun of. In the face of some newer comedians this may feel tame, but tonight’s giggling audience clearly lap it up and the old-school appeal does seem to make Daniels all the more likeable.

His magic feels fairly rudimentary (apart from the head-achingly tense finale) and when he jokes about having got it wrong he’s in danger of having us take him at his word until he reveals the trick’s winning last twist.

It’s not really the magic that’s the centre of this show and it seems Daniels knows this,

performing around only five sleights of hand and sensibly filling the gaps with the popular banter that has clearly drawn this eclectic and appreciative crowd. [Honour Bayes]

Even when not communing with his demons, Alderton’s frenzied approach allows him a lot of leeway. Middling jokes are made funny by the force of his delivery, and at one point he’s able to escape a failing routine by “rewinding” it live on stage.

Without getting too highminded, the manic persona satirises the stereotype of the “psychologically damaged” comedian. As such, Alderton’s at his best when pushing the clichés of standup comedy to

their breaking point, highlighting the insanity of observing everything in life and the inherent creepiness of playing favourites with audience members. In full flow he successfully reduces most other standups’ shtick to their base - silly noises.

However, Alderton falls for a few clichés of his own. Imitations of small people and call centre workers are mundane, and even come close to being offensive. Also, for a man with such a versatile voice, he’s

surprisingly terrible at regional accents. These old-fashioned elements don’t fit with the more interesting deconstruction happening elsewhere.

If Alderton dispensed with the mainstream pandering, this could be exceptional. He may hear voices, but in the end he seems to be held back by his own nagging doubts.

[Jonathan Holmes]

Assembly George Square, 5:00pm – 6:00pm, 17–28 Aug, £14.00 – £15.00

Pleasance Courtyard, 9:20pm – 10:15pm, 17–28 Aug, £10.50 – £12.00

For the best comedy downloads and CDs

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festcomedy The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic

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The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic arrives in Edinburgh amid much confusion and excitement. Confusion over that garbled title; excitement because it won best comedy show at last year’s Melbourne Fringe.

Now that it is here, the only confusion is over why this diamond of a show is hidden in the depths of the Underbelly instead of being placed on a pedestal. It is a show to warm the laughing gear, dancing feet and the heart.

Vachel Spirason is Angus, a comic creation that is both lovable and pitiful. It betrays nothing to tell you that he dies alone, aged 72, in the same bed he had when he was eight.

Angus’ demise is treated

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as a mere footnote. It is his savant-like wonder and maniacal joy that sets the tone for the hour. With minimal dialogue but maximum expression (plus a plummy Jackanory voice-over), Angus shares his life story. With his bobble-hat firmly in place he spends it trying to find a pattern within the universe.

Unlike Einstein, another gifted individual who

searched for a Theory of Everything, this quest leads him not to fame but to a lonely life observing people on park benches, battling his mischievous and moustachioed alter-ego and asking the audience to eat paste off his finger.

Spirason plays Angus with clownish intensity. He zips about the stage with an infectious, unpredictable

gallop. Instead of wallowing in the news of his timely and unsensational death, Angus invites the audience onto the stage to join him in his favourite activity: dancing. And they all do. It’s a fitting tribute to an electrifying character and show. [Edd McCracken] Underbelly, Cowgate, 10:45pm – 11:45pm, 18–28 Aug, £9.00 – £10.50

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 33

festcomedy Stephen Carlin: Guilty Bystander

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Once tipped by Stewart Lee as “one of the ten best comedians in the world ever”, Edinburgh’s own Stephen Carlin, quite simply, isn’t on form with this effort.

Loosely based around crime— more specifically, our general collective tendency towards lawful behaviour—Carlin’s show makes little of a potentially rich theme in a performance that manages to feel both ramshackle and over-rehearsed at the same time.

Sure, there’s some great moments: Carlin pulls off some great lines about the recent riots, for instance. But the laughs come few and far between.

Audience participation sections go on for far too long – we understand why much later, but it’s no payback for killing the mood. Oddly, while the material

flits aimlessly between Carlin’s chosen theme and his more generic routines, it’s clearly well rehearsed. More than once, the performer forgets his lines, beginning a later section before finding his place. Spontaneous flights of comedic fancy are eminently forgivable, but in Guilty Bystander, Carlin appears simply to have prepared a poor script.

It’s pretty characteristic of the show that its big final reveal comes as a bit of a damp squib.

Not only is there barely the requisite buildup, but the moment itself is fairly underwhelming.

There’s no tension to diffuse; it is a structure without the ornaments. One can’t help but feel that here is a great performer, plodding through a Fringe run he well knows is far from his best effort. [Evan Beswick] The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 9:25pm – 10:25pm, 17–28 Aug, £8.00

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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

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Phill Jupitus Quartet: Made Up

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Improv shows are by their nature obviously liable to vary wildly in quality from one performance to the next, but this one has the personnel and a formula simple enough to deliver the goods every time.

Hirsute comedic polymath and man of many a TV panel show Phill Jupitus is our host for an hour of, as he puts it, “men of an age who should know better fucking around for your pleasure”. Andy Smart, Steve Steen and Niall Ashdown are the garish shirt-sporting gents filling the other three spaces in his quartet (though expect Steve Frost or Ian Coppinger to be subbed into the team on occasion). Together they present a series of Whose Line Is It Anyway-style shortform improvisational games based on elements shouted out at random by the audience.

A quick-fire storytelling

round about Albert Einstein and a cheese grater is an inauspicious start, but things pick up with a tag-team stream of gags based on shifting mime positions, which sees the foursome amusingly get from dog to doggy-style via the Macarena, meerkats and rolling a giant joint.

Steen and Smart steal the show with a two-hander that sees the former play a Slovenian doctor giving a talk in gibberish Slovene and the latter his translator – a routine culminating in Steen gamely performing a TV ad for pickled turnips that involves skiing, a song and an elaborate choreographed dance.

Any improv show that ends with the performers themselves wiping tears of laughter from their eyes has to go down as a success. [Malcolm Jack] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3:30pm – 4:30pm, 17–28 Aug, not 23, 26, £12.00 – £14.00

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 35

festcomedy Tiffany Stevenson: Cavewoman

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For all the foreboding prevalence of leopard-print velour on Cavewoman’s poster, Tiffany Stevenson makes an understated entrance in a baggy jumper, greeting the crowd with ruffled warmth. Thematic material?

What a prehistoric notion.

Cavewoman is formless and meandering, reminiscent not so much of a standup set as a particularly funny mag-fuelled gab-sesh with a gal-pal.

Stevenson name-checks Jordan, Rihanna and Tina Turner early on, then bitches rudimentarily about the yummy mummies on the bus. Somehow she gets to Sir Howard Grubb, inventor of the periscope, then back to Tina

Phill Jupitus: Stand Down

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“You may recognise me from every fucking show on Dave,” chortles Phill Jupitus by way of introduction.

In fact, it was after seeing himself on the repetitive digital channel that Jupitus decided to shed weight. Six and a half stones later he’s less recognisable than he would be with his belly of old.

Those only aware of

Turner. What really joins the hour’s variegated topics is just how likeable the workingclass Londoner is.

Still, Stevenson’s rambling

rapport and Heat Magazine material belies the sharpness of her writing. The star of ITV’s Show Me The Funny is clearly a fan of Urban Diction-

Jupitus’s television work might also find his persona confounds their expectations. This isn’t the cuddly team captain of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, but the spiky curmudgeon of The Perfect Ten, the podcast Jupitus sporadically records with writer and friend Phil Wilding.

Indeed, fans of the latter show will recognise a few of the topics covered, including a recurring riff about a Welsh porn actress.

Jupitus has been away from standup for about a decade but

he doesn’t seem ring-rusty, with a slow, meticulous style and a relaxed demeanor.

The set is split into two segments, the first showcasing the comic’s surprising range of accents and impressions.

His Eddie Izzard in particular is pitch-perfect.

The second half sees Jupitus work his way through a selection of age groups, building up a world where teenagers are sex-obsessed, those in their 20s don’t get hangovers and 30-somethings are shallow and

GILDED BALLOON TEVIOT 0131 622 6552 gildedballoon.co.uk

ary, she contrives context for “frig” (v.) and “chuff” (n.) as well as brilliantly dubbing any bedsit suitor’s attempt to seduce via acoustic guitar “base-peacocking”. Her delivery too is winsome. A disingenuous abortion gag may have nasty shades of Gervais, but Stevenson serves it with a sugar-sweet smile.

Like any friendly gossip, though, Cavewoman eventually runs out of energy and Stevenson starts griping about her cat or the mice infestation in her flat while you’re really just staring out the window nodding. You’d readily meet up with Stevenson again, but perhaps over coffee next time. [Catherine Sylvain] The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 2:25pm – 3:25pm, 17–28 Aug, not 25, £8.00

smug, while passing 40 ushers in an era of tiredness.

If it doesn’t exactly sound like inspiring subject matter that’s because it isn’t. It’s all perfectly amusing stuff, but the storming last 10 minutes of the set shows what Jupitus is really capable of, making the preceding material seem somewhat lazy in comparison.

[David Hepburn] The Stand Comedy Club, 8:25pm – 9:25pm, 17–28 Aug, not 22, £12.00

8:30PM

3 - 28 AUG (not 15)

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festcomedy Jessica Ransom: Unsung Heroes

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A huge improvement on last year’s so-so Ransom’s Million, this tight character comedy showcase from erstwhile Armstrong and Miller sidekick Jessica Ransom entertains from first to last, with scarcely a misstep throughout.

Capably incorporating slide projection and audience interaction, her hour veritably romps along as she focuses on society’s uncelebrated few, offering a broad spectrum of the overlooked, downtrodden outsiders looking wistfully in.

After a succession of snapshot creations, their essence distilled into pithy one-liners, we meet Anne, who is selfeffacing to the point of being invisible. “Organiser” for the show, she’s also the originator of its refrain that something cannot be done because “we’re not insured for it”, an imposition that Ransom has occasional fun challenging.

An obedient maid at a stately home emerges as the model of unwitting testimony, her efforts to disguise her aristocratic employers’ indiscretions amusingly revealing, while Andy Serkis’ Motion Capture School manages to balance subtle (and not-sosubtle) digs at showbusiness with knockabout crowd involvement. Ransom’s most memorable creation is the

wife of a celebrity chef, a marginalised, humiliated creature in whom Gordon Ramsay’s lawyers may wish to take an interest. Her insecurity most clearly manifests itself in mashing her breasts together, starkly contrasting with the comic’s deluded businesswoman/receptionist, whose bosom becomes a weapon in her upwardly mobile efforts at sexual blackmail.

A final offering involving a pumped-up US bounty-hunter-turned-personal trainer seems somewhat limited, but there’s some nice lines in her backstory and the show finishes with a feelgood burst of crowd participation. [Jay Richardson] Pleasance Courtyard, 5:10pm – 6:10pm, 17–29 Aug, £9.00 – £10.00

Joe Bor: In Search of the Six Pack

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Unnerved by the discovery that his girlfriend’s ex was a buff Aussie plumber called Mitch, English standup Joe Bor has been motivated this past year to go in search of that which every man desires but few have the energy and dedication to attain: a six-pack.

This show roughly charts his quest to lose weight and tone up, while serving as a platform for a bunch of material broadly relating to whether looks really matter more than personality.

If that all sounds a bit hackneyed, it is – and worse.

There’s no taking away from Bor’s confident flow and slick delivery, both of which must have been instrumental in him landing the job as studio warm-up act for BBC1’s The

Graham Norton Show. But the majority of his punchlines are tamer than a sleeping guide dog and draw a wince more often than they do a laugh, while some his video skits and songs—head-scratchingly pointless filler ahoy—are fullblown tumbleweed moments.

Bor’s topical quip about how the only way a riot might occur in his native Crouch End is if the local Waitrose runs out of hummus has the ignominy of being variation number 12,847 (or thereabouts) on this week’s most done-to-death Fringe joke. Suffice to say, he never gets that six-pack in the end, and nor does it matter to his missus. Watching him pound the treadmill for an hour may have been more diverting than this. [Malcolm Jack] Just the Tonic at The Tron, 5:00pm – 6:00pm, 17–28 Aug, £7.00 – £8.00

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Noel Fielding

8:30PM

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 37

festcomedy Nathan Cassidy: Fantastica!

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“Pseudologia fantastica” is a term applied to compulsive lying so extreme that it’s entirely disproportionate to the result the fantasist hopes to achieve. Nathan Cassidy’s supposed inspiration is David Copperfield, whose Las Vegas act hoodwinks thousands into believing he’s capable of flying, earning him millions.

By contrast, the likeably puckish comedian is making unbelievable claims and slanderous slurs for the relatively meagre reward of drawing modest audiences to a cold, damp cave.

A world away from the stadia he might have graced had Take That not chosen Jason Orange’s negligible singing talent over his arthritic headspins, the erstwhile Marc Almond impersonator

explores rumour, conspiracy and super-injunctions, his desire for a showbusiness break and to continue feeding his children casting his boldest claims into doubt. Nevertheless, tiny details suggest maybe, just maybe, these tales could be true – perhaps Nick Park is a plasticine-manipulating pervert and Paddy McGuinness is a talentless coattail surfer.

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As befits a show about half-truths there’s a lack of coherence and the limitless scope of lying affords Cassidy a capacity to spout any old rubbish and consider it material. Still, the unevenness of tone works in his favour, reaching a grim nadir when he speaks of a friend so emotionally invested in a massive human tragedy he has a favourite piece of news

footage.

A conman’s gamble, Fantastica mostly engages. And its final, five-second piss-take could be amongst the most astonishing, tear-inducing sights at the Fringe. Even if the tears largely belong to Cassidy. [Jay Richardson] Just The Tonic at the Caves, 1:45pm – 2:45pm, 18–20 Aug, £6.00

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 39

Launch

Party Celebrating 10 years at the Fringe, the Fest 2011 launch party was a huge success. Hosted by Electric Circus and with drinks from Edinburgh Gin, the party featured an eclectic lineup, including Nick Helm, Shlomo, The Magnets, Luke Wright and Phil Nichol.

Check out the pictures from our photo booth at festmag.co.uk/looklook

comics vs critics

Despite the valiant efforts of the comedians at the annual fest and Amnesty International critics vs comedians football grudge match, it was the critics that stole the show - running out convincing 7-3 winners! Here are some of our favourite bits.

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Photos: Claudine Quinn Clockwise from top left Mark Watson squares off with fest's Peter Geoghagan Critics celebrate their victory Tom Rosenthal takes a filthy tackle from behind Comics remain gracious in defeat

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 41

wordonthestreet

Deirdre From: Living in Edinburgh First fest?

No, I’ve done about 20 What are you most excited about this Fringe?

Today’s our first day visiting this year’s festival because we’re just back from holidays and it really depends on what we can get into. Tried Fred MacAauley this morning, couldn’t get in so hoping to get in to Mervyn Stutter now! Sometimes it’s nice to go to something totally random, something you’ve not read up on properly.

What’s your most bizarre fringe experience?

Just being called up on stage by random comedians. Nothing too extraordinary, no one has died in front of us or anything like that! That would be exciting…

Laura From: Jersey First fest?

Yes! What are you most excited about?

David Sedaris, I’ve listened to all his audio books and love his humour. He’s really funny so I’m really looking forward to seeing him and also the show with Amanda Palmer, Evelyn Evelyn. I’m a big Amanda Palmer fan.

Most bizarre fringe experience?

We spotted the woman with the world record for the most piercings on her face and we thought she looked pretty funky so we got a photo with her. She was really friendly.

Top festival spot?

I haven’t had a chance to get to know the place yet but we were at a venue yesterday, which was good fun.

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Joss & Alexander From: Edinburgh First fest?

No it’s about the 5th or 4th or something!

What are you most excited about?

We have so many things planned. Today we’re seeing Mervyn Stutter, which we’ve seen already but we always like seeing him cause it’s a good way to see lots of different acts. We’re also heading to see Axis of Awesome who are good. Also really looking forward to the Cambridge Footlights.

Most bizarre fringe experience?

Last year we saw a really, really bizarre play where all the actors were in a white box and there was a projection of what was going on inside the box on the outside of the box. Then they put plastic bags over their heads and set fire to them.

Truly bizarre. It had everything. Think they were Belgian or something.

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This exquisite wordless piece can only be watched with cheeks glistening, mouths agog Page 45

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Photo: Claudine Quinn

HHHHH

festtheatre

TRANSLUNAR PARADISE

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 43

festtheatre The Alchemystorium

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It’s the first night of Gomito Productions’ new show – and they’re running nearly half an hour late. There’s palpable dissatisfaction in the snaking queue, as people wonder whether they’ll make it to their next show on time. But when we finally make our way into the cosy Bedlam auditorium, all is forgiven as The Alchemystorium quickly reveals the joyful narrative at the centre of its enormous heart.

The lights dim and a large box slowly unfolds to expose an intricate, detailed revolving set, bedecked with little puppets, mini Polaroid snapshots and kitchen paraphernalia. This is The Alchemystorium Cafe: seemingly a quirky purveyor of hot beverages but with an added matchmaking service.

Without uttering a single word,

the three talented performers use every ounce of physicality in their bodies to create an utterly mesmerising production that’s artfully staged but also retains something of the anarchic spontaneity that accomplished physical theatre shows confidently possess.

It’s unashamedly silly and romantic, and the delightful story regularly invokes belly

44 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

laughs and loud guffaws from the audience for almost every minute of its 60. Nevertheless, its silent, over-emphasised acting style may serve to alienate some Fringe-goers in search of a more conventional set-up.

The slightly shaky beginning—in which the parameters of the relationship between the three characters aren’t too well defined—also detracts a

little from what’s otherwise a beautifully staged piece. But these shortcomings are amply compensated for by an exquisite soundtrack, adorable performances and the charmingly unabashed reverence for romance that suffuses this blissful hour.

[Yasmin Sulaiman] Bedlam Theatre, 4:30pm – 5:30pm, 17–27 Aug, £8.00

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festtheatre Translunar Paradise

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We enter a barely lit room to the sounds of a soft gypsy lament, played out on accordion by a woman standing in the corner. Later, with a hum, a wail, or a tap of her surprisingly versatile instrument, she conjures a train, a clock, a hospital, even a battlefield. A man, obscured behind a mask resembling the careworn face of an elderly male sits forlornly at a table. Next to him, a younger woman stands rigid and expressionless like a life-size marionette.

What then unfolds in this wordless, exquisitely orchestrated, physical exploration of loss and companionship is one of the most affecting love stories seen at the Fringe – this year, or any other.

The younger woman dons a similar mask and plays out a series of vignettes—all in precisely choreographed, Lecoq-style mime—with her husband, the Old Man. They

do a crossword, go for a walk, share a cup of tea – the trivial comforts and minutiae of a long life shared.

Then the masks fall and we see their young courtship flourish; he goes to war, she gets pregnant; they dance, fall in love, argue, comfort and eventually, terribly, they grieve. It’s simultaneously theatre from nothing, and from everything; the rituals and rites of life lived, and a love that stretches out across it all and beyond.

To say much more would dull the impact of this extraordinary piece. But when at last, somehow, the pair manages to let go, we, the audience—cheeks glistening, mouths agog—are released too. Incredibly, an hour has passed.

A standing ovation is the inevitable conclusion. [Joe Spurgeon] Pleasance Dome, 3:40pm – 4:55pm, 17–29 Aug, not 23, £9.50 – £10.00

Looser Women

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Karen Dunbar is the solitary saving grace in a show that mistakes rehashing tired clichés about the mating game for being risqué.

Taking the format of a panel discussion show presented by a trio of game girls—Wendy Wason and Rachel Parris being our other two hosts—Looser Women is a based on a pair of books by authors purporting to lift the lid on Britain’s hidden sexual mores: Tim Fountain’s Sex Addict and Suzanne Portnoy’s erotic memoir The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker.

Material lifted from true confessions by members of the public around the country is inevitably funnier and stranger than anything that could be made-up. Stories range from

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the weirdly kinky (including “Marie fae Govan” who gets her backside whacked with a fish slice) to the depressingly mundane (a list of locations people have enjoyed a causal quickie includes a skip outside Lidl). And any routine featuring a bowl full of dildos in varying exotic shapes and applications (a “potpourri of dildi” as Dunbar puts it) is always going

to raise a snigger on the most basic level of humour. But in an age when practically every men’s and women’s magazine carries a sex column revelling in its readiness to call a spade a spade in matters carnal, there’s precious little that’s daring or enlightening about the bulk of the gags in this show.

It’s Dunbar’s razor sharp comic mannerisms, impres-

sions and timing alone that raise solid laughs, in such a way as to make Wason look stilted and Parris—in her defence, the youngest and least experienced of the three—positively out of her depth. [Malcolm Jack] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 10:45pm – 11:45pm, 18–29 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 45

festtheatre Belleville Rendez-vous

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This stage adaptation of Sylvain Chomet’s Oscarnominated animated film uses an dazzling array of theatrical tricks to deliver a charming and memorable Fringe experience.

Set in the eponymous 1950s Parisian cabaret bar, recently-orphaned Champion is taken in by his kindly grandmother Madame Souza. The nervous child is brought out of his shell by the twin presents of a dog called Bruno and a bicycle. Years later, inspired by the latter gift, he takes part in the Tour de France, only to be kidnapped by a pair of shadowy mafia figures.

Madame Souza sets out to save him with the help of Bruno and a few characters she meets on the way.

The production does a

fantastic job in mirroring the innocent appeal of the source material. The young Champion is played by an impossibly sad marionette. Meanwhile, Bruno the dog, who is very much the heart of the performance, appears as two ingeniouslyformed puppets, the first made from a boot and the second from a suitcase. Both are

Circolombia

HHHHH The achievements of circus and acrobatic shows can often be judged not on how high performers can jump or how fast they can spin in the rafters, but by the calibre of the slower, less showy moments.

The breathless stunts create the spectacle; the catching of breath makes the show.

Any performance that is based on the wonders of human physicality will have those jaw-dropping moments – the ones that make running off and joining the circus appear a great career option.

Circolombia, a troupe that grew up on the tough streets of West Colombia, is no different. High points from their show of the same name include two members simultaneously back-flipping two storeys high, using nothing but fellow performers’ hands as trampolines. At another point, a pixie-like young lady

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instantly lovable.

A jazz quartet supplies the music in the largely dialoguefree performance, providing atmosphere with double bass, piano, guitar and accordion.

Meanwhile, cast members supply sound effects using everything from a bike frame to saucepan lids.

Those not familiar with

the film could lose track of the the plot in a middle section which mainly utilises dance to further the action. But it’s all brought together in a satisfying manner with a rousing rescue and chase scene. [David Hepburn] Bedlam Theatre, 11:00am – 12:00pm, 18–20 Aug, £8.00

dangles inside a spinning wheel perched upon a human colossus’s head.

However, it is in the valleys between these peaks that the show fizzles out.

An hour long performance has been crafted around 15 minutes of high octane feats.

The filler consists of some admittedly impressive dancing to pounding Colombian hip-hop but there are other sequences that just fall flat.

For example, a tightrope is walked on – whilst it lies limp on the ground. Other moments are lost in translation. At one point, a manmountain sings in Spanish as he rolls about the stage in a barrel, resembling something like a snail.

The result is a show in which gasps of boredom sadly outnumber those of awe. [Edd McCracken] Assembly Hall, 12:00pm – 1:10pm, 18–29 Aug, £14.00 – £15.00

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 47

festtheatre The Overcoat

Clockheart Boy

It is one of theatre’s most inviolate truths that any play toying with the idea that the poor and ugly will remain downtrodden is timeless – and so it proves with this energetic updating of Gogol’s parable. Here, the crushing bureaucracy of 19th century St Petersburg is swapped for the last 50 years of Edinburgh’s banking history. Sadly, the idea of an uncaring machine full of human cogs spluttering towards excess rings equally true today.

Akie McKakie is the owner of the titular garment. We follow him as he moves unspeaking from the “You’ve never had it so good” days of Harold Wilson in the 1960s, through the loadsamoney 1980s, to the Zen management styles and financial crash of the last decade.

Throughout, McKakie quietly works industriously in the shadows, wearing the same tattered overcoat, never advancing while his more brash colleagues profit at his expense. It is only when he buys into the glittery excess of the banking lifestyle, via an £8000 Armani overcoat, that things start to change for him – but only a crash awaits.

Catherine Grosvenor’s adaptation laces its acerbic social comment with lashings of humour. Each era is marked with a wink via mullet haircuts, MC Hammer and the confusing arrival of the internet. The complex financial models that have sunk nations are wholly mocked and the six performers on stage perform all 40 characters with spirit.

The adaptation’s frothiness sometimes gets in the way of real punches being landed. Bank fat cats are too easily satirised and the ending jars. Still, it is a unwelcomely prescient but very enjoyable update. [Edd McCracken]

A clever, fantastical and delicately moving story about coping with loss, Dumbshow’s Clockheart Boy is a lesson in exceptional fairy-tale family theatre, the sort that has audience members leaving the room grinning broadly while discreetly dabbing their eyes with Kleenex.

In his mysterious castle overlooking the sea, the Professor pines for his daughter Sophie, who went out to play on a storm-whipped beach 15 years ago, never to return.

He still hasn’t given up the search for her and creates a gang of kindly humanoid helpers—Peepers, Brolly, Bulb and Gobble—to look after his household following the death of his wife, and to help him build a giant telescope to scour the heavens for Sophie.

It doesn’t find her but locates instead a small boy without a heart who has been washed ashore nearby. Brought back to life by the Professor and named Clockheart Boy, it looks like he may return love and happiness to the home. But there’s something lurking in the basement with other ideas – the sinister legacy of a failed experiment by the Professor at

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Pleasance Dome, 12:25pm – 1:45pm, 18–29 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

HHHHH

At The Sans Hotel

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At The Sans Hotel is not going to be for everyone. Filing out of the performance, the faces of tonight’s audience are a perfect picture of bafflement and confusion. This is a production that has absolutely no respect for theatrical convention.

There’s no story, no structure, no lights up at the end, no space for applause. Indeed, standing in the foyer, we’re not entirely sure if it has actually finished or whether we’ve all just accidentally walked out.

It’s a disorientating experi-

48 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

the pit of his despair.

All performed to a mellifluous live score by a wind-up pianist (who at one stage hilariously storms off stage when the Professor throws a tantrum at him), Clockheart Boy is a tirelessly inventive and gently moving play by a fastrising young company with a

very bright future. There’s joy befitting Disney, and darkness and emotional complexity worthy of Tim Burton. Catch it quick – time’s ticking. [Malcolm Jack]

ence. There is no coherent narrative line; indeed, although it’s inspired by the experience of a German tourist incarcerated in Australia as an illegal immigrant, it really doesn’t have much to do with this at all. It is largely an exploration of mental illness and breakdown, but it isn’t an assemblage of set pieces exploring this theme in any systematic way.

Instead, At The Sans Hotel is a determinedly experimental collection of esoteric thoughts, images and glimpses of utter madness. It opens with performer Nicola Gunn apologising because The Sans Hotel’s

scheduled entertainment, a visit from a famous singer, has been cancelled. What follows is a very slow, very pronounced breakdown. Gunn takes us on a journey through depression and isolation in a way that is often genuinely affecting.

Indeed, she is a performer of quite exceptional charisma, without whom it is doubtful that the play would work at all.

That it does is entirely down to the warmth and vulnerability Gunn captures. [Ben Judge]

C venues - C, 4:25pm – 5:40pm, 17–29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Assembly Hall, 7:20pm – 8:35pm, 17–28 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

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‘intense, provocative… emotional.’

La Scena DASH ARTS’ PRODUCTION DRAMATISED AND DIRECTED BY TIM SUPPLE STORIES ADAPTED BY HANAN AL-SHAYKH COMMISSIONED BY LUMINATO, TORONTO FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND CREATIVITY

EUROPEAN PREMIERE Pulsating tales of love, power, money and fate Performed in Arabic, English and French with English supertitles

Sunday 21 August – Saturday 3 September Royal Lyceum Theatre

Tickets from £10 Book now at eif.co.uk/1001 0131 473 2000

Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann

Sponsored by

Charity No. SC004694

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 51 th Sou

festtheatre Cutting the Cord

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Leaving home, pitching up somewhere new and starting life afresh is never easy.

It’s more difficult still when moving to a vast sprawling city with a strange culture and an unfamiliar language.

Exploring themes such as contemporary loneliness and what it means to be at home in a place, Cutting the Cord follows the life of a Japanese immigrant living in London as she tries to find her place in the world.

This latest offering from experimental theatre group Flying Eye is an affecting and cleverly constructed piece. From the moment the audience is brought into the theatre and herded onto the stage, a little confused and disoriented as the action darts from corner to corner, one can’t help but share in the alienating experience of finding oneself in a new environment, or a new country, for the first time.

While certainly experimental theatre, it is by no means completely esoteric.

There is a coherent narrative strand running throughout

proceedings, focusing on performer Sachi Kimura’s character as she settles in to life in the UK. Kimura perfectly blends together the sense of excitement and enthusiasm of being in a brand new country and starting a brand new life with a sense of nostalgia

and longing for the place and people left behind. It’s a subtly melancholic performance that becomes genuinely powerful as tragedy strikes back home and Kimura finds herself more and more alone in London.

Empathetic and humane, Cutting the Cord is a cross-

Thirty Two Teeth

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To say that Thirty Two Teeth is a slow burner would be a significant understatement. The play, based on the bizarre premise that people live or die because of the Tooth Fairy, only really gets going towards the end of the second half – by which time the majority of the audience are practically comatose.

Created by Jam Jar Productions, who were commended last year for their distinctly modern fairy-tale, Following Wendy, the primary problem with this year’s offering is that the story just isn’t engaging enough. Three teenage

friends hatch a plan to kidnap the Tooth Fairy so that one of them, Samuel, can barter for the life of his premature baby brother, who is hanging on in hospital. However, it transpires that Samuel does not have his

52 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

brother’s best interests at heart and the group begin to argue over the moral validity of their actions.

Fairy-tales, though fantastical in nature, succeed when their supernatural elements

continental journey that is immersive, thought-provoking and haunting: exactly what experimental theatre should be. [Ben Judge] Underbelly, Cowgate, 6:45pm – 7:40pm, 17–27 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

do not detract from the fundamentally human morals that underlie them. In the case of Thirty Two Teeth, any human interest is drowned out by the ridiculous notion that the Tooth Fairy can be bribed with a couple of incisors and a few molars.

Though the actors in this production battle valiantly to bring some life to the tedious script they have been given, it is clear that—unlike The Tooth Fairy featured in Thirty Two Teeth—they are not miracle workers. [Matthew Macaulay] C venues - C soco, 3:20pm – 4:20pm, 17–29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

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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 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 53

festtheatre Medea

HHHHH Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Never has this statement rung truer for a character than Medea.

Granddaughter of the sun god Helios, she’s abandoned

by Jason for a princess and banished by a heartless king.

So Medea takes events into her own bloody hands, invoking horrible atrocities that include, most famously, infanticide. In Greek mythology and Euripides’ play, Medea’s is a story of fiery passion and in this production, the somewhat static design sees a giant orb throbbing threateningly in the background, illuminating an otherwise surreal, Giorgio de Chirico-like setting.

Belt Up’s Outland

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Like many of Belt Up’s creations, Outland asks a lot from its audience: both mentally in the leaps of imagination necessary to make sense of the story being told, and physically in the occasional ways we’re asked to participate. This particular narrative flips back and forth between the attempts by Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll—here called by his real name, Charles—to grapple with his deteriorating mental state

Sadly, it is the most potent thing in a show that takes Stella Duffy’s snappy version and delivers it in a way that would make cardboard look animated. Director Sarah Chew must have had a plan here, but what it is exactly remains a mystery. For a melodramatic story of betrayal, it feels very bland and the actors—apart from a very

pained Nadira Janikova, who plays the eponymous antiheroine—sound flat. There’s no inflection in the delivery of their lines and, as they stand on stage facing the audience, they remind you of blinking rabbits in headlights.

This is a shame as Duffy’s version places its full focus on the idea of women as accessories to male ambition, cry-

ing out for a “time for women to sing the truths of men.” It’s a compelling perspective but Chew’s production has taken all the sting out of a valid and powerful contemporary take on an age old tale of treachery. [Honour Bayes]

in late life, and the rabbit hole into which he descends during his worst hours.

It’s told with astonishing dexterity, the three impressive performers flitting between roles with ease and creating a complex fictional world with real clarity. But even if you can’t quite follow the multiple twists and turns of its story, there’s much to love about Outland’s atmosphere.

Much of this ambience comes from the characteristically quirky performance space that’s been created by the company, who won the

Edinburgh International Festival Award in 2008. The audience sit on cushions and sofas, cramped around the walls of a beautifullylit—but, as a result, sometimes unbearably hot—room. A bit like an eccentric grandparent’s lounge, it’s littered with vintage-patterned fabrics and antiquated furniture, creating an old-fashioned environment that perfectly suits the play’s period setting.

Some moments jar – characters appearing from and disappearing through a wardrobe—an anachronistic

wink at Narnia—is a sweet stylistic touch but adds little to the piece. Its tear-jerking last scene is also spoiled by the addition of an overly-sentimental tinkly backing track.

But while these drawbacks keep Outland from reaching the heights of 2009’s supreme, joyous Tartuffe—surely Belt Up’s best work to date—it’s nonetheless an affecting addition to their collection. [Yasmin Sulaiman]

Bashir Lazhar

Assembly George Square, 6:30pm – 7:35pm, 17–29 Aug, £12.00 – £13.00

C venues - C soco, 8:30pm – 9:30pm, 17–29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

“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 19-22

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

www.edfringe.com

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festtheatre Titus Andronicus

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Shakespeare’s back catalogue demonstrates that he was an expert in communicating the idiosyncrasies of the human condition and—while much has changed over the last 400 years—the human race remains fundamentally the same. Contemporary adaptations of Shakespeare’s creations succeed when they overcome the language barrier that separates us from the universal truths his works contain. It’s safe to say that Action To The Word’s raw adaptation of Titus Andronicus succeeds in this task.

Titus Andronicus is a bloodand sex-infused Machiavellian delight set during the turbulent latter days of the Roman Empire. It’s Shakespeare’s most violent work and tells the tale of a conflict between a Roman General, Titus Andronicus, and Tamora Queen of Goths.

Suffice to say, fake blood runs freely in this version, but it

certainly doesn’t drown out accomplished performances by a talented cast. Particular mention must be made of Thomas Christian who owns the stage as Titus, moving effortlessly back and forth from righteous anger to morbid humour. His comic timing is excellent, and his Titus is utterly believable.

The play can perhaps be best described as the 16thcentury equivalent of a gory Hollywood blockbuster. Back then, as now, there existed a significant public appetite for graphic representations of sex and violence, and Shakespeare pitched it just right with this grisly number. Certainly not for the faint hearted, this adaption doesn’t skimp on any of the orgiastic or cannibalistic elements of Shakespeare’s original – and is infinitely more entertaining for it. [Matthew Macaulay] C venues - C, 10:15pm – 11:35pm, 17–29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Caruso and the Monkey House Trial

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Writer Andrew G Marshall has enthusiastically stressed the parallels that his musical monologue, Caruso and the Monkey House Trial, has with Dominique StraussKahn’s current bother. Yet the topicality of the sexual misconduct accusations tossed at tenor Enrico Caruso in 1906 rather makes this play’s trajectory feel like overly-trodden ground. The century’s first tabloid celebrity sex scandal, Caruso’s case is also fairly typical, involving questionable evidence, underlying racism and no one emerging cleanhanded.

Contemporary accounts of the incident—in which Caruso was accused of groping a woman in the monkey

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house of New York’s Central Park Zoo—paint the tenor as very much the victim. But Ignacio Jarquin’s one-man performance suggests a more ambiguous character, slipperily debonair and too earnestly desperate to be truly sympathetic. It’s clear why this is Jarquin’s second onstage incarnation of Caruso; he has fantastically expressive features and a devastating voice. Only when he uses

the latter do you understand why a troop of managers and detectives rush to defend the virtuoso. Jarquin’s Caruso animates these supporting characters with hammy contempt as he tiresomely denies and denies the increasing accusations.

Instead of confiding in his distant wife, Caruso identifies with Noki the monkey in what is the play’s most compelling analogy. During the prologue

Jarquin eats a banana – and for its conclusion he squats atop a table like a primate. Caruso and the Monkey House Trial may say little original about celebrity sex scandals, but Marshall makes an intriguing satirical point about the status of performers. [Catherine Sylvain] Hill Street Theatre, 3:45pm – 4:45pm, 18–29 Aug, not 24, £9.00 – £11.00

August 19-22 | 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

Fles hE

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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 19-22 www.festmag.co.uk

festtheatre Free Time Radical

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In Free Time Radical, Fringe First and Total Theatre award-winners Frequency D’Ici offer a thoughtful play that never quite recovers from a shaky start. The premise is an interesting one – two men in their early 30s are holed up in a grubby living room as the world around them is submerged in a watery apocalypse.

But it’s not introduced clearly enough at the beginning and the audience is left wondering why these two unlikely companions—dishevelled Ali and suit-wearing Jensen—wound up together in the first place.

After some initial bemusement, everything becomes clear when a key element of the plot is revealed around two-thirds into the play. From then, Free Time Radical gathers pace and ends strongly, Sebastien Lawson and Tom Frankland proving that they are impressive, dextrous performers when they make Ali and Jensen’s relationship suddenly very sweet and believable. There are some well-observed jokes too and the idea that Friends will still be playing on British TV when the end of the world comes provokes much laughter.

But the play’s main strength is in its representation of a drifting generation of 30-somethings, whose boundless world of choices has left them inert and unable to face major responsibilities as they get older.

The production could benefit from shaving 10 minutes off its running time and the allimportant reveal could be made earlier, but ultimately Free Time Radical exposes itself to be a considered and thoughtful work with much to say about how we can better live our lives. [Yasmin Sulaiman] Pleasance Courtyard, 1:10pm – 2:20pm, 18–28 Aug, not 23, £10.00 – £12.00

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The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik

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A young man in a wetsuit strides on stage, wearing a torch in front of his face like a pilot fish. He peers sternly at the crowd, inasmuch as one can be stern when dressed in neoprene, then disappears into the shadows. A large circular projection screen springs to life and what follows is something like WALL-E meets Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – under the sea.

The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik uses a clever mixture of animation, puppetry, live action and music to tell the story

Scary Gorgeous

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RashDash artistic directors Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen have created a no holds barred mash-up of music, dance and performance which attempts to explore ideas of teenage sexuality.

Fronting a band and lacing killer vocals with even sharper heels, Abbi and Helen are two sassy, sexually precocious girls. Interweaving their story with a young couple, Aidan and Sarah, they look at the effects of pornography

of the eponymous deep-sea explorer, who sets off beneath the surface of a flood-ravaged Earth to find his lost bride and rescue humanity from “Mother Nature’s menopausal outbursts”. But as ambitious as this sounds for a one-man show, Alvin Sputnik’s Australian creator Tim Watts makes it look easy.

Light on dialogue, Alvin Sputnik hinges almost entirely on visual exposition – and it is here that Watts excels.

Hand-drawn animations and intricate sound design create a distinctive aesthetic—something akin to a more sweetnatured Mighty Boosh—and the spirit of childish escapism

is such that it’s hard not to be drawn in.

It feels at first like there might be an environmental moral buried in there somewhere, but Alvin Sputnik wisely steers clear of preaching and focuses instead on being a simple, gently bittersweet tale of adventure, with plenty of funny little vignettes along the way – the moment when Alvin discovers a disco ball is a particular gem. It’s chronically twee, yes, but also completely charming. [Marcus Kernohan]

on adolescent identity and psychology through a brash, unfocused lens.

The band, made especially for this show (although they’re so tight, you wouldn’t know it), occasionally chip in as scene extras. While the story is flabby, the music is punchy, focused, cool and probably the best thing in this show.

But in such an intimate space, it’s easy to feel bombarded – not only by the sheer force of sound but also the non-stop theatrical whistles and buzzers that Greenland and Goalen have thrown

into this soup of a show.

The movement sequences are impressive but a bit too “interpretive dance” in style and the interaction between the characters suffers from a script much weaker than the lyrics of the band.

There’s a lot of talent on offer here but a firmer editorial hand is needed and, in the middle of the whirlwind, the basic backbone of this story becomes fractured and eventually lost. [Honour Bayes]

Underbelly, Cowgate, 6:00pm – 7:00pm, 17–28 Aug, £10.00 – £12.50

Bedlam Theatre, 9:00pm – 10:30pm, 17–20 Aug, £10.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 57

festtheatre Danny and the Deep Blue Sea

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The bar is straight out of a Bruce Springsteen song: a public place where people come to be alone. The only two customers are from a Bronx blue collar fairy tale – Roberta, a single mother who reeks of a life over by 30; and Danny, a man so consumed and crippled by rage he is called ‘The Beast’.

They meet over pretzels and tepid beer and spend the rest of the night and morning trying to find love, meaning, forgiveness, and hope in the debris of each other’s lives.

It sounds sweet, but this is romance, Bronx-style.

When Danny and Roberta come close to one another, they react and repel, like charged ions. Bruised and battered by the world, they bruise and batter each other.

When each shows the other a way out of their small worlds, a vertigo consumes them. For Roberta it is forgiveness for a terrible act she committed; for Danny it is the ability to walk down the street without attacking someone.

Writer John Patrick Shanley won an Oscar in 1987 for his script Moonstruck. He certainly has an ear for the profanitylaced conversational rhythms of the Bronx. There is something of another Oscar winner, The Graduate, in the show’s rather improbable ending.

The cast is also slightly imbalanced, with the brilliant Alessija Lause doing most of the heavy lifting as Roberta.

Nikolaus Szentmiklosi as Danny is slightly one-note, only really convincing in his fits of rage.

It makes for a slightly ragged, but enjoyably grizzled, tale. [Edd McCracken] St George’s West, 3:15pm – 4:15pm, 18–29 Aug, £10.00 – £12.00

Hex

HHHHH Gwen and Toby are a young married couple facing a difficult domestic problem.

They’ve tried everything and, much to Toby’s horror, Gwen is now turning to esoteric Eastern teachings for the answer – seeking solace in meditation and the cod philosophy of far away monks (“when life throws you cabbage, make kimchee”).

Today, the long-suffering Toby has been instructed to be on his best behaviour for some very special guests. Visiting their home will be a pair of spiritual healers who worked

Whistle

HHHHH When Martin Figura was just nine years old, his father, having suffered a catastrophic nervous breakdown, killed his mother, ripping the little boy’s world from beneath his feet. Whistle is the story of Figura’s childhood, both before and after this terrible event, and about rebuilding a child’s shattered life.

The production takes as its starting point Figura’s poetry and sets it against a backdrop of family portraiture and history. It’s an intimate

58 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

a mind-blowing miracle at a recent fair, and may have the power to deliver them from their predicament. But they’ve been through it all before, and despite Gwen’s doe-eyed enthusiasm, Toby remains mortally unconvinced.

So come they do and pitch their services over a hearty round of curative tea, when it becomes apparent that even by their standards the problem in hand is a peculiar one.

Nothing on their menu looks fit for purpose, but where icecold nightshade enemas fall short, a simple jar of pickles may just do the trick.

What starts off as an offbeat, dead-end sitcom

spins miraculously into a wildly imaginative tale of the unexpected in this mischievous one act play from Strangetown Theatre Company. The script teeters on being heavy-handed in parts but never boring, and is cheerfully executed by a young cast who have taken to the task with a huge sense of fun. Sharp performances from Sarah MacGillivray and Ben Clifford in the lead roles and one hell of a twist make this a bewitchingly enjoyable experience. [Junta Sekimori]

look at a child’s attempts to carry on growing up in the shadow of such a devastating personal trauma. Figura takes us through his childhood experiences of being fostered and abandoned by his aunt and uncle, of going into care and then being looked after by his former neighbours. The lyricism of the piece is really quite lovely and the modest staging and delivery mean Whistle is a production that never feels trite.

If there’s a problem with Whistle, though, it’s that it deals surprisingly little with the emotional impact of Figura

losing his mother. Of course, one can imagine it was horrible; but almost nothing is said on the matter. Instead Figura deals with the matter-of-fact issues that came afterwards, which jars a little with the warm, intimate portrait he paints of family life before the event. Furthermore, we never really find out what “the event” was. It might be a voyeuristic criticism, but in such a confessional piece, detail is key. It’s what makes the story personal. [Ben Judge]

Hill Street Theatre, 9:25pm – 10:15pm, 18–29 Aug, not 24, £8.00

Zoo, 1:45pm – 2:45pm, 18–29 Aug, not 25, £7.50

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festtheatre The Infant

HHHHH

Young Pretender

HHHHH

“I, now, yes, me, now,” whispers a wild-eyed Bonnie Prince Charlie, facing down certain defeat on the eve of the 1746 Battle of Culloden. In this dynamic reimagining of the failed Jacobite uprising, playwright EV Crowe has melded history and contemporary pop culture to create an exhilarating modern version of the infamous prince, resplendent in skinny jeans and Cuban heels, and with all the lanky, angular charm of a coked-up Jarvis Cocker.

Over the course of three breathless scenes, the story follows Charlie from bullish,

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irrepressible leader to the ignominy of humiliating defeat, before finally returning to the prince’s original landing in Eriskay two years earlier, where he first used his charm to convince an army of Highlanders to join the Jacobite cause. In each scene, Crowe’s lively writing conjures a different, but highly believable version of the prince, flitting from megalomania to vulnerability to manipulative charm.

The script also pithily fuses old and new, imagining the hapless prince with all the sinister charisma and calculation of a populist politician (“Who ok’d ‘Bonnie’?).

At times, though, this slick dialogue is a little overwrought

and feels like an exercise in showcasing Crowe’s writing abilities rather than constructing a coherent narrative. To their credit, the three-strong cast grapple admirably with the play’s breakneck pace, with Rebecca Elise turning in the standout performance as Flora. The only slight weakness is the chemistry between Paul Woodson as Charlie and Chris Starkie as his loyal protector, Donald, who fail to convince as intimate companions, let alone to raise Crowe’s faint suggestion of homoeroticism.

[Sam Friedman]

The Infant is a Kafka-esque dark comedy from Ernest and the Pale Moon creators Les Enfants Terribles, set in the interrogation rooms of a shadowy government organisation.

Cooper—hands tied, hooded, gagged and bloodied—is accused of a crime he not only didn’t commit, but didn’t even know existed. He soon finds that his entire family is under attack by an organisation that ostensibly exists to protect him.

The Infant is very much a child of the War on Terror, satirizing some of the more insane precautions taken by state intelligence services with the aim of protecting society from “the terrorists”. Anthony Spargo and Martyn Dempsey’s madcap interrogators are almost vintage Tim Burtonlike figures, managing to be likeably kooky one minute and darkly sinister the other. Their relationship and squabbles are the undisputed highlight of this absurdist drama.

Where The Infant disappoints is in the incredibility of its premise. While a farce is expected to have at its heart a central strand that is perfectly stupid and there to be ridiculed, this production chooses something monumentally unbelievable to the point that one’s disbelief can no longer be suspended. For all the interesting things that The Infant has to say about authoritarianism and the fragility of human rights, asking us to buy into the idea that security services would make a serious fuss over a child’s innocuous drawing is pushing it too far.

Consequently, it’s really difficult to fully immerse yourself in a production that you just can’t believe in, and this really lets The Infant down. [Ben Judge]

Underbelly, Cowgate, 4:40pm – 5:40pm, 18–28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 2:35pm – 3:35pm, 17–29 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 59

festtheatre Samira

Wondrous Flitting

What makes a pious, diligent wife become a suicide bomber?

Why would someone turn their back on their family for a vague promise of eternal salvation?

Samira, the story of an ordinary woman caught attempting to detonate a bomb in a crowded Israeli cafe, attempts to answer these questions, with mixed results.

Written by and starring Anat Barzilay, one of Israel’s most famous stage actors, the play combines first-person testimony with multimedia footage of news interviews and audio recordings of police interrogators. Samira—dressed conservatively in a black headscarf, face bowed towards her feet—recounts her story in fits and starts. We learn what led a seemingly passive woman to “want to kill, the more the better”. Having failed to bear her husband a son, Samira is wowed by a young student, Fahed. It is this “mistake”—in the eyes of her society—that precipitates the fateful journey from housewife to would-be suicide bomber.

Barzilay delivers a strong performance but Samira is fatally constrained by its production. With so much of the action on screen rather than onstage, the drama is disjointed and unable to build momentum.

The disembodied voices of the Israeli interrogators soon grow wearying and, with nor other actors, Barzilay retreats further into her character.

In choosing to examine the personal rather than the political context that produces a single suicide bomber, Samira succeeds in putting an all too rare human dimension on this modern tragedy. It’s just a shame there aren’t more human bodies in the play itself. [Peter Geoghegan]

Launched like a surreal bullet from the depths of acclaimed playwright Mark Thomson’s fantastical imagination, Wondrous Flitting is a bizarre but enthralling production brimming with ideas.

Sam, 24, is suffering from serious existential angst.

Marooned in his drab suburban living room without a job or any tangible direction, he sits waiting for something to cure his interminable malaise. Cue much crashing and a series of blasts: as the smoke clears, Sam emerges to find that the holy house of Loreto— where Christ was reputedly conceived—has miraculously “flitted” from its Tuscan home and landed in his living room, crushing his father’s legs and trapping his wretched mother inside. Unperturbed by his parents’ fate, Sam decides that this is a joyous turn of events, a miracle that must surely contain the meaning his life has been waiting for. In the ensuing 24 hours, Sam embarks on a darkly comic journey to unearth the significance of the miracle, unfortunately meeting with only limited spiritual

HHHHH

C venues - C soco, 3:55pm – 4:55pm, 17–29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

HHHHH

The Infant

HHHHH The Infant is a Kafka-esque dark comedy from Ernest and the Pale Moon creators Les Enfants Terribles, set in the interrogation rooms of a shadowy government organisation.

Cooper—hands tied, hooded, gagged and bloodied—is accused of a crime he not only didn’t commit, but didn’t even know existed. He soon finds that his entire family is under attack by an organisation that ostensibly exists to protect him.

The Infant is very much a child of the War on Terror, satirizing some of the more

60 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

enlightenment.

Apparently inspired by a chapter in Ed Hollis’ The Secret Life of Buildings, Wondrous Flitting is a gleefully non-linear and at times indulgently absurd new play from Thomson, Artistic Director at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre. But a lively, down-to-earth script acts as a perfect antidote to the surreal narrative, and the three central performances

are funny and strong enough to paper over any obscurities in the story. A strange parable about the contemporary search for faith and supernal meaning, Wondrous Flitting is both imaginative and strangely compelling. [Sam Friedman]

insane precautions taken by state intelligence services with the aim of protecting society from “the terrorists”. Anthony Spargo and Martyn Dempsey’s madcap interrogators are almost vintage Tim Burtonlike figures, managing to be likeably kooky one minute and darkly sinister the other. Their relationship and squabbles are the undisputed highlight of this absurdist drama.

Where The Infant disappoints is in the incredibility of its premise. While a farce is expected to have at its heart a central strand that is perfectly stupid and there to be ridiculed, this production chooses something monumentally

unbelievable to the point that one’s disbelief can no longer be suspended. For all the interesting things that The Infant has to say about authoritarianism and the fragility of human rights, asking us to buy into the idea that security services would make a serious fuss over a child’s innocuous drawing is pushing it too far.

Consequently, it’s really difficult to fully immerse yourself in a production that you just can’t believe in, and this really lets The Infant down. [Ben Judge]

Traverse Theatre, times vary, 17–28 Aug, not 22, £15.00 – £17.00

Pleasance Courtyard, 2:35pm – 3:35pm, 17–29 Aug, £10.00 – £11.00

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festtheatre Showstopper! The Improvised Musical

HHHHH

Improvised comedy is a tricky business – working random suggestions into a sketch or song may be ingenious but, by its very nature, it’s never going to be as accomplished as a piece that has taken weeks, months or years to write and perfect.

The Showstopper! team use the improv norm of taking ideas from the audience to inspire their performance – an all-singing, all-dancing musical which lasts around an hour.

On this particular night the location of an oil rig is chosen, while a title of “She’s Gonna Blow” is democratically decided upon. Musical styles shouted out and noted down include Johnny Cash, the musicals Evita and Little Shop of Horrors and 2010 Hollywood blockbuster Inception.

The cast are well up to the task, from a quickly composed opener on the rig’s drill floor, via a bizarre love triangle, to a closing number poking fun

at the Lloyd Webber school of songwriting.

Our host, a playfully devilish Dylan Emery, interjects at points, freezing the action onstage and making suggestions to advance the story or to throw a spanner in the works.

The whole cast seem to

have this down to a fine art but there’s the nagging feeling that it’s an idea stretched to breaking point. Most improv relies on a number of shorter sketches, meaning if one falls flat or runs out of steam another will be along shortly.

This safety mechanism is disabled by the Showstopper!

blueprint.

It’s impressive, but neither the jokes or songs are of a high enough standard to keep the audience fully engaged.

[David Hepburn]

Keeping her boredom at bay by meddling in other people’s lives, Hedda fails to recognise her powerlessness when it comes to affecting her own surroundings, a shortcoming that ultimately spells the end for her.

Palindrome’s delivery is beautiful in its simplicity. The cast are a collective force on stage, and it’s a true joy to

watch actors who fit so well together. Nathan Osburn deserves special mention for his apt interpretation of Hedda’s jittery and dull husband George Tesman, who pays more attention to his library than her labium and leaves her to wallow in self-induced isolation and dusty memories.

This is a solid production which will appeal to Fringe-

goers looking to dispel the myth that “things were better in the old days”. In Ibsen’s world, we’re all a bunch of depressed loners too scared to show our emotions and too angry to let anything go.

[Marthe Lamp Sandvik]

Gilded Balloon Teviot, times vary, 18–28 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler

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Palindrome Theatre have taken on a sizeable challenge with this adaptation of Hedda Gabler. Fortunately, it’s skillfully pulled off.

Staying true to the spirit of self-deprecating 19th century Scandinavian society, the cast deliver the story of the spoiled Hedda and her unhappy marriage in a minimalistic style, allowing the audience to see the faithful turns of her life instead of fussing over complicated/outdated set design.

Hedda Gabler is one of Henrik Ibsen’s masterpieces in which—as in many of his plays—an unconvential woman struggles to fit into her prescribed societal role.

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Hill Street Theatre, 2:15pm – 3:45pm, 18–29 Aug, not 24, £8.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 61

THE KIDS GET

STUCK IN

Photos: Claudine Quinn

After easing them in gently with a leisurely couple of weeks watching the best theatre and comedy performances at the Fringe, we decided it was time for fest’s Kid Critics to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in themselves

Peter Pan: Learn to Fly Show:

HHHHH Workshop:

HHHHH The show began when a girl’s voice started whispering stories about Peter Pan. While she was talking I could see lots of actors and actresses swinging above my head. It was clever how there were about 15 characters in the play but only around 8 actors. Sometimes there were silhouettes on set and sometimes there were actors but it was always a good performance. The thing that was a bit different (but still good) was that nearly all the actors were girls. Some

children chose to sit on mats near the stage, and sometimes the actors were VERY close and acted around them.

After the show the workshop started. In the workshop we could swing through the air and do big bungee jumps like we had seen in the show.

This is great for school aged children and adults (who like to be big kids). I tried quite a few of these stations but some of them were just too high for me.

The venue was good and there lots of seats and mats, go see it and have a great time – this is a five star workshop!

[Ross Salters] Peter Pan: Learn to fly, Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, dates and times vary, see www. leithonthefringe.com

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festkids

Flamenco for Kids!

HHHHH

Flamenco is a Spanish show where they show you a dance and then you get to try it yourself. When you go into the hall it is quite small and dark.

There were not very many people there to see the show and only one boy. The show starts with hardly any lights on and just Ricardo on stage playing some flamenco music on his guitar. Then Ida and Frederic do a dance. They then ask if anyone wants to come onto the stage and learn how to do some flamenco dancing (you don’t have to if you don’t want to) and your mum or dad

Spotlites Drama Workshop for 5-14s

HHHHH

I really enjoyed the drama workshop for kids. Each day there is a different theme and the day I went it was about dinosaurs. When I arrived, my Mum dropped me off and I was taken upstairs to a big room where all the children sat in a circle. I was quite nervous, as I didn’t know anyone, but I soon made a friend and the leader was really friendly and quite funny.

After talking about all the different types of dinosaurs, we went into small groups and got to act and be stupid which was fun. We did lots of drama games and activities like para-

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are allowed to do it too! First they showed us to clap, then how to do your hands, and some steps, then you had to do it all together. You get the chance to put on a flamenco dress and put on a small show with all the things they have shown you. If you want to buy a flamenco dress you can.

Be warned it is very loud with all the clapping and stamping of feet. It is probably more suitable for younger children aged 4-7 than for older ones. [Molly Robertson] Flamenco for Kids!

C Venues - C eca, 1:30pm – 2:20pm, 20–29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

chuting out of a helicopter. In one game we had to get from one side of the room to the other without getting eaten by a dinosaur, it was really exciting. My favourite was the slow motion battle where the dinosaurs attacked the humans. I was a human and got my head chopped off! The workshop was fully booked with both boys and girls and I think the younger ones enjoyed it most.

It would have been more fun if we had dressed up or had props but maybe you get to do that in the other workshops.

[Ellie Rutherford] Drama Workshops for 5-14s Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, times vary, 18–27 Aug, not 21, 22, 23, 24, £5.00

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 63

festkids kid

As seen by our^critics Reviews of kids' shows by the people who know best Amelie Harborow (5)

Ellie Rutherford (8)

The Amazing Bubble Man

for 7+ year-olds for 5-7 year-olds Tim and Light

HHHHH

Tim is a young boy from Brighton who makes friends with Light, a street cat. Together they go on an adventure and meet a mad artist with big metal teeth, find a magic garden and try to break a spell.

The actors use lots of things you find at home to tell the story.

I really enjoyed this show even if I didn’t follow all the story but I am only five and three quarters. There was loads happening with singing, puppets and lots of energy being used by the actors. The best bit was when Tim got in trouble for not seeing his granny. I liked Light the cat, especially the way his legs moved. The puppets costumes were colourful and the funny lights helped too. I was a bit close to granny and her forehead was a bit scary. It’s a good show to see. [Amelie Harborow] Pleasance Courtyard, 12:30pm – 1:30pm, 17–29 Aug, not 23, £8.00 – £9.00

Judgestars

HHHHH I was looking forward to seeing Judgestars as I love talent shows. When I walked in all the characters looked fun as they stood at the door in their costumes. It looked like it might be a good show.

Fez was a cool host and started the show by telling everyone how to be judges. Two people from the audience were chosen to join the lead judge Simon Growl, the bear. This all took a while, and Simon Growl sounded more like a dog than a bear. He became quite annoying!

When the talent show started, all the performers were excellent and did amazing acrobatics. My favourite was Gino Cappuccino’s spinning rope trick.

I thought the show was getting better but after the circus tricks, Simon Growl and Fez performed and I didn’t know whether they were meant to be good or not. I was a bit confused at the end. [Ellie Rutherford] Gilded Balloon Teviot, 11:30am – 12:30pm, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £7.00

64 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

HHHHH

Everyone loves bubbles, right?

Whether you’re two or ninetytwo, bubbles fall into that same category as ice-cream and rainbows; something that everybody loves.

Given that, I was expecting to have a brilliant time at The Amazing Bubble Show. I’d tried to buy an extra ticket for a friend the day before and been informed that all remaining dates were now sold out.

“Wow!” I thought. “This guy must be good!”

Well, no, as it turns out.

Hairy Maclary and Friends

HHHHH

Hairy Maclary, if you don’t know, is from Donaldson’s Dairy. Along with a motley assortment of canine friends— Schnitzel von Krumm (a daschund), Bottomley Potts (a dalmatian), and old English sheepdog Muffin McClay—he gets into all kinds of mischief, often involving the meanest cat in town: Scarface Claw.

An in-depth knowledge of the Hairy Maclary books, which have sold 5 million copies worldwide, may have aided me at this performance.

Rather than one coherent narrative, the show comprises several short stories, held

He would be entertaining for twenty minutes at a party but, by the end of an hour, the act feels tedious. It relies heavily on the performance of children plucked from the audience – great fun for those involved, pretty dull for those left on the sidelines.

To give The Bubble Man his due, I will confess that I probably don’t have the skill to make a square bubble, or a bubble filled with smoke. But nor do I charge eight quid a ticket or call myself ‘Amazing’.

[Ruth Dawkins] C venues - C too, times vary, 17–29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

together by the loosest of threads. For audience members unfamiliar with the characters, it didn’t take long to feel a bit lost. “I’m tired of this show,” said my toddler son Tom, about twenty minutes in.

That said, the majority of audience members seemed thrilled to be seeing Hairy Maclary in the furry-covered flesh. Strong vocal and physical performances, from Carrie Mancini as Miss Plum and Mat Urey as Samuel Stone the Butcher, are just enough to keep the interest levels up.

[Ruth Dawkins] Assembly George Square, 10:30am – 11:25am, 17–20 Aug, £9.00

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THIRTY YEARS OF

FASCINATION 28 years into their career, and Fascinating Aïda show no signs of slowing down. The cabaret superstars talk bad language, budget airlines and tax evasion with Marcus Kernohan

S

ARAH-LOUISE YOUNG is a Fascinating Aïda superfan. “Alongside Tom Lehrer and Victoria Wood,” she tells me from across the table, the legendary cabaret trio “were the reason I got into cabaret.” But it’s not simple fandom that has the effervescent blonde singer in such ebullient spirits this afternoon – more likely, it’s the fact that she was recently asked to replace Liza Pullman as Fascinating Aïda’s soprano.

So while we wait for her new colleagues to join us in the quiet, wood-panelled environs of Teviot’s Library Bar, Young talks with the lightly breathless excitement of someone who just joined their favourite band.

As we discuss the resurrection of cabaret as a standalone genre—Young is an experienced solo performer in her own right—the rest of Fascinating Aïda return from an early-afternoon shopping trip.

“Hello, ladies!” Young cries, half-leaping up from her seat to greet founder Dillie Keane and her long-term writing partner Adele Anderson. The three chatter away with the easy humour of old friends, and it’s difficult to believe that Young is only a recent addition to the lineup.

It is now 28 years since Keane founded the group, while Anderson joined less than a year later—“I carried her for nine months,” Keane quips—and barring two brief periods of retirement the group have hardly stopped moving since. ‘Cheap Flights’, a song applying their lyrical daggers ruthlessly to the budget airline industry, proved a viral hit on YouTube last year and spawned a new show of the same name, which debuted at the Gilded Balloon earlier this month.

The song’s success is unsurprising, but it has found fans in unexpected corners.

RyanAir had a link to the video on their website at one time, says Keane with some pride. “We are to RyanAir what the Book of Mormon musical was to Mormons,” adds Young.

But budget airlines are an easy target.

Cheap Flights the show has its satirical eye

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on more serious offenders. Fascinating Aïda are on bruising form with their choice of opener, the acronymic anti-tax dodger tirade ‘Companies Using Nifty Taxation Systems’ (spell it out). “Our director chose it as our opening number,” says Keane, “and I nearly fell off my chair. But that’s what you have directors for.”

The song is, she readily admits, something of a “fist in the face”, even from a group so notoriously sharp-tongued as they. But Anderson doesn’t necessarily agree.

“I think that we’ve taken our audience with us. We’ve pushed the envelope with each

festmusic show, and so they’re quite used to it.

“I don’t know why people assume that older people don’t like bad language.”

Moreover, Keane is an ardent believer in the sentiments behind the song. It is, she tells me, “rather unusually written...

It’s changed the pattern a bit, and I thought it needed to do that to get the audience used to the idea that this is about people who who are rapaciously robbing the country of taxes. And that’s what they are – they’re cunts.”

The point of the song is not gratuitous obscenity, she says, but rather to make people “aware of the irritation that the song is written in.

Actually, it’s not irritation – it’s fury... 

estival guide 2011 fest 65

festmusic&cabaret  These people are taking £50 billion out of the country and never paying a penny of tax. How, if you have something like £5 billion, can you be poorer if you pay 40% tax?”

Despite their creative toil and success over almost three decades, it hasn’t always been an easy road for Fascinating Aïda. In 2007, the group sadly lost their pianist and musical director Russell Churney to cancer, aged just 42. It’s a tragedy that still haunts them, and Keane chokes back tears. “I can’t talk about it,” she says. “It broke my heart.”

Indeed, Churney’s death almost spelled the end for the group. “I think if the 25th anniversary hadn’t been coming up, we probably wouldn’t have started writing again,” says Anderson.

“But we’ve always said that we would celebrate that.”

For all that they have seen and done in 28 years on the road, both Keane and Anderson seem mildly surprised to find themselves credited as a key influence to the current generation of British cabaret performers. “It is slightly startling, isn’t it?” says Keane. “I’ve always felt like we were just this little cul-de-sac called Fascinating Aïda and no-one ever took much notice of us.”

But Anderson seems quietly pleased with the idea. “I don’t mind being an elder stateswoman,” she says with a satisfied smile.

“Less of the ‘elder’,” growls Keane. The two have a playful rapport formed over many years working together, a quick-witted internal dialogue that one suspects was buttressed by what Keane professes was a solitary period in which to be a cabaret performer.

“I’m overjoyed that there are so many cabaret performers now,” she says. “It really has been very lonely, because it’s terribly depressing when people say ‘oh, cabaret’s dead, why do you do it?’

I’ve been in the thick of it—we all have— ploughing a bit of a lonely furrow, but we have kept it alive.”

“That’s what I’m most proud of,” says Keane, thoughtfully. “Head down, teeth clenched, into the wind and say ‘Fuck off!

Cabaret is not dead. We’re doing it.” f Fascinating Aïda: Cheap Flights Gilded Balloon Teviot, 6:45pm – 7:45pm, 18–29 Aug, £12.50 – £14.00

66 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

"That’s what I’m most proud of – head down, teeth clenched, into the wind and say ‘Fuck off! Cabaret is not dead. We’re doing it.’"

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 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 67

68 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

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festmusic&cabaret Orkestra Del Sol’s Top Trumps

HHHHH

Orkestra Del Sol, the gypsyjazz brass band that have consistently been cited among the Fringe’s musical highlights over the last few years, return to a packed-out Spiegeltent.

This is a group who wear their influences on their sleeves, be they Eastern European, New Orlean or Latin American.

Moreover, this incredible musicality is combined with a genuine sense of fun. This year, the group play around with a Top Trumps theme, where the band members compete with each other across a range of increasingly daft attributes.

If the theme is contrived with minimal real impact on the show as a whole, that doesn’t matter at all. Top Trumps is just good, simple fun. Great fun in fact. Indeed,

MOVIN’

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

it seems such a rarity these days to see dancing at a gig that when it immediately and spontaneously breaks out at the beginning of the show I’m a little uncomfortable. Five minutes later I’m breaking out my finest dad-dancing along with everyone else.

If there’s one criticism it’s

that this show is on much too early in the day. Dancing the night away with this manic Orkestra seems a perfect ending to a Fringe evening.

But kicking off at 7.15pm and ending an hour later, there’s still light out and places to go.

It’s a minor criticism, of course, and one Orkestra Del Sol most

likely have no control over, but it does change the ambiance and nature of the gig.

Otherwise, it’s difficult to recommend this highly enough. [Ben Judge] Assembly George Square, times vary, 17 Aug, 22 Aug, £12.00

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

www.festmag.co.uk

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

05/08/2011 16:10

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 69

festmusic&cabaret Truly Medley Deeply

HHHHH

Watching Truly Medley Deeply perform is a truly frustrating experience. The Cambridge student trio have such obvious musicality that they feel hopelessly wasted in their chosen pop-medley format.

They bring their guitars, synths and mandolins to bear on a predictable lineup of pop hits with significant technical flair and an unabashedly cheesy cheeriness, but one nonetheless suspects that Nick Goodwin, Dominic Johnpillai and Charlie Cotton could be doing something far more original.

But whatever their creative motives, it’s hard to deny that Truly Medley Deeply have a put together a polished show.

The medleys aren’t particularly adventurous, but they are at least well-executed. A potentially awkward traverse from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Dizzee Rascal via Vanilla Ice is carried off with some deftness, while a well-rehearsed recitation of past UK number one singles (from the likes of Roll Deep, Katy Perry, Owl City, Cee-Lo Green) proves remarkably engaging. A personalised medley for a hen party who happen to be in the audience is a sweet touch, if a little more rough-and-ready than their other arrangements.

Along with most of their source material, Truly Medley Deeply squat firmly and unashamedly in the middle of the road. All three are decent if unremarkable vocal talents, but their apparent reluctance to take many musical risks (even their “clash of genres” medley feels like a safe bet) means that the novelty inevitably wears off. It’s a fun show, but ultimately a gimmick. [Marcus Kernohan] SpaceCabaret @ 54, 6:00pm – 6:45pm, 17–20 Aug, £9.50

Piaf

HHHHH “She was a monstre sacre, a woman of great excess,” says Christine Bovill of her subject in the musical tribute Piaf. The show by contrast is restrained.

On an unadorned stage in a bare white room of the National Library of Scotland, Bovill sings Edith Piaf numbers accompanied by a piano. But then the show never promises anything more than a voice.

And quelle voice.

Between songs the Glaswegian’s gentle lilt informs the crowd of key events in Piaf’s life, a life whose aggressive intensity is countered by Bovill’s sweet understatement. Her choices from Piaf’s repertoire focus on the romances and tragedies of the singer who Bovill has been animating for more years than she cares to mention. Describing how Piaf would gab gladly to the press over carafes of wine, Bovill herself remains enigmatic.

How did this petite French teacher grow into her towering talent?

To describe Bovill’s voice as “smoky” doesn’t quite capture

Fascinating Aïda: Cheap Flights

HHHHH

Fascinating Aïda reckon that they have, cumulatively, some 80 years of Fringe experience between them - and yet the legendary cabaret trio’s leader, Dillie Keane, still seems faintly surprised by the cataclysm of applause that erupts as they step onto the boards to introduce their new show Cheap Flights to a packed house.

It is their first new show in several years, and Fascinating Aïda seem determined to prove early on that they’ve lost none of their edge in this, their 27th performing year.

Acronymic opener ‘CUNTS’ (that’s Companies Using

70 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

the velvet miasma of sound her unassuming figure emits.

Sublimely thick, it makes the accompanying piano sound rather impoverished and hollow. If anything Bovill’s incarnation of Piaf is too astonishingly perfect for its messy inspiration. That is until she gives a mite too much to the spirited ‘La Foule’, staggering for breath mid-note. On a

stripped down version of ‘La Vie en Rose’ her voice tails off delicately like a spider’s thread to devastating effect. Listening to Bovill’s Piaf will do your ears a favour but may leave your emotions quite shredded.

[Catherine Sylvain]

Nifty Taxation Systems) takes non-dom tax-dodgers to task in typically ruthless form, while old favourite ‘One True Religion’ superbly spears middle-class “metaphysical shopping sprees”.

Keane and her writing partner Adele Anderson are on fine form tonight, despite persistent technical difficulties, while new soprano SarahLouise Young showcases an admirably strong voice, with enough charm and swagger to perfectly fit the FA mould.

Fascinating Aïda have always revelled in incongruity, and Cheap Flights continues in that tradition: the sight of Keane rapping during ‘Down With The Kids’ is at once utterly surreal and oddly compel-

ling, while the self-explanatory ‘Dogging’ plays remarkably well to a predominantly older audience. YouTube hit ‘Cheap Flights’—which, Anderson proudly notes, “has gone fungal”—goes down a storm, but that was always to be expected.

A number about taking an elderly relative to Dignitas is an awkward moment for the audience—though typically well-written, it’s nonetheless hard to laugh at euthanasia— but it’s an unusual misstep in a show packed with razor-sharp satirical songwriting. [Marcus Kernohan]

National Library of Scotland, 7:00pm – 8:00pm, 17–20 Aug, £14.00

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 6:45pm – 7:45pm, 18–29 Aug, £12.50 – £14.00

www.festmag.co.uk

festbooks

WRITING FOR

Hot Tickets YOUR LIFE 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

Why do we write? For many of those appearing at this year’s Book Festival, words are a means of survival – as Anna Feintuck discovers

T AL Kennedy

21 AUGUST, 6:30PM - 7:30PM

It’s been four years since Kennedy’s last novel was released, in which time she’s followed an alternative career path in standup comedy, but her famously devoted fans will surely be delighted to welcome her back to EIBF in an Open University event where she’ll be reading from her most recent work, The Blue Book. Join the throngs to watch her navigate between love and deception; fiction and truth.

Bella Bathurst

22 AUGUST, 2:30PM - 3:30PM

A passionate advocate of the humble bike, Bathurst will be speaking about the two-wheeled adventures of the many cyclists she’s spoken to researching her latest publication, The Bicycle Book, a work described as “obsession mixed with wit”. This promises to be a quirky and thoughtprovoking event in an intimate space; grab a ticket while you can.

Jon Ronson

24 AUGUST, 4:30PM - 5:30PM

Journalist and writer of cult hit The Men Who Stare at Goats, Ronson is known for his witty commentary on everyday experience. In this event, though, he’ll be discussing something slightly different. His latest research focuses on the characteristics and identification of psychopaths. If you’ve ever suspected your boss of having psychopathic tendencies, come along and let Ronson teach you how to really spot one. Surely a true life skill: don’t miss it. [Anna Feintuck]

www.festmag.co.uk

HE 2011 programme is unequivocal in its support for those using writing to understand the vagaries of human existence. Perhaps the most striking example can be found in Chris Adrian’s work. A practising oncologist and a writer, in his event with Audrey Niffenegger he told her that as a doctor he responds to trauma by “eating a lot of cookies and going to bed – or by writing.”

Pain from his professional and personal lives—his brother died when he was 25, and Adrian says that “it’s obvious there’s some things you never really get over”—clearly affect his work.

Yet in his novels, he allows his characters transcendence from often painful existences by creating a world where reality shifts between, in Niffenegger’s words, “the real, the less real, and the outrageously unreal.” Evidently, mirroring the way he lets his characters deal with loss, the very act of writing allows him to leave behind his own unhappy realities.

As with the writer, so with the reader: in reading works such as Adrian’s, we can simultaneously escape and come to terms with pain. Pure fantasy would serve as escapism—which is sometimes totally necessary and justified—but this is rather more clever. The reader survives alongside the characters, feeling their trauma and then sharing in their absolution from it. We can side-step our own reality, in the way Adrian skips from truth to fantasy, to find the space required to deal with problems.

Writing can also serve to rationalise and bring meaning to life.

Early in the festival, William McIlvanney told his audience that he “always wanted not just to have a life but to understand it” and for him and many others, words are a mechanism by which to scrutinise existence and subsequently give it significance.

Here, too, the author and reader both benefit: the writer unravels truths and finds answers for themselves, and the reader is presented with something tangible to consider. Whether we accept or reject writers’ attempts to do this, they at the very least provoke contemplation – and perhaps our own ideas of purpose.

For those who missed Adrian and McIlvanney—or those simply in need of more contemplation—the theme continues in Philippe Claudel’s A Profound and Moving Love Story, where the French writer and film director will discuss his novella Monsieur Linh and His Child, the story of two elderly men, who—despite not even sharing a language—battle solitude and alienation together.

It is rare to find someone who cannot say that a book changed their life somehow. We read to find empathy, understanding and clarity, to have something to contemplate, or just to laugh. It is easy to forget that authors share these purposes and that the act of writing is just as healing, life-affirming even, as reading. A mutually beneficial relationship, certainly, and one to be embraced.

August 19-22 | 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

10:30 BBC: MacAulay & Co

BBC @ Potterrow, 19-26 Aug, weekdays only, £free

11:00 BBC: Loose Ends

BBC @ Potterrow, 20 Aug, £free

11:30 Let Them Eat Cake!

Quaker Meeting House, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Mind Reading for Breakfast Sweet Grassmarket, 19-29 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, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

12:00 Eric Mutch: Schizophrene - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Live at the Gilded Balloon Podcast

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £5

Tony Law: Go Mr Tony Go!

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, not 21, £8

Alison Thea-Skot: The Human Tuning Fork HH Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £6.50 – £7.50

Quoth the Raven Free Sketch Comedy Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 20-27 Aug, £free

BBC: Off the Ball

BBC @ Potterrow, 27 Aug, £free

I am Google

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, not 25, £free

The Improveteers

Cabaret Voltaire, 21-28 Aug, £3

Martin Semple ‘I Don’t Do Jokes’

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

Office Girls Go Crazy: Lazy Lunch - Free Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-20 Aug, £free

Making Life Taste Funny - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Him and Me TV - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19 Aug, £free

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

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.

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.

12:05 Best of Whyteleafe Comedy Club - Free

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

Rom Com Con - Free

Medina, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Sally-Anne Hayward: Don’t Judge Me

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

As Drawn on FaceTube - Free

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

Various dates from 20 Aug to 28 Aug, £99

Desperately Sikhing Fusion - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 21-28 Aug, £free

Shakespeare’s Monkeys Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

We Need to Talk Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, £free

12:10

12:20

Cheese-Badger presents... The Epic of Hairy Dave - Free

Happiness - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, not 24, £free

Carl Sagan is My God, Oh and Richard Feynman Too The Canons’ Gait, 19-28 Aug, £free

12:15 Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised! - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Tourists - A Free Festival Sketch Show Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-20 Aug, £free

About Comedy: Stand-up Comedy Courses

Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club,

72 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

The Voodoo Rooms, 1927 Aug, not 23, £free

The Durham Revue’s 33rd Annual Surprise Party!

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

12:30 Fisting a Nun Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-29 Aug, £free

Those Bloody Teenagers - Free

12:35 Come Hell Or High Water This Sick World Will Know I Was Here

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

12:40 Please Hold, You’re Being Transferred to a UK Based Asian Representative

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

12:45 Milo McCabe: Get Brown

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

The Hamiltons: High Jinks with the Hamiltons!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-28 Aug, £10.50 – £11.50

How Do I Get Up There?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 25-29 Aug, £8

12:50 Those Two - Free

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

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

The Malcolm Muggeridge Memorial Hour - Free

12:55 Which One’s Fergal?

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-21 Aug, £free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7.50

The Lunchtime Club 2011 HHH

The Bob Blackman Appreciation Society

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £7

Southsider, 22-27 Aug, £free

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

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

13:00 Mervyn Stutter’s Pick of the Fringe Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £9 – £10

Just the Tonic’s Afternoon Delight

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £5

The Gherkin Fantasies

Ciao Roma, 19-27 Aug, £free

Scott Agnew’s Scottish Breakfast Chat Show

Cabaret Voltaire, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £7

Card Ninja

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £8

The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £11

13:05 The Right Dishonourable Dickie Daventry Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Biscuit and Brawn Make a Meal of It

Paradise in The Vault, 19-29 Aug, not 21, 22, 28, £5

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings 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, 19 Aug, £free

Punching Mice

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

13:10 Mythbunking

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £10

Run, Deaf Boy, Run! H

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £8

The Showcase Show

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

13:15 BBC: Festival Café

BBC @ Potterrow, 19-26 Aug, weekdays only, £free

Attention Deficit Let’s Go Ride Bikes!

- Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Big Dave’s Gay-B-C of Life - Free Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, not 21, £free

Laughing Penguin Showcase

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Four Sad Faces, Suddenly

The Canons’ Gait, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Fred Cooke: Comfort in Chaos

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

This is Soap

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

13:20 Schoolbooks in Wallpaper - Ian Perth - Free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Joe Fairbrother: Characters

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Meditation Ruined My Life Medina, 19-27 Aug, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

Kieran and The Joes: Teampowered Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £8.50

Lunch With Quattro Formaggio

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

13:25 Steve Pretty’s Perfect Mixtape HH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £9.50

Peeling PVA in Happier Maché

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-27 Aug, £5 – £7

13:30 Three Blokes Tell Jokes

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

After Lunch Laugh Lounge* - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-29 Aug, £free

Gagtanamo Bay

The Royal Mile Tavern, 19-27 Aug, £free

Tomorrow’s StandUp Today - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Beckett and Smith Whistlebinkies, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £free

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

Mugging Chickens

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Sophie Alderson is Running for President HHH

The Voodoo Rooms, 1927 Aug, not 23, £free

13:35 Pockets of Suspense - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-27 Aug, £free

Catriona Knox: Packed Lunch

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

13:40 Dicking a Great Big Hole Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7

This Next One is About Putting Salt in Your Tea

Amused Moose Comedy Awards Final

Richard Herring’s Edinburgh Fringe Podcast

Rrrantin’ Free at the Pear Tree

13:45

Big School

Fresh Bread Presents Johnny’s Favourite Show

Ze Hoff Und Friends - Free

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

Nathan Cassidy: Fantastica!

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-20 Aug, £6

Huggers - Free Festival Family Fun

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Man Who Was Nearly There - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Tiernan Douieb vs the World Assembly Hall, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £10

The Great Brain Robbery

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

Jollyboat

The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Ben Target in Discover Ben Target Bannermans, 19-27 Aug, £free

14:00 It’s Two O’Clock Live at Two O’Clock The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-29 Aug, £free

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

Fingers Piano Bar, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Hannah Gadsby Mary. Contrary.

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, £10 – £12

People I Tried to Like Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Chat Masala with Hardeep Singh Kohli Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, not 26, £11 – £12

The Earl and the InstruMentalist

Dragonfly, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £free

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience

B’est Restaurant, 19-30 Aug, not 20, 27, £38

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

The Bongo Club, 21 Aug, £12

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £6.50

Cab Fare for the Common Man

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1927 Aug, not 21, £8

14:10 Seminar HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

14:15 Best of the Fest Daytime

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, 26, £12 – £13

Shmozle

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-20 Aug, £free

Gagging For Attention

The Stand Comedy Club, 19-29 Aug, £10

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

The World of Shrimpology

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

14:25 Free Tea and Biscuit Hour The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Richard Sandling Performs Music and Comedy as Pot Pourri and Does Some Poetry as Spak Whitman

The Canons’ Gait, 19-28 Aug, £free

Tiffany Stevenson: Cavewoman HHH

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £3

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, not 25, £8

Arguments and Nosebleeds - Free

14:30

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

BBC: Comic Fringes BBC @ Potterrow, 20 Aug, £free

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

Globe, 19-27 Aug, £free

Jackson Voorhaar Can’t Play Guitar - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Seven Deadly Sings (Remastered) - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Taking the Piff

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

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £7

David Morgan: Triple Threat

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £6

Tom Toal and Joe Wells Rom-Coms and Revolutions Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Jody Kamali’s Business Coaching for Idiots - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Quotidian Revue The Bongo Club, 20 Aug, £6

Monkhouse and Me

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 2227 Aug, £8 – £9

14:35 Three Man Roast - Free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £free

❤ Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire 2: Back in the Habit HHHH

The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £8

Catherine Semark: The Truth About Lions Medina, 19-27 Aug, £free

14:40

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, £6 – £7.50

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Seymour Mace: Happypotamus

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Chris Coxen’s Space Clone Audition

Buffs Club (RAOB), 19-27 Aug, £free

Sink or Spin

14:20

Ian Fox Exposes Himself - Free

Funny Women

The End of the World Show

Bannatyne’s Health Club, 19-29 Aug, £9.50

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, £free

Cheshire Liberation Front’s Political Indoctrination Rally

Cabaret Voltaire, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £5 – £7

Bar 50, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Pear Tree, 21-28 Aug, £free

Jay Foreman: We’re Living in the Future Jon Richardson: It’s Not Me, It’s You

Pleasance Dome, 20-28 Aug, £12

Peeling PVA Stands Up Base Nightclub, 19-27 Aug, £free

The Squiffy Journals Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9.50

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

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Assembly George Square, 19-21 Aug, £12

Jollygoodlarks - How to Make it Huge

A Slightly Dangerous Comedy Occasion - Free The Royal Mile Tavern, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

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, 19-28 Aug, £5 – £8

Moonshine and Trumpery

The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Zeus’ Pamphlet

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8 – £9.50

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 73

comedylistings 14:45 Free Cuddles With 007

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

Making Faces: Introspectacles - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, £free

Music Box

BBC: Ricky Gervais and Warwick Davis discuss the making of Life’s Too Short BBC @ Potterrow, 26 Aug, £free

Fran Moulds Curtains - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Lorcan McGrath is ...

Not in Love - Free

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-27 Aug, £free

Gemma Goggin: Double G

Alex Horne: Taskmaster II

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

Rory and Tim Are Free at Last

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 19-23 Aug, £free

Horse and Louis: Top Trumpin’! - Free HHH Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Wedding Band: A Comedy by Charlie Baker Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £10.50 – £12.50

AAA Batteries (Not Included) - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Edinburgh Revue Show

Opium, 19-29 Aug, £free

Meryl O’Rourke - Bad Mother...

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

14:55 Matt Forde: Dishonourable Member HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

15:00 The 90’s in Half an Hour - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Todd Barry: American Hot

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £10

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 26 Aug, £10

Funny as Muck

Bannermans, 19-27 Aug, £free

Mabbs & Justice: Love Machine

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Adam Larter: The Legend of Bob Geldof (and Other Short Stories) - Free Comedy

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-28 Aug, £free

15:05 A Brief History of Time - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Philosophical Investigations

Rush Bar, 19-27 Aug, £free

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

Nobody’s Darling

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £5

15:10 Eric’s Tales of the Sea - A Submariner’s Yarn Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

You For Coffee?

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

A Kind Of Surprise

This Arthurs Seat Belongs to Lionel Richie

Dragonfly, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Arthur’s Seat, 20 Aug, £free

15:15

Worbey and Farrell: Well Strung!

Hanks and Conran: Scruples? - Free

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19 Aug, £free

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

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, not 23, £8

Playtime - Free

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

Samurai Grandma Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Tom Allen’s Afternoon Tea

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Parris and Dowler: Special Delivery

Yorkshire Comedy Cabaret - Free

Enjoy Yourself - It’s Later Than You Think! - Free

Tom Goodliffe: The Good Liffe

Bar 50, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Ford and Akram: Humdinger

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Ivor’s Other Show

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Mission Suggestible

Patsy Blades’ Mid-Life Crisis

15:20

15:35

Paradise in The Vault, 19-21 Aug, £7.50

Hit Comet

Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, £7

David O’Doherty Presents: Rory Sheridan’s Tales of The Antarctica

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £10

The Gentlemen of Leisure Present: The Death of the Novel HHH Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Present...

Ciao Roma, 19-28 Aug, £free

15:25 ❤ Ben Brailsford - My Fortnum and Mason Hell HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

15:30 Ben Verth: Not With That Attitude The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 25, £free

Max and Ivan Are Holmes and Watson

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11

Morgan & West: Crime Solving Magicians

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-21 Aug, £8.50

Super Crazy Fun Fun - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Comedy Manifesto The Voodoo Rooms, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Oxford Imps

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £10

Totally Tom

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £10

Jo and Brydie Play Doctor

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £6.50 – £7.50

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £5

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, £free

Wil Hodgson

15:50

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

Flyerman

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £7

Olver: Portrait of a Serial Killer

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, not 21, 22, £7

15:40 Tom Bell Begins

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, not 21, £7 – £8.50

Bristol Revunions: National Friends

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

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

The Stand Comedy Club, 19-29 Aug, £10

Richard Dawkins Does Not Exist, and We Can Prove It

The Canons’ Gait, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £free

15:45

Phill Jupitus Quartet - ‘Made Up’ HHH

The Tim Vine Chat Show

74 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Just Havin’ a Fiddle

Deemed Unsafe

Wendy Wason’s Flashbacks HH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, not 23, 26, £12 – £14

Cabaret Voltaire, 19-29 Aug, £5

Movin’ On Up! With Politically Erect - Free

The Return of O’Farahan and Keith - Free

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £8

Base Nightclub, 19-27 Aug, not 24, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £12.50 – £13.50

Uncle Ivan Pest Controller - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Joanna Neary: Youth Club The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £9

Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards Show

Pleasance Courtyard, 28 Aug, £14

Hatty Ashdown: Nan-Child

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £free

Kevin Cruise

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £12

The Dog-Eared Collective: You’re Better Than This

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour HHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11

John Kearns’ Dinner Party Whistlebinkies, 19-29 Aug, £free

❤ Nick Helm - Dare to Dream HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

Me, Myself and Iona Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 19-27 Aug, £free

Billy Kirkwood: Show Me Your Tattoo - Free

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-27 Aug, £free

Can You Dig It?

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - John Hope Gateway, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £12

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

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Don’t Trust Salmon: Fin Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, £8

The Baby Diary

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Al Murray’s Compete for the Meat H

Assembly George Square, 19-27 Aug, £10

Barry Fox – Poems, Pamphlets, Props and Pissing About

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-20 Aug, £free

Conor O’Toole’s Manual of Style

15:55

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7.50

Cariad Lloyd: Lady Cariad’s Characters

Damion Larkin: Cuddly Dreamer

16:00

Paul Merton’s Impro Chums

The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Amused Moose Comedy Awards Showcase

Pleasance Dome, 20 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

The Street, 19-29 Aug, £free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £9

Pleasance Courtyard, 1927 Aug, £13 – £14.50

Sally Outen: Non-Bio?

The Bongo Club, 20-29 Aug, not 21, £7 – £8

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

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings This Next One is About Putting Salt in Your Tea The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-26 Aug, £free

The Three Englishmen: Optimists Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Chortle Student Comedy Awards Final

Assembly George Square, 28 Aug, £8.50

Down and Out Comedy With Mike Belgrave

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 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, 19-28 Aug, £free

16:05 Endemic

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 19-20 Aug, £free

Flyerman

Scott Capurro’s Position HH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

Fat Kitten vs the World The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

❤ Luke Wright’s Cynical Ballads HHHH Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

16:20 The Beta Males: The Train Job Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Rory O’Hanlon: Is it Just Me That’s Mental?

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, not 22, £7.50

Fin Taylor and Jared Hardy - With Full Orchestra Dragonfly, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £free

Tweeting Beauty (and Other Stories)

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

Leila’s Ladies

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

Fingers Piano Bar, 19-27 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

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-29 Aug, £8

16:10 Ruby Wax: Losing It HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £15 – £17.50

Nathan Penlington: Uri and Me

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

16:15 The Truth (Explained in Doodles!)

Sin Club and Lounge, 19-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

16:25 Andy Zaltzman: Armchair Revolutionary HHH The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £9

The Oxford Revue: But Seriously

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

16:30

The Quest for Human Happiness - Free

Toby - Lucky

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-28 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £9.50

Four Screws Loose Present ‘ScrewedOver-Again!’

Holden and Revill: The North South Divide - Free

Bannermans, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £free

Yianni: Things That Make You Go ‘Oooooh!’ - Free Sin Club and Lounge, 19-27 Aug, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Noise Next Door – Their Finest Hour Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

The Unexpected Items Are On It, In the Zone, Off the Hook and Down With the Kids

James Dowdeswell: Doofus

Moon Horse vs the Mars Men of Jupiter

Lewis Schaffer is Free Until Famous in a Smaller Room at an Earlier Time

RadioHead Redux - Free!

Pam Ford Curl Up and Dye Salon Secrets

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, £free

Ronnie Golden - First a Fender

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £9 – £10

Southsider, 19-27 Aug, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Tony Bournemouth: Bournemouth’s All Time Second Greatest Comedian Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Real MacGuffins: Skitsophrenic Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £11

They Came With Outer Script - Free

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

16:35 Vinegar Knickers: Sketchy Beast

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alistair Green: Outpatient

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £7 – £8

16:40 Bridget Christie: Housewife Surrealist HH

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £8

Little Howard’s Big Show

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

Sheeps: A Sketch Show HHH

Stuff and Nonsense

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £free

John-Luke Roberts and Nadia Kamil: The Behemoth HH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £11

Hannah Gadsby - Mrs Chuckles Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11

16:50 Phil Mann’s Full Mind and Michael Keane: Intelligent Shuffle - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Parents Evening The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Brit-Hot Comedy

16:45

Edinburgh Tonight with Joe Simmons and Lorraine Chase

So On and So Forth present ‘Human Era’ Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-27 Aug, £7.50

❤ Bring Me the Head of Adam Riches HHHHH

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1927 Aug, not 22, £10

16:55 Christmas For Two: Friends With You Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £6.50

17:00 Totally Ninja

Belushi’s, 27 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

The Inflatables - Free

Matthew Crosby: AdventureParty HH

Joe Bor: In Search of the Six Pack H

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Medina, 19-27 Aug, not 24, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £10.50 – £11.50

Eddie Naessens: Butter People

Dropkick Murphy’s, 1928 Aug, £free

Smut - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £free

And The Award Goes To...

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 19-28 Aug, £free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Alzheimer’s the Musical: A Night to Remember!

Who is Jean? Go the Distance The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 24, £free

Ryan’s Cellar Bar, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

17:05

Jem Brookes: Pintification - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

John Scott: Totally Made Up - Totally Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Aberdeen vs Glasgow vs the World! - Free

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £10

The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek - All New Show

Buffs Club (RAOB), 19-20 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Base Nightclub, 21-27 Aug, £free

How to be Awesome: An Introduction Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

The Leeds Tealights: Animals with Jobs Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Paul Daniels: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £14 – £15

The Warm Up Show Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, £free

BBC Comedy Presents - Early and Late

BBC @ Potterrow, 19-27 Aug, £10

❤ Isy Suttie: Pearl and Dave HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Luke McQueen - Your Love is Mine Cabaret Voltaire, 19-28 Aug, not 22, 24, £7

Dave Gibson and Charlie Talbot - Battle of Britain: North vs South Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Great Big Comedy Picnic - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Laugh Or Your Money Back - Free Ava Vidal: The Hardest Word

The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £9

Big Noise

The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Channel Hopping!

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 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 HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

Mogic

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Nicholas Parsons’ Happy Hour

Pleasance Courtyard, 1920 Aug, £11 – £12

17:15 Stewart Lee – Flickwerk 2011.

Work In Progress

The Stand Comedy Club, 19-29 Aug, £10

Rik ‘n’ Mix - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

The Good, the Bad and the Cuddlier ‘Ride Again’ VI - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, £free

SomeNews - The Free Topical Show

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, £free

Lewis Gray and Friend

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Singles Collection Opium, 19-27 Aug, £free

Down to the Bone HHH

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 75

comedylistings Maff Brown - Pacman Is Actually Allergic to Ghosts Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Guy Pratt - Wake up Call

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £10

17:20 Footlights in ‘Pretty Little Panic’ Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Danny Pensive’s Map of Britain

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £6 – £7

Clare Plested: Vegas, Jesus and Me Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Neil Dougan - Rough Rared Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £6 – £7

Out - But Not on Good Behaviour

The Jazz Bar, 19-26 Aug, £5

Fresh Faces at the Free Fringe

Rush Bar, 19-27 Aug, £free

Tom Webb Fixes 2012

Dragonfly, 19-27 Aug, £free

Tokyo Game: The Body Tights Man Show

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, not 25, £8 – £9

We Love Comedy

Sin Club and Lounge, 19-27 Aug, £free

So Much Potential

Sin Club and Lounge, 1927 Aug, not 23, £free

17:31 Harpurs Bizarre!

Immortal Combat

17:25

The Rat Pack, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Ahir Shah: Astrology HHH

17:35

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

17:30 Monsters: A History of Villainy

Fingers Piano Bar, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Award-winning Comedian Nik Coppin - Free HH

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-27 Aug, £free

James Loveridge ... and Other Losers!

- Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Rita Trump and Julie Jones: Screw Loose Women - Free Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 19-27 Aug, £free

17:40

Brett Goldstein Grew Up in a Strip Club HHH

Juliet Meyers: I’m Not Spartacus!

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Jason Cook - The Search for Happiness

❤ McNeil and Pamphilon: Which One Are You? HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £13

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

17:45

17:50

Bad Bread: TV Times

Ciao Roma, 19-29 Aug, £free

Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Olivia Lee Chats Them Up

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

❤ Diane Spencer: All-Pervading Madness HHHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, £9

A Betrayal of Penguins: Endangered for a Reason

Oklahomaphobia!

Gavin Webster: All Young People Are C**ts

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £8

17:55 Susan Murray’s Photo Booth

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

Patsy Blades’ Mid-Life Crisis

Sweet Grassmarket, 22-28 Aug, £9.50

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2129 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

18:00

Rowena Haley: Nothing to Write Home About

Brave New Irish Showcase - Free

Southsider, 19-27 Aug, £free

❤ Dan Antopolski, Tom Craine & Nat Luurtsema: Jigsaw HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Joe Wilkinson: My Mum’s Called Stella and My Dad’s Called Brian Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £8.50 – £9.50

Roisin Conaty: Destiny’s Dickhead HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 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, 19-28 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Finnegan’s Wake, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £free

Chris Mayo’s Panic Attack Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Edinburgh Bloody Edinburgh

The Wee Windaes , 1929 Aug, £12

Lady Garden HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Sammy J and Randy: Ricketts Lane

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £12.50 – £14

Dying to Help - Free Jenny Ha’s, 19-27 Aug, £free

The Brandreth Papers

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

❤ Holly Walsh - The Hollycopter HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

4 Poofs and a Piano Business as Usual Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £14 – £15

The Big Value Comedy Show - Early Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £10

Beer and Loathing and Lost Wages - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, £free

Eric Lampaert

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £12

❤ Kerry Godliman - Wonder Woman HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £11 – £12

5-Step Guide to Being German - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Original

Globe, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

18:05 Best of Irish Comedy

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £10

Absolute Improv

Transformer

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Hitch and Mitch Genisis

Chronic

Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, £8

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 20-28 Aug, £free

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, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £free

OCD: The Singing Obsessive - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Sarah Archer - Bumfluff and Brimstone

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

18:10 Michael J Dolan Dress to Depress

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, £free

James W Smith: Living in Syntax

The Royal Mile Tavern, 19-27 Aug, £free

18:15 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, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £5 – £8

A Mixed Bag - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Bog Standard Britain Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 22 Aug, £9

3:45PM (4:45PM) 04-28 AUGUST 2011 (NOT 15)

76 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

tallyTom_EdinburghFringe2011_A5PreviewGuideAdvert (W64mm x01/07/2011 H43mm).indd19:26 1

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings 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, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £10

Thomas Hardie & Co Ryan’s Cellar Bar, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

WitTank

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Free Jewish Comedy Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Caroline Mabey’s One Minute Silence Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Frank Sanazi’s Comedy Blitzkrieg - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-21 Aug, £free

Ian D Montfort Spirit Comedium HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

www.festmag.co.uk

Dan Willis: Inspired - Free!

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Asian Provocateurs: Rule Britannia! - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

18:20 You’re Being Lied To - 2011 / PBH’s Free Fringe Medina, 19-27 Aug, £free

Andrew Doyle’s Crash Course in Depravity

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, £6.50 – £7.50

Josh Howie: I Am A Dick HH

The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £9

New Art Club: Quiet Act of Destruction HHH

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £12 – £14

Delete the Banjax: Pigs and Ponies HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Keith Farnan: Money, Money, Money HH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

NewsRevue

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £12.50 – £15

Paul McCaffrey: Saying Something Stupid

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Rosie’s Pop Diary

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Fraser Millward’s Little Men The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

John Robertson: Dragon Punch! - Free Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

18:30 An Evening With David Sedaris

Venue150 @ EICC, 19-20 Aug, £15

Quiz in my Pants Opium, 19-27 Aug, £free

An Austrian, an Italian and Someone from Slough Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Silky Pair: Jealous People - Free Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Dana McCoy: ‘Cube Rat’

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 19-27 Aug, £free

The Top Secret Comedy Club

Whistlebinkies, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £free

Danny Bevins: Infectious Waste

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Dave Callan Presents ?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

18:40 The Phoenix: A Failure On a Mission Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £9

Joel Sanders - Jokes That Got Me Kicked Out Of Tennessee Dragonfly, 19-29 Aug, £free

Laurence Clark: Health Hazard! HHH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £11

Charmian Hughes: The Ten Charmandments

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Mae Day: I’m Not Waving, I’m Drowning

The Rat Pack, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Rayguns Look Real Enough: Balls Deep

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

18:45 Richard Sandling’s Perfect Movie

The Cameo Cinema, 1928 Aug, not 22, £9

The Artisan

Sin Club and Lounge, 1927 Aug, not 23, £free

Applied_Optimism

Sin Club and Lounge, 1927 Aug, not 24, £free

Ridiculous - Free

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19 Aug, £free

Andi Osho: All the Single Ladies HHH

Shirley and Shirley: The Wonder Years

Piff the Magic Dragon: Last of the Magic Dragons

The Naked Busker: Seeing More of Me - Free

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £12 – £14

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Chortle Presents: Fast Fringe

Pleasance Dome, 19-27 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 20-28 Aug, £free

18:50 Joel Dommett: Neon Hero HHH Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £12

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 77

comedylistings Best of Whyteleafe Comedy Club - Free

Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 21-28 Aug, £free

❤ Alun Cochrane: Moments of Alun HHHH

The Stand Comedy Club, 19-29 Aug, £10

The Infinite Delusions of Victor Pope - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £free

19:00 Jessica Fostekew: Luxury Tramp

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Sara Pascoe vs the Apocalypse HHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Amateur Transplants: Adam Kay’s Smutty Songs

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Chris McCausland Big Time HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £11 – £12

Dr Phil’s Rude Health Show

theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £9 – £10

Mark Dolan - Sharing Too Much H

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1926 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The Maybe Pile

Southsider, 19-27 Aug, £free

Frimston and Rowett Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £8

John Robins: Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Steve Gribbin: Laugh at First Sight

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £9

Henry Rollins

The Queen’s Hall, 19 Aug, £15

❤ Imran Yusuf Bring the Thunder HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

Josie Long: The Future Is Another Place HHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £10 – £12

Jarlath Regan - Shock and Ahhh! HHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The Quotidian Revue The Bongo Club, 21-28 Aug, £9

19:05 Aslan - The Lockdown

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8

Colin Hoult’s Inferno

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £12 – £14

Vladimir McTavish: A Scotsman’s Guide to Betting HH The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £8

19:10 Chris Cox: Fatal Distraction

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £14

Devious Minds

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-22 Aug, £9

Mark Nelson - Guilty Pleasure HHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

19:15 Edinburgh Bloody Edinburgh

The Wee Windaes , 1929 Aug, £12

Fear of a Brown Planet

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Alistair Greaves Mixed Grill - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

❤ Humphrey Ker is Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!

HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12.50

Mickey Anderson Unlocks the Key to Human Happiness

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 25, £free

Stuart Goldsmith: Another Lovely Crisis HHH

Kev Orkian The Guilty Pianist – The Closed Venues Tour SpaceCabaret @ 54, 19-27 Aug, £12

Morris & Vyse: Daylords Return

Pearse James Presents Freesome

An Evening in With Henry the Hoover and Friends

AAA Stand-Up

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Ciao Roma, 19-27 Aug, £free

Jenny Ha’s, 20-27 Aug, £free Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

78 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Bob Slayer’s Marmite Gameshow - Free

19:25

Lights! Camera!

Improvise!

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7.50

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-22 Aug, £free

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Matt Rudge - We Could Be Heroes HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

The Social Anxiety Network

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

JEWELSH

The Canons’ Gait, 19-28 Aug, £free

Josh Widdicombe: If This Show Saves One Life HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

19:20 Spaghetti Lolognaise - Free

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Age of Treason - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-20 Aug, £free

Brown and Corley: Born in the 80s

Spring Day: Sushi Souffle - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

19:30 The Ad-Libertines

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 21-25 Aug, £free

The Big Value Comedy Show Middle

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £10

Free Agent - A Free Show by James Hazelden Base Nightclub, 19-27 Aug, £free

Up to the Eyeballs

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Sarah MillicanThoroughly Modern Millican Assembly Hall, 19-28 Aug, £14 – £16

David O’Doherty is Looking Up

Tim FitzHigham: Gambler

One Handed Show: A History of Pornography

Andrew Bird’s Village Fete

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £14 – £15

The Royal Mile Tavern, 19-28 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

Edward Aczel Doesn’t Exist HHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1927 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Craig Hill - Blown By a Fan...!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-29 Aug, not 21, £12.50 – £14.50

Gangsters of Laugh - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Indoor Fox Hunting C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Lastminute Comedy Club

Buffs Club (RAOB), 19-27 Aug, £free

Zoe Lyons Clownbusting

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 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, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Many Mental Minds of Dr Jackson The Voodoo Rooms, 19-26 Aug, £free

Pete Bennett’s Tourette’s and Stuff Cabaret Voltaire, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

❤ Mark Thomas: Extreme Rambling (Walking the Wall) HHHH

The Bongo Club, 19-20 Aug, £14.50

Walking On Broken Das City Edinburgh, 19-20 Aug, £10

Sitting on a Cornflake - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

19:35 Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen

Assembly George Square, 19-27 Aug, £15 – £16

The World According to Damien Crow The Stand Comedy Club V, 22 Aug, £8

Daniel Sloss - The Joker HHH

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £11.50 – £13.50

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings Chris Martin: No. Not That One Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Matt Tiller: Just Du-et Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Francesca Martinez: What the **** is Normal?! HHH The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, not 22, 23, £9

19:40 Iain Stirling and Sean McLoughlin

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Joey Page - Sparklehorse Superbrain

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £8

Neil Delamere: Divilment

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £11 – £12

Ed Byrne: Crowd Pleaser

Venue150 @ EICC, 19-27 Aug, £16.50 – £18.50

Paul Foot: Still Life

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £6.50 – £11

❤ Dave Gorman’s Power Point Presentation HHHHH Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £15

Improvised Plays from Austin, Texas

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

19:45 The Lalorpalooza Show

Opium, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

www.festmag.co.uk

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse: The End is Nigh Zoo Southside, 19-27 Aug, £8

The Cloud Girls and Ryan Withers - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 24, 25, £free

ACME Stand-Up - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek - Best of 09/10 Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Martha McBrier - I’m Eric Barthram

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Jim Smallman: Tattooligan HHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, £10

Mark Watson’s 2012 Preview Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-27 Aug, £15

Trevor Browne Greaterness

Rabbie Burns Cafe and Bar, 19-29 Aug, £free

19:50 Giants of Comedy

Fingers Piano Bar, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Omid Djalili: Work in Progress

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £10

Carl Donnelly 3: Carl Donnelier!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

Don’t Mess

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 25, £free

Chastity Butterworth and the Spanish Hamster Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, £free

Fingers on Buzzards: The Improvised Pub-Quiz Dragonfly, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

Shappi Khorsandi: Me and My Brother in Our Pants, Holding Hands HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £13 – £14

19:55 Squirrel Party

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

20:00 Bob Downe: 20 Golden Greats

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 25, £12 – £14

So You Think You’re Funny? Final

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 25 Aug, £15

❤ Who Are the Jocks? HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

About Tam O’Shanter

Nathan Dean Williams presents...

‘The Buffet’

Sharron Matthews Superstar: Jesus Thinks I’m Funny

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, £6.50 – £7.50

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £12.50

Patrick Monahan: Hug Me I Feel Good

20:10

Gilded Balloon Teviot, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Dana Alexander: New Arrival

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Javier Jarquin: Bullets Before Bedtime

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Stephens and Thomas

Sin Club and Lounge, 19-27 Aug, £free

Andrew Lawrence The Best Kept Secret in Comedy Tour Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £11 – £12.50

Michael Winslow HHH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £12 – £14

Roughhausers Comedy Sideshow

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7

Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 26-27 Aug, £10

Golden Showers of Love

20:05

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Jen Brister is British(ish)

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Catie Wilkins: A Chip Off the Odd Block Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Queen’s Speech Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

Nothing to Show

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Kevin Shepherd: Caronicle - Free HHH Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, £free

High Ape - Free Show

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

The Life Doctor

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Martin Mor: The Call of the Golden Frog

❤ Elis James: Do You Remember the First Time? HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Baby Wants Candy

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £13 – £15

Seann Walsh: Ying and Young

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

Shazia Mirza: Busybody

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £9

Nathan Caton: Get Rich or Die Cryin’

❤ Thom Tuck Goes Straight to DVD HHHH

20:20

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, not 21, £9 – £10

20:15 The Wee Man

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 19-28 Aug, £free

Raymond Mearns: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Stress But Were Afraid to Ask

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

Aaaaaaaaargh! It’s the Monster Stand Up Show

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

Des Clarke - Des Comedy Jam

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Alex Horne: Seven Years in the Bathroom

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 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, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8.50 – £9.50

The Chris and Paul Show Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

The News at Kate 2011

Ciao Roma, 19-28 Aug, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £12 – £13

20:25

❤ DeAnne Smith: The Best DeAnne Smith DeAnne Smith Can Be HHHH

The Stand Comedy Club, 22 Aug, £9

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Bob Doolally Live and Half-Cut

Norman Lovett - Free The Canons’ Gait, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £free

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 79

comedylistings Helen Keen’s Spacetacular! - Free The Canons’ Gait, 22 Aug, £free

Phill Jupitus: Stand Down

The Stand Comedy Club, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £12

20:30 Steve Hall’s Very Still Life HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Playing Politics

Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides, 19 Aug, £10

The Best of Boyd & Metcalfe The Royal Mile Tavern, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

David Reed: Shamblehouse

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

❤ Henry Paker Cabin Fever HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

The Songs I’ll Never Sing - Free Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, £free

Alfie Joey Monopolise!

Pleasance Courtyard, 22 Aug, £9

Idiots of Ants HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £10 – £11

Pete Firman: Jiggery Pokery HHH Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, £12 – £14

Rich Fulcher: Tiny Acts of Rebellion HHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £11 – £12

The Moonfish Rhumba: The Chronicles of Moonfish

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Fabulous Abs

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-29 Aug, £free

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience

B’est Restaurant, 21-30 Aug, not 26, 27, £43

Gareth Richards: It’s Not the End of the World HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Sammy J: Potentially Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12.50

Matt Green: Too Much Information Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9 – £11

20:35 Nonsense Duet - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-27 Aug, £free

Jenneke Wonders - Free

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 21-28 Aug, £free

Please Retain For Your Records

Kelly Kingham and Guy Manners: Infectious - Free

The Voodoo Rooms, 1927 Aug, not 23, £free

Mud Wrestling With Words The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

20:45 The Book of Quincy - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-27 Aug, £free

Claudia O’Doherty What Is Soil Erosion?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Pope Benedict: Bond Villain Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

20:50 Russell Kane: Manscaping

Pleasance Courtyard, Various dates from 19 Aug to 26 Aug, £17.50

Dawn of the Dawn

The Fudge Shop

The Fudge Kitchen, 1928 Aug, £7

Hiroshi Shimizu: From Japan With ‘Rub’ - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-28 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

Alfie Brown - The Love You Take

The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £10

20:55 Tim Clare: How to Be a Leader

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Keeping the Captain Warm

80 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Aidan Bishop Misspelled

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Andrew Maxwell: The Lights Are On

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £13 – £15

Fiona O’Loughlin: Spirited (Tales from an Angel in a Bottle)

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

21:05 The Artists Currently Known As Magpie & Stump theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £6

Shawn Hitchins: Survival of the Fiercest

The Pajama Men: In the Middle of No One

Cabaret Voltaire, 19-29 Aug, £free

Adventures in Comedy: Murder, Madness and Mayhem! - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-20 Aug, £free

Found Objects Present Live Low Budget Comedy Adventures - Free

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £11.50 – £12.50

Lach, the Waitress, the Walls & the Weirdos

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

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

The TinaMarinas Being Gorgeous - Free

Slim In Wonderland

David Kelly is Shameless - Free

❤ Asher Treleaven: Matador HHHH

What a Palaver!

- Free

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £15 – £16

When I’m King

It’s The End of the World As We Know It - Free

20:40

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £10

Margaret Cho - Cho Dependent HH

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £6

Matt Kirshen: Wide-eyed HH

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-20 Aug, £free

The Big Value Comedy Show - Late

Dragonfly, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

Chaps on Legs

Loose Men

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10.50 – £12

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

James Christopher: Triangle Man - Free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-20 Aug, £10

Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 21-27 Aug, £free

Andy Parsons: Gruntled

Asli and Ashley: Audacious and Angry

❤ Phil Nichol: The Simple Hour HHHH

Ryan’s Cellar Bar, 19-27 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10.50 – £12

Assembly Hall, 20-28 Aug, £16

A Sketchy Idea - Free

10 Films With my Dad / PBH’s Free Fringe

Tom Stade: What Year Was That? HHH

❤ Richard Herring: What is Love Anyway? HHHH

Funt

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

highlight, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Medina, 27 Aug, £free

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Base Nightclub, 19-27 Aug, £free

Fosters Comedy Live @ highlight

21:00 Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £13 – £14

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, £free

Jimeoin - Lovely!

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £6

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £12

21:10 The Boy With Tape On His Face

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Playing Politics

Randy is Sober

Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides, 20 Aug, £10

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

Alan Anderson: Whisky Fir Dummies

Jack Mink: Making Light

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £10 – £11

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1927 Aug, not 21, £7

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings 21:15 Naz Osmanoglu: 1000% Awesome

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Henning Wehn No Surrender Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £6.50 – £10.50

Künt and the Gang Free HH

Laughing Horse @ The Hive, 19-28 Aug, £free

Sam Simmons Meanwhile

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, £10.50 – £11.50

Warning: May Contain Jokes

21:20 Markus Birdman: Dreaming HH

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £8

Terry Alderton

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10.50 – £12

❤ Marcel Lucont Etc: A Chat Show HHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Pistol & Jack – Smash.Glam.Sex. Music.

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £10 – £12

Christophe Davidson: No Less of a Man - Free

Sin Club and Lounge, 19-27 Aug, £free

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Adam Crow - Ashton Kutcher’s Dead Girlfriends

Shane and Eddie: Picking up the Pieces

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-29 Aug, £free

M. Croser - Unpleasant Man Sin Club and Lounge, 19-27 Aug, £free

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Craig Campbell

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £10

Sanderson Jones - ComedySale.com/ Fringe Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £9 – £10

21:21 Take the Red Pill - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

21:25 An Evening with Helen Lederer

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 21 Aug, £15

Eric Davidson Verses the World SpaceCabaret @ 54, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £10

Stephen Carlin: Guilty Bystander

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

21:30 Sketchatron: Nano Bedlam Theatre, 21 Aug, £9

Tom Rosenthal: Child of Privilege HH Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £12

The Comedy Reserve Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £8 – £9

Mick Ferry: Sod It! Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

All the Fun of the Unfair Southsider, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

2 Comedians, 1 Bucket - Free Bar 50, 19-27 Aug, not 25, £free

The Axis of Awesome Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 25, £12 – £14

Glenn Wool: No Lands Man HHH Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £14

John Lynn: Social Notworking Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Frisky and Mannish: Pop Centre Plus HHH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £14

Jack Whitehall- Let’s Not Speak Of This Again

Venue150 @ EICC, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £15

The Rob Deering Experience

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Bruce Fummey - My Afro Celtic Angst Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Ali Cook - Principles and Deceptions

The W. Kamau Bell Curve – Ending Racism In About An Hour Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

21:35 Sarah Archer - Bumfluff and Brimstone theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £7

London Is Funny Presents...

Ciao Roma, 19-27 Aug, £free

Peter Buckley Hill and Some Comedians XV The Canons’ Gait, 19-27 Aug, £free

Dregs

Abacus Danger Present... ‘The Search for Blank’

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6.50

Fly Me to Baboon - Free!

Off the Top of Our Heads

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £12 – £13

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 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

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August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 81

comedylistings 21:40 Harmon Leon/ Bush Monologues: Comedy Double Feature Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 19-28 Aug, £7 – £9

Jimmy McGhie: Artificial Intelligence HHH Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Rich Hall

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £15 – £17

Arthur Smith’s Pissed-Up Chat Show Pleasance Dome, 19-27 Aug, £10 – £11.50

The Ultimate Quiz Show featuring Silly Milly

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, £free

21:45 Agonise, the Comedy Problem Page - Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, not 26, £free

Prepare to Be Tuned Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Cowboys and Indians: Black Man in the White House Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Good

Jenny Ha’s, 19-27 Aug, not 24, £free

21:50 Conway’s ‘Time of the Month’ The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Chris Ramsey: Offermation HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

❤ Doctor Brown: Becaves HHHHH Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

One Threw Up in the Cuckoo’s Nest - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

21:55 The Best of Scottish Comedy The Stand Comedy Club, 19-28 Aug, £12

To Be ... Or Not to Be ... Or Whatever It Will Be?

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, 19-27 Aug, £free

Couch Impro

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Naked in a Fishbowl Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 22-27 Aug, £10

22:05 Five Alive! The Musical

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, £5

Lloyd Langford: The Cold Hard Facts of Life The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £9

22:10 Bob and Jim - Modern Urges Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Mary Christ - The Unmusical!

❤ James Acaster: Amongst Other Things HHHH

Armageddapocalypse: The Explosioning

R U Smarter Than an Irishman? - Free

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-27 Aug, not 24, £free

Alan Sharp: Hate It With Me

Robert Taylor is ‘So Inappropriate’

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

Tom Price: Say When HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £12

❤ My Name Is Hannibal: The Hannibal Montanabal Experience HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Auntie Netta and the Trouble With Asian Men Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-29 Aug, not 27, £12

Storytellers’ Club

Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

The Kingsley and I (Free Stand Up Compilation Show)

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

Alive and Breathing... Almost Sweet Grassmarket, 19-28 Aug, £7

The Segue Sisters in ... Jailbirds

22:20

22:00

Benny Boot: Set-Up, Punchline... Pause for Laughter

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7 – £8

Damian Clark: Stand UP HHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £14

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Guilt & Shame

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8 – £10

Cooking Granny

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9.50 – £12

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Buffs Club (RAOB), 19-27 Aug, £free

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £5

❤ Tim Key Masterslut HHHH

BattleActs!

Improvised Comedy - Free

theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 25-26 Aug, £10

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7 – £8.50

Chimprovisations!

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-29 Aug, £6.50

22:15 Matthew Highton’s Shadowed Vagary Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £6.50

Barry and Stuart Show and Tell: The Show HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £12 – £14

Carey Marx: Laziness and Stuff Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Jocks and Geordies - Free!

Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-28 Aug, £free

Simply the Jest - Free The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

82 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Drags Aloud

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12

Get Happy in Edinburgh

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

22:25 Charlie Chuck’s Laughter Lounge SpaceCabaret @ 54, 19-21 Aug, £8

Matt and Ian Don’t Know Sweet Grassmarket, 19-21 Aug, £9

Jason John Whitehead: Letters from Mindy

The Two Wrongies

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Deborah Frances White- How to Get Almost Anyone to Want to Sleep with You Assembly Hall, 19-27 Aug, £12.50 – £14.50

Strong and Wrong get Funked Up - Free Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-28 Aug, £free

❤ Andrew O’Neill: Alternative HHHH

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £12

Best of So You Think You’re Funny?

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 25, £10.50

Al Murray the Pub Landlord’s Compete for the Meat - Late Night

Assembly George Square, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £15

Late Night Gimp Fight!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 20, £9.50 – £12

22:30

Obsession - A Life With Magic

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, 19-29 Aug, £9

Kai Humphries Bare-Faced Cheek HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £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, 19-28 Aug, £8

Dead Cat Bounce: Caged Heat

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £11 – £12

The Calpol Flashbacks - Free

Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club, 19-28 Aug, £free

Zoo, 20 Aug, £10

Puppetry of the Penis: 3D HH

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £15 – £17.50

22:35 Ro Campbell: Uttering Bad Shillings

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

North vs South

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £free

Rom Com Wrong

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8

Wade McElwain - The Littlest Hobo Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Lifestyles of the Weird and Aimless

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, £free

Jeff Mirza’s Jihad: Heresy Or Hearsay Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

No Pants Thursday Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7.50

Casual Violence: Choose Death

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, not 23, £6

Neil Hamburger: Discounted Entertainer

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £12

Paul Sinha: Looking at the Stars

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £9

22:45 Rubber Chicken Disorder - Free

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

The Comedy Zone Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Kitty Cointreau’s BraHaHa Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Michael Workman - Humans Are Beautiful

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Geoff Cotton - Light Relief - Free Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, £free

The Boom Jennies: Blowout

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Robin and Partridge: Worlds Collide Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9

Brady, Brush and French: A Triple Action Stand-Up Show Bar 50, 19-29 Aug, £free

Nick Gibb: Crumpled Antipodean Dandy

22:40

Southsider, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £free

Angelos Epithemiou and Friends

Hal Sparks - Evolution Overdrive HH

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-20 Aug, £14

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

www.festmag.co.uk

comedylistings Laughing Horse Free Late Night Comedy Selection Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, £free

22:50 Flood

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8 – £9

Peacock and Gamble Emergency Broadcast

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The Silly Beggar Comedy Affair

The Voodoo Rooms, 19-27 Aug, £free

Writing Blanks Greenside, 26-27 Aug, £4

22:55 Katherine Ryan: Little Miss Conception

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8 – £9.50

23:00 Dan Hoy’s Stag Do

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, £free

Hypnotist,Titan Knight

City Edinburgh, 21-22 Aug, £13

Jonathan Prager: Live From New York! - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-27 Aug, £free

BBC Comedy Presents - Early and Late

BBC @ Potterrow, 19-27 Aug, £10

Men Of War HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

3 Comics to Midnight Globe, 19-27 Aug, £free

Just for Laughs Showcase

Pleasance Dome, 23-24 Aug, £7

Rob Deering: Beat This

Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £9.50

Charlie Chuck’s Laughter Lounge SpaceCabaret @ 54, 22-27 Aug, £8

Monkhouse and Me

SpaceCabaret @ 54, 1921 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, 19-28 Aug, £free

All Over Your Face Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-27 Aug, £free

Stand Up, Fall Down

Interpretive Dances to My Diary! (72% Non-Fiction)

The Voodoo Rooms, 19-20 Aug, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-27 Aug, £8 – £9

Urban Shaman - Free

Wilfredo: Erecto!

23:05

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

Brian and Queen Tallulah’s Glamorous Intergalactic Magic!

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 28-29 Aug, £12.50

The Voodoo Rooms, 21-27 Aug, £free

23:10

Laughing Horse Free Pick of the Fringe

The Suitcase Royale in Zombatland

The Special Reserve Comedy Benefit

Best of Scottish Comedian of the Year

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

23:25

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, £10

Vikki Stone & The Flashbacks: Big Neon Letters

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 19-29 Aug, not 28, £10.50 – £12.50

Revolution Bar, 22-25 Aug, £5

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

AAA Stand-Up Late

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

The Horne Section

Assembly George Square, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £12 – £14

www.festmag.co.uk

PLAY LATE

❤ Dave Eastgate: I Wish I Had a Band HHHH

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

23:20 Dave Fulton ‘...Based on a True Story’ The Stand Comedy Club V, 19-28 Aug, £9

23:55 Tony Littler the Middle Age Punk Rides Again

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, £free

23:59 Barry and Stuart Show and Tell: The Tell HHH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12

The Stand Late Show

Pokermen

Briefs

C Venues - C eca, 20-30 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Comedy Countdown Gilded Balloon Teviot, 23-26 Aug, £5

Cowboys and Indians: Black Man in the White House Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 20-29 Aug, not 23, £free

Gemma Goggin’s Celebrity Sleepover Gilded Balloon Teviot, Various dates from 20 Aug to 29 Aug, £8 – £9

Just the Tonic Comedy Club’s Midnight Show

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

Spank!

Underbelly, Cowgate, 2029 Aug, £10 – £15

00:05 Best of Whyteleafe Comedy Club - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 26 Aug, £free

You Shoulda Been Here Last Week

The Room

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 28-29 Aug, £free

Best of the Fest

As Drawn on FaceTube - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Newsroom, 19-28 Aug, £free

23:40

Set List: Standup Without a Net

Late Night Comedy Revolution

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

00:30

Last Orders

Political Animal

Rich Hall’s Hoedown HHH

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Jamie Griffin’s War on Fear - Free

from 20 Aug to 29 Aug, £8

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £10

23:15

Gags, Songs and Bombs – Free!

Laughing Horse @ The White Horse, 19-28 Aug, £free

COMX

The Stand Comedy Club II, 19-28 Aug, £8

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), 1928 Aug, not 22, £6

Laughing Horse’s Funny Fillies - Free

Assembly George Square, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £12

Jeff Leach: A Leach On Society

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £15 – £17

23:50

PLAY LATE

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Jo Wharmby - Dick & Gina

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-20 Aug, £free

The Stand Comedy Club, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £15

Pleasance Courtyard, 23-24 Aug, £10

Pleasance Courtyard, 2229 Aug, £8 – £9.50

Snippets - Late Night Comedy Feast

Political Collective Gone Mad HHH

Just the Tonic at The Tron, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £10

88MPH

Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £7.50

23:45 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, 19-28 Aug, £8

The Stand Comedy Club, 22-25 Aug, £10 Assembly George Square, 21-22 Aug, £8 Assembly Hall, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £14 – £15

The Midnight Hour

The Canons’ Gait, 19-29 Aug, not 21, 28, £free

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, 20-29 Aug, not 23, £free

Adult Pantomime: Jack and the Beanstalk

Zoo Roxy, 21 Aug, £10

Comedy in the Dark

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2030 Aug, £10 – £11.50

Disco in a Dungeon Just The Tonic at the Caves, Various dates

Going Nowhere

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 22-25 Aug, £free

Mostly Comedy Club - Free

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-21 Aug, £free

00:15 The New Conway Experience

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-30 Aug, £9 – £10

Late ‘n’ Free

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-29 Aug, £free

Late Night Irish Pick and Mick’s - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-29 Aug, £free

00:20 Midnight Laughzzz Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-29 Aug, £free

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-30 Aug, not 26, £10 – £12

The Improverts

Bedlam Theatre, 19-28 Aug, £7.50

How to Be Patient With Arseholes

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

00:35 Spanktacular!

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 21 Aug, £14

Sanity Valve: Get Old or Die Tryin’ - Free Laughing Horse @ Meadow Bar, 19-29 Aug, not 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, 19-29 Aug, not 23, 24, £8

After Hours Comedy

Pleasance Dome, Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £10.50 – £11.50

Comic Strip

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, 19-29 Aug, £free

01:00 Late ‘n’ Live

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1930 Aug, £13 – £15

Dave Baucutt - Good Guy Gone Bad Ass Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, 19-27 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, 19 Aug, £free

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 83

theatrelistings I, Malvolio

09:15

10:15

‘New York’ by David Rimmer

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, 28 Aug, £15 – £17

Suddenly Shakespeare

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19 Aug, £7.50

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Just Before Sleep Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

The Trek Electric Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

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, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

Us and Them

The Big Bite Size Breakfast

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 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

Quaker Meeting House, 23-24 Aug, £free

Lauriston Hall, 22-28 Aug, £15

Shakespeare for Breakfast

St George’s West, 19-27 Aug, £12 – £15

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

❤ The Wheel HHHH Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Timothy HHH Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £6.50

Blood and Roses

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, £11

Medea’s Children

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, not 23, 24, £8

Romeo and Juliet

Alice in Wonderland

theSpace @ Venue45, 26-27 Aug, £free

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

The Simple Things in Life

Futureproof Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 19-27 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

101

C venues - C soco, 19-21 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Alice in Cha

Two by Jim Cartwright

theSpaces on North Bridge, 27 Aug, £5

Death of a Salesman

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £8

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £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, 19-29 Aug, £9

Hotel Methuselah Summerhall, 22-26 Aug, £12

The Torture Show theSpaces on North Bridge, 26 Aug, £6

11:00 Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, £10

Tales From the Vienna Woods

theSpace on Niddry St, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, £5

The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol

theSpace on Niddry St, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £5

84 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Kitty Litter

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Dinner with the Dinner Ladies

C venues - C soco, 19-20 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Belleville Rendezvous

Bedlam Theatre, 19-20 Aug, £8

Mary Blandy’s Gallows Tree

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-21 Aug, £7

11:05 Story Shakespeare: Love’s Labour’s Lost C venues - C too, 19-20 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Malfi

Bedlam Theatre, 22-27 Aug, £8

11:10 Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Sold

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

11:15 ‘New York’ by David Rimmer Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Just Before Sleep

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

The Trek Electric

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

11:20 Emergence HHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

11:25 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 , 19-20 Aug, £7

Please Patricia

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 25-26 Aug, £7

Masterclass - The Edinburgh Sessions

Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, £5

Andrea’s Got Two Boyfriends

Greenside, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Invisible Show II

Pleasance Courtyard, 22-27 Aug, £7.50

Even in Edinburgh/ Glasgow

Under the Departure Boards at Waverley Station, 20 Aug, £free

11:35 Poor Caroline

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-20 Aug, £7.50

11:40 After Miss Julie

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £7.50

Lie Back and Think of America

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £8

The Star Child

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Blood and Roses

Alma Mater HHH

Fool’s Gold

Street Dreams HHH

The Trial: an Original Adaptation of the Novel by Franz Kafka of the Same Name

Aladdin

St George’s West, 19-27 Aug, £12 – £15 C Venues - C eca, 19-20 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, £5

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Alice in Wonderland and Other Adventures With Lewis Carroll New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £free – £8

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5 Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £9 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £6

11:45 Broken Wing HHH Venue 13, 19-20 Aug, £8

Llwyth (Tribe)

St George’s West, 20-28 Aug, £10

Lost in Mozart

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £7.50

theatrelistings Much Ado About Nothing

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £9

Alphonse by Wajdi Mouawad

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

The Diaries of Adam and Eve

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £13

Show Me the World Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

101

C venues - C soco, 19-21 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The One Hour Plays Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Ethometric Museum Hill Street Theatre, 1928 Aug, £9

Exsomnia

C venues - C soco, 19-27 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

Mr Darwin’s Tree

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 19-21 Aug, £9.50

Pool (No Water) Zoo Roxy, 21-29 Aug, £7

12:05

Alma Mater HHH

The Historians

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £10

The Undoing of Man

First Light

Phillipa and Will Are Now in a Relationship

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6

11:50 St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5 The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 23-29 Aug, £9.50

12:00 Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, £10

Pleasance Bytes

Pleasance Courtyard, 20 Aug, 27 Aug, £5

www.festmag.co.uk

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £7 – £8

❤ Somewhere Beneath It All, A Small Fire Burns Still HHHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Who Killed the Counsellor?

Just the Tonic at The Store (formerly GRV), Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £7

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, 19-27 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Magicians Do Exist

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £9

12:15 Bette and Joan - The Final Curtain

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £12 – £13

The Crucible

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Julius Caesar - Free Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, £free

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts HHH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Me, Myself and Miss Gibbs Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, £8

Secret Window, Secret Garden

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

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, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Matilda and the Tales She Told HHH Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

❤ White Rabbit Red Rabbit HHHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £12

12:20 Travelers: A Comedy with Music Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

How to Catch a Rabbit HHH

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £7

12:25 The Dreamcatchers Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, £5

The Overcoat HHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

12:30 Nostalgia for Reality theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £7

The Games

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £10

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 85

theatrelistings Now is the Winter

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Rock ‘n’ Soul

C venues - C soco, 19-20 Aug, £8.50 – £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, 19-29 Aug, £15

12:40 The Little Mermaid Zoo, 19-20 Aug, £9

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

The Proceedings of That Night Pleasance Courtyard, 20-21 Aug, £6

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Blood and Roses

The Observatory

Alma Mater HHH

Fetch HHH

St George’s West, 19-27 Aug, £12 – £15 St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

❤ Federer Versus Murray HHHH

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £13 – £14

Waiting For Alice

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £8.50 – £10 Greenside, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Unanswered, We Ride

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £9

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £7 – £9

12:45

Futureproof

Fit for Purpose

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £17 – £19

The Oh F**k Moment St George’s West, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Paper Tom

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, £8.50

Remember This

Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, £6

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, 19-28 Aug, not 21, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

The Golden Dragon HHH

Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £15 – £17

One Under

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £7.50 – £8.50

Chips on Shoulders Zoo Roxy, 19-20 Aug, £7

The Girl Who Thought She Was Irish

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, 24 Aug, £7 – £9

Hotel Methuselah Summerhall, 19-26 Aug, £12

Wondrous Flitting HHH Traverse Theatre, 28 Aug, £15

12:50 The Truth About Black Suburban Girls theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £9

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

‘Tis I, Shakespeare the Brit

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

12:55 The Bald Prima Donna

C Venues - C eca, 19 Aug, £7.50

The Dead!

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-20 Aug, £free

A Resounding Tinkle C Venues - C eca, 20 Aug, £7.50

❤ Singing ‘I’m No a Billy, He’s a Tim’ HHHH The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £10

Lol

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £8

13:00 ...In for a Pound

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-29 Aug, £8

Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 19 Aug, 23

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 19-22

Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, £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, 19-21 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

❤ Little Matter HHHH

Bedlam Chambers, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £9

Hammerpuzzle’s Measure for Measure Princes Mall, 19-25 Aug, £free

Alma Mater HHH

You Once Said Yes

A Funny Valentine

Bond, James Bond

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5 Valvona & Crolla, 19 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, 29 Aug, £12

The Scotsman Best of the Fest

Assembly George Square, 22 Aug, £12

The Translator’s Dilemma

Princes Mall, 19-27 Aug, £free

❤ The Wheel HHHH

Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

Laundry Boy

Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Drift

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

You Once Said Yes

Ships of Sand

Belarus Free Theatre

Still Life Dreaming

Black Slap HHH

A Visit From Miss Prothero

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15 Pleasance Courtyard, 22-29 Aug, £10

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Valvona & Crolla, 22 Aug, £12

Italia ‘n’ Caledonia

Valvona & Crolla, 23-24 Aug, £12

The Magical Faraway Tree Just The Tonic at the Caves, 19-28 Aug, £4

Macbeth

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12

Vivaldi and the Number 3

Valvona & Crolla, 21 Aug, £10

Venue 13, 19-20 Aug, £6 Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, £5

Pleasance Courtyard, 23-28 Aug, £8 – £9

13:05 PoeZest

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 19-20 Aug, £6

Chasing Dragons

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Generation 9/11: So Far / So Close theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £7

13:10 The Yellow Wallpaper

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £8

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £5

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

❤ One Thousand Paper Cranes HHHH

Assembly George Square, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £10

Miss Julie

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £free – £12

Free Time Radical HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £10 – £12

13:15 Eunuchs in My Wardrobe

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £11

Nobody’s Home: A Modern Odyssey Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £9 – £10

Richard Parker

C venues - C soco, 21-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Outside

C venues - C soco, 19-20 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Commencement

C venues - C, 19-20 Aug, £8.50 – £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

theatrelistings 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, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

Anyone For A Witch Hunt? - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-20 Aug, £free

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

The Trek Electric

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Look / Alive

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-20 Aug, £4.50

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

A Midlife Crisis: Live!

The Stand Comedy Club III & IV, 19-28 Aug, £8

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, £15

Riot

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, £9

Wondrous Flitting HHH

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £15 – £17

Oedipus by Steven Berkoff (After Sophocles) HH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £16 – £17.50

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 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, 19-20 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

Pip Utton is Charles Dickens

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £9 – £10

Ethometric Museum Hill Street Theatre, 1928 Aug, not 22, £9

The Wright Brothers Pleasance Courtyard, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £10 – £11

Waterproof HHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Check, Please!

Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Al Bowlly’s Croon Manifesto

The Bongo Club, 22-27 Aug, £10

Coffin Up

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

Minute After Midday

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

13:35 ❤ The Girl With the Iron Claws HHHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £8.50 – £1

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Gaksi, Mago

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £10

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

The Watchers

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £6.50

Aladdin

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £6

Unanswered, We Ride

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £9

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9.50 – £10

The Dick and the Rose

Voices

St George’s West, 19-27 Aug, £12 – £15

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-27 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

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7 Sweet Grassmarket, 19-20 Aug, £8

13:40 Eyes Wide Open

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 24-25 Aug, £5

Terezin: Children of the Holocaust HH theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £8

13:20

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

You Once Said Yes

In Confidence

Happiness

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, £9

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15 The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room,

theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 26 Aug, £10

Alma Mater HHH

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £11 St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Grim(m) Tales of the Woods - Free Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 20-28 Aug, £free

Snap.Catch.Slam HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £9.50 – £10.50

Partially Mouse - Free

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19 Aug, £free

Leave Hitler to Me Lad

AGM

The Pretender

A Preoccupation With Romance

Zoo Southside, 19-29 Aug, not 21, 28, £8

From My Sleep with Horror

Paradise in The Vault, 1927 Aug, not 22, £8

Lost in Mozart

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £8.50

Whistle HHH

Zoo, 19-29 Aug, not 25, £7.50

13:50 After the End

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

MonologueSlam The Ultimate Actors’ Showcase!

Chaos

❤ Real Men Dream in Black and White HHHH

Blood and Roses

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £10

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

13:55

Breathing Water

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £7

You Once Said Yes

13:45

Musical Much Ado

You Once Said Yes

www.festmag.co.uk

Alma Mater HHH

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-21 Aug, £7

Alma Mater HHH

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

19-29 Aug, not 22, £9.50

Greenside, 19-20 Aug, £5

Hill Street Theatre, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £15

Wee Andy HHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 28 Aug, £9 – £10

I, the Dictator

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12

You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

Anton’s Uncles HHH Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, £9

Howling Moon

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9.50

Release

14:00

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £10 – £11

One Thousand and One Nights Part 1

Sailing On

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Various dates from 21 Aug to 3 Sep, £10

❤ Fleeto HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 20 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, 29 Aug, £9 – £10

The Firebird

Fairmilehead Parish Church Hall, 19-20 Aug, £6

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 21 Aug, £10-28

New Town Theatre, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £8 – £9

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Institut français d’Ecosse, 19-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Grisly Tales From Tumblewater

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £9

Invisible Show II

Pleasance Courtyard, 21-27 Aug, £7.50

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 87

theatrelistings

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £17.50 – £20

Swamp Juice

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

Teddy and Topsy - Isadora Duncan’s Love Letters to Gordon Craig

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, £11

Rachael’s Cafe

Laughing Horse @ Jekyll & Hyde, 19-28 Aug, £free

Posthumous Works Danish Institute, 20 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

Dusk Rings a Bell

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £11 – £12

King of Scotland

Assembly Hall, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £12

Lights, Camera, Walkies

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

The Split Second

C venues - C aquila, 2227 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

14:05 The Spectacular Tales of Grinburrell

C venues - C too, 19-20 Aug, £7.50 – £8.50

‘Tis in My Memory Locked: an adaptation of Hamlet

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Principal Parts

The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £7

Generation 9/11: So Far / So Close theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

Splendid Isolation

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £14

14:10

Cry of the Mountain Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £7 – £8

The Crucible

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

Voices

Quaker Meeting House, 22-27 Aug, £6

Another Macbeth

Quaker Meeting House, 19-20 Aug, £8

rogerandtom

C venues - C too, 21-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Box - Free!

You Once Said Yes

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 27-28 Aug, £free

Click

A Machine To See With

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15 theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £7

Heartbreak

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 24-25 Aug, £6

The Secret of Monkey Island

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-23 Aug, £6

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Romance with a Double Bass

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 26-27 Aug, £6

Penny Dreadful’s Etherdome

The Simple Things in Life

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, £8

Three of Hearts

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

14:20

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £11 – £12

The Dreamcatchers

theSpace on Niddry St, 22-27 Aug, £8

The Screwtape Letters

Palmerston Place Church, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £10

M House

Sweet Grassmarket, 24-26 Aug, £7

❤ Mad About the Boy HHHH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 21 Aug, £10

BAC at Summerhall Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £free

88 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11

14:40 You Once Said Yes

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

The Dumb Waiter

Paradise in The Vault, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £8.50 – £9.50

Go to Your God Like a Soldier Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Frozen Stills

Assembly George Square, 22-27 Aug, £9 – £10

14:45

The Chippit Chantie Dr Apple’s Last Lecture HH

Hotel De L’avenir

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £free

Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

The Infant HHH

The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo

Hannah Ringham’s Free Show (Bring Money)

Are You Happy Now? - Free

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £10

Letting Go

St Peter’s, 20 Aug, £10

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

Nuclear Family

A Machine To See With

St Ninian’s Hall, 20 Aug, £10

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £12 – £14

theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £8

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £5

St Peter’s, 27 Aug, £10

Moll Flanders

Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-20 Aug, £free

The Long Road

It Takes Four to Tango with Panto

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

HR’d Day’s Night - Free

You Once Said Yes

St George’s West, 19-27 Aug, £12 – £15

Alma Mater HHH

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Travelers: A Comedy with Music

Blood and Roses

Zoo Roxy, Various dates from 19 Aug to 29 Aug, £9.50

The Hub, 25-26 Aug, £6

14:15

St Serf’s Church Hall, 20 Aug, £9

Jamie Blake

Glasgow GirlsPachamama Productions

Zambezi Express

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Bawbees and Ducats or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Piazza by Alan Richardson

Bashir Lazhar

You Once Said Yes

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50

14:25

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £14

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

Motortown

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

14:30

❤ Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler HHHH

Venue 13, 21-27 Aug, £8

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Pathos, Wholesale

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

Fragments of Ash

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

Suddenly Shakespeare

Zoo Roxy, 20 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12 Princes Mall, 19-20 Aug, £free

Bouncers Remix

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 19-27 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50 Venue 13, 19-20 Aug, £8

Four For Jericho

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11

Be My Baby

14:35

Greenside, 19-20 Aug, £7.50

Noh No Noh

Hotel Methuselah

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

A3 OPTION 1

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

Summerhall, 19-26 Aug, £12

www.thespaceuk.com

Simon Callow in Tuesday at Tescos HH

Skittles

on North Bridge (V36)

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

VISIBLE AREA 297mm (w) x 373mm (h)

A Machine To See With

theatrelistings A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Opposition

Zoo Southside, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

14:50 Politically Incorrect - Free Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £free

Time for the Good Looking Boy

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

You Once Said Yes Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-29 Aug, £15

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Batman! Holy Spoof Musical Batstravaganza!

Paradise in Augustine’s, 23-29 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

www.festmag.co.uk

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Encounters: Theatre Uncut

4.3 Miles From Nowhere

Traverse Theatre, 22 Aug, £10

Zoo, 19-29 Aug, £8 – £10

A Machine To See With

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Constantinople

The Last Days of Gilda

Electric Circus, 20 Aug, 27 Aug, £free

Ruskin Live!

15:10

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Scottish National Gallery, 19 Aug, £10

The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

New Town Theatre, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £free – £11

14:55 The Duchess of Malfi theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £7

Inbetween

C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The World Holds Everyone Apart, Apart From Us

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10

❤ Spent HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £9 – £9.50

15:00 Debris

Zoo Roxy, Various dates from 19 Aug to 29 Aug, £8

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 20 Aug, £10-28

Untouchable Voices Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 20-21 Aug, £7.50

Valvona & Crolla, 20 Aug, £12

If That’s All There Is?

Pleasance Courtyard, Various dates from 23 Aug to 29 Aug, £12

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Traverse @ Ghillie Dhu, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £15

Stacy

Assembly Hall, 19-28 Aug, £9

Singapore

Zoo Roxy, 20 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 28 Aug, £8

Julian Sands in a Celebration of Harold Pinter HH

Turandot

Zanzibar Cats by Heathcote Williams

Gutter Junky

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-21 Aug, £15

The Station: Fourstones

Zoo, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £9

Tearoom

Lauriston Hall, 22-28 Aug, £15

Ethometric Museum Hill Street Theatre, 1928 Aug, £9

Summerhall, 20 Aug, £5 New Town Theatre, 1927 Aug, £12 – £13

Vivaldi and the Number 3

Valvona & Crolla, 23 Aug, 26 Aug, £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £11 – £12

15:05 Cigarettes and Chocolate

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £6.50

Fameless

The Matchmaker

Scottish Storytelling Centre, 22-29 Aug, £9

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8

Little Sparrow

To Have and to Hold

Greenside, 19-20 Aug, £free

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £7

The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, £7

Alma Mater HHH To Hold an Apple

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1927 Aug, not 21, £8

Eight

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £8

15:15 Caligula

C venues - C, 19-20 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

‘New York’ by David Rimmer Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Danny and the Deep Blue Sea HHH St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £10 – £12

Fear and Misery of the Third Reich

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 89

theatrelistings 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, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

❤ Cul-De-Sac HHHH

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, not 22, £10

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

PCUK - A Midsummer Night’s Remix theSpace @ Venue45, 19-20 Aug, £7

Taketh Me Away

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

15:20 Thirty Two Teeth

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Lullabies of Broadmoor - Venus at Broadmoor C venues - C, 27 Aug, £10.50

Sideshow

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The Tempest

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-27 Aug, £7.50

Myrtle Chops

Paradise in The Vault, 23-29 Aug, £5

15:30 Blonde Compassion

Princes Mall, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £free

The Golden Dragon HHH Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

Tea with Queenie

Greenside, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £6.50

Lethal Injection

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Blood and Roses

St George’s West, 19-27 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 HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Welcome to the Kerryman

❤ Darkness HHHH Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £10

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

Ten Plagues HHH

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Wireless Mystery Theatre Presents...

Globe, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

15:35

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Institut français d’Ecosse, 19-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

15:55

Alma Mater HHH

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £11 – £12

Caruso and the Monkey House Trial HHH Hill Street Theatre, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £9 – £11

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £9.50 – £10

Of Sound Mind

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

16:00

Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters, 19-28 Aug, not 22, 23, £free

Ink

Life Still

Body of Water

Check, Please!

Wives of War

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

theSpace @ Venue45, 22-27 Aug, £8

The Ducks

❤ Dust HHHH

Fantasmagoriana

C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

Chekhov Shorts

St George’s West, 24 Aug, £12.50

Duddingston Kirk Manse Garden, 19-20 Aug, £8

David Lee Nelson...

Status Update

Just Good Friends

Laughing Horse @ The Beehive Inn , 19-28 Aug, not 22, £free

I, Malvolio

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Adolf

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Beef

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, £8

Love

St John’s Church, 19 Aug, £10

Request Programme Inlingua Edinburgh, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, £12

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson Traverse Theatre, 25 Aug, £15

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH

Ed Reardon: A Writer’s Burden HH

Traverse Theatre, 24 Aug, £15

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

Shylock HHH

The Simple Things in Life

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £12.50 – £14

Wondrous Flitting HHH

Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £15 – £17

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - The Simple Things in Life sheds, 19-27 Aug, £11.50 – £12.50

LULLABIES OF BROADMOOR A Broadmoor Quartet

FOUR PLAYS BY STEVE HENNESSY DIRECTED BY CHRIS LOVELESS

90 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

The Curse of Macbeth

The Little Prince

Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, £15

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-21 Aug, £8

Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Samira HH

❤ Silken Veils HHHH

Macbeth

❤ My Filthy Hunt HHHH

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Laughing Horse @ Espionage, 19-28 Aug, £free

15:40 ❤ Translunar Paradise HHHHH

Alma Mater HHH

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 19-29 Aug, £10.50

Fire and the Rose

Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £free

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £11 – £13

One Night Stan

Black Mirrors

Princes Mall, 19-27 Aug, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

15:50

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

15:25 Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, £9 – £10

15:45

Killing Bill Gates - 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, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £9 – £12

This Twisted Tale HH

Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 19-29 Aug, £12

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, £17

Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £14

Ten Plagues HHH

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

theatrelistings 16:05

Traumatikon

❤ Dream Pill HHHH Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £8 – £9

Be Prepared

Greenside, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7.50

Pulse

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £8.50

Henna Night

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7.50

16:10 Cautionary Tales

Paradise in The Vault, 1929 Aug, not 22, £7

The Animals and Children Took to the Streets Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, £12

❤ An Instinct for Kindness HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

Celebration

Summerhall, 19-20 Aug, £9

The Crucible

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Sailing On

New Town Theatre, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £8 – £9

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Ten Plagues HHH

Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

Phys Ed HHH

Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £10

16:20 Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Slavery to Star Trek C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Stand Up and Be Counted

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £6

Ethometric Museum Hill Street Theatre, 1928 Aug, £9

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Casablanca: The Gin Joint Cut Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £11 – £15

Invisible Show II

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Waterloo

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £free – £10

What It Feels Like

Clockheart Boy

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Yours, Isabel

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7.50

❤ Bones HHHHH

Zoo, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9

The Captain of Köpenick

I See Simon

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, £7

16:30 Act Before You Think

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £10

16:15 A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, £5

Acoustic Music Centre @ St Brides, 19 Aug, £8

The Alchemystorium

Paradise in The Vault, 1929 Aug, not 22, £5

16:40 The F Word

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £10

2401 Objects HHH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 23, £10 – £12

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, £8

Young Pretender HHH

Recursion

Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

1745 174 45

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, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Alma Mater HHH

Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

The Fall of the House of Usher

A Machine To See With

C venues - C too, 19-21 Aug, £8.50 – £9.50

The Dreamcatchers

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

16:50

16:25

Sleeping Beauty

Haverfordwest

Pleasance Courtyard, 21-27 Aug, £7.50

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7 St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

16:45

Repent / Words

Multiple Choice

Soldier and Death

Ophelia

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 20-28 Aug, £free Princes Mall, 21-27 Aug, £free

Bepo & Co

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1929 Aug, £10 – £12

The Prodigals

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £12.50 – £15

Alma Mater HHH

The Gospel of Matthew

16:55

Alma Mater HHH

An Imaginary History of Tango

C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

The First Day of My Life

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

17 Things

C venues - C too, 22-29 Aug, £6.50 – £8.50

17:00

Venue150 @ EICC, 22 Aug, £11.50 St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Uglies Do Edinburgh

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-29 Aug, not 21, £10

A Day in November Zoo Southside, 19-29 Aug, £8.50

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Posthumous Works

Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret Ocean Terminal Big Top, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, £10-28

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH Hill Street Theatre, 21 Aug, 22 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

Danish Institute, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £10

Brotherly Love - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-28 Aug, £free

Shopping and F***ing

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £10

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8 theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8

17:10 Excess Baggage

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £8

What Are Little Boys Made of? theSpace @ Venue45, 19-20 Aug, £5

Mildred McManus for World Minister theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £8

The Red Dress

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 19-20 Aug, £6

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Application for Life

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 2227 Aug, £7

Snow White: The Way Through the Woods

Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-21 Aug, £9.50

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

Colour Me Happy

Zoo, 19-27 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

17:15 Donna Disco HHH

17:05

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, £9

Kafka and Son HHH

Lost Orders

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £10 – £11

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-20 Aug, £9

FRINGE FIRST WINNERS 2009 IRON SHOES in association with the National Theatre Studio & ScenePool

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2.

August 220 0th 2011.

2 6.05 6.05 p.m. p.m. – 6.55 6.55 p.m. p.m.

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 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 91

theatrelistings Perffection

Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, £8

Tempus Incognit

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £10

‘New York’ by David Rimmer Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Just Before Sleep

Church Hill Theatre, 22 Aug, £5

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, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Greenside, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

17:25 Counting Syllables

Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix, 19 Aug, £free

Kalagora HH

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £7.50

Are There More of You?

C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

❤ Rose (starring Keira and Art Malik) HHHH Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, £13.50 – £14.50

Trog and Clay (an imagined history of the electric chair) C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

The Trek Electric

17:30

The Rape of Lucrece

The Moment I Saw You I Knew I Could Love You

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5 Zoo Southside, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9

Rain HHH

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

17:20

Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £12

Agnes of God

Paradise in The Vault, 1929 Aug, not 22, £6

Fragments of Ash

Midnight Your Time performed by Diana Quick HH

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £15

❤ Bane 1, 2 and 3 HHHH

Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Venue 13, 19-20 Aug, £8

A Hero Of Our Time Zoo, 19-29 Aug, £8

Now That She’s Gone HH

Assembly Hall, 19-28 Aug, £9 – £10

Alma Mater HHH

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 27 Aug, £11.50

Jus’ Like That!

Pleasance Courtyard, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

❤ John Peel’s Shed

by John Osborne HHHH

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, £11.50

Bosom Buddies

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 24 Aug, £9

A Machine To See With

Valvona & Crolla, 26-27 Aug, £12

Check, Please!

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 26 Aug, £10

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5 Assembly Hall, 19-29 Aug, £14 – £15

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50 St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £8.50

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12 Church Hill Theatre, 20 Aug, £5

The Oh F**k Moment

St George’s West, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £10

Ships of Sand

Venue 13, 21-27 Aug, £6

17:35 Superbard and the Sexy Quantum Stories

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

17:40 Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Roll Out the Beryl

17:45

Hamlet House of Horror HHH

❤ The Dark Philosophers HHHHH

Hill Street Theatre, 1928 Aug, £9

The Playhouse at Hawke and Hunter Green Room, 19-29 Aug, £10.50

The Man Who Was Hamlet

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £17 – £19

/++ 38 $ produced by

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE 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 19-22

❤ Thirsty HHHH Berkoff’s Graft – Tales of an Actor

Berkoff’s Hell

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Dostoevsky’s ‘Dream of a Ridiculous Man’ The Toll

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Vivaldi and the Number 3

Valvona & Crolla, 19 Aug, £10

Kaddish for Pinter HH

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-28 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, 19-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Futureproof

Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Wrens

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-28 Aug, £9

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

The Questionnaire

theSpace on Niddry St, 22-27 Aug, £8 – £9

17:55 Blood Brothers

C venues - C too, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Institut français d’Ecosse, 19-26 Aug, weekdays only, £10

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

The 2 Sides of Eddie Ramone theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £5

Devil in the Detail

18:00

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, £12

❤ The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik HHHH

I, Malvolio

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £10 – £12.50

Allotment

Assembly Inverleith Allotments, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £10

The Golden Dragon HHH Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

❤ One Million Tiny Plays About Britain HHHH Hill Street Theatre, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £12.50 – £15

Conference of Strange

Princes Mall, 19-27 Aug, not 23, £free

David Leddy’s ‘Untitled Love Story’ HH St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £15 – £17

Request Programme

17:50

Inlingua Edinburgh, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, £12

The Tragedy of Titus

Ethometric Museum

theSpace on Niddry St, 19-20 Aug, £7

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Hill Street Theatre, 1928 Aug, £9

Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, £17

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

The Lounge Room Confabulators HHH Your Lounge, 19-29 Aug, £free

Pip Utton is the Hunchback of Notre Dame

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £free – £10

You Wouldn’t Know Him, He Lives in Texas

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, £15

18:05 1745 - The Last Hopeful Epistle of Bonnie Prince Charlie

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £8

The Life and Times of Albert Lymes - Free

Laughing Horse @ Cafe Renroc, 19 Aug, £free

theatrelistings The Great Goddess Bazaar

The Tour Guide HHH

18:10

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH

Paradise in The Vault, 1928 Aug, not 22, £8

Criminy

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £5

Satellites

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £8

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Double Act

The Tour Guide Departing from Market Street, 1928 Aug, not 22, £free

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, £17

Theseus is Dead

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Wondrous Flitting HHH Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, £17

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

18:20

18:15

Church Hill Theatre, 21 Aug, £5

The 39 Steps

Free Run HHH

The Royal Scots Club, 19-20 Aug, £10

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Church Hill Theatre, 19 Aug, £5

Peep Show

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £7

The Crucible

Church Hill Theatre, 23 Aug, £5

Doris Day Can F**k Off HHH Zoo Southside, 19-29 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

www.festmag.co.uk

Travelers: A Comedy with Music

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £15 – £17

Rathmore’s Whippet C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

18:25 Liberace: Live From Heaven

The Voyage of St Brendan: A Postmodern Retelling Through a Mosaic of Mediums St John’s Church, 20 Aug, £5

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 H

Assembly George Square, 19-29 Aug, £12 – £13

One Fine Day

Zoo Roxy, 19-28 Aug, not 21, £8.50

Totty Galore and the Expanding Suitcase Quaker Meeting House, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £7

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

Tomboy Blues – The Theory of Disappointment

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, £13 – £14

Zoo Southside, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7 – £8

18:30

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, £9

❤ What Remains HHHHH

Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £17 – £19

Viewless

❤ The Wheel HHHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, 24 Aug, 28 Aug, £17 – £19

❤ A Slow Air HHHH Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, £15

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH

Chamber Music

18:35

Othello

Traverse Theatre, 25 Aug, £15

Death Song HH

Udderbelly’s Pasture, 1928 Aug, £10 – £11

Shakespeare Bingo: Titus! theSpace @ Venue45, 19-20 Aug, £7

18:40 How Desperate Can it Get?

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 26-27 Aug, £7.50

Scottish Sperm

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1927 Aug, not 21, £4

Stockholm

Whitespace, 19-20 Aug, £9

Wonder Bread

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-20 Aug, £8

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

Mr Kolpert

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £7.50 Zoo Roxy, 19-20 Aug, £8

Love Songs for a Timewaster

Gilded Balloon Teviot, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

18:50 Naive Dance Masterclass

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

The Trials of Galileo

C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Berkoff’s Hell

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 26 Aug, £9

Alma Mater HHH

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, £5

18:55 Bluebeard: A Fairy Tale for Adults Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

The Room of Unlimited Possibilities

18:45

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £8

Third Person: Bonnie and Clyde Redux

19:00

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 22-27 Aug, £9

❤ Cutting the Cord HHHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1927 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

A Machine To See With

St George’s West, 24-28 Aug, £12

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

Encounters: Theatre Uncut Traverse Theatre, 22 Aug, £10

Faust/us

Sweet Grassmarket, 22-28 Aug, £9

Mystery and Murder on the Menu at The Scottish Cafe The Scottish Cafe & Restaurant , 22-23 Aug, £39

❤ Little Matter HHHH

Bedlam Chambers, 1928 Aug, £9

Robert Burns: Not in My Name National Library of Scotland, 24-28 Aug, £8

Imaginarium

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 28-29 Aug, £7

Subsist

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-21 Aug, £9

Yellow Moon: The Ballad of Leila and Lee

C venues - C soco, 19-29 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

Abbi Patrix and Linda Edsjö: A Concert of Stories

Scottish Storytelling Centre, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £8

Flesh Eating Tiger Venue 13, 19-20 Aug, £8

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 93

theatrelistings 19:05

At the Sans Hotel

19:15

The Nose theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ7

The Questionnaire theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ9

Woof! A Werepunk Zoo, 19-29 Aug, ÂŁ7.50

19:10 An Audience With Shurl theSpaces on the Mile , 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ6

Livewire Theatre’s Peter Pan theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £5

Look Back in Anger C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

The Carroll Myth Sweet Grassmarket, 19-28 Aug, ÂŁ10

The Screwtape Letters

Palmerston Place Church, 22-26 Aug, ÂŁ10

A Clockwork Orange HHH

Assembly Hall, 19-28 Aug, £10 – £11

eXclusion Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £9.50

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

19:30

VOICES

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £11 – £13

Handling Bach

Rosslyn Chapel, 20 Aug, ÂŁ30

Pushing Up Poppies Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, ÂŁ10

Unnatural Selection theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ8.50

The Cherry Orchard

19:20 The World According to Bertie HH C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Devotion

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, 20-24 Aug, £10

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ10

Duddingston Kirk Manse Garden, 19-28 Aug, not 22, 23, ÂŁ10

Bawbees and Ducats or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Piazza by Alan Richardson St Serf’s Church Hall, 19 Aug, £9

Diamond Dick

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour

Outside the Beehive Inn, 19 Aug - 4 Sep, ÂŁ10

The Perils of Love and Gravity HHH

Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, ÂŁ8

The Secretary Bird

Murrayfield Parish Church Centre, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ10.50

It Takes Four to Tango with Panto

Cock and Bull Story

Golden Aged

3rd Ring Out: The Emergency

19:40

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £free – £12.50

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £7.50 – £9

Hydronomicon

The Banshee Labyrinth, 19-27 Aug, ÂŁfree

The Chippit Chantie St Peter’s, 19 Aug, £10

Hannah Ringham’s Free Show (Bring Money) Summerhall, 22-27 Aug, £free

Sii Me

Dinner

Inlingua Edinburgh, 19 Aug, 23 Aug, 24 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, £10 – £12

C venues - C, 19-25 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

theSpace @ Venue45, 19 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, ÂŁ5

Antigone

When Abel Met Cain

Paradise in The Vault, 1928 Aug, not 22, ÂŁ5

from to

the d on Basend of the lege 2 chairs 1 VENUE 105

(BOOKING FEE)

0844 8565555 THEATRE BIG TOP, OCEAN TERMINAL, LEITH EH6 6JJ online www.ticketmaster.co.uk pm & pm & SAT 20 3pm & 8pm BOX OFFICE SUN 21 2 5 TUE 16 TODAY FRINGE BOX OFFICE OPEN ON SITE UNTIL (no show Wed 17) THU 18 & FRI 19 5pm & 8pm 0131 226 0000 9am-9pm DAILY SUN AUG

21

www.moscowstatecircus.com

94 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

www.edfringe.com

C venues - C, 27 Aug, ÂŁ10.50

Moll Flanders

St Ninian’s Hall, 19-20 Aug, £10

19:45 2011: A Space Oddity

Zoo Roxy, 21-29 Aug, £6 – £12

May I Have the Pleasure...?

Traverse @ The Point Hotel Conference Centre,

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Radio Deluxembourg

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Demon Box HHH

Rosslyn Chapel, 19 Aug, ÂŁ12

ÂŁ7 ÂŁ28

LLED CONTRO CLIMATETHEATRE RY U X LU BIG TOP

Zoo Southside, 21-27 Aug, £7 Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-29 Aug, £9.50

Request Programme

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ5

Perfectly Public

Handling Bach

19:35

St Peter’s, 24-27 Aug, £10

theSpace @ Venue45, 20 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, ÂŁ5

theatrelistings Various dates from 19 Aug to 28 Aug, £17 – £19

Two Johnnies Live Upstairs

Man to Man HHH

Leith on the Fringe @ Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 1928 Aug, not 22, ÂŁ10

19:50

Institut franĂƒÂ§ais d’Ecosse, 19-26 Aug, weekdays only, ÂŁ10

7 Day Drunk HHH

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, ÂŁ12

Jawbone Of An Ass

The Tempest

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Tonight Sandy Grierson Will Lecture, Dance and Box HHH

Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, ÂŁ9

The Arrangement

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-27 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ15

Assembly George Square, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £12 – £13

20:00

You Wouldn’t Know Him, He Lives in Texas

Meet at Underbelly, Cowgate, 20 Aug, 21 Aug, 27 Aug, 28 Aug, ÂŁ15

20:05

Silence in Court

New Town Theatre, 1928 Aug, £free – £12.50

The Moscow State Circus - Babushkins Sekret

Ocean Terminal Big Top, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ10-28

â?¤ What Remains HHHHH

Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £17 – £19

Le Cochon Entier

Zoo Roxy, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ7.50

The Zanniskinheads and the Quest for the Holy Balls Underbelly, Cowgate, 19-28 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ7

Samantha’s Hotline

theSpace @ Jury’s Inn, 1927 Aug, not 21, £7

St John’s Church, 21 Aug, £10

The Man Who Was Hamlet

Assembly George Square, 22 Aug, ÂŁ11.50

Random

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ7

â?¤ Leo HHHH

From the Dark Hills

Livewire Theatre’s Frankenstein

Belt Up’s Outland

Put a Sock in It

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ5

Bash

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ8

20:15 The Golden Dragon HHH Traverse Theatre, 19 Aug, ÂŁ17

Thugz N Tearz

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, ÂŁ10

The Tour Guide HHH

The Tour Guide Departing from Market Street, 1928 Aug, not 22, ÂŁfree

Antony and Cleopatra

Quaker Meeting House, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ10

20:20 Decadence

Sweet Grassmarket, 19-21 Aug, ÂŁ8

Wretch

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 22-29 Aug, ÂŁ8

20:10

20:30

One Man and His Masks - Arthur: Britain’s Making

Coal Head, Toadstool Mouth and Other Stories

One Man and His Masks - Boudicca: Britain’s Dreaming

The Golden Dragon HHH

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 20 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, ÂŁ7

Love

The Lift

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, ÂŁ7

You Will Be Rare HH Zoo, 19-29 Aug, ÂŁ9

theSpace @ Symposium Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ7

Traverse Theatre, 24 Aug, ÂŁ15

I Hope My Heart Goes First HHH

St George’s West, 24 Aug, £10

St George’s West, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £11 – £13.50 C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Elegy

Whitespace, 19-28 Aug, not 23, ÂŁ10

Little Eyolf

Venue 13, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ8

Trainspotting

Gryphon Venues at the Point Hotel, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ8.50

Did You Used to Be R. D. Laing?

Valvona & Crolla, 23 Aug, ÂŁ12

Italia ‘n’ Caledonia Valvona & Crolla, 20 Aug, ÂŁ12

The House of Yes The Royal Scots Club, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ10

On the Bench

C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

A Funny Valentine Valvona & Crolla, 24 Aug, ÂŁ12

My Big Gay Italian Wedding

C venues - C, 19-22 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

â?¤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH Traverse Theatre, 28 Aug, ÂŁ15

20:35 Manipulators

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, ÂŁ12

Phantasmagoria

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 19-29 Aug, £7

theSpace @ Venue45, 19 Aug, 22 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, ÂŁ5 Greenside, 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ8

Give the Fig a Roll

theSpace @ Venue45, 20 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, 27 Aug, ÂŁ5

20:40 3D Hamlet: A Lost Generation HH

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ10

The Gospel Of Matthew

Spotlites @ The Merchants’ Hall, 27 Aug, £11.50

20:45 â?¤ The Dark Philosophers HHHHH

Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £17 – £19

Emblem: Spontaneous Thoughts on Perception Kiwi Bar @ Walkabout, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁfree

Nourish

Paradise in The Vault, 23-28 Aug, ÂŁ5

Female Hitchhiker: The Truth About Getting Around - Free Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 19-29 Aug, ÂŁfree

Roar HHH

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

â?¤ The Wheel HHHH

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £17 – £19

Futureproof

Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, 27 Aug, £17 – £19

20:50 Foursome

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, ÂŁ7.50

20:55 Rosie Thorn, Butter Would Not Melt

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £7 – £9

Ink

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

21:00 Bluebird

Bedlam Theatre, 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ8

Confessions of a Mormon Boy HHH Hill Street Theatre, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £8 – £10

Festive Season

Quaker Meeting House, 22-27 Aug, ÂŁ5

The World According to Bertie HH C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson Traverse Theatre, 27 Aug, ÂŁ17

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Murder Club

C venues - C, 20 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Rockertinkler

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, ÂŁ8

The Investigation

Zoo Southside, 19-29 Aug, not 21, ÂŁ7.50

I, Malvolio

Traverse Theatre, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, £15 – £17

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www.festmag.co.uk

August 19-22 | edinburgh festival guide 2011 fest 95

theatrelistings Lullabies of Broadmoor - Venus at Broadmoor

C venues - C, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

Scary Gorgeous HH

Bedlam Theatre, 19-20 Aug, £10

The Lounge Room Confabulators HHH Your Lounge, 19-29 Aug, £free

Entitled

Summerhall, 23-26 Aug, £10

Wondrous Flitting HHH Traverse Theatre, 23 Aug, £15

21:05 The Presentment Paradise in Augustine’s, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £12

Dirt HHH C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

How the Money Goes theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £7 – £8

Strip Search theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £10

❤ The Monster in the Hall HHHH

Traverse Theatre, 21 Aug, 26 Aug, £15 – £17

The Oh F**k Moment St George’s West, 25-26 Aug, £10

Devil in the Deck Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, not 23, £10

21:10

Livewire Theatre’s Salem theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £5

21:15 ❤ The Caroline Carter Show HHHH Zoo, 19-29 Aug, £10

Sherica Paradise in The Vault, 1929 Aug, not 22, £10

21:25 Hex Hill Street Theatre, 1929 Aug, not 24, £8

Hitler Alone Inlingua Edinburgh, 1925 Aug, £12

❤ What Remains HHHHH

Traverse @ University of Edinburgh Medical School Anatomy Department, 19-28 Aug, not 22, £17 – £19

Dances for Wolves C venues - C aquila, 1929 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Und C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £9.50 – £11.50

The Gospel of Matthew by Candlelight

21:30

St John’s Church, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, £10

Grim(m) Tales of the Woods - Free

Mojo

Laughing Horse @ The

Witzelsucht and Moria

Bash

Phoenix, 20 Aug, 21

theSpaces on the Mile , 19-20 Aug, £8

27 Aug, £free

Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug,

Zoo, 19-25 Aug, £10

Zoo Roxy, 19-29 Aug, £9 – £10

21:35 Single, Mother of Two

C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Tonight Sandy Grierson Will Lecture, Dance and Box HHH Assembly George Square, 22 Aug, £12

21:40 Babushka

Hood!

C venues - C aquila, 1926 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

theSpace @ Venue45,

Dry Ice

21:55

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

21:45

22-27 Aug, £8

Rosie Thorn, Butter Would Not Melt theSpaces @ Surgeons

In Your Dreams

Hall, 19-20 Aug, £9

My Best Friend Drowned in a Swimming Pool

Drinking in America - Free

Greenside, 22-27 Aug, £6 – £8

22:00

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Laughing Horse @ Cafe

Twelve Men Good and True

21, £free

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £6

Renroc, 19-29 Aug, not

The Table Pleasance Dome, 19-28 Aug, £12 – £14

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 19-22

and win prizes

02/08/2011 12:25:48

theatrelistings 22:05 Peep Show

Greenside, 19-20 Aug, £7

Museum of Horror H theSpaces on the Mile , 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8

22:10 Flirt Fiction

theSpaces on North Bridge, 22-27 Aug, £10

Last Train to Wigan

C venues - C soco, 19-20 Aug, £9.50

22:15 Philosophy in the Bedroom

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-27 Aug, not 21, £8 – £10

Titus Andronicus

C venues - C, 19-29 Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

The Bus

Paradise in The Vault, 23-29 Aug, £8

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Bouncers

theSpace on Niddry St, 19-20 Aug, £10

Get Carter

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, Various dates from 19 Aug to 27 Aug, £10

22:20 Lullabies of Broadmoor - Wilderness

C venues - C, 20 Aug, 24 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £9.50 – £10.50

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Demon Box HHH

C venues - C, 19 Aug, 21 Aug, 23 Aug, 25 Aug, £8.50 – £10.50

22:30 Constantinople

52 Man Pickup

Hill Street Theatre, 19-29 Aug, not 24, £8 – £10

Blood Moon

Paradise in The Vault, 1928 Aug, not 22, £7

To Do List

theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 22-27 Aug, £5

22:35 Murder at Warrabah House theSpaces @ Surgeons Hall, 19-20 Aug, £8

22:40 Flirt Fiction

theSpaces on North Bridge, 19-20 Aug, £10

22:45 Around the World on 80 Quid

Electric Circus, 19-29 Aug, not 20, 27, £free

Pleasance Courtyard, 19-29 Aug, not 22, £9 – £10

Vive le Cabaret

What Goes Up

Pleasance Courtyard, 1929 Aug, not 22, £12

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Looser Women HH Gilded Balloon Teviot, 1929 Aug, £10 – £11

Tales from Edgar

Audience – Ontroerend Goed HH

23:45

St George’s West, 19-28 Aug, not 24, £10 – £12

Hotel Medea

Allan Poe

23:00

C Venues - C eca, 19-29

When Women Wee

Aug, £9.50 – £11.50

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

22:50 Reservoir Dogs theSpace @ Venue45, 19-20 Aug, £10

❤ Belt Up’s The Boy James HHHHH

C venues - C soco, 19-29 Aug, £10.50 – £12.50

Debbie Does My Dad HHH Bedlam Theatre, 19-27 Aug, £8

23:15

Summerhall, 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 25 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, £29.50

00:00 (g)Host City www.virtualfestival.org, 20 Aug - 5 Sep, £free

The Forum

The One Man Show HHH

Underbelly, Cowgate, 1928 Aug, £9 – £10.50

C venues - C, 20-30 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

Sodom Zoo, 19-29 Aug, £9

22:55

23:40

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Lullabies of Broadmoor - The Murder Club

and Found C Venues - C eca, 19-29 Aug, £7.50 – £9.50

C venues - C, 21-22 Aug, £7.50

01:00 Lullabies of Broadmoor - Wilderness C venues - C, 22 Aug, £7.50

August 19-22 | 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 George Chilcott (22) Jessica Norman (20) and did they see?

What 5PM – 1:05PM, 6–27 THE ROM COM CON, 12:0 INA AUG, NOT 9, 16, 23, MED

George

Were you nervous?

Nope.

Describe the show.

The show was a two-hander, staged in the Medina bar, in which the female performers described their rom-com experiment conducted over the year preceding the show. This experiment involved the two girls recreating a number of guy-meets-girl scenarios from famous rom-coms in the hope of the finding love themselves.

The intimate setting—the audience sit on cushions in the dimly lit bar—perfectly matched the play’s theme. The filmed interviews with the girls’ friends, shown to us on a projector, were both funny and moving and arguably the highlight of the show. The two girls are consummate performers, making you feel comfortable as they present their material with charm and charisma.

Although the content of the show is not life-changing, this is a bit of free theatre that I reckon is well worth a watch.

Rate it out of five HHH Did you like your companion for the evening?

Yes. She was friendly and talkative. Sadly, due to us both having a show to get on with that day, I didn’t get to know her really well, but we seemed to have things in common.

Rate her out of five.

HHHH

Do you think she enjoyed the show?

Yes. What’s the other person’s laugh sound like?

Quiet.

Would you like to meet again?

Yes. Who would most enjoy this show?

Lovers of rom-coms.

What’s your best ever festival experience?

Watching Bound last year – an excellent piece of award-winning, devised theatre.

Seen any other shows you’d recommend at the Fringe?

DugOut’s two shows this year—Othello and Bouncers— have both been well received.

Otherwise, If Walls Could Talk is a great bit of storytelling.

98 fest edinburgh festival guide 2011 | August 19-22

Jessica

Were you nervous?

SO nervous.

Describe the show.

Two single girls have decided to take rom-com dating techniques on a road-test to find true love.

And they’ve written a show about it. Some of them work, some don’t, but they do learn something about love, although I’m not quite sure what exactly. They do make a genuinely touching point though, with video clips of people talking about their own relationships.

Rate it out of five: HHH Did you like your companion for the evening?

I really liked George (more than I can possibly describe). Our eyes met across the room and instantly I knew he was for me. I think he’s the one.

Rate him out of five: HHHHHH!!

Do you think he enjoyed the show?

To an extent.

What does his laugh sound like?

It was like a chorus of the sweetest, youngest cherubim boys bathing in lamb’s milk on an autumnal evening.

Would you meet again?

Yes. Who would most enjoy this show?

Single ladies.

What’s your best festival experience?

Seeing the show with George.

Seen any other shows you’d recommend?

The Little Prince, C Soco studios, 3.45pm. Bring George with you please.

UP FOR IT? IF YOU FANCY SEEING A SHOW WITH SOMEONE, OR APPEARING IN THE NEXT ISSUE, SIGN UP AT FESTAFRIEND.COM

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‘SPELLBINDING’ AllTheFestivals

‘EXHILARATING’ Metro

6.20PM (7.20PM)

‘MAGNIFICENT’

3-29 AUGUST 2011 (NOT 16, 22)

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