Comedy Reviews
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Comedy Reviews Archive from 1997
Interviews
Interviews with stand-up stars
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Joe's Comedy Madhouse
The legendary comedy club 1997-2005, RIP
Edinburgh Fringe 2008
Tales From The Cutting Room Floor, Project Adorno, The Vault, Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh
They spearheaded the Dr Who renaissance long before Russell T Davies thought of it with 'Stop The Tardis', trainspotted their way round the 'A-Z of the Underground' with queasy lists of the ingredients of Tube seats, and sexed up our public libraries with 'Dr Dewey Decimal & The House of Vaudeville' in previous Edinburgh shows.
Now Project Adorno are back with 'Tales From The Cutting Room Floor' to dig up surrealist composers you've never heard of and provoke you into considering concrete, trees and telephone boxes in directions you never imagined, aided by multi-media projections and their inimitable offbeat electro-musical style which has been compared to a cross between Raw Sex and Pet Shop Boys.
Wilson Dixon Rides Again, The Stand, Edinburgh
Armed with, one suspects, a mis-spent youth obsessed with Westerns and country music, Australian Jesse Griffin assumes the guise of American country singer 'Wilson Dixon' to poke musical fun at the cousin-marryin' gun-totin', barn dancin' , blue ridge mountain hicksville of his birth.
The show is a series of narrative songs, ranging from the tale of a faithless wife with no taste in new lovers and his increasingly obese children to a half-show length rambling yarn about how he tracked down 'The Man With No Name' and the logistical difficulties of tracking down a man with no name who's robbed your local bank.
Why We Ate Cliff Richard, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
I had low expectations of this show upon entering the auditorium but within minutes of Hank Marvin striking the first chord on his guitar and the appearance of tourists - hardcore Cliff Richard fan Tony (Jonathan Donahoe) and his reluctant friend - Harry (Daniel Benoliel) en route to a Cliff-side Cliff Richard-themed resort in Switzerland I began to thaw as I realised it was at least on-topic and could actually be rather good.
Cliff, it seems, is not just a pop star but a lifestyle to thousands of fans without much else in their lives like Tony, despite the reservations of his less than convinced friend Harry.
Gavin Webster Webster's Pictionary, Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh
Just when you think the old style of comedian is dead, along ambles upgraded traditional comic Gavin Webster with his powerpoint presentation, spinning his electronic wheel of joke themes.
Looking like a washing machine repairman by day and pub darts player by night, Gavin has an easy manner and expressive comedy face.
Barry and Stuart: Part-time Warlocks, The Underbelly, Edinburgh
Like a younger and better-looking Herman Munster without the neckbolt, besuited Barry opened the show by narrating the sad life story of his equally charismatic and smartly suited partner Stuart, as the bearded Stuart performed the requisite magic tricks to illustrate.
Just to prove not all magicians were fusty and never stepped out of their bedrooms except for a show or the Magic Circle Christmas Party, a blast of high tech funk music and crazy dancing ensued.
Andrew O'Neill's Totally Spot-On History of British Industry, The Underbelly, Edinburgh
An original and admirably ambitious experimental show amidst a sea of those which claim to be but aren't.
After a promising start covering some amusing-but-true background to the British Industrial Revolution, however, amateur history buff Mr O'Neill seemed to lose confidence and become less 'spot-on', perhaps even a little nervous at not getting the usual laugh-per-minute quota of his deservedly acclaimed separate stand-up act and meander a little too often into irrelevant cul-de-sacs or off-topic jokes to make up for it.
Arthur Smith - Arturart, 15 Queen Street, Edinburgh
Three floors of a Georgian house are given over to the ironic pretending to the iconic, presided over by a fake security guard with an even faker moustache.
The dodgy audio guide advises you to start at the top, and it is not wrong for that is where some of the most inventive pieces of modern art pastiche are to be found, from the strangely eerie 'flying' Barbie dolls escaping out the window to the liberation of the long-suffering figure on black and yellow Health and Safety signage in the opposite room.
Glenn Wool - Goodbye Scars, Underbelly, Ediunburgh
Donned in washed blue denim from head to toe, with his straggly hair and beard, Glenn Wool resembles more a spare ZZ Top member than the lost 'BeeGee' he jokes about and is evidently influenced by the film The Big Lebowski, portraying himself as a drifter/loser with a stubborn sense of pride, whether misplaced or otherwise.
After a cod film introduction in which he assumes various guises in amusing movie previews of films which presumably never left the cutting room, Mr Wool takes to the stage.
Pear-Shaped Afternoons, The White Horse, Canongate, Edinburgh
Proud ringmaster of 'London's Second Worst Comedy Club' (the worst was the late Joe's Comedy Madhouse), Brian Damage presents this delightful 'Freenge' daily open mic afternoon, ably assisted by his glamorous-but-thick assistant Krysstal.
Their adroit comedy songs are amidst the highlights of the afternoon with Mr Damage a vocal cross between Peter Sellers at his Goon-best and the English quaintness of Terry-Thomas and his assistant Krysstal (wife Vicky in real life), a perfect Joyce Grenfell-ish songstress foil and complement, adept at various voices in her own right.
Sarah Millican's Not Nice, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Sarah Millican has a wedding dress hardly used and an ex-husband who may be badly used or hardly used - we never find out.
While she rails against the undesirable traits of her ex, she then extols the joys of unfettered farting as a newly-divorced which makes you wonder who had the worse personal traits.
Andrew Maxwell's Supernatural, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Andrew Maxwell has the face of a grown choirboy and the comedy balls of a Dublin Robin Williams, if not quite the topic range and work ethic.
After some inventive heckling of latecomers, he launched into an obligatory but skilful "drugs are cool" routine, despite looking like he imbibes nothing stronger than Green Tea.
Count Arthur Strong - The Man Behind The Slime, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
Or 'The Man Behind The Smile' if the banner printing had gone to plan.
Blunderman Count Arthur Strong - never better for wear - makes a shambolic appearance to celebrate 50 years in showbiz, after much arguing with assistants in the wings, replete with coathanger swinging from the back of his jacket and mismatched footwear.
Adolf Hitler & Mother Teresa Walk Into A Bar, Voodoo, Edinburgh
An eye-catchingly titled 'Freenge' two-hander, supposedly representing 'good and evil' with a 'which is best?' vote at the end - lest the audience hadn't already decided pre-show.
First up was 'bad' Stephen Hill, a swaggering manscara'd macho man with a verbally-aggressive style and some over-blue material who strayed into racism under the guise of being anti, but going almost as far as to tease a worrying degree of BNP sympathy out of the audience.
Des Clarke - Desire, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Des Clarke is a rapid-fire Glasweigan comic who hardly drew breath once during the hour, covering everything from being Scottish to Sex. All the S's, notwithstanding an F for Football really.
A talented enough comic, with such a narrow topic range, you certainly came away thinking that for maximum audiences (less than a quarter of the auditorium was filled) Des ought to be marketing himself as primarily of appeal to Scottish audiences and Scotophiles, being as much of his material is topographical rather than topical.
Andrew O'Neill's Comedy Show, Nicol Edwards pub, Niddry Street, Edinburgh
A 'Freenge' event, Andrew O'Neill's hour long stand-up Comedy Show is a veritable bargain, containing as it does many of his 'best of' routines.
Set in the most haunted pub in Edinburgh, the Nicol Edwards, the room is pregnant with atmosphere even before Andrew - an aptly born-again goth having a day off - gets the ghosts and audience rocking with a sublime Queen gag.
Adventures of An Orgasm Donor, Espionage, Victoria Street, Edinburgh
A 'Freenge' event - Donald Mac makes an appearance at what he jokingly calls 'The White Festival'.
After a quip about making sure he smiles a lot in the dark venue, he proceeds to launch into a long monologue about his sex life.
That glorious and wondrous event - the Edinburgh Fringe - is with us once again.
It is StandupCom Magazine's 12th consecutive year at the Fringe. . . and the programme looks as thrilling as ever.
Of course the Fringe has changed enormously over those years.
It is much larger and more commercial than it was back in 1997.
For many it is a more expensive festival to perform at or visit than 12 summers ago. But for others it is less expensive!
One of the great developments of the Fringe is the so-called Freenge or Free Fringe which this year is sporting more than 300 shows than are absolutely free to the audience.
Here is StandupCom Magazine's half-a-dozen hot tips for the Freenge:
* Steve Day Should I Stay Or Should I Go, The Argyle, 15 - 17 Argyle Place, Edinburgh. August 1 9, 8.30pm, FREE. . .
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