Points of view: theatre, comedy and news
There is a slight element of risk to Ben Pope’s The Cut. If a comedian is talented enough and crafts a joke well, the risk of taking a big swing with a punchline or topic can pay off in a very major way. The Cut is an example of when the opposite happens.
Marjolein Robertson is a storyteller. Yes, a comedian and a fantastic one at that, but one who weaves intricate threads of comedy, folklore and story together into something far greater, for the stories she tells either about her own life or from folklore are no mere anecdotes. They speak to a deeper feeling of truth and heart that surpasses that term. And Robertson really illustrates her gift for story in Lein.
There are some comedy duos and shows that just radiate humour and good-naturedness, overpowering any other emotion that we may be feeling at the moment to the point of entrapping us in their comedy. Lianna Holston and Michael McPheat are such a pair, whose energy and chemistry just project outwards and from the moment that Starter Pack begins we are in their thrall.
The saying ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’ couldn’t be more applicable to Jack Grossman and Zoe Wohlfeld’s A Night Of Drama. What starts off as a perhaps Renaissance-esque, Athenian public square practice of bringing a meritocratic, Speakers’ Corner element to theatre quickly devolves into a Hobbesian thought experiment that perhaps best exemplifies why Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan is still very applicable.
Considering that Amelia Hamilton is the UK’s first rap comic, we expect a certain level of ingenuity as we step into the venue. Hamilton exceeds our expectations a hundredfold. With catchy beats, genuinely unexpected and agile lyrical deviations and turns, Hamilton’s Forget Me Not is an unforgettable comedy-rap remix of non-stop hits, both comedic and musical.
Live performance is one of the best forms of escapism. This rule is perpetuated by Thor Stenhaug’s debut, One Night Stand Baby, an effortlessly funny and clever hour of the purest form of comedy. It’s just a very solid hour of good humour and exquisite comedic craftsmanship that should be on everyone’s list this Fringe.
I left Josie Long’s Now Is The Time Of Monsters shell-shocked and with the understanding that I have greatly underestimated just how stand-up can make me feel. It’s such a powerful hour full of off-beat, effortless and deeply funny comedy, that speaks to something bigger and leaves us with a tonne of questions to reflect on to the point where we feel everything that Long says in the depths of our souls.
Jain Edwards’ She Devil is an admittedly relevant piece of theatre that uses understated character comedy to convey a deeply personal and somewhat political hour of stand-up. It’s definitely an interesting concept, but overall She-Devil doesn’t quite deliver on what we would assume the promise and premise of this show to be.
Burt Williamson’s new show, 104kg of Pure Banter, is in one word fine. Is it funny? Yes. Does it make us laugh? Yes. Is it particularly memorable or different? No. It’s a decent set, but it doesn’t quite spark anything in us or leave us feeling anything apart from the fact that it’s a nice show.
Improv is difficult and subjective, more so than other genre. A performer really has to be at the top of their game in order to be even just halfway decent at improv, because there’s no one tool that they can rely on to move a scene forward. The quality of, improv mostly swings between two extremes, poor and fantastic. Holy Shit Improv can be safely considered the latter.
Pepper & Salt 