Category Archives: EdFestivals

+3 Interview: Very Blue Peter

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I became a legal knife-wielding Oyster Shucker. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. But all I know is, I smell like fish more regularly than one man should…”

WHO: Toby Boutall, Writer/Director/Performer

WHAT: “1998. England are out of the World Cup. JK Rowling is still pretty skint. Richard Bacon has been framed. Or did it really happen? Or was it all just a cover-up of something much, much bigger? Get your badge on, here’s one we made earlier, welcome to the set of Very Blue Peter. A bonkers, immersive, party of a late night show – bringing you back to your childhood whilst destroying the innocence of all of it.”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – Billiard Room (Venue 14) 

WHEN: 23:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

As a performer, yes this is my first time at the Fringe and i’m pretty excited! However, I came up last year working with Eastlake Productions helping with shows such as This Is Not Culturally Significant and Your Ever Loving! It was utterly ridiculous. RIDICULOUS.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

This year has been a pretty crazy one. Got seen for Genie on the west end… wasn’t quite right for that. Helped my mates reopen an immense theatre in Tottenham Hale, N16 (even though it’s N17). But by far, the most important thing that happened this year was far away from acting. I became a legal knife-wielding Oyster Shucker. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. But all I know is, I smell like fish more regularly than one man should…

Tell us about your show.

Very Blue Peter is my love child with Eric Andre and Rik Mayall (even though they don’t know it yet). The show centres around the Richard Bacon fiasco of 1998. After being supposedly caught in an illegal adult act, Richard Bacon was fired from the Blue Peter. However, this was all a cover-up for something much, much bigger! TCC (The Children’s Channel) had been cancelled on the 3rd April and 5PM for unknown reasons. After the cancellation of their channel, three disgruntled presenters broke into the BBC studios, Locked and blocked all the doors, kidnapped the school kids, the guests and the techies for that day’s show. They then forced the BBC to record this episode in hope of regaining some credit in their careers, but everything went disastrously wrong… The episode has only just been rediscovered and will be presented in front of your very eyes.

The show is being produced by Eastlake Productions, who recently opened Flesh & Bone at the Soho theatre! The company itself came about through a mix of drinking, football, stupidity and a little bit of theatre. After having worked with almost everyone here before, I knew they’d be the right people to go crazy with! We’ve only done a few in-house previews before hand, so Edinburgh will be getting the proper first previews and run! This is really exciting and we know that if it goes well, then it will go really well and we’ll hope to do a run in one of the theatres Eastlake Productions works with on the regular. if it goes wrong, I’ll find a nice little shack in Lancashire and retire. At 25.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

There are a number of good bars to see at 12 o’clock at night. I like the one with the sofas in, that’s pretty neat. And Frankenstein’s for the mad one. Oh yeh, in terms of theatre, probably Loop, probably Ouroboros, maybe some of the young lads Naughty Corner’s productions…

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EIFF: “In Darkness” (28 June ’18)

Posted in 3*, Books & Film, EdFestivals 2018, EdFestivals 2018 – Reviews, Other, Rated: Nae Bad by

“A daringly twisty, commendably unpredictable erotic thriller with much more to it than meets the eye.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars: Nae Bad

If and when you watch In Darkness, you will think a lot of thoughts. Many of them might go something like “What just happened?” or “What am I watching?” or “Is this all the same movie?” but suffice it to say that this daringly twisty, commendably unpredictable erotic thriller has much, much more to it than meets the eye. That is not always a good thing, as the film spends most of its runtime running off the rails of its supposed ‘plot,’ but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t an entertaining trip.

The film was written by real-life partners Anthony Byrne and Natalie Dormer; Byrne directs, Dormer stars. If you are fan of Ms. Dormer’s, possibly from her star turns in Game of Thrones or the Hunger Games franchise, then you will enjoy this film. It is a star-vehicle through and through, with nearly every shot focusing on some part of Dormer, whether her striking face or nimble physicality. Notably, Dormer proves her mettle as a very capable lead actress, and this film makes a solid case for more female-led stories written by the actresses themselves; Dormer’s character, Sofia, is a well-rounded and trustworthy focal point of the story, flitting through classy and dangerous scenarios with grace and thrilling movement. 

If only the story was as well-rounded and trustworthy. Heavens, what a license Dormer and Byrne’s story takes with the audience’s suspension of disbelief! After a striking, standout title sequence (which sets the stage excellently for a slick, exciting thriller to come), we are introduced to Sofia, a blind musician who glides around London with remarkable street smarts and style. The first 20-25 minutes continue like this, with a rich aesthetic palette and a fun, knife-edge sense of building danger. Her upstairs neighbor Veronique (Emily Ratajkowski) is clearly wrapped up in some nasty business, and when she turns up dead on the pavement outside their building, the plot thickens with Hitchcockian craftiness. Who killed her and why are the setup for the rest of the film’s twists and turns, but without spoiling anything, let me forewarn you that Veronique quickly becomes old news in favor of a much scummier, more complicated spider’s web of crime and revenge. 

For the first leg of In Darkness, the film makes a truly riveting imitation of classic Hitchcock and Wait Until Dark-esque blind-character craftwork — especially in a tense, nail-biting scene where assassin Marc (Ed Skrein) intends to kill Sofia for what she has seen, but notices her blindness and decides to follow her around her apartment in silence. Scenes like these are so fun and well crafted that the later dramatic shifts in tone and focus are more unfortunate than thrilling — there is a notable shift from Hitchcock to Jason Bourne all of a sudden that undoes a great deal of the film’s accomplishments with head-scratching intensity. 

Ultimately, that is the central problem of In Darkness — it has so many fetching elements to it, from the compelling star to the vintage first chapter to the stupendous use of music (again, only up until the tone change), yet it keeps undoing all that commendable work with silly plot twists. Twists, plural, mind you — each of which edge the film closer to completely undoing itself. As a fan of twists myself, I commend Dormer and Byrne’s ballsiness in their final few reveals, but I came out of the theatre feeling played for a fool, rather than hoodwinked by a clever storyteller. 

In Darkness is amusing genre excitement, and has potential as a twist-film highlight among those who enjoy just being confused, but it will mostly remind you how much better a straight-shooting classic crime thriller treats its own plot. Credit belongs to Natalie Dormer, however, for rooting it all in a fascinating lead — I can honestly say I would watch whatever she writes and stars in next. 

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller (Seen 28 June)

Go to In Darkness at the EIFF

EIFF: “Hearts Beat Loud” (30 June ’18)

Posted in 3*, Books & Film, EdFestivals 2018, EdFestivals 2018 – Reviews, Other, Rated: Unrated by

Credit: courtesy of Sundance Film Festival

“A sweet, caring hug of a movie.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars

Baristas. Beard oil. Acoustic sessions. Obscure pastries. Brooklyn. Brett Haley’s Hearts Beat Loud has no shortage of any of these. It is a sweet, caring hug of a movie. If you would like a nice time, and do not mind drowning in sweetness, you might enjoy it. If you find acoustic guitar soliloquies somewhat overrated, then you might want to spend your time some other way.

Haley’s film was supposedly crafted as a “response” to all the disgusting behavior coming out of the White House and other assorted American institutions — to his credit, the film bathes itself in the loveliest versions of American city life it can imagine, from an adorable record store to a biracial family to a deeply loving father-daughter dynamic to a healthy dose of LGBT positivity. These are all, don’t get me wrong, very good things, and especially in these times when calls for more diversity in the film world are met with pathetically backwards ignorance. Haley has done very well to color his film the way he has. Thankfully, Hearts Beat Loud does show more darkly realistic sides as well, for example: the record store, owned by father Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman), is running out of money and time; Frank has had to raise his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons) alone as his wife passed away in a bike accident years before; Sam is going to UCLA, on the other side of the country, which means her fledgling summer love is destined to come to an unfortunately early end. All these are solid plot points, yet despite them, the film just cannot quite graduate out of the sickly-sweet genre into genuine character drama at any point. 

The plot follows Frank as he decides he has to close his store, Red Hook Records, in order to pay for Sam’s college. In a cute attempt to cheer himself and his daughter up, Frank drags Sam to their “jam sesh” room, where Sam plays a few lines from a song she wrote earlier that day. They record the song with their inexplicably state-of-the-art home studio (this, from a man who later claims to ‘not have a penny’ to his name), and Frank covertly uploads it to Spotify. It becomes an overnight sensation, and although Sam would rather go to college than be in a band with her dad, Frank is torn whether they should try and go for success in the industry or continue living their local lives. 

Offerman and Clemons are the lifeblood of this film; without them it would truly have been an unremarkable experience. Offerman in particular taps into his talent for hilariously giddy facial expressions very well, and imbues Frank with serious charm and kindness. Clemons, after blowing us all away with her scene-stealing turn in Rick Famuyiwa’s mini-masterpiece Dope, is captivating as ever as Sam, particularly when she plays music and sings so darn well — mark my words, Clemons can seriously sing. Supporting them is a nice cast of characters with mostly nice performances; Blythe Danner is charming as Frank’s mischievous mother Marianne, Toni Collette and Ted Danson are fine as Frank’s adult friends, and Sasha Lane is alright but a little morose as Sam’s girlfriend Rose.

The hit song itself, titled, of course, “Hearts Beat Loud,” is a fun and catchy indie pop number that will probably get your toe tapping, and is genuinely well-written, but so like every other fun, catchy indie pop number that the effect is somewhat limited. Other than this track, however, the songs are either overwrought or twee as hell. One unintentionally funny scene comes when Frank tries to convince Sam they should play more music together by getting out his acoustic guitar and moaning out one of his old songs he wrote back in the day; the scene ends with Sam in tears at what a moving performance her father just gave, but, gosh, what a dull and unremarkable tune it was.

This is part of the issue with Hearts Beat Loud: it gives you nice feelings here and there, but a lot of the themes and plot beats are just not as ‘important’ as Haley seems to think they are. Take the way the script handles music itself: sure, artists like Mitski and Animal Collective are exceedingly talented musicians, but two scenes each featuring different characters describing how great they are is too much. Look at it this way: you know that feeling when someone describes a band to you that you don’t know all that well, and won’t stop telling you about them anyway? This film sounds like that, for 97 minutes. Couple that with an insufferable amount of Brooklyn-specific references and a pretty lame sense of humor, and that is the base of Hearts Beat Loud’s approach. (Side note: Haley seems to have inadvertently created a personification of what The Guardian called ‘The New Boring‘ – referring to perfectly harmless tunes and ‘beige pop’ tendencies that has taken over the music scene of the last few years – this is essentially the movie version.)

To be fair, there are moments that are compelling through and through. Offerman is on top form during the scene where he realizes the band has gone viral, the true comedic highlight of the film. The final performance has energy and style to spare. And yes, the central question of how Sam and Frank are going to handle their potential for transcendent music-making is quite interesting. (Although, it is a little insulting from time to time that the film seems to suggest Sam is considering not going to the medical school she has dreamed of since childhood to pursue playing indie pop with her dad instead … an infuriatingly stupid plot point that, if the film had ended a certain way, would have lowered this even farther in my regard.)

Overall, this is a forgettable film with some pleasant performances and a truly nice heart, for better or worse.

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller (Seen 30 June)

Go to Hearts Beat Loud at the EIFF

 

EIFF: “Humor Me” (28 June ’18)

Posted in 3*, Books & Film, EdFestivals 2018, EdFestivals 2018 – Reviews, Other, Rated: Nae Bad by

Image courtesy of LA Film Festival

“Explores the relationship between fatherhood, responsibility, and humor with grace.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars: Nae Bad

A warning to all who see this film: you will be telling and re-telling all the giddily awful jokes and one-liners within it to yourself and whoever will listen for days to come. Sam Hoffman’s Humor Me is a mixed bag of thin plotting, some uneven performances, and a few touching moments, but its elaborate jests are a laudable standout. As a relatively well-crafted, harmless dramedy, it satisfies.

The film stars New Zealand comedy goldmine Jemaine Clement as Nate, a self-doubting playwright, who hits rock bottom all at once and must move in to a retirement home community with his father Bob, played by the legendary Elliott Gould. Lowbrow yet brilliant jokes are Bob’s stock and trade, and Hoffman must be commended for the reverent way he realizes the elaborate scenarios the setups describe. Humor Me opens in striking monochrome, with vintage music and sound, all amusingly presented as if it is meant for a different film entirely, until Gould’s voiceover begins and it becomes clear this is all leading towards an elaborate punchline. These visuals return every time a particularly long-winded joke is delivered, and the effect is far and away the most memorable and creative aspect Humor Me has to offer. Not to imply that the film is otherwise dithering, far from it, yet nothing quite fits together as well as these scenes.

Clement is a pleasant lead, albeit with a slightly strangled delivery here and there, which can be forgiven as his American accent is not his natural lilt. Gould is certainly a standout for his layered portrayal of the aging jokester, especially in later scenes of conflict; two quite moving examples can be found in moments where Nate questions how Bob has moved on after his wife’s passing, for one, and most notably when they re-watch a VHS of Nate’s first play, which includes, and indicts, an all-too-familiar joking father who seems to ignore pressing problems within his own family. In scenes like these, the film explores the relationship between fatherhood, responsibility, and humor with grace. 

However, the weaker sides of the film are unfortunately hard to overlook. While the monochrome joke-telling segments are delightful, most of the rest of the comedic lines are just not all that funny. To paraphrase an ‘SNL’ (NBC’s Saturday Night Live) zinger, the lines are funny, but not “ha-ha” funny. The whole script is reminiscent of the kind of neurotic-chic off-Broadway play that Nate himself works on within the film, yet it is unclear whether Hoffman finds this style laughable or laudable. The title of Nate’s first play, A Crack In the Clouds, and the way he speaks about theatre in general, are so pretentious that one would think Hoffman is making a joke about derivative, self-important writing, yet the film itself has lines and scenarios just as irritatingly overwrought as the plays he seems to be mocking. One montage in particular, set to the song “Be Ok” by Ingrid Michaelson (who plays supporting love interest Allison fairly well) is just so twee I thought I would implode. Michaelson’s character, and the character of Nate’s ex-wife (played by Maria Dizzia), are also low points in the script; with the exception of some very amusing old ladies, most of the female characters are complete afterthoughts or stereotypes, particularly the ‘heartless ex-wife’ schtick, personified in a character so unbelievably cold and uncaring that one might reasonably think Hoffman has a serious hang-up about ex-wives. 

Hoffman, previous to his filmmaking career, was well-known as the creator of popular podcast Old Jews Telling Jokes, which is everything it says on the tin. It comes as no surprise then that this, his feature debut, is basically Old Jews Telling Jokes: The Movie, but if that sounds up your street, then by all means give the overall pleasant Humor Me a go. 

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Nathaniel Brimmer-Beller (Seen 28 June)

Go to Humor Me at the EIFF

+3 Interview: Belly of a Drunken Piano

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“Each time he performs in the UK, Stewart pulls together an awesome band of Scottish artists and this year is no exception.”

WHO: Sandy Bruns, Producer

WHAT: “Multi-award winning performer and artistic director Stewart D’Arrietta (My Leonard Cohen, Fringe 2016-17) returns with a new show for 2018. Belly of a Drunken Piano offers gritty, imaginative arrangements of the most-loved music from the most enigmatic and influential songwriters of the age, punctuated by D’Arrietta’s laconic humour and compositions of his own. The lyrical tragedies and jocular narratives of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, Ian Dury, and others, inhabit the underworld of D’Arrietta’s drunken piano. All five-star reviews at Adelaide Fringe 2018 – ‘Not to be missed’ (BroadwayWorld.com). ‘10/10!’ (TheAdelaideShow.com.au).”

WHERE: Assembly Rooms – Ballroom 18:15 (Venue 20) 

WHEN: 18:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Stewart is a regular at the Edinburgh Festivals, this year being his fifth year at EdFringe. In 2016-17, ‘My Leonard Cohen’ was a big success with audiences, but he’s returning with a new show for 2018, titled ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’, in which he’s taking on the material of Tom Waits, Ian Dury, Randy Newman and other musical legends.

Each time he performs in the UK, Stewart pulls together an awesome band of Scottish artists and this year is no exception.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

The biggest thing for us since 2017 was the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Feb/March, at which Stewart premiered ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’, to great acclaim. The show earned four reviews, all of them 5 star, including 5 stars from the Adelaide Advertiser (which is the Adelaide equivalent of getting a 5 star review from The Scotsman).

Tell us about your show.

We premiered the show at Adelaide Fringe Festival earlier this year. It represents a welcome return to some of Stewart’s favourite material, the music of Tom Waits, which he has worked with extensively in the past. Having performed his Tom Waits show (also titled ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’) in New York for five years, Stewart was surprised to find himself faced with a ‘cease and desist’ order from the man himself!

This reincarnation of ‘Belly of a Drunken Piano’ offers gritty, imaginative arrangements of music from the most enigmatic and influential songwriters of the age, including Tom Waits, Randy Newman and Ian Dury, among others, punctuated by D’Arrietta’s laconic humour and compositions of his own.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

The Girl Who Jumped Off The Hollywood Sign – I saw it last year, very good. And we’re really looking forward to seeing stand up comedian Camilla Cleese, daughter of John Cleese, who is producing his daughter’s show. We bet it’ll be brilliant!

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+3 Interview: The Delightful Sausage: Regeneration Game

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“Last year went embarrassingly well. Reviewers and audiences liked it. We really weren’t prepared for that.”

WHO: Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill, The acts

WHAT: “Surreal comedy from Yorkshire’s finest, meat-themed double act. Join Chris and Amy in a gag-packed mission to crown their town the City of Culture. Find out what culture is, who’s been secreting it and why that stain won’t wash. A multimedia adventure for fans of economic recession, blue top milk and Bigfoot. The follow-up to the duo’s debut show which was recorded for NextUp and transferred to the Soho Theatre. ‘One of the best adverts for modern alternative comedy’ **** (EdFestMag.com). ‘Inventive and increasingly hysterical’ **** (Skinny). ‘Brims with ideas and creativity’ **** (ThreeWeeks).”

WHERE: Monkey Barrel Comedy Club – Monkey Barrel 2 (Venue 515) 

WHEN: 12:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It will be our second time up there as a duo. (Chris did a solo show in 2016 and the twelve people who saw it have never been the same since.)

Last year went embarrassingly well. Reviewers and audiences liked it. We really weren’t prepared for that. We were brought solidly back to Earth though when we got back to the confused grimaces of comedy clubs of the north-west.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

We had a run at Soho Theatre which was a huge deal for us. On the last night all four of our parents were on the front row, and Chris had a tiny cry on stage, which has never happened out of joy before. Amy’s dad shook everybody’s hand in the theatre bar and since then we’ve both had the confidence to complain in restaurants.

Tell us about your show.

Regeneration Game is a bizarre comedy show, loosely (oh so loosely) based around a City of Culture bid. It features trolls, unsettling illustrations and is packed tight with gags. We write (secrete ) and produce it ourselves with the overseeing, ever-twitching eye, of our agent.

We met whilst performing as solo acts in the Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year final and both of us ended up relocating to Manchester and needing someone to have a Cheeky Vimto with.

Regeneration Game will premier at the festival this year and if the friendship survives, it will be going on a small tour of the UK early next year.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

We’d highly recommend having a day at The Monkey Barrel, their programming is innovative, often silly and of a really high standard.

Our other picks of the fringe would be;
Ross Brierley – Accumulator.
James Meehan – Gaz
Jack Evans – Work
David Callaghan – One for Sorrow, Two for Joy – Shoes.
Sleeping Trees – World Tour
Lazy Suzan – Forgive Me, Mother!
Harriet Dyer- Sooz A Prick
Lou Conran – At Least I’m Not Dog Poo Darren
Lee Kyle – Kicking Potatoes

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+3 Interview: KillyMuck

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I took last year off to pay all the credit cards and loans I took out to fund my work!”

WHO: Kat Woods, Writer/Director/Producer

WHAT: “Inspired by real events, Killymuck is a housing estate built on a paupers graveyard in 1970s Ireland. Niamh navigates life through the parameters of growing up, with the trials and tribulations of being a kid from the benefit class system. Lack of opportunity, educational barriers, impoverishment, addiction and depression are the norms as the struggle to escape the underclass stereotype becomes a priority. From school trips organised as cross-community excursions to unite a fractured post troubles town, to finding the humour within an estate crippled with misfortune. From award-winning, critically acclaimed writer of Belfast Boy, Wasted, Mule.”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Jersey (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 18:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

In 2004 I went on a Hen party to Edinburgh and one of the only things I can remember was the Frankenstein bar and a very drunken open top bus tour!

This will actually be my fourth Edinburgh Fringe. My previous shows include BELFAST BOY in 2014 (Sold out and won; The Stage award for Excellence and The Fringe Review award for Outstanding Theatre), WASTED (Sell out shows transferred to New York and London) in 2015 and MULE in 2016 (Sell out shows transferred to London and Northern Ireland). I took last year off to pay all the credit cards and loans I took out to fund my work!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I cleared my credit card, working a million Restaurant hours!

I signed with a fantastic writing agent, Alex Rusher at Independent Talent. Found my writing Mojo again and penned Killymuck. Mule went on tour to Northern Ireland. Belfast Boy took part in a producing showcase in London. Wasted premiered in Wales.

My company have been invited to Baltimore and Washington DC, at the end of August to present Wasted as part of a college campus tour.

Tell us about your show.

I am the Writer/Director/Producer. The show is a solo piece of theatre and will be performed by Aoife Lennon. I have known Aoife from doing a Drama Degree in Derry N.Ireland over 10 years ago and I have worked with her on a few pieces, most notably, our last EdFringe piece Mule.

Killymuck is an exploration of issues surrounding class, that I have experienced throughout my childhood and adult life. I am from a council estate, grew up on benefits. With the rise of unpaid internships, unpaid work in general and cuts to arts funding. I felt compelled to write something. We are in danger of the arts becoming solely an elitist playground. Yes, ‘Fleabag’ is fantastic but it is yet another middle-class voice. Where is the representation of the underclass, have we been forgotten? No one speaks of us. It’s time to change that.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

I am always a little bias towards other Irish shows and in saying that, ‘My Left Nut’ by Michael Patrick and ‘Maz and Bricks’ by Eva O’Connor both look incredible.

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+3 Interview: Jeremy Nicholas: After Dinner Stories from My Disastrous Broadcasting Career

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“This is my Edinburgh debut at the age of 55. I’ve been many times to watch and always loved it.”

WHO: Jeremy Nicholas, Writer and performer

WHAT: “Sony Award-winning broadcaster Jeremy Nicholas brings his hilarious debut hour. Based on true-life stories from 27 years of trying not to get fired on TV and radio with the BBC. There was the time he reported on the face of Elvis in the blue veins of a cheese or his catastrophic mistake to a global TV audience during London 2012. You’ll also get the inside track on the dreadful celebrities he’s interviewed. Jeremy has been described as ‘a complete anchor’, but he may have misheard. Not to be missed.”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – Nightclub (Venue 14) 

WHEN: 13:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my Edinburgh debut at the age of 55. I’ve been many times to watch and always loved it.
Last year I was chatting to a South African theatre director about me doing comedy and he said ‘oh you must bring your one-man show to our theatre in Johannesburg’.

Now I’m a very experienced after-dinner speaker, but the comedy I was talking about is a class I do on a Monday night with adult performing arts academy Stage & the City at Kings Cross.

However, as we’d just done some improv sessions with our fab teacher Maddy Anholt, where we learnt to say ‘yes, and ….’, I found myself saying, ‘yes that would be lovely, when shall I come?’

He offered me a date in December, which gave me four months to weave three hours worth of long-form after-dinner stories into a punchy Greatest Hits-style comedy show.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

So on December 12th I found myself performing a one man, one hour show for the first time, in Johannesburg. I figured if I was rubbish, no one would ever need to hear about it, as it was a long way from home.

But it wasn’t rubbish. It sold out and I got great reviews in the papers. Mainly in Afrikaans, so I’m not sure what it said, but it was all good apparently.

I’d promised myself that if it was good I’d take it to Edinburgh. So I applied to six venues and waited to see if I got in.

My best ever day was on March 15th (the Ides of March) when Gilded Balloon said yes. I couldn’t believe I’d got into such a prestigious venue. I thought I’d be in a tiny space on the outskirts somewhere. And then when I looked to see who else was on at my venue and saw Luisa Omielan was, I suddenly was completely overwhelmed, because she’s one of my all-time comedy heroes.

Tell us about your show.

So now I’d got my slot, I thought I need a much better show than I actually have. I’m one of the top after-dinner speakers in my category, which is: Speakers you’ve never heard of, who haven’t climbed anything, overcome anything or won something involving a ball.’

This show needed to be more than just me rambling on. So I hired Maddy Anholt to produce it for me. She’s my comedy teacher from Monday nights at Kings Cross, who inspired me to do this.

I picked her because I saw her Edinburgh show ‘Herselves’ last year and was blown away by it. She’s superb at comedy characters and has her own production company MadMaddy TV.

Maddy has made me much punchier. She’s added theatricality to my performance. My background is current affairs presenting on TV and radio, so I’m used to being quite calm. One of my producers once described me as ‘a complete anchor’ but I may have misheard. With Maddy’s direction I came out of my shell. She allowed me to develop my stories by adding more accents and becoming the characters, rather than just talking about them.

I’ve seen the show go from quite good, to rather good, to quite possibly brilliant. I could never have done that on my own.

The show started as a ‘work in progress’ at the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell, London, with other shows at the Museum of Comedy in Holborn, Hen and Chickens in Islington and Turk’s Head in Twickenham.

I then played to a sell out crowd at the British Legion in Radcliffe on Trent in Nottingham. That’s when I thought it might be good.

The scariest gig was the Quay Theatre, Sudbury to an audience that included my Mum, Dad, sisters, aunties, uncles and old school friends. (My mum features in one of my big punchlines and I was worried she’d stand up and say ‘I never said that!’)

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

I would suggest going to see Luisa Omielan: Politics for Bitches. I saw a short bit of it at The List launch in London and it looks fab. If it’s anywhere near as good as her last two Edinburgh shows, What Would Beyonce Do? and Am I Right Ladies? it will be brilliant.

Bernie Dieter’s Little Death Club will be fab if you’re after cabaret, along with The Secret Divorce Society with Till Death Us Do Part?

As for stand-ups I’m going to Hal Cruttenden, Lou Sanders, Lauren Pattison, Heidi Regan, Tim Key, Zoe Lyons and Gary Delaney.

I’d recommend going to compilation shows like Fast Fringe, Spank! and Late ‘n’ Live. That’s where I go to find shows I’d never think of going to.

As an after-dinner speaker myself, I’ll be going to see Gyles Brandreth in Break a Leg! He has so many fun stories from inside politics as well as more serious stuff from Countdown. This time it’s all theatrical anecdotes.

I’m also a fan of interview type shows like Fred MacAulay in Conversation. I love to hear people just chatting, rather than performing and Fred is the master of that.

And one last shout out to a serious bit of drama from David William Bryan, In Loyal Company about a missing WWII airman. This guy is a phenomenal performer.

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+3 Interview: Sid Singh: American Bot

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I graduated from law school after living in San Francisco for the past 3 years specializing in refugee law and also start up law. So really the moment I can help a refugee who invents something, my non-comedy career path will be set.”

WHO: Sid Singh, Comedian

WHAT: “Silicon Valley dominates the news with the richest man in the world (Jeff Bezos), a website that helped spread fake news and swing a presidential election (Facebook), and a future presidential candidate (Mark F*cking Zuckerberg). Join Silicon Valley native Sid Singh, fresh off his best-selling comedy album Amazing! Probably, returning to Edinburgh to take down Silicon Valley’s toxic tech culture. From tech’s invasion into our personal lives, to the rampant sexism and racism that festers behind closed doors, the world of tech has never been more problematic or more powerful.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Mash House – Just the Cask Room (Venue 288) 

WHEN: 18:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my fifth time doing Edinburgh and my first new hour since I released my first comedy album “Amazing (Probably)” last year! I love the Fringe and am excited to be back!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I graduated from law school after living in San Francisco for the past 3 years specializing in refugee law and also start up law. So really the moment I can help a refugee who invents something, my non-comedy career path will be set. I also only went to law school initially to please my parents so to actually be done is one of the weirdest feelings in the world.

Tell us about your show.

As I mentioned above, I’ve now been doing stand up for almost a decade and most of my comedy was very introspective and self-deprecating. Then I moved to San Francisco after having been gone for 10 years and my perspective completely changed. My hometown has basically been sold off into a playground for the rich. Thanks to law school I was able to become one of the heads of the Homeless Legal Services and also volunteer for the Legal Action Resources Clinic and see first hand how the city has changed for the worst and actively hurt people who need our help the most.

So I decided to write a show about that, specifically how the tech billionaires who control much of San Francisco are crazy and should get a lot less respect than the working class that still make up this city. Despite the fact that it’s my first ever show with a message (which would normally go against my general brand of New York styled comedy), I believe the show can be one of my funniest ever too.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Honestly, the reality of the Fringe is that you’re best served watching as many shows as possible to get as many perspectives as possible. So in addition to the shows I’ll recommend, please do just wander about and get talked into seeing anything that strikes your fancy.

As for shows that I do want to specifically recommend: Droll by the Owle Scheme Theatre is such a fun show. Basically, the premise is what if a bunch of really fun and talented performers put on a play from 400 years ago that was ILLEGAL at the time it was written and didn’t take themselves too seriously? The result is a really fun time. As a man raised with a large amount of toxic masculinity that he has to overcome, I was shocked by how much I liked this play, especially one that describes itself as experimental classical theatre.

As for comedy, go watch this amazing list of people if you can: Dan Audritt, Tamar Broadbent, Ed Night, Aatif Nawaz, Peter Michael Marino, Jamie Oliphant, Rahul Kohli, and Eshaan Akbar. They are all so different from each other and that is what makes them also so unique and distinct in super interesting ways.

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+3 Interview: Nick Hall: Spencer

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I had my appendix taken out. It was a huge moment in my life when I stared death right in the eyes and kicked it in the balls.”

WHO: Nick Hall, Writer/Performer

WHAT: “Spencer Percival has one claim to fame. He’s the only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated. Unfortunately, no one’s ever heard of him. 206 years later, Nick Hall tells his story. In this inventive and hilarious journey through history, Nick brings alive the world of the 19th century, while drawing parallels with the present. In this age of Brexit, Trump, Corbynista and Maybot, could we still learn something from the past? As seen on BBC Two and Three, and heard on BBC Radio 4. ‘Brilliant’ (Times). ‘Crackingly original’ **** (List). ‘One not to miss’ **** (Skinny).”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Clover (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 13:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my 8th year of coming to the Fringe! There’s something very depressing about writing out that sentence. That said, once you come up here it’s a great fun and you wonder where else in the world you’d like to be. Then by the end of August you can’t wait to get away. And the cycle starts all over again…

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I had my appendix taken out. It was a huge moment in my life when I stared death right in the eyes and kicked it in the balls. The moment when the nurse turned to me and said, ‘Yep it’s definitely appendicitis’ was a truly life-changing bombshell which put things in perspective. Coming round the next day after the general anaesthetic I swore that I would lead life to the full, and not waste a single moment. Six months later I’m eating Pringles while I write this and preparing to go to the Fringe for the umpteenth time. But I’ve got a really good show. Which is actually sort of about death.

Tell us about your show.

My show is called Spencer – it’s written and performed by myself (egotistical I know). There is no company apart from myself – I’m a one-man company. A manpony. Although that just sounds like a man and a pony were genetically fused together in a Fly-like scenario. It’s directed by an wonderful lady named Jess Lazar and is being premiered in London in the run-up to Edinburgh. As for what happens after, touring around London and the UK hopefully, and then who knows? By the way that isn’t a rhetorical question, I’m genuinely asking the reader what I should do next.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

You should check out the hilarious stand-up stylings of Dan Cook. He’s a brilliantly funny man who also happens to be my flat mate in Edinburgh. I’m therefore recommending him in a bid to sooth his gigantic ego and try and curry favour when it turns out that I accidentally used his milk.

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