Show 6: Thom Tuck: An August Institution

Thom Tuck's been performing at the Fringe for 16 years, and he's brought another show up. However, it's fair to say that this show probably hasn't had the same level of thought or planning as his Best Newcomer nominated show 'Straight to DVD'.

It's a rather haphazard show filled with silliness, jibes at religion, and Thom slowly undressing and being made to look pretty with badly applied make up from various audience members.

It's a fun galavant around many mad ideas for sure, and he never promised any coherence at the start. Not a bad way to spend an hour certainly, and it was quite a spectacle to watch an experienced performer seemingly run the show on the fly. Nevertheless, it could certainly do with some more planning.


Score: 5/10

Venue: Heroes at Dragonfly

Dates: 7th-27th August (not 15th)

Time: 15:00

Price: £5 to guarantee entry or pay what you want at the venue

Show 5: Tony Law: Absurdity for the Common People

Known for absurdist comedy, Tony Law's show is a frenetic, prolonged display of startling energy and riffing.

Ostensibly it's a show about his performance in a 1970s trampolining competition in America but there are so many digressions it's hard to tell which ones are planned and which ones are made off the cuff. Regardless it's a satisfying watch to see Tony Law teeter between having a grasp on what's going and veering off into a wild, untrodden idea.

There aren't many who can make quite odd shadow puppetry where little seemingly happens as funny as Tony Law, not playing a guitar badly with white cotton gloves, and yet he somehow manages it.

He's a strong character, and perhaps he's divisive - you probably either get it or you don't. Overall, though, it's an impressive display of force and free thinking, with some good laughs along the way.

Score: 7/10

Venue: The Stand Comedy Club

Dates: 5th-28th August(not 14th)

Time:12:00

Price: £12.50

Show 4: Gein's Family Giftshop: Volume 3

Nominated in 2014 for the Best Newcomer Award, I'd been wanting to see this dark comedy sketch goup for sometime. It seems that they've mixed things up for this year's show.

The usual three person group (with a fourth unseen director) has changed to a predominantly two person show with the occasional input from a 'RADA' trained actor. The usual third performer is instead kneeling at the side of the stage for what turns out to be one of the most dedicated set ups to a punchline I've ever seen.

The show's a series of twisted sketches all seamlessly blending into each other with frequent breaking of the fourth wall. Edward Easton's comic, exaggerrated performance proves a great counter to Kath Huges and the RADA performer. A quirky structural aspect to the show by performing it in reverse is certainly interesting but I'm not sure if it really adds anything.

Nevertheless it takes the audience to some rather dark and twisted places, but there's plenty of gaity and pranks to make if fun.

Score: 8/10

Venue: Pleasance Courtyard

Dates: 5th-28th August

Time: 22:20

Price: £8 Mon-Tues, £9 Wed-Thurs, £10.50 Fri-Sun

Show 3: Steen Raskopoulos – The Coolest Kid in Competitive Chess

An accomplished, talented comic improviser and comedian from New Zeaand, this is the second of his shows I've seen at the Festival.

This year's show's got a lot more audience interaction that last year's, and Steen Raskopoulos pitches it perfectly: the tasks are generally simple, and even the more involved skit involving dancing gets the participants on stage going for it (though I'm sure he's get an eye for picking the right people for the right games).

The show is a seemingly separate group of sketches which all come together in a rather neat narrative finale, and along the way there's a journey of deft comic timing and performance, and well crafted audience participation pieces. He works well with the material the audience brings, and it's a sign of an intelligent writer and performer to craft the games and scenarios that brings jeopardy and laughs. He's even brought back the timid character, Timmy, to the show.

A thoroughly entertaining show. I'm looking forward to seeing his two-hander improv show, The Bear Pack later this festival.

Score: 8/10

Venue: Underbelly, 69 Cowgate

Dates: 5th-27th August

Time: 20:00

Price: £11.50 weekdays, £12.50 weekends

Show 2: Milton Jones Is Out There

My second show of the festival was another veteran performer and a comedian I'd been wanting to see for a while: Milton Jones. One of the famous one-liner comedians of the UK, and being partial to a pun myself, I thought he would be worthwhile watching.

He's certainly got a very distinct style: low-key, aloof, very steady - it makes for an interest contrast to Tim Vine's frenetic, fast paced style.

Milton Jones opens with a slightly bizzare but interesting whimsical prop-assisted bit about Brexit, an idea that he returns to a few times during the show with various props. It's a show with clever, subversive one liners and a section where flags of the UK and Europe engage in various dialogues - it's probably the closest Milton Jones has ever got to political observations, and and he pulls it off.

Overall it's an entertaining hour from Milton Jones, though his laid back, gentle rhythm gave it a feeling of slow pace that didn't help with the energy.

 

Score: 6/10

Venue: Assembly on The Mound

Dates: 3rd-20th August (not 14th)

Time: 19:30

Price: £18

Show 1: Ed Byrne: Spoiler Alert

Ed Byrne returns with an hour titled after his material about his spoilt, posh, middle class English-accented children, though this only forms around half the show's material, at the beginning and end. His other riffs range from tales of his outdoor hiking to tussling with his wife over purchasing an Aga and a dig at Trump.

His charm and affable nature honed with 20 odd years at comedy makes Ed Byrne a great entertainer for sure, and he's got some killer lines in the set (a snipe at Love Island made for an inspired punchline). The middle half, however, does lag somewhat, though the people next to me frequently checking their watches was a bit harsh in my opinion. The beginning and end are by far the strongest parts of the show; he's chosen his structure well. The material and ideas are there, but maybe some fine tuning would lift this preview show. Nevertheless, an enjoyable hour from one of my favourites.

Score: 7/10

Venue: Assembly George Square LectureTheatre

Dates: 2nd-27th August (not 14th)

Time: 19:30

Price: £18.50 weekends, £17 weekdays

Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Hello hello.

I think first I need to make a rather late apology. Extreme laziness got the better for me last year and, despite maybe watching 25+ shows last year, I never wrote anything beyond what appears to be show 16.

This year I vow will be different. As a testament to my mental and literary prowess I promise to complete the necessary entries for each and every show I watch at the Edinburgh Festival 2017, and it's going to be in the region of 40+ shows this year. This feat should be helped somewhat by a majestic return to The Athens Of The North for my job.

Matthew is back in business.

A return to living in Edinburgh as well as a job with luxiuriously sociable hours means I've booked to see a show nearly every day of the festival. It's going to be a new personal best this year and this blog will be a document to this landmark period - not that anyone will study this in decades to come. This small, quiet, hidden corner of the blogging atmosphere will doubtless attract little attention, but it'll make for a nice nostalgia trip when I almost certainly hit an advanced state of senility in my dotage.

Edinburgh Festival 217 starts tonight with Ed Byrne - a favourite of mine. It'll be interesting to see if he'll draw upon his recent BBC series with Dara O' Briain and his travels to South East Asia, or his passion for Munro bagging.

There's a tantilising mix of performers at this year's festival, and interestingly a paucity of big names. The field is wide open for this year's awards. It'll be intriguing to hear who becomes popular through word of mouth and who'll take the critics' attentions.

Here's to Edinburgh Festival 2017.