Yeah I saw Daniel Kitson again.
He was amazing as usual. This time we guessed an audience member's name and other hinjix. How that man can work a crowd and riff like he does is incredible. Sadly the vibe pump did not featur ethis time round.
Saturday, 27 August 2016
Wednesday, 24 August 2016
Show 15: Mark Cooper-Jones: Geographically Speaking
Former Geography teacher, Mark Cooper-Jones, presents an hour of geography-based riffs and musings though predominantly this is an hour of a man establishing his privilege and status with a generous helping of comedian pullback and reveals and a delightful use of the good old-fashioned overhead projector.
Mark Cooper-Jones opens the show with a modified extending-matching-type-question about people's geography knowledge and their perceptions of the subject - minorly risky, potential for falling flat but his energy and crowd work manages to keep us engaged, and from there we go to a nice whimsical representation of the show's structure (essentially semi-shambolic, but he's painted himself into a likeable character so we're on board with it) and onwards to an extended love-letter about cartography amusingly interspersed with evidence of Marl Cooper-Jones' academic achievements.
He runs the risk of coming across as arrogant and haughty, and at times he doesn't quite manage to create an approachable persona, but perhaps that's not his aim. Nevertheless he's certainly assured and Knows well very how he wants to perform. Alongside all this are some very good jokes, side-steps and the occasional audience ribbing. A very entertaining hour.
Mark Cooper-Jones opens the show with a modified extending-matching-type-question about people's geography knowledge and their perceptions of the subject - minorly risky, potential for falling flat but his energy and crowd work manages to keep us engaged, and from there we go to a nice whimsical representation of the show's structure (essentially semi-shambolic, but he's painted himself into a likeable character so we're on board with it) and onwards to an extended love-letter about cartography amusingly interspersed with evidence of Marl Cooper-Jones' academic achievements.
He runs the risk of coming across as arrogant and haughty, and at times he doesn't quite manage to create an approachable persona, but perhaps that's not his aim. Nevertheless he's certainly assured and Knows well very how he wants to perform. Alongside all this are some very good jokes, side-steps and the occasional audience ribbing. A very entertaining hour.
Score: 7/10
Venue: Movement
Dates: 24-27 August
Time: 15:45
Price: Free
Show 14: Josie Long and Martin Williams: Investigations
Josie Long has teamed up with investigative journalist Martin Williams to uncover social and political injustices that can't quite be released publically in print media.
It's a smallish, intimate room with a stage adorned almost inexplicably with a number of potted plants (it turns out they're trying to see if they can add one piece of random rubbish they can find each day to the stage). Josie Long's passion for social justice and political reform blends well with Martin William's thorough investigative skills. They make a good team on-stage with Josie Long driving most of the humour and some rather charming obviously staged jokes for Martin Williams to share the comedy torch.
It's refreshing to see Josie Long's bright enthusiastic optimism for the future, despite how bleak it may seem for us left-leaning citizens. There's light at the end as Long and Williams show how Williams' investigations led to the (minor) disciplining of a Baronness and revealing that literally anyone in the UK can apply to be a Lord.
Overall it's a charming and fun hour of commentary about social injustice and political corruption.
It's a smallish, intimate room with a stage adorned almost inexplicably with a number of potted plants (it turns out they're trying to see if they can add one piece of random rubbish they can find each day to the stage). Josie Long's passion for social justice and political reform blends well with Martin William's thorough investigative skills. They make a good team on-stage with Josie Long driving most of the humour and some rather charming obviously staged jokes for Martin Williams to share the comedy torch.
It's refreshing to see Josie Long's bright enthusiastic optimism for the future, despite how bleak it may seem for us left-leaning citizens. There's light at the end as Long and Williams show how Williams' investigations led to the (minor) disciplining of a Baronness and revealing that literally anyone in the UK can apply to be a Lord.
Overall it's a charming and fun hour of commentary about social injustice and political corruption.
Score: 7/10
Venue: The Stand Comedy Club, Stand 5
Dates: 24-28 August
Time: 12noon
Price: £10 (£9)
Show 13: Andrew Maxwell: Sight Return
Having first watched Andrew Maxwell in 2007 with his Perrier nominated show, Waxin', I've enjoyed watching this charmer every few years. He returns with another hour of political wonderings in amongst the musings of various European nationalities and various British and Irish identities.
It's his 21st year the the Festival and his experience is evident in his relaxed, confident performance. This is a comedian at utter ease on stage. His crowdwork eases us in to thoughts on Brexit, on being part of the European community and from there we springboard into a variety of topics, from family life to the state of Australian politics and the pride of the people of Cork.
It's a very funny hour from a very engaging comic.
It's his 21st year the the Festival and his experience is evident in his relaxed, confident performance. This is a comedian at utter ease on stage. His crowdwork eases us in to thoughts on Brexit, on being part of the European community and from there we springboard into a variety of topics, from family life to the state of Australian politics and the pride of the people of Cork.
It's a very funny hour from a very engaging comic.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Assembly at George Square Lecture Theatre
Dates: 24-28 August
Time: 20:30
Price: £13 (312) weekdays, £15 (£14) weekend
Show 12: Mr Swallow - Houdini
Nick Mohammed's no stranger to character comedy and performing. His previous Mr Swallow show, Dracula! was tremendously well received as a mad, almost shambolic musical caper. After hearing his Comedian's Comedian episode I was intrigued.
Mr Swallow is an energectic, almost frenetic, character aided by his two patient assistants, played by Kieren Hodgson and David Elms. From the start, with Mr Swalllow trapped in a clear box thumbing through a book about escapology, miming with the audience and making silent pleas for help, you cna tell it's not going to be your usual comedy show.
What proceeds is an hour of sharp comedic musical numbers, witty dialogue and thrilling escapology. You can tell this show is a labour of love. Nick Mohammed, David Elms and Kieren Hodgson manage to make their performances loot effortless, and the general tomfoolery provides a delightful and beguiling hour of comedy. It's remarkable that the energy and quality is consistent throughout the show. It's well worth a watch and I'm sure that MR Swallow will return with more escapades in future Festivals.
Mr Swallow is an energectic, almost frenetic, character aided by his two patient assistants, played by Kieren Hodgson and David Elms. From the start, with Mr Swalllow trapped in a clear box thumbing through a book about escapology, miming with the audience and making silent pleas for help, you cna tell it's not going to be your usual comedy show.
What proceeds is an hour of sharp comedic musical numbers, witty dialogue and thrilling escapology. You can tell this show is a labour of love. Nick Mohammed, David Elms and Kieren Hodgson manage to make their performances loot effortless, and the general tomfoolery provides a delightful and beguiling hour of comedy. It's remarkable that the energy and quality is consistent throughout the show. It's well worth a watch and I'm sure that MR Swallow will return with more escapades in future Festivals.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Forth
Dates: 24-28 August
Time: 19:00
Price:£13 (£12) weekday, £14 (£13) weekend
Show 11: Rhys James: Forgives
Though young, Rhys James has been in the comedy business since 2009 and made his Edinburgh debut in 2010 as part of a package show. This is his third solo show (as far as my 5 minute research can tell me) at Edinburgh.
His show starts with a pre-recorded audio set piece about how he's changed and become a bigger and better comedian. His show generally revolves around his life right now, and what he had thought he'd be as a 10 year old, and the generational gap between the millenials and the baby boomers.
He's certainly got a carefully crafted hour of thoughts, annoyances and anecdotes. It's fast-paced and well rehearsed but with this performance it felt stiff and forced. He's certainly got plenty of talent and ideas, but he seems to lose something in translation. It feels frantic, though that may match his anger, and the jokes are good but they just don't always hit the mark.
Regardless, there's still plenty of potential and it'll be interesting to see how Rhys James develops as a comedian.
His show starts with a pre-recorded audio set piece about how he's changed and become a bigger and better comedian. His show generally revolves around his life right now, and what he had thought he'd be as a 10 year old, and the generational gap between the millenials and the baby boomers.
He's certainly got a carefully crafted hour of thoughts, annoyances and anecdotes. It's fast-paced and well rehearsed but with this performance it felt stiff and forced. He's certainly got plenty of talent and ideas, but he seems to lose something in translation. It feels frantic, though that may match his anger, and the jokes are good but they just don't always hit the mark.
Regardless, there's still plenty of potential and it'll be interesting to see how Rhys James develops as a comedian.
Score: 5/10
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance Beside
Dates: 24-28 August
Time: 16:45
Price: £10 (£9) weekdays, £11.50 (£10) weekend
Show 10: Alfie Brown: Scissor
Alfie Brown's now in his 11th year of performing stand-up. After hearing his Comedian's Comedian episode, I thought I'd see what he had to say.
Undoubtedly, Alfie Brown is fearless and confident on stage. He's got ferocious energy and a sharp disdain for some aspects of modern life, namely selfies, and love.
He's a mix of intelligent ranting, vivid cynicism and amusing metaphors. He's got strong opnions, and most likely won't be to everyone's taste. He certainly has a decent amount about sex, but overall this is a clever show about the modern world and what's wrong with it.
He's talented, he's passionated, he's insightful but the material doesn't quite gel with me unfortuantely.
Undoubtedly, Alfie Brown is fearless and confident on stage. He's got ferocious energy and a sharp disdain for some aspects of modern life, namely selfies, and love.
He's a mix of intelligent ranting, vivid cynicism and amusing metaphors. He's got strong opnions, and most likely won't be to everyone's taste. He certainly has a decent amount about sex, but overall this is a clever show about the modern world and what's wrong with it.
He's talented, he's passionated, he's insightful but the material doesn't quite gel with me unfortuantely.
Score: 6/10
Venue: The City Cafe, Blair Street
Dates: 24-28 August
Time: 15:00
Price: Free
Tuesday, 23 August 2016
Show 9: Daniel Kitson Presents an Insufficient Number of Undeveloped Ideas Over Ninety Testing Minutes Starting at Noon
I had already bought tickets to see Daniel Kitson's work in progress show for Thursday 25th August, but when the opportunity to purchase spare tickets for Kitson comes along one would be a fool to pass up the chance. Luckily I managed to wrangle some tickets from Twitter. Ah, what a world we live in.
This show was meant to be a series for Kitson to work on material for a large gig in London for October, hoever it appears that the gig has fallen through and the Edinburgh work in progress shows are now, in his words, "a contractual obligation".
Without something to really work towards, Kitson has free reign over the audience for a full 90 minutes. Outrageously, he seemingly has no pre-prepared material and riffs solidly on minute details about random audience members and never-ending tangential diversions on personal anecdotes. That said, only Kitson could pull off such an audacious feat and make it an intensely funny experience.
He starts the show with an impromptu ditty about a front-row audience member putting away their cardigan (honestly, how many comedians would think of such a thing?) and immediately sets a playful atmosphere for the show. Given the format of it, there are natural ups and downs in energy, though Daniel Kitson appeared acutely aware of the dips in laughter.
He continues his ongoing questioning of his reputation ("why won't you let me be human?" [or words to that effect], he pleads) and explains to one audience member, who (a rareity in a Kitson gig) was a newcomer to his material, that he does three types of show: profound meta-narrative theatre, life-changing stand-up and, as he says, "this gash". Gash it maybe, it's still rather enjoyable.
Very few comedians could pull off a gig like this one, or make ocular herpes quite so entertaining.
This show was meant to be a series for Kitson to work on material for a large gig in London for October, hoever it appears that the gig has fallen through and the Edinburgh work in progress shows are now, in his words, "a contractual obligation".
Without something to really work towards, Kitson has free reign over the audience for a full 90 minutes. Outrageously, he seemingly has no pre-prepared material and riffs solidly on minute details about random audience members and never-ending tangential diversions on personal anecdotes. That said, only Kitson could pull off such an audacious feat and make it an intensely funny experience.
He starts the show with an impromptu ditty about a front-row audience member putting away their cardigan (honestly, how many comedians would think of such a thing?) and immediately sets a playful atmosphere for the show. Given the format of it, there are natural ups and downs in energy, though Daniel Kitson appeared acutely aware of the dips in laughter.
He continues his ongoing questioning of his reputation ("why won't you let me be human?" [or words to that effect], he pleads) and explains to one audience member, who (a rareity in a Kitson gig) was a newcomer to his material, that he does three types of show: profound meta-narrative theatre, life-changing stand-up and, as he says, "this gash". Gash it maybe, it's still rather enjoyable.
Very few comedians could pull off a gig like this one, or make ocular herpes quite so entertaining.
Score: 8/10
Venue: The Stand Comedy Club
Dates: 24-28 August
Time: 12 noon
Price: £5 (check twitter and the venue for spare tickets and returns)
Saturday, 20 August 2016
Show 8: Simon Munnery: Standing Still
An established act well known for surreal sets and well regarded for his skill and satire, I've always been intrigued by Simon Munnery but never given him a go. This year was the year.
Unfortuantely the combination of sleep deprivation and an insanely hot and humid room meant I slightly struggled to keep my mental focus on the show. However, Simon Munnery does open the show with quite an intriguing nihilistic monologue while rotating a metal bird attached to his hat and knocking down some metallic towers with the EU flag and the UK flag. This is followed swiftly by some dressing down of UK politicians, all rather topical post-Brexit.
He then goes on to more tame material about his family and observations on life, which are all rather clever and funny, but couldn't quite keep my attention. Still, he's a veteran comedian and worthwhile watching.
Score: 6/10
Venue: The Stand comedy Club, Stand 1
Dates: 20-29 August
Time: 16.00
Price: £12 (£10)
Show 7: Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel
Austentatious have developed quite the name for themselves, and many of their individual performers have found well-deserved success as solo performers at the Fringe of late (namely Joseph Morpurgo, Andrew Hunter Murray and Cariad Lloyd). Improvised comedy can, so often, swing wildly from being tedious and cringeworthy to being a breathtaking display of creativity, wit and joyful play. Thankfully the Austentatious cast are skilled enough in improv and work so well together that they made a delightful hour.
Inviting audience members to conceive a missing Jane Austen novel, the cast randomly pick a title on stage and then improvise the story int eh style of Jane Austen, with frocks and all.
The show I watched was 'Austen: AirBnB'. Impressively they managed to tie together a Lord's jilted romantic experiences, the struggles of a newly founded bed and breakfast place, its rivalry with the hotel and a woman who just can't help but take her desk everywhere. It was an entertaining, endearing and exhilerating hour of improv and doubtless their other performances are likely to enthrall equally well, regardless of the title they randomly choose.
This is top notch improvised comedy.
Inviting audience members to conceive a missing Jane Austen novel, the cast randomly pick a title on stage and then improvise the story int eh style of Jane Austen, with frocks and all.
The show I watched was 'Austen: AirBnB'. Impressively they managed to tie together a Lord's jilted romantic experiences, the struggles of a newly founded bed and breakfast place, its rivalry with the hotel and a woman who just can't help but take her desk everywhere. It was an entertaining, endearing and exhilerating hour of improv and doubtless their other performances are likely to enthrall equally well, regardless of the title they randomly choose.
This is top notch improvised comedy.
Score: 9/10
Venue: Udderbelly at George Square
Dates: 20-21 August
Time: 13.30
Price: £12.50 (£13.50)
Sunday, 14 August 2016
Show 6: Mat Ewins: Mat Ewins Will Make You A Star
After being recommended by Stuart Goldsmith on his Comedian’s
Comedian podcast (you may be spotting a bit of a theme with my comedy discoveries
these days) I thought I’d see what the fuss was about Mat Ewins. He’s got a very
funny youtube clip of a slightly shambolic magic act then
half-of-a-comedy-double-act set, which is very worthwhile watching.
In the slightly vomit-infused venue of The Hive, Mat Ewins
has made an hour of the most joyously silly, ridiculous, at times left-field comedy
I’ve ever seen.
It’s a tenuous premise for an hour of mad video-based
antics. Mat Ewins plays a famous actor who’s willing to help his audience make
it big too. A variety of crudely doctored video clips and deliberately bad
film-making alongside some smart software trickery with audience members makes
for an hour of raucous, breathtakingly hilarious jokes.
If you’re a fan of general silliness like Pappy’s, Joseph
Morpurgo’s sketches from Soothing Sounds For Babies then this is the show for
you. Mat Ewins is funny through and through.
Score: 9/10
Venue: Heroes at The Hive
Dates: 14-28 August
Time: 21.00
Price: Pay what you want or £5 to guarantee entry
Show 5: Steen Raskopoulos – You Know The Drill
Having listened to Steen Raskopoulos’s Comedian’s Comedian
podcast, and having bagged a Best Newcomer nomination in 2014 I was intrigued
by his format of mixed set piece with audience improv.
The show’s based on various sketches with intermittent
audience participation sets, which generally work tremendously well. He’s got
some delightful bits of wrong footing and silliness that makes for good-natured
fun.
Playing in one of the medium-sized rooms at the underbelly,
Steen Raskopoulos does well to keep the audience’s attention, and he succeeds
with enticing the audience into playing along with his various antics.
Highlights include The Interactive Museum and the unwitting
audience member who has to overcome various whimsical challenges to retrieve
his friend’s ball. I shan’t spoil the surprise but it makes for great watching.
It takes a confident performer to incorporate improv into a
show and Steen succeeds brilliantly. A very enjoyable hour.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Underbelly at the Cowgate
Dates: 14, 16-28 August
Time: 19.40
Price: £11.50 (£10.50) weekdays, £12.50 (£11.50) weekends
Show 4: Gary Delaney: There’s Something About Gary
A master one-liner returns to Edinburgh for a short run. Gary
Delaney’s powers through a great set of puns and one-liners that side step the audience
delightfully. He mixes things up with some picture-based gags based on his
travels and there’s a nice selection of his best twitter jokes playing on a
projector screen as the audience comes in.
Generally, though, Gary Delaney’s show this time round is
rather heavy on blue and crude material, which suits the club scene well but
isn’t particularly to my taste. Despite that it’s still an entertaining 55
minutes of wrong-footing and fun.
Score: 7/10
Venue: The Stand Comedy Club, Stand 1
Dates: 14 August
Time: 17.30
Price: £12
Show 3: Ed Gamble: Stampede
Ed Gamble's been doing stand up for 11 years so, as he says, it's time to evaluate his career. With appearances in Mock The Week and a previous podcast with Ray Peacock, he's not doing too badly.
But his show doesn't focus on his success, rather it's a 55 minute exploration of masculinity, food and cauliflower. Somehow he manages to make it all work. He's got some nice observations on the absurdities of dieting and the pain it is to be a mentally fat man in a physically thin man with plenty of entertaining moments but overally it becomes a bit 'laddish' and bluntly crude to be to my taste.
He did, however, have some nice indignation at the audience members blatently and not-self-consciously going for toilet breaks in the middle of the show.
Overall, a pretty decent hour but there aren't any boundaries being pushed.
Score: 5/10
Venue: Gilded Balloon at The Counting House
Dates: August
Time: 15:15
Price: Pay what you want or £5 to guarantee a seat
But his show doesn't focus on his success, rather it's a 55 minute exploration of masculinity, food and cauliflower. Somehow he manages to make it all work. He's got some nice observations on the absurdities of dieting and the pain it is to be a mentally fat man in a physically thin man with plenty of entertaining moments but overally it becomes a bit 'laddish' and bluntly crude to be to my taste.
He did, however, have some nice indignation at the audience members blatently and not-self-consciously going for toilet breaks in the middle of the show.
Overall, a pretty decent hour but there aren't any boundaries being pushed.
Score: 5/10
Venue: Gilded Balloon at The Counting House
Dates: August
Time: 15:15
Price: Pay what you want or £5 to guarantee a seat
Saturday, 13 August 2016
Show 2: Punel Show
Darren Walsh and Mark Simmons present a 50 minute panel game show based around puns. Both are previous winners of a 'joke of the fringe' award, so one expects quality.
As with the nature of most one-liner based does there are hits and misses but overall the two hit the mark. Some last minute audience participation (one of the invited guest punellists, a friend of one co-host, out right refused to come as they didn't know they'd be performing - ah the best laid plans...) worked surprisingly well.
There's a good density of puns in this show and any fan of wordplay will certainly enjoy themselves. It also had a charming ramshackleness one expects of the smaller fringe shows.
And the audience can even play along.
Overall an enjoyable 50 minutes but steer clear if you're an enemy of wordplay.
Score: 6/10
Venue: Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street
Dates: 13-15, 17-22, 24-28 August
Time: 12:30
Price: Free
As with the nature of most one-liner based does there are hits and misses but overall the two hit the mark. Some last minute audience participation (one of the invited guest punellists, a friend of one co-host, out right refused to come as they didn't know they'd be performing - ah the best laid plans...) worked surprisingly well.
There's a good density of puns in this show and any fan of wordplay will certainly enjoy themselves. It also had a charming ramshackleness one expects of the smaller fringe shows.
And the audience can even play along.
Overall an enjoyable 50 minutes but steer clear if you're an enemy of wordplay.
Score: 6/10
Venue: Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street
Dates: 13-15, 17-22, 24-28 August
Time: 12:30
Price: Free
Show 1: Shappi Khorsandi: Oh My Country! From Morris Dancing to Morrissey
Having listened to Shappi Khorsandi’s episode of Comedian’s Comedian I was tremendously struck by her warmth, her deep insight into cultural and national identity and vulnerability. Intrigued, I got a ticket to her show.
16 years working in comedy has shaped Khorsandi into an ebullient,
open hearted performer. Her show is comprised on tales of her family finding
their cultural feet in England, the stark differences between her frighteningly
middle-class young son and her more outgoing daughter who has absorbed her
Iranian identity.
Shappi Khorsandi plays the audience brilliantly, and an
ill-timed phone call from a front row audience member led to some rather
delightful hi-jinx. She as confident. She was joyous and giving. She was an
absolute delight to watch.
I shan’t spoil the jokes, but damn did she have some lovely
observations of the cultural differences she’s encountered. Also the
impressions of her children are rather charming.
Overall, an excellent start to my Edinburgh 2016 festival
outing.
Score: 9/10
Venue: The Stand Comedy Club, Stand 1
Dates: 13-14, 16-28 August
Time: 20:30
Price: £12 (£10)
Venue: The Stand Comedy Club, Stand 1
Dates: 13-14, 16-28 August
Time: 20:30
Price: £12 (£10)
Thursday, 11 August 2016
Edinburgh 2016
Hello hello.
Outrageously I've had to delay my first taste of the Edinburgh Festival vibe until the second weekend of August due to inconveniently timed courses I decided to attend in London. Sadly the ever present threat of unemplyment and failure to progress in a professional capacity struck me like a heavy goods vehicle driven by a blind man in May, or my mother's despair at my lack of telephone calls home, leading me to sacrifice the first weekend of August to sitting in a hospital learning about x-rays (oh the things we do for staying in paid employment). And I forgot to call my mother that weekend (damn).
BUT! that time has passed and the second weekend is racing towards me.
Due to the hectic work hours of my previous placement, the Edinburgh schedule for 2016 was compiled rather late with this year's shows being booked only around 20th July.
Here my tendency for disorganisation foiled my plans once again. As it turned out I have a mandatory training day on Friday 26th August, a day on which I had planned on sneakily being in Edinburgh for a rather long weekend. "No, this day cannot be rearranged" said the e-mail from the course administrator. Oops.
Cue mild panic, arranging trains, re-buying show tickets and even more frantic shedding of pounds from the bank account (if only it could have been from my waist instead...ha-ha-ha-ha-ha [give it a moment, the awkward silence will pass eventually]).
Finally I have my schedule and trains for Edinburgh for 2016. I'll be making 4 return trips to and from Edinburgh again this year, though there will be a period where I'm away from Edinbirgh for less than 24 hours in the final week (oh the things we do for the never-ending pursuit of laughter, the meaning to life and art).
There don't appear to be as many old favourites in Edinburgh this year. Unfortuantely no Pappy's, no Alex Edelman and no Joseph Morpurgo, though I will be making a trip to James Acaster and Nish Kumar in the final weekend, and I wrangled a ticket for Daniel Kitson on Thursday 25th. Good God is that going to be an excellent weekend.
Show number one on Friday will be Shappi Khorsandi, who I was inspired to see after listening to her Comedian's Comedian Podcast episode. Heavens, does she have a story to tell, and an insight into comedy and performance that astounded me.
Over the past year I've seen some excellent comedy since Edinburgh 2015, namely Joseph Morpurgo's show another two times, Nish Kumar's 2015 show and James Acaster's 2015 show.
Nish Kumar once again delievered sharp, brilliantly crafted observations and jokes about privilege, life and the outrageous state of UK politics in 2015. James Acaster surprised me with what was a highly entertaining and imaginative show; his bit about a made-up fable nearly drowned me in laughter.
And Joseph Morpurgo... I must admit I've thought and re-thought about that show several times in the past year. Even now I still feel goosebumps and a warm fuzzy feeling envelopes itself around me whenever I think about that show. It was one of the best shows, and most probably my favourite, I've ever seen. The feelings I had after that show will never leave me, and it's a rare feeling; a feeling of wonderment, excitement, astonishment and joy all wrapped up in a sweet moment that just can't be recaptured. Even watching his show a second and third time didn't leave me with the same feeling after the first. His numerous Chortle awards were more than deserved, and it's a shame he didn't win last year.
I've got just over 20 shows scheduled for this year. I may not be able to fit in any extra, and I doubt I'll beat last year's record of number of shows seen, but no matter.
Here's to Edinburgh 2016.
Outrageously I've had to delay my first taste of the Edinburgh Festival vibe until the second weekend of August due to inconveniently timed courses I decided to attend in London. Sadly the ever present threat of unemplyment and failure to progress in a professional capacity struck me like a heavy goods vehicle driven by a blind man in May, or my mother's despair at my lack of telephone calls home, leading me to sacrifice the first weekend of August to sitting in a hospital learning about x-rays (oh the things we do for staying in paid employment). And I forgot to call my mother that weekend (damn).
BUT! that time has passed and the second weekend is racing towards me.
Due to the hectic work hours of my previous placement, the Edinburgh schedule for 2016 was compiled rather late with this year's shows being booked only around 20th July.
Here my tendency for disorganisation foiled my plans once again. As it turned out I have a mandatory training day on Friday 26th August, a day on which I had planned on sneakily being in Edinburgh for a rather long weekend. "No, this day cannot be rearranged" said the e-mail from the course administrator. Oops.
Cue mild panic, arranging trains, re-buying show tickets and even more frantic shedding of pounds from the bank account (if only it could have been from my waist instead...ha-ha-ha-ha-ha [give it a moment, the awkward silence will pass eventually]).
Finally I have my schedule and trains for Edinburgh for 2016. I'll be making 4 return trips to and from Edinburgh again this year, though there will be a period where I'm away from Edinbirgh for less than 24 hours in the final week (oh the things we do for the never-ending pursuit of laughter, the meaning to life and art).
There don't appear to be as many old favourites in Edinburgh this year. Unfortuantely no Pappy's, no Alex Edelman and no Joseph Morpurgo, though I will be making a trip to James Acaster and Nish Kumar in the final weekend, and I wrangled a ticket for Daniel Kitson on Thursday 25th. Good God is that going to be an excellent weekend.
Show number one on Friday will be Shappi Khorsandi, who I was inspired to see after listening to her Comedian's Comedian Podcast episode. Heavens, does she have a story to tell, and an insight into comedy and performance that astounded me.
Over the past year I've seen some excellent comedy since Edinburgh 2015, namely Joseph Morpurgo's show another two times, Nish Kumar's 2015 show and James Acaster's 2015 show.
Nish Kumar once again delievered sharp, brilliantly crafted observations and jokes about privilege, life and the outrageous state of UK politics in 2015. James Acaster surprised me with what was a highly entertaining and imaginative show; his bit about a made-up fable nearly drowned me in laughter.
And Joseph Morpurgo... I must admit I've thought and re-thought about that show several times in the past year. Even now I still feel goosebumps and a warm fuzzy feeling envelopes itself around me whenever I think about that show. It was one of the best shows, and most probably my favourite, I've ever seen. The feelings I had after that show will never leave me, and it's a rare feeling; a feeling of wonderment, excitement, astonishment and joy all wrapped up in a sweet moment that just can't be recaptured. Even watching his show a second and third time didn't leave me with the same feeling after the first. His numerous Chortle awards were more than deserved, and it's a shame he didn't win last year.
I've got just over 20 shows scheduled for this year. I may not be able to fit in any extra, and I doubt I'll beat last year's record of number of shows seen, but no matter.
Here's to Edinburgh 2016.
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