A Flying Visit To The Fringe-Part IV

Show 8-Blind Mirth Improv Comedy

[Source-Ed Fringe Site]

As I mentioned in Part II, I am fascinated with Improv Comedy because it's something I could never do and I think people who can do it well are veritable geniuses. I have to be honest, I selected Blind Mirth for two reasons-because they had good reviews and also because my friends could get in for free with their venue passes so I knew someone would come with me. I mean improv can always be a bit hit and miss-it's usually either really good or terrible so I didn't want to go on my own and then it be terrible. I really shouldn't have worried-these guys were excellent. All students at the University of St Andrews, they're young and full of energy and really funny. They interact well with their audiences and have a range of improv games which are all designed with laughter in mind. The first half of the show was short-form games, with quick fire suggestions from the audience that were incorporated into the ridiculousness. Particular highlights for me was the 'Late for work' game where a performer was sent outside and upon his return had to guess what job he was late for and why he was late. Me and my boyfriend had the excellent pair of suggestions that he was late for his job as a chainsaw juggler because he had been kidnapped by pirates (because we're an awesome team) and the resulting mimes were pretty daft. Another game required them to ask for books/scripts/large chunks of texts from the audience and my boyfriend provided the 'Titus Edinburgh Survival Guide' which was then used to great comic effect.
The second half of the show was long-form sketches, which got more and more ridiculous as they went on-but without losing their humour. The performers cleverly referenced previous sketches and one-off comments too, which was awesome because it made you feel like you had in-jokes with them that you would have to be there to understand. I laughed so much-they are a troupe of really funny fellows and you can tell they were having as much fun as their audience were. It's a shame they're in such a small venue really, because I think they could definitely sell to larger ones and still have just as much fun-although the intimacy really helped with the humour at times. Fab fab fab, destined for great things, I reckon.

Show 9-Abominations

[Source-Ed Fringe Site]

As this was my last show of the 2013 Fringe (sigh), I was hoping for good things-and I wasn't disappointed. A cast of 4 (plus a guy on a keyboard) playing hundreds of different characters and all with no set, costumes or scenery sounds like an interesting premise for a show, but it was pulled off ingeniously. This show had everything any self respecting science geek could ask for-evil scientists, machines capable of creating superheros (or just giant chickens), madness, robots, kittens and cobrangowolves. You had to be there. It was fast paced and high energy and despite the fact that they weren't interacting with anything at all, you could easily follow who was playing whom and where there were things and what they were doing. Who needs scenery when you have actors?! It was a smattering of (decidedly dodgy) science, some excellent one liners ("He just lost a game of Rock-Paper-Robot!" "That's a whisk?.." / "IT'S NOT A WHISK!") and some brilliant physical comedy combining to make a thoroughly enjoyable show. I wouldn't say it had a happy ending, but I sure did laugh a lot. If you like your comedy-shows to be packed with dubious science and excellent acting, move at a face pace and have the day saved by invisible kittens (yes, you read that correctly) then this is exactly the show you should have seen. However if you're reading this now then I'm afraid you're too late, better luck next year. Alternatively hop into your time machine and pedal like mad, with any luck you'll make it in time for yesterday's show!
An excellent way to round off my Fringe adventures for this year, I reckons.

So that was it, my bonkers 40 hours of awesomeness and theatre and madness. I walked a lot (often at high speeds between venues), was veryvery tired, spent a lot of money on 9 shows in 2 days,  but most importantly laughed a hell of a lot. When I left (at 5:48 AM Wednesday morning no less), so much of me wanted to stay behind and see more-see it all, but the sensible parts of my brain (and the bits that knew how much I had left in my bank account) knew that this was nothing but a futile dream, and reality always comes along to spoil them in the end. I can't tell you how strange it feels to be on my own again after a month or so of constantly being around people, and time really seems to drag by. Luckily though, even as you read this, I'm visiting a friend in Devon, so the fun hasn't stopped yet.

I'll catch up with you again soon, but until then, tarrah!

-Jenni-

Blind Mirth are on at Paradise in the Vault (Venue #29) at 20:45 until the 26th. Tickets are £6. More details here.
Sadly the Abominations have finished their run, boo!
Why not drown your sorrows by going to see Titus, the show some of  my friends are performing in-a dark comedy adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Paradise in the Kirkhouse (Venue #155) at 5pm until the 26th. Tickets are £8/£7 conc. More details here.

A Flying Visit To The Fringe-Part III

Show 5-Bec Hill-Bec By Popular Demand

[Source-Ed Fringe site]

Before I start let me direct you to this video. No really, just take a couple of minutes to go watch it, I won't mind.
OK, are you back? Good.
That video, which I found randomly on some corner of the Internet last year is the reason I wanted to see Bec Hill-because I think it's fabulous. I couldn't get last year for whatever reason (probably financial) so I made sure to put her straight on my list this time around. A combination of her signature 'paper puppetry' and drawings and some stand up too, her show was very funny and I'm really glad I got to go. As an ex-Scout, I also really enjoyed the bit where she taught the audience a camp fire song complete with silly actions-I don't even care if everyone else was utterly confused, I loved it. I think it's a shame that the audience was so small because Bec Hill is a real treat to watch and people are definitely missing out on something really awesome.

Show 6-The Comedian's Comedian with Sarah Millican

[Source-Ed Fringe site]

This was a last minute decision of mine-I bought the ticket on the way in to Bec Hill as they were (happy co-incidence) in the same venue. I had originally planned to see a free show elsewhere but decided that this would be rather interesting, plus I love the Millican so was easily swayed. The Comedians' Comedian, presented by Stuart Goldsmith doesn't promise to be funny-it's a "documentary" show rather than stand-up but I was still pretty amused because Sarah Millican is one funny lady. It was really interesting too because it gave us the opportunity to hear a little about the behind the scenes stuff of being a fairly famous comedian and her ideas on how to do the Fringe properly, how she writes, why she started-all that stuff. It was quite personal and it felt like we were seeing beyond the famous face to the real person underneath-although they are remarkably similar really. She was very candid and also very amusing, swearing like a trooper which I'm sure will be a nightmare to edit around. Although this wasn't a laugh a minute comedy show like the others I've seen, I still really enjoyed it because it gave me an opportunity to get to know one of my favourite comedians a little better, and have a miniature fangirl moment over the fact that in answering my question we had a mini conversation-yay! It was really interesting and I will definitely be checking out some of the other pod casts when they get uploaded to the site to hear what some other famous faces have to say.

Show 7-Ant Dewson: Now That's What I Call Musical Comedy

[Source-Ed Fringe Site]

We weren't expecting great things when we finally found the room that Ant Dewson was to perform in (we'd practically searched every inch of the pub and nearly gave up before we did!) as it was about the size of a stationary cupboard or walk in wardrobe, and had seats laid out for 20 when there should only have really been 16. I mean it wasn't what you would call grand or anything, and as part of the free fringe anything could have happened. It didn't really look promising-a man with a keyboard and a fan, and a slightly trepidatious smile who informed us that he was just going to nip downstairs and see if he could drum up some more interest. Me and my boyfriend exchanged looks-this could have been a very tedious hour...
Luckily though, it really wasn't! Dewson started by handing out chocolate to all his audience, which is a definite plus in my book and then launched into a self-depreciating song about how small his room was and the show he was performing. His songs were very funny, very rude and although the tunes were fairly indistinct from each other, the lyrics had me howling with laughter (which was awkward in that tiny room at times!). They were on a broad range of subjects from love to Carol Vorderman, being under 30 (and knowing bugger all), to a particularly disturbing song about necrophilia and everything in between. There was even a dance break in the middle where, sweat band on forehead, he made us get up and do an aerobics style work out to stretch our legs-it was all very silly but I don't think anyone minded really. For what presented as a dubious gig in a near-impossible-to-find cupboard, I'm glad we took a gamble on Ant Dewson and his funny songs as it was actually a really amusing hour.

Part III over and out, look out for Part IV soon.

-Jenni-

Bec Hill  is on at the Gilded Balloon (Venue #14) at 16:00 until the 25th. Tickets are £8/£7 conc. More details here.
The Comedian's Comedian is on at the Gilded Balloon (Venue #14) at 17:15 until the 26th, interviewing a different comedian each day. Tickets are £9/£8 conc. More details are here and the list of comics is here.
Ant Dewson is on at the Free Sisters (Venue #272) at 19:15 until the 25th. For reference he's in the room called 'The Staff Room' at the back of the pub and up the stairs. Bring thin friends if there's more than 2 of you. Free entry (and chocolate if you're lucky!) More info here.
Don't forget Titus, the show some of  my friends are performing in-a dark comedy adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Paradise in the Kirkhouse (Venue #155) at 5pm until the 26th. Tickets are £8/£7 conc. More details here.

A Flying Visit To The Fringe-Part II

Show 3-The Showstoppers' Improvised Musical

[Source-Ed Fringe Site]

Well this was a fabulously fun way to round off the evening of my first day at the Fringe. I have to admit that I am truly fascinated by improv comedy because it's just not something I think I could ever do-my brain doesn't work in the right way! So the idea of not only improv-ing dialogue but both music and songs on top of that was too good to pass up for me. I wasn't really sure exactly what to expect but what I got was fabulous.
Dressed entirely in red and black (to match the set), there was a troupe of 6 performers-4 men and 2 women-plus an evil overlord narrator type who was playing the role of "script writer". When the show began, it was only the script writer on the stage, "on the phone" to his producer who was demanding another new musical from him. He cast out to the audience for suggestions of places where the musical could be set as well as ideas for musical styles/song writers for the cast to emulate. And thus "In The Jungle, The Flighty Jungle" was born-a musical set in a random jungle where a Concord flight had just crash landed, with song styles taken from 'Into the Woods', 'Abba', 'Tim Minchin' (suggestion courtesy of my other half, who was very pleased with himself), 'Cabaret' and a random musical no-one had heard of that was described as 'Latin, Hip-Hop, Pop, RnB and Rap'-y'know, because improving a musical from scratch isn't hard enough already.
And somehow, it worked. The cast were full of energy and were coming up with some very amusing stuff, as well as some fabulous songs-songs in full harmony, with dance routines, all from the top of their heads. It was pretty incredible to watch and I have no idea how something like this is actually possible, but clearly it is!
The story did get a little convoluted along the way, and was nudged in certain directions by the 'script writer' from time to time whenever he felt like he wanted to explore a certain theme more. It was really good fun-funny and fast paced and pretty damn amazing-they even managed to create songs in each of the musical styles set by the audience which was hilarious! (Especially the latin-hip-hop-pop-rnb-rap song!). Highlights for me personally were the terrible Australian accents (as girlfriend of an Aussie this is pretty damn amusing to me) and the fact that I came out singing the finale song at the end-a song that had previously not existed. I can still remember a couple of them now-which I think is a sign that the Showstoppers are doing their jobs properly. It was an hour and a half of madness and chaos and wonder and fabulous songs and great laughs. I for one am very glad I went!

Day 2

[Source- Ed Fringe Site]

Show 4-Pussyfooting
This was a show that I had only heard of because a friend of mine directed and is starring in it-and it isn't something I would have probably chosen to see otherwise. However I'm really glad I did because although I cannot claim to fully understand it, I really enjoyed myself. Don't let the frankly disturbing promotional picture put you off-it was very well written, acted and put together. It's the story of a girl whose feet have lives of their own-and they're taking over her life to weird and almost disastrous ends. I laughed a lot-the show is very clearly aimed at people my sort of age and has lots of pop culture references as well as jokes about student debt and how graduate jobs just aren't all they're cracked up to be. Alongside the humour though were darker moments which didn't feel out of place but oddly fitting-I mean yes the idea that your feet can control you is pretty silly but that doesn't mean that there isn't a dark side to it too.
The energy of the 5-strong cast was fab and I'm quite sure they must be exhausted by now (they've been performing all month) but you couldn't tell at all. The physical acting was spot on too-you really believed that their feet were stuck to the floor or that they weren't in control of their own movements as they jerked about erratically, feet fully in charge. I loved the simplicity of the set and costumes too-simple black clothes with a 'chalk outline' detailing, and all the props and set were drawn onto chalkboards by the cast at the start of the show which was really actually quite fun to watch-especially as they didn't stop moving throughout.
The whole show was very well put together and was really enjoyable. I mean sure, it was a little bit weird and I'm not sure I totally understand the ending but that didn't detract from it at all and I came out with my ribs firmly tickled from laughing. Plus any show that offers ticket holders a free pair of socks on the way in is most certainly all right by me!

4 down, 5 more to go, so come back soon!

-Jenni-


The Showstoppers are on at the Gilded Balloon (Venue #14) at 22:30 until the 25th. Tickets are £13.50/£12.50 conc. More details here.
Pussyfooting is on at 13:20 at C Aquila (Venue #21) until the 26th. Tickets are £8.50/£6.50 conc. More details here.

A Flying Visit To The Fringe-Part I

So somehow, almost accidentally, I ended up visiting the Edinburgh Fringe festival this week for 40 hours of madness, theatre and sleep deprivation. It was actually pretty awesome because I got to experience a tiny slice of the madness and frivolity and fun that the Fringe generates but from the other side of the curtain this time. If I could have afforded to stay longer I would have done in a heartbeat because it was magic and manic and all kinds of awesome-Edinburgh in Fringe time has this wonderful atmosphere and it's very easy to get captivated and swept along in that (Although it's a pain and a half if you're trying to get somewhere quickly-like from one venue to another-because no-one is in a hurry at the Fringe, and you always end up stuck on a narrow street behind a group of dawdlers.).

I thought I'd let you know what I got up to whilst I was up there over the next couple of posts-and if you're around the Fringe you should definitely check out some of these fabulous shows if you can too!

Show 1-Piracy! Comedy on the High C's! 

[Source-Ed Fringe Site]

Piracy! was thoroughly silly and I really enjoyed myself as I was watching the nautical (and naughty!) adventures. From the moment the house opened to the audience, the chorus members were on stage singing sea shanties and piratical ballads, which really helped set the scene of being on a creaky old ship out at sea, far from home.
The story was a familiar one-the British Navy vs the tyrannical piratical buccaneers but told with a song in its heart and the odd twist or three you wouldn't normally expect. Plus there was an abundance of lady pirates showing that what they lack in facial hair they make up for in sword fighting ability and ruthless cut-throatedness.
There were plenty of swashes being buckled and main braces being spliced (whatever that means) and a good deal of, ahem, inter-faction diplomatic "relations" taking place and the whole thing was very funny. I think this is one of those shows that would get described by reviewers as "a romp"-and I can understand why-it was light hearted, very fun and thoroughly enjoyable. The songs were funny and well performed and the cast were clearly loving being there as much as the audience, which always goes to make an excellent time for all.
I wanted to come up with a witty Piratical pun to end this but all my attempts have been pretty feeble, so I shall spare you the agony. You'll have to invent your own, I'm afraid!

Show 2-The Mechanisms-Ulysses Dies At Dawn

[Source-Ed Fringe Site]

This was, co-incidentally, another show featuring a band of pirates, only these were of the Immortal Space
variety-and there was certainly no swashbuckling to be seen here. The Mechanisms had been recommended to me many times by friends of mine (who happen to know the guys in the band) and I'd never gotten around to seeing them before now-but boy am I a convert! They're a 7(ish) piece band of awesome steampunk wonderfulness, who describe their act as 'storytelling musical cabaret' which probably says it better than I could. The members are all in character as crew of the spaceship Aurora who as immortal space pirates have 'seen many strange things'. This show is just one of their epic tales-a magical weaving of dark narration and lyrically wonderful songs to which I wouldn't dare to try and assign a genre to. It's the tale of Ulysses, a broken war hero who can't escape the torture of their memories and the tale of their final hour (we don't discover the gender of our hero-only that they were 'black, beautiful and had a pair of cold blue eyes that couldn't hide the things they'd seen'.).
The songs are all brilliant-mostly fairly gritty and dark but they're all as different as the voices that sing them-some of which blew me away because they're amazing. This whilst playing several instruments, and each playing a role in the story they're telling-they're a pretty talented bunch.
It was the story, though, that really captured me-tangled me up in the excellent narration and descriptions that took my imagination to a world I'd never seen before. Although my eyes knew I was sat in a low lit basement bar watching a gig, my mind was in another place entirely-I could just perfectly imagine what was being described as if I was there, as if it were me. It was just magical. The story is dark and the songs tied in perfectly to introduce us to all the characters and the reasons they had ended up there and why they were doing the things they were doing. I couldn't help but get caught up in the whole thing as it reached its dramatic conclusion-which even though it's predicted in the title of the show, I wasn't entirely anticipating, and the ending was beautiful.
Ulysses Dies At Dawn is a tale of folklore from a time and place a long way from our own, sprinkled with a smattering of Greek mythology (but not enough to confuse) set to the backing of a grimy, bluesy, jazzy, folky score which repeatedly sent shivers down my spine. In short? It was MAGNIFICENT and I look forward to seeing The Mechanisms again and again.

That's all for today, but I have another 7 shows to write up so be sure to come back soon!

-Jenni-

Piracy! is on at 15:15 at The Space @Venue 45 until the 24th. Tickets are £9.50/£7.50 conc. More details here.
The Mechanisms are performing at Whynot (Venue 327) at 17:30 until the 24th. Free entry. More details here.
The guys I went up with are also performing in Titus, a dark comedy version of Titus Andronicus and you should check them out too. They're on at 17:00 at Paradise in the Kirkhouse (Venue 155) until the 26th. Tickets are £8/£7 conc. More details here.

Fringe Fever

Yesterday I arrived home from a mad but wonderful weekend away performing at the Brighton Fringe festival, tired out and achy but content. The weekend has sped by so quickly and I have almost no idea what day it is any more-it feels like I've had four Saturdays in a row. There's this weird atmosphere I've noticed around Fringe Performances-like you're living in a kind of bubble universe separated out from the real one. Everything else temporarily stops existing and your world shrinks down to your cast and crew, the show and the in between time (often spent flyering, eating or getting drunk!). Emotions are exaggerated and heightened and feelings get stretched and flipped about on their head until you're not quite sure what's real or what's not. The same faces become your life-you spend 24 hours a day with them-eating, sleeping, performing and of course sharing a bathroom. You learn each other's habits almost unconsciously-who snores, who isn't a morning person, who spends ages in the shower, who sleeps almost naked, who is a fussy eater, who will hog the mirror in the bathroom. Nerves are pulled taut and strummed like a harp, thoughts don't make sense and you start to feel differently about people just because you've spent all that time together.

And then, like someone taking a needle to a bubble, it all stops.

I always feel a bit melancholy on the last evening of a Fringe show, because I know that that is it, it will never feel like that again. Even if you gathered the same people together it wouldn't be the same without that fevered intensity, without the only thing that matters being The Show, without the stresses and awesomeness of living and performing together as one highly functioning machine made of many parts working side by side. It's always such a come down to reality again, to exams, to deadlines, job applications and work. And while it's always blissful to sleep in your own bed again, you still wake up half expecting to be surrounded by people in various states of undress and sleep deprivation. I always find I need a bit of a readjustment period, to get used to how normal life feels again, rather than the slightly off-kilter world of the Fringe. I find I need to realign my thoughts too, to get used to thinking in straight lines again rather than the topsy turvy helter skelter of trying to have three different conversations at once whilst drowning out several more. It's almost too quiet to be on your own, yet the solitude is lovely after being around people constantly for four days.

The come down also gives you time to think about the madness of it all more objectively, now that the Fringe Fever no longer holds you tight in its grip-time to work out which emotions and feelings were real and which would have never happened in a 'normal' situation. You can forgive people some of the things they did, decide which you want to hold on to and which you just want to forget. You can feel shame at some of things that you did or said, pride or happiness at others. You sink slowly back into your normal life and it's almost like it never happened, like the madness never wrapped you and drove your every move, your every thought.

It's always there though, at the back of your mind, waiting to be pulled on like a comfy sweatshirt the opening night of the next show that takes over your life. And I, for one, welcome it back.

The cast and crew of Titus at the Brighton Fringe, May 2013

Thanks for an awesome weekend folks. Back to reality, for now...

-Jenni-

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