Hosted by Thom Tuck with changing judges and lawyers for defense and prosecution, This Is Your Trial invites audience members to accuse their friends (preferably present) of injustices. Essentially this is very structured improv but tonight it worked very well.
Accusations included someone of being "inexcusably tall" (at 6 foot 6 they very nearly "the height of The Beast"), a man of stepping on his friend's glasses (for a builder the accused did seem like a hipster and his friends were suspiciously middle-class looking), and one person even accused Scotland (yes, the nation of Scotland) of not existing.
In this melting pot of accusations, the lawyers were able to make some very creative and fun arguments, and many of the laughs came from genius puns (I confess, I'm a pun lover, and this show played right up my street).
Overall an excellent night and fun and playful accusations, creative and inventive legal arguments. a great way to end this year's festival.
Score: 8/10:
Venue: Assemble George Square Theatre
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 23:30
Price: £12.50 (£11.50) weekdays, £10 (£9) weekday
Monday, 31 August 2015
Show 30: Matthew Crosby: Smaller Than Life
Matthew Crosby's been stand-up for a while and he's definitely comfortable on stage and with the audience. This year's show he deals with a trip to Russia and how he's felt inferior due to his height throughout his life.
It's an hour peppered with some lovely jokes and observations but there's also some tomfoolery that doesn't quite hit the mark; an impression and dance of Vladamir Putin goes for an especially long time and at the end the audience throws oranges into a bucket held by another audience member (it's a callback to a story (it makes sense in the show) but to be honest I wanted to eat the orange, so I did).
It's an enjoyable hour and this is clearly someone who's confident in his material, and it's certainly not bad. Stories are well structured and punchlines are put in nicely, but there's not really enough in the way of jokes or such an engaging story-telling technique to really captivate us. Still, it's worth a watch.
Score: 6/10
Venue: Just The Tonic At The Mash
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 19:40
Price: £5 or pay what you want
It's an hour peppered with some lovely jokes and observations but there's also some tomfoolery that doesn't quite hit the mark; an impression and dance of Vladamir Putin goes for an especially long time and at the end the audience throws oranges into a bucket held by another audience member (it's a callback to a story (it makes sense in the show) but to be honest I wanted to eat the orange, so I did).
It's an enjoyable hour and this is clearly someone who's confident in his material, and it's certainly not bad. Stories are well structured and punchlines are put in nicely, but there's not really enough in the way of jokes or such an engaging story-telling technique to really captivate us. Still, it's worth a watch.
Score: 6/10
Venue: Just The Tonic At The Mash
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 19:40
Price: £5 or pay what you want
Sunday, 30 August 2015
Show 29: Trygve Wakenshaw: KRAKEN
Trygve Wakenshaw brings last year's cult favourite back alongside his new show Nautilus. There's plenty of physical comedy from the mime but compared to the magnificent Nautilus this seems like it's slightly weaker twin. Nevertheless it's a cracking show.
There's quite the eye-opening start when Wakenshaw is forced to undress once (and arguably the second time is just exhibitionist) in order for him to get to his clothes for the performance and from there multiple scenes seamlessly merge into one.
There's a lot more audience participation compared to Nautilus, including a lot of kissing and one man becoming a unicorn. For me, though, this doesn't really add or take anything away from the experience. It's all still playful and creative. He does end with a rather interesting and very flexible improvised contemporary dance sequence to go along with Enya's Orinoco Flow.
However, I feel that Nautilus had a lot more variety and more creative avenues explored and mined quite brilliantly. Nautilus also had some nice callbacks that seemed to create a greater sense of coherence through the show. Regardless it was very nice to have another dose of Wakenshaw before the festival's end.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 18:00
Price: £12.50
There's quite the eye-opening start when Wakenshaw is forced to undress once (and arguably the second time is just exhibitionist) in order for him to get to his clothes for the performance and from there multiple scenes seamlessly merge into one.
There's a lot more audience participation compared to Nautilus, including a lot of kissing and one man becoming a unicorn. For me, though, this doesn't really add or take anything away from the experience. It's all still playful and creative. He does end with a rather interesting and very flexible improvised contemporary dance sequence to go along with Enya's Orinoco Flow.
However, I feel that Nautilus had a lot more variety and more creative avenues explored and mined quite brilliantly. Nautilus also had some nice callbacks that seemed to create a greater sense of coherence through the show. Regardless it was very nice to have another dose of Wakenshaw before the festival's end.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 18:00
Price: £12.50
Show 28: Foil, Arms and Hog: Skiddlywup
Foil, Arms and Hog return with another hour of gloriously silly sketch fun, but this year there's far more audience interaction, which creates an overall feeling of camaraderie.
The night starts with a musical introduction from the audience orchestrated by the trio and what proceeds is an hour of masterful comedy acting and enormously silly comic ideas played out with style and panache by these comedy veterans.
Particular highlights included the weirdly medically themed game of musical chairs, the equal opportunities spy organisation that got a Caucasian man to play an African infiltrator (with an exceptional portrayal of a stereotypical sassy black woman) and the audience being part of a living room.
These guys certainly know how to play a room and to make a riotous hour of fun. I'll definitely be coming back next year to see what new fun they'll be bringing.
Score: 9/10
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 22:00 and 23:20
Price: £12 (£11) weekend, £11 (£10) weekday
The night starts with a musical introduction from the audience orchestrated by the trio and what proceeds is an hour of masterful comedy acting and enormously silly comic ideas played out with style and panache by these comedy veterans.
Particular highlights included the weirdly medically themed game of musical chairs, the equal opportunities spy organisation that got a Caucasian man to play an African infiltrator (with an exceptional portrayal of a stereotypical sassy black woman) and the audience being part of a living room.
These guys certainly know how to play a room and to make a riotous hour of fun. I'll definitely be coming back next year to see what new fun they'll be bringing.
Score: 9/10
Venue: Underbelly, Cowgate
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 22:00 and 23:20
Price: £12 (£11) weekend, £11 (£10) weekday
Saturday, 29 August 2015
Show 27: Alex Edelman: Everything Handed To You
Edelman returns to the Pleasance, but this year in the slightly bigger Pleasance Beside venue.
He's not lost his storytelling skills and it's an utter joy to hear Edelman slip asides and jokes seamlessly into his narrative to make a tremendous hour.
This year there's a slightly looser feel to the show; where Millenial had the strong thread of the feeling of being part of the Millenial generation, Everything Handed To You is more of a collection of observations about Edelman's brothers and his move to the UK but together they bring a realisation of how Edelman is slowly changing and growing up as a comedian.
He holds the audience well and his vibrant storytelling, buildups and punchline delivery make this a fine hour. His stories are wide-ranging, from his observation of those who are part of his cycling club, to his and his friend's inadvertent racism in Soho, to his remarks about Gregg's, all belying a growing understanding of UK life. Mainly, though, the show is focussed on how his Jewish upbringing gave him certain perspectives on the world and how these are changing, and what relationship he has with his brothers (AJ, a twin and a professional bodybuild, and Austin, 13 years younger and, seemingly, "also funny...not kid funny, like properly funny".
There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it's tremendously enjoyable watching Edelman perform - it's going to be interesting seeing how he grows and changes as a comedian.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 20:30
Price: £12 (£10.50) weekend, £10 (£8.50) weekday
He's not lost his storytelling skills and it's an utter joy to hear Edelman slip asides and jokes seamlessly into his narrative to make a tremendous hour.
This year there's a slightly looser feel to the show; where Millenial had the strong thread of the feeling of being part of the Millenial generation, Everything Handed To You is more of a collection of observations about Edelman's brothers and his move to the UK but together they bring a realisation of how Edelman is slowly changing and growing up as a comedian.
He holds the audience well and his vibrant storytelling, buildups and punchline delivery make this a fine hour. His stories are wide-ranging, from his observation of those who are part of his cycling club, to his and his friend's inadvertent racism in Soho, to his remarks about Gregg's, all belying a growing understanding of UK life. Mainly, though, the show is focussed on how his Jewish upbringing gave him certain perspectives on the world and how these are changing, and what relationship he has with his brothers (AJ, a twin and a professional bodybuild, and Austin, 13 years younger and, seemingly, "also funny...not kid funny, like properly funny".
There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it's tremendously enjoyable watching Edelman perform - it's going to be interesting seeing how he grows and changes as a comedian.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 20:30
Price: £12 (£10.50) weekend, £10 (£8.50) weekday
Show 26: The Pin: Ten Seconds With The Pin
After having heard about them last year I decided to watch The Pin do a London preview for Edinburgh. Such was the standard of the preview, I recommended it to my friends and booked a ticket to see the show a second time.
Sadly, there seems to have been some magic lost in the transition from the preview to Edinburgh. But first, a precis of the show.
The Pin contrive to make an ultimate sketch that incorporates all the best bits of their previous sketches throughout a show and along the way there are some brilliant comic bits, including a sketch playing on theatre convention of showing beds as upright and the actors holding the bedsheet vertical as if horizontal - Ben gets out of beds and drops on the floor to maintain the geometry of the situation - it's a beautiful play on theatre and brilliant. There's a multitude of other lovely sketches too, including a text exchange of mistaken identity.
In the London preview, the final playback of the supposed 'ultimate sketch' has an incoherent collection of lines but you finally realise the video forms part of a coherent conversation with the live actors commenting on the video. It's a mind-blowing moment of realisation...at least, it was.
Sadly in the Edinburgh version the sketch at the end has fewer lines incorporated from previous sketches and it becomes a bit too meta without the humour. Some great sketches from London are also lost (a memorable one being Ben asking Alex to play a director as Ben plays the actor showing the director a script, a script in which Ben is playing an Actor and Alex a producer who's meeting an actor (played by Ben) who's meeting an executive producer (played by Alex)....you get the picture. Alex is left horrifically confused and I was left in tears). Other sketches too were tweaked but, to me, slightly lost the edge and became either too contrived or had lost their rhythm.
Nevertheless this is a very well put together show with delightful meta-narrative moments but sadly it just didn't have the same vibe as the London previews. Alas...there's always next year, and here's hoping they don't go backwards.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Pleasance Dome:
Dates: 27th-31st August
Time: 19:00
Price: £11 (£10) weekend, £10 (£9) weekday
Sadly, there seems to have been some magic lost in the transition from the preview to Edinburgh. But first, a precis of the show.
The Pin contrive to make an ultimate sketch that incorporates all the best bits of their previous sketches throughout a show and along the way there are some brilliant comic bits, including a sketch playing on theatre convention of showing beds as upright and the actors holding the bedsheet vertical as if horizontal - Ben gets out of beds and drops on the floor to maintain the geometry of the situation - it's a beautiful play on theatre and brilliant. There's a multitude of other lovely sketches too, including a text exchange of mistaken identity.
In the London preview, the final playback of the supposed 'ultimate sketch' has an incoherent collection of lines but you finally realise the video forms part of a coherent conversation with the live actors commenting on the video. It's a mind-blowing moment of realisation...at least, it was.
Sadly in the Edinburgh version the sketch at the end has fewer lines incorporated from previous sketches and it becomes a bit too meta without the humour. Some great sketches from London are also lost (a memorable one being Ben asking Alex to play a director as Ben plays the actor showing the director a script, a script in which Ben is playing an Actor and Alex a producer who's meeting an actor (played by Ben) who's meeting an executive producer (played by Alex)....you get the picture. Alex is left horrifically confused and I was left in tears). Other sketches too were tweaked but, to me, slightly lost the edge and became either too contrived or had lost their rhythm.
Nevertheless this is a very well put together show with delightful meta-narrative moments but sadly it just didn't have the same vibe as the London previews. Alas...there's always next year, and here's hoping they don't go backwards.
Score: 8/10
Venue: Pleasance Dome:
Dates: 27th-31st August
Time: 19:00
Price: £11 (£10) weekend, £10 (£9) weekday
Show 25: Minor Delays
Minor Delay's set up is very interesting and brave. The only props being a chair facing the audience for each member. They sit side-by-side facing the audience and never look at each other but the sketches play out as if they were. Strong potential for this to fall flat but Minor Delays do very well with making this format work very well.
There are some great performances from the members, at times being only a touch too much 'acting' but there are some tremendous moments, the best being the very precocius Graham's look of smugness preceding whatever display of pretentiousness the character will bring out with flourish.
Overall the tone of the show is slightly dark and at times sinister taking humour from slightly horrific circumstances, but it's all done very tastefully and jokes that work well.
There are some great ideas realised very well in the show but nothing really to make one ache.
Nevertheless it's a very fresh format with lightening-quick sketch turnover that's delightful to watch.
Score: 7/10
Venue: Gilded Balloon
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 16:15
Price: £10 (£8) weekends, £8 (£6) weekdays
There are some great performances from the members, at times being only a touch too much 'acting' but there are some tremendous moments, the best being the very precocius Graham's look of smugness preceding whatever display of pretentiousness the character will bring out with flourish.
Overall the tone of the show is slightly dark and at times sinister taking humour from slightly horrific circumstances, but it's all done very tastefully and jokes that work well.
There are some great ideas realised very well in the show but nothing really to make one ache.
Nevertheless it's a very fresh format with lightening-quick sketch turnover that's delightful to watch.
Score: 7/10
Venue: Gilded Balloon
Dates: 27th-30th August
Time: 16:15
Price: £10 (£8) weekends, £8 (£6) weekdays
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