Fringe Fragments - Part 1

In which I drone on about some shows I saw at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.....

First and foremost, let me preface this post by saying that I am not in any way shape or form a reviewer, but I did want to put down some thoughts on my experiences of this year's Fringe festival. And since I'm not a reviewer (and a relative newbie to the world of theatre), these thoughts are as likely to be about the weather, or how comfortable the seats are at a given venue, as they are about the performances I've seen.

Every Fringe show operates the infuriating practice of unreserved seating, so if you are seeing anything in one of the big rooms you have to queue outside at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start time if you want to secure a decent seat. Which, since it's Edinburgh, means standing outside in the rain for quite a large part of your day. And sometimes even during the show.... but more of that later.

Sarah Millican - Assembly Main Hall

Venue - This was my first visit to the Assembly Hall, and once I got over my initial amusement at seeing a bar set up in the courtyard of a building I know best as the venue for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, I had to admit it's a pretty decent venue for comedy (although I still prefer the now defunct Assembly Rooms on George Street). The space easily holds over 800 people without seeming overcrowded, the seats are very comfortable, and although a lot of them are side on to the stage this doesn't seem to matter in a show like this one. 

Show - Sarah has become a bit of a shining star of the British comedy scene over the past couple of years, thanks to numerous TV appearances on programmes such as Live At The Apollo. Anyone expecting similar fodder in her live routine, however, might just be in for a bit of a shock. While Sarah's schtick even on TV is to fool the audience into thinking she's demure before launching into some crude anecdotes about relationships. Freed from the constraints of broadcasting guidelines, this is something she pushes even further and I expect managed to shock quite a few people who only know her from her television work - a few words did draw audible gasps from the audience. 

The premise of this show is that everyone can be defined as either being cautious or a risk taker, and urged us all to pick whether we were dodgems (cautious), or bumper cars (risk takers), and announcing that we would be able to cement these choices with the now obligatory Fringe badges at the end of the show . In revealing her own anxieties, Sarah was somewhat upstaged by a revelation from a girl in the front row which gave us probably the best line of the night.

Overall, this was a solid hour of feelgood comedy, albeit with few outright belly laughs. And for the record, I'm a dodgem.

4/5

Simon Callow in Tuesdays at Tescos - Assembly Main Hall

Venue - Although this is exactly the same room as Sarah Millican is playing to, something didn't quite work with the side stalls here. Most of the action is projected forward, so some of the impact was lost when viewed side on. I did still get wet queuing outside, and the seats were still really comfortable though.

Show - As you might expect, Simon Callow was mesmerising as the transexual Pauline, bringing you completely into her world, feeling her pain at the constant rejection by her father. However, I must admit there were a couple of bits that jarred slightly (possibly because I'm not smart enough to get them). Although this was a solo show, there was a pianist onstage throughout playing fragments of songs on an out of tune piano, and at times Pauline even 'danced' along. I'm sure this was meant to be a metaphor for something, but to me it was just a distraction from the story Pauline was trying to tell.

4/5

Ruby Wax: Losing It - Udderbelly's Pasture

Venue - Where to start with this one..... Another long queue outside (although thankfully the rain stayed off for the duration), and doors didn't open until the scheduled show start time - meaning that proceedings were running about 10 minutes late, which can be a big issue in Edinburgh if you have another show to get to afterwards. Seats were ridiculously uncomfortable - I'm about 5'6" and was struggling for legroom, so goodness knows how bad it must have been for anyone taller. And just to finish things off, by virtue of the fact that this venue is an upturned inflatable cow, noise from outside was clearly audible inside, all of which may have coloured my opinion of the performance.

Show - This is Ruby's account of her battle with mental illness, and her desire to get people talking about mental health in an attempt to remove the stigma attached to it. As she says, one in four of us will suffer from some form of mental illness at some point, so why are we still afraid to talk about it openly? Since this is Ruby Wax there is a lot of humour here, some of which doesn't quite hit the mark and as a result prevented me connecting with the material as much as I would have liked. Like Tuesdays at Tescos, although this is billed as a solo show Ruby is actually sharing the stage with a pianist, and unfortunately the clearly scripted asides between the two jarred slightly in my view. This undercut an otherwise moving and brave - and ultimately uplifting - show, and although I was checking my watch for the final 20 minutes of the 80 minute running time (thanks mainly to being ridiculously uncomfortable in my seat), one I would definitely recommend seeing if you get the chance.

4/5