Edinburgh Fringe

[Ron Simmons]

So it's the end of the Edinburgh Fringe today, did any of you guys go? What acts did you go see? Any potential breakout stars? Any utter bizarre acts you came across? Any acts you'd recommend if they were to tour?

 

I was particularly impressed with The Magnets, an utterly outstanding acapella group that sing contemporary songs - you can find them on YouTube but nothing compares with seeing them live. Funny, talented, and well worth the standing ovation they earned.

 

An oddity, albeit a hilarious one, I came across was the comedian Edward Aczel...anyone seen him before? Again, he's on YouTube. His whole act is just...weird, but somehow utterly compelling at the same time. He's described as an 'anti-comedian' in reviews, and that pretty much sums him up. Unpolished delivery, some (I think) intentionally shitty ad-libbing, and just general weirdness.

 

Ali Cook, a magician who I think is on TV now and again, is worth checking out if he ever comes to your area. Some outstandingly clever tricks on show and funny patter too.

 

So yeah, any Fringe experiences to share, from this year or years gone by?

[CTXRussomark]

Not caught much of it this year but went to see Jerry Sadowitz and Tom Green a few weeks back.

 

Sadowitz was a major letdown. Nothing but an hour of directionless swearing and being angry for the sake of being angry. He could have asked the audience to shout out random topics and just spent five minutes swearing about them and it would have fit in pretty well. There were a few decent gags but overall not too impressed.

 

Tom Green was the exact opposite. I'm a huge fan of his as it is but even I couldn't imagine his actual stand-up being any good. I went in thinking at best he would base everything around his old work or at worst he would try to distance himself from that and go for a straight stand-up show. What we actually got was a fantastic mix of good quality stand-up with a few nods to the past (he stood on a stool and screamed "COCK JOKE!!!" at some poor girl in the front row for a good couple of minutes) and a couple of short songs from Freddie Got Fingered thrown in as well. I was hugely impressed with the show overall. So much better than I would ever have imagined. Plus Green seemed like a genuinely nice guy who really appreciated being there. At the end he didn't even go backstage, just stood around and mingled with the audience.

[Loligan]

I also went to see Tom Green this year and cant say enough about it. Really funny show. Again, I loved his stuff anyway so jumped at the chance to see him live and am very glad I did. Had never been to the fringe before but thought it was really cool. Hopefully go through again next year and catch more than one show.

[Devon Malcolm]

An oddity, albeit a hilarious one, I came across was the comedian Edward Aczel...anyone seen him before? Again, he's on YouTube. His whole act is just...weird, but somehow utterly compelling at the same time. He's described as an 'anti-comedian' in reviews, and that pretty much sums him up. Unpolished delivery, some (I think) intentionally shitty ad-libbing, and just general weirdness.

 

Hmm, looks like he's been studying his Ted Chippington videos VERY closely, to me.

[Chris B]

I've started doing stand-up this year, and wasn't originally planning on going up to Edinburgh - but then I got invited to a wedding in Motherwell, and had the Saturday free, so I popped over.

 

Performed a ten minute slot in a cellar under a cafe, which was rather fun, and we got a decent audience for the venue. Lots of fun, and I'll be going back next year.

 

The highlight was actually at another gig, where I ended up getting involved. As part of my act, I have a replica lightsaber (which I carted up from London for my own gig). The comedian who I was watching (in the Royal Mile pub) made reference to having used a rolled up newspaper in a fight as an improvised lightsaber, and rather wished he had a real one...

 

Well, I couldn't pass up the opportunity, could I? I asked him if he wanted to borrow mine. Cue the guy's jaw dropping, and pointing out that he'd done that bit hundreds of times, and nobody had ever offered him a lightsaber before. And then spending the rest of his act based around the lightsaber. And asking me why I had it - so when I explained, he asked me how it fit into my set, which meant I got to do a part of my set in a busier venue than my own gig.

 

All in all, it was a fun afternoon. Couldn't believe how busy Edinburgh was. Incredible buzz around the place.

[patiirc]

Seen bits and bobs on the TV

 

Ive enjoyed Frisky and Mannish quite a bit

[Ron Simmons]

Seen bits and bobs on the TV

 

Ive enjoyed Frisky and Mannish quite a bit

I thought they were OK, but the whole set they did was a tad underwhelming.

 

The entire Udderbelly set was a bit underwhelming this year for me, bar Free Run which I enjoyed quite a bit. But I can't say I though much of Michael Winslow (as impressive as his SFX are) or some of the other acts on show. Not an Udderbelly show, but The Hamiltons were weirdly entertaining, and Dave Gorman's set was just outstanding.

 

Paul Merton's improv had its moments too, though it was weak in parts. That's the nature of the act though I guess.

[Jaffa]

I really enjoyed my 4 days in Edinburgh.

 

I saw a few Free Fringe stand up shows which were all very good (except one bloke who was woeful) as well as Margaret Cho and Thom Tuck, both of whom were superb.

 

I also loved seeing The Room for the first time (midnight showing, with a handful of plastic spoons) as well as a short play that was performed in Welsh by a Llanelli theatre company.

[Kata Ha Jime]

The boy with tape on his face i have liked his stuff for a while. Also wit tank. Only just heard of them and only seen one act of theirs.

[Wrasslin]

I was up doing my show for 9 days, love the atmosphere of the whole place, but after doing 27 gigs in nine days I was ready to come home.

 

Saw Dave Gorman, Nick Helm and Tim Key, all of which were Brilliant.

 

Highlight of the fringe though was when I was doing a showcase at 0.45 at the Newsroom. The headliner for the previous show hadn't turned up and they were desperately scrambling on the street for someone to close the show. They found someone . . . STEWART LEE came in off the street and did a 12 minute set to about 20 people.

 

Awesome.

[Ron Simmons]

Did anyone go to The Wrestling? It won 'The Panel Prize' which was nice to see, and picked up great reviews - I couldn't get a ticket personally. Anyone else have joy on that front?

[Alan Wrigglesworth]

I was up doing my show for 9 days, love the atmosphere of the whole place, but after doing 27 gigs in nine days I was ready to come home.

 

Saw Dave Gorman, Nick Helm and Tim Key, all of which were Brilliant.

 

Highlight of the fringe though was when I was doing a showcase at 0.45 at the Newsroom. The headliner for the previous show hadn't turned up and they were desperately scrambling on the street for someone to close the show. They found someone . . . STEWART LEE came in off the street and did a 12 minute set to about 20 people.

 

Awesome.

Got any of your stuff online?

[Wrasslin]

Got any of your stuff online?

 

I've got an old one and it's only audio, so don't judge it too harshly.

 

[Bettencourt]

Here

[Wrasslin]

Here’s an email I received from my client at work.

 

This year’s top ten jokes at the Edinburgh Festival:

1) Nick Helm: "I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

2) Tim Vine: "Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels."

3) Hannibal Buress: "People say 'I'm taking it one day at a time'. You know what? So is everybody. That's how time works."

4) Tim Key: "Drive-Thru McDonalds was more expensive than I thought... once you've hired the car..."

5) Matt Kirshen: "I was playing chess with my friend and he said, 'Let's make this interesting'. So we stopped playing chess."

6) Sarah Millican: "My mother told me, you don't have to put anything in your mouth you don't want to. Then she made me eat broccoli, which felt like double standards."

7) Alan Sharp: "I was in a band which we called The Prevention, because we hoped people would say we were better than The Cure."

8) Mark Watson: "Someone asked me recently - what would I rather give up, food or sex. Neither! I'm not falling for that one again, wife."

9) Andrew Lawrence: "I admire these phone hackers. I think they have a lot of patience. I can't even be bothered to check my OWN voicemails."

10) DeAnne Smith: "My friend died doing what he loved ... Heroin."

 

 

Anyone care to explain number 10 to me? Both myself and my colleague don’t get it and have thought about it and are still stumped.

 

Not really sure what there is to get? I don't think it's a particularly funny gag but it's pretty simple.

 

People are often said to have died "doing what they loved". The person who died loved doing heroin and he died doing heroin. I don't think there's any more to it than that.