Show 7: Rob Kemp: The Elvis Dead

It’s the first of repeat watches this year, and Rob Kemp’s changed venue from Monkey Barrel Comedy Club to the Pleasance Courtyard – Above.

Nothing’s changed about the show – it’s still a raucous, mad gallivant through The Evil Dead 2 with bastardised Presley songs, and it’s still got Kemp madly struggling around the stage doing impressive singing and some more and more intense character acting. I wonder, though, whether the change to a ramped audience seating set up, and the loss of the more open venue that was present at the Monkey Barrel gives the whole performance less of a feel of a general muckabout, less audience camaraderie, and more of a feel that we the audience is distant from Kemp and merely observing him. He does every now and then encourage us to join in, and he does venture in to the audience once or twice, and it’s still good fun, but maybe it was the audience, maybe it was the change of venue, or indeed a combination of both, with a slightly earlier start time compared to last year, which meant this year’s show seems more tame, and less of an audience laugh.

Regardless, it’s still a Fringe-y show and it’s great fun to watch

Score: None for repeat watching

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard - Above

Dates: 8^th-26^th August (not Mondays or Tuesdays)

Time: 22:20

Price:  £12 (£11 concessions) weekends, £10 (£9) weekdays