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Show: Steve Nallon's Big Odyssey
Performed by: Steve Nallon
When: 18:35
Where: Assembly Rooms, Upper Room
Cost: £11
Steve Nallon was made famous by "Spitting Image". He was most notably the main Thatcher impersonator in the country for much of her reign - at least that which crossed the satire-based humour region of the 80's and beyond. In this show, which I'd heard him discuss on the radio (hence my desire to see it), he used some 50 odd impersonations to put well known characters into the tale of The Odyssey. He described the Greek legend as The Ultimate Road Movie. In his own style, he told the story and did so charmingly. Indeed, I left the show feeling a lot more warm towards him than I had to some of the other performers who had filled that space.
However, some of the problem was the simplicity of the staging - we were asked to follow one man's journey by watching one man on a stage going through a series of characters with little variation in his appearance or movement. This is probably practical, since he had to chance into many characters throughout the show and it would have lost its flow if we'd been awaiting costume changes. However, as with many impressionists, there comes a point where you feel you've reached the limit of how many different voices you can tell apart from the same mouth. To counter this possible problem (where the audience are going "Who's he supposed to be now?") the man pre-announced most of his voices... which somewhat detracts from the enjoyment in my opinion.
In essence, I'm saying that this sort of show is inherently flawed, but can be pulled off very well by an exceptional artist. Mr Nallon did a good job, but it was not magical. I still left having enjoyed the story and with a great deal of affection for the man who even wanted to give us an olive each, as a token of his appreciation, as we walked past him.
Show: Jeff Green
Performed by: Jeff Green
When: 21:00
Where: Assembly Rooms, Ballroom
Cost: £11
This was my last show of the festival. The one you go home on. One of the last shows to be performed at the Fringe 2002.
I've never seen Jeff Green live before. I've always enjoyed his work and always meant to see more of it. My expectations were high. At the same time, I'd just seen 39 other shows in the last few days, I'd laughed a lot and I was exhausted. To get a reaction from me needed something big.
Jeff delivered. He delivered big style. At some points I was crying with laughter. At some points I was so affected by the imagery that he was describing that I had to cover my eyes, despite the fact that it was all in the mind. He is a wonderfully funny and terribly disgusting man. I loved it. Some moments showed the true stand-up at work, as he "went off on one" - suddenly and wantonly making up material, discovering on the way whether it was funny and whether or not he was going into a comedy cul-de-sac - it was all good stuff.
That was it. The last day of the festival. Not too many shows seen, but a chance to pack up and get ready to return to the real world. It was terrible watching the tear-down begin on some of the venues, but real life must come back into play at some point.
Spent £22, saw 2 shows. At the day's end:
Total spent: £343
Total shows seen: 40!
06 July 2003
Ashley Frieze