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Show: Finding Bin Laden
Performed by: Gilded Balloon Productions & Henry Naylor
When: 15:45
Where: Gilded Balloon Teviot
Cost: £7.50
I went to see a play. Ok, so it was a comedy play, but a serious subject matter - a real life subject matter. It was exceedingly good. The writer - one half of Radio's Parsons and Naylor (a comedy duo) was the hook which attracted me. I was expecting something that made me laugh, but I was not really clued up on what the show was about.
The setting was the war reporters in Afghanistan, searching for a story among the locals and the army. Under pressure to get a story - any story, and under pressure from the army to relay any intelligence they did find.
The play was exceedingly funny in places, setting up several farcical situations as people's desperation to win shallow personal victories led them up the garden path. However, the amusement did not mask the true sense of desperation behind the situation. In addition, the overall message was very moving. Essentially it was better for the world to feel that Bin Laden is out there being hunted than to feel that he's dead and buried - the world needs bad guys and the press and army are there to provide for that need. Dark stuff.
The writing and direction were excellent - thanks to Mr Naylor - and the cast were virtually prompt-free, though in a hot room in a busy festival that's more of a success than it sounds. Nothing detracted from the pace of the scene we saw unfolding.
Show: The Great Big Comedy Picnic
Performed by: Various - Manchester Comics
When: 17:30
Where: The Pod
Cost: £7
Hosted by the glamourous Jonathon Maier, who sensibly arranged the crowd into an excellent format for comedy - one nice tight block (rather than the coliseum style of the room). This gig was a series of short spots from Manchester comedians. We had Roland Gent, SWOB and Ian Fox. In my showbiz way, I can claim I've worked on the same bill as the latter two, but I won't! The headline was Anvil Springstien who is an absolute master of putting life into a reserved audience - they were reserved no longer when he'd finished with them. Good fun gig and good to support some rising stars.
Show: Bill Bailey - Part Troll
Performed by: Bill Bailey
When: 19:10
Where: Pleasance One
Cost: £12.50
Sorry, there's a mistake there... that should be cost - "I don't care how much". Bill Bailey is a comedy god and I was happy to have the chance to see him perform live. He did not disappoint. Highlights included laughing out loud live at some of the material I have seen him do before but which seemed better with him only a few feet away just doing it. Also his musical humour - including a Portishead-style alternative national anthem and "what would happen if U2 had a technical problem" were fantastic. Also I got to see him working his cool aerial-instrumenty thing... how fantastic was that!
He had a heckler who soon found himself being heckled by the audience - 400 voices shouting "shut up" spontaneously to the same man was probably a great moment in his life. Mr Bailey was outwitting the poor sod anyway, but with the audience completely on the side of the performer, the heckler should, perhaps have realised that he'd have been better off trying his half-wit somewhere else. Perhaps alone at home.
Show: The Comedy Cave
Performed by: Various
When: 21:00
Where: Nicol Edwards
Cost: £2
Was this a festival show? Well, I saw it during the festival and it was a comedy show and I did pay for it, so YES. However, this show does run the rest of the time as well - it was the venue I played last week. Still, with their increased Fringe cover price of £2, I was prepared to give it a go. What I didn't realise, when I was ordering the small clutch of pints I drank at the start of the evening, was that I'd be performing on that stage. They asked me to fill in for a missing act - a wee 10 minute spot. So, I grabbed a diet coke and a borrowed guitar and did the necessary.
Headline act was Vladimir McTavish - an excellent performer who raised the roof off the place beautifully. I've seen him before in one of his other guises. We had a chat afterwards - very good bloke!
My routine? Well, I remember the days when I used to worry about filling 10 minutes - now I would worry about keeping a routine that short. I did about 12 minutes. Five of straight stand-up-style-blethering, and the rest with the guitar - moderate response, but some people came up afterwards and seemed to have been almost "touched" by some of it... yikes! That'll teach me to do stuff that's basically true!
The day started very well and, although I missed the first show I'd planned to see, I saw 4 things I had planned to and spent £29 doing it. I'll count the cave as both a watched and been in, since I did watch the whole thing.
Total shows seen: 8
Total shows performed: 2
Total spent: £57.50
07 August 2003
Ashley Frieze