Ailsa (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
staypositive) wrote2009-08-11 03:19 pm
staypositive) wrote2009-08-11 03:19 pm
More Fringe-related ramblings!
My life right now is nothing but a series of distractions designed me to help forget about reality. It's kinda working.
First up: I really enjoyed Mark Thomas. Best not to sit near the front, though, he gets a bit sweaty/spitty. The idea of this show is that every night the audience hand in their ideas of policies that should be on the Manifesto which will be presented to various MSPs on August 19th. Ours was that MPs should have MP loans, like student loans {based on the idea that students will get a decent job after they graduate}, and MPs generally land lucrative jobs after their term is over too, so they should be made to pay back their salary.
Also saw Stephen K. Amos who had moments of brilliance but on the whole it wasn't very cohesive- obviously there was quite a lot of audience participation and ad-libbing, which I generally enjoy, but even aside from that there didn't seem to be too much structure. He was a lot better at Latitude.
Yesterday George and I went to 6 shows, which I am going to write about now before they all start to blur into one...
First up was the Early Edition again {because I am in love with Marcus Brigstocke} which was great, especially when Brigstocke went off on a Jeremy Clarkson rant.
We then went to a free thing at the City Cafe called the Preview show {or something} at 3.15, which I'd recommend if you've got an hour to kill and want to save some money- 4 comedians who change every day. I'm not going to pretend to remember any of their names but there was a Scottish guy who's apparently in the So You Think You're Funny final, whose material was good but way, way too over-rehearsed, it just sounded stilted. I'd be interested to see him in a year or so when he's relaxed a bit. There was also a terrible middle-aged woman from Manchester who had just gone through a divorce and was talking about her speed-dating escapades. Seriously cringeworthy, like watching the worst speech at a wedding in the world. And Sián Bevan who was endearing and charming and enthusiastic, in that Josie Long kind of way. She's playing some more free shows too, on the 17th and 24th at 19.25 at Espionage.
Next up was another free show, The Heresy Project: Kill Your God. Now... I'm an atheist, and I'm not particularly easily offended, but holy fuck. There were occasional funny moments but their show was marred by factual errors and exaggeration and just plain insanity. 2/5.
After that was Celia Pacquola in Am I Strange? The premise of the show is that she had been cheated on by her ex-boyfriend and begins to examine her psyche, wondering if she is actually a little bit strange. It's not a typical stand-up show but it's both heartbreaking and optimistic at the same time {the Kinder Egg analogy is so spot on}, despite the slightly depressing subject, it has plenty of hysterically funny moments and I left with a massive smile on my face. 4/5
Next up was AXIS OF AWESOME who really do need to be written in caps. Ridiculous Australian Tenacious D style comedy music stuff. Pretty awesome indeed. Thanks for the recommendation,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
surliminal! 3.5/5
Then we met up with Ashley and Dean and went to the Old Rope, which is basically a collection of stand ups {different line up each night} who are trying out new material which they've never performed before, which is pretty good as a taster, and Phil Nicol the host is obviously brilliant. The "special guest" {that young guy off T4 whose name I have forgotten} didn't show up, so instead, they got this 18 year old Gilded Balloon staff member called Rhys to come up onstage, which was just brilliant. Obviously he had a little bit of the "aww" factor but he was naturally very funny and I was impressed. Headline act was Ava Vidal who is a fairly intimidating presence, incredibly deadpan and sarcastic and hilarious with it, though there were definitely a few sharp intakes of breath and moments where the audience weren't quite sure whether to laugh or not.
So very almost went to Late & Live to make it 7, but probably a good thing we didn't, because I ended up almost falling asleep in the Cuckoo's Nest at 2am.
Phew. Tonight I'm off to see Andrew O'Neill, and after that I think I might have a couple of days off... if only because I've spent a fuckload of money. And it doesn't help that they cancelled the midweek night buses back to my neck of the woods {Colinton} so it's either a £10 taxi home or a 6 mile walk back in the middle of the night. Well, that or I stay out drinking till 5am and catch the first regular bus...
First up: I really enjoyed Mark Thomas. Best not to sit near the front, though, he gets a bit sweaty/spitty. The idea of this show is that every night the audience hand in their ideas of policies that should be on the Manifesto which will be presented to various MSPs on August 19th. Ours was that MPs should have MP loans, like student loans {based on the idea that students will get a decent job after they graduate}, and MPs generally land lucrative jobs after their term is over too, so they should be made to pay back their salary.
Also saw Stephen K. Amos who had moments of brilliance but on the whole it wasn't very cohesive- obviously there was quite a lot of audience participation and ad-libbing, which I generally enjoy, but even aside from that there didn't seem to be too much structure. He was a lot better at Latitude.
Yesterday George and I went to 6 shows, which I am going to write about now before they all start to blur into one...
First up was the Early Edition again {because I am in love with Marcus Brigstocke} which was great, especially when Brigstocke went off on a Jeremy Clarkson rant.
We then went to a free thing at the City Cafe called the Preview show {or something} at 3.15, which I'd recommend if you've got an hour to kill and want to save some money- 4 comedians who change every day. I'm not going to pretend to remember any of their names but there was a Scottish guy who's apparently in the So You Think You're Funny final, whose material was good but way, way too over-rehearsed, it just sounded stilted. I'd be interested to see him in a year or so when he's relaxed a bit. There was also a terrible middle-aged woman from Manchester who had just gone through a divorce and was talking about her speed-dating escapades. Seriously cringeworthy, like watching the worst speech at a wedding in the world. And Sián Bevan who was endearing and charming and enthusiastic, in that Josie Long kind of way. She's playing some more free shows too, on the 17th and 24th at 19.25 at Espionage.
Next up was another free show, The Heresy Project: Kill Your God. Now... I'm an atheist, and I'm not particularly easily offended, but holy fuck. There were occasional funny moments but their show was marred by factual errors and exaggeration and just plain insanity. 2/5.
After that was Celia Pacquola in Am I Strange? The premise of the show is that she had been cheated on by her ex-boyfriend and begins to examine her psyche, wondering if she is actually a little bit strange. It's not a typical stand-up show but it's both heartbreaking and optimistic at the same time {the Kinder Egg analogy is so spot on}, despite the slightly depressing subject, it has plenty of hysterically funny moments and I left with a massive smile on my face. 4/5
Next up was AXIS OF AWESOME who really do need to be written in caps. Ridiculous Australian Tenacious D style comedy music stuff. Pretty awesome indeed. Thanks for the recommendation,
surliminal! 3.5/5Then we met up with Ashley and Dean and went to the Old Rope, which is basically a collection of stand ups {different line up each night} who are trying out new material which they've never performed before, which is pretty good as a taster, and Phil Nicol the host is obviously brilliant. The "special guest" {that young guy off T4 whose name I have forgotten} didn't show up, so instead, they got this 18 year old Gilded Balloon staff member called Rhys to come up onstage, which was just brilliant. Obviously he had a little bit of the "aww" factor but he was naturally very funny and I was impressed. Headline act was Ava Vidal who is a fairly intimidating presence, incredibly deadpan and sarcastic and hilarious with it, though there were definitely a few sharp intakes of breath and moments where the audience weren't quite sure whether to laugh or not.
So very almost went to Late & Live to make it 7, but probably a good thing we didn't, because I ended up almost falling asleep in the Cuckoo's Nest at 2am.
Phew. Tonight I'm off to see Andrew O'Neill, and after that I think I might have a couple of days off... if only because I've spent a fuckload of money. And it doesn't help that they cancelled the midweek night buses back to my neck of the woods {Colinton} so it's either a £10 taxi home or a 6 mile walk back in the middle of the night. Well, that or I stay out drinking till 5am and catch the first regular bus...
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but yes. he gets overexcited and spits. lol.
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