Edinburgh 2010

Last week I once again headed up on my annual pilgrimage to Edinburgh, for the biggest arts festival in the world. (Fact). And of course a jolly good excuse to go and get pissed with some of the funniest people around.

This is generally the only holiday I have, so I tend to hit the week pretty hard. Infact I am still recovering, and my body clock has not quite readjusted after the very bizarre sleeping times I put it through last week.

And of course I saw millions and trillions of wonderful (and not so wonderful) shows. 28 to be precise. In 6 days. I am quite impressed with this tally.

So, here is part 1 of probably about 10 reviews and hilarious anecdotes of last week's 'art' shenanigans.

Monday

Ronna and Beverley

Despite a rather length section on 'The Culture show during the first week of the festival, it seemed the initial hype for this two-hander had worn off by the last week, with a barley half-full cabin at the Pleasance Courtyard.

However, the pair were on fine form with their tongue firmly in cheek, in homage to Jewish mothers everywhere.

Just the right level of outrageous, a touch of absurdity and some good sport special guests, the show ran surprisingly smoothly, considering the large percent of improvisation required.

It's difficult to imagine the show running for another year, but no doubt the ladies enjoyed their moment in the spotlight.

Celebrity Autobiography

A crudely simple idea, but this show proves that sometimes they're the best.

Take 'celebrities - read literate performers and serious actors with nice voices, and Phil Jupitus, add books 'written' by illiterate celebrities - no quotation marks - combine the two, and Simon Amstell will no doubt be claiming he was doing it first on Buzzcocks.

The solo readings are hilarious enough, particularly James Lance's Peter Andre account, delivered in his glorious plummy tones, get enough laughs from the juxtaposition alone.

The final ensemble reading also does this beautifully. but one of the most memorable moments comes from Madonna's account of having sex with a Puerto Rican boy. Perhaps, in this show, it's the celebrities that are having the last laugh.

Alun Cochrane - Life, Jokes, and Jokes about Life.

Alun Chochrane seems very much at home in this venue. It's basically the back room of a pub, a bar at the back (unwisely dispensing beverages in classes), and chairs stuck together with cable ties.
Whilst his comedy isn't quite the kind you get on the work men's club cirucit, it isn't far off. Which is a shame, as he is clearly capable of more, showing brief glimpses of some wonderfully intelligent comedy. His onstage 'joke box' full of groan inducing gags seems quite frankly beneath him.

his observation humour is shockingly resonate, despite on occasion trampling well-worn ground.

Dependable, seemingly evergreen, Cochrane does what it says on the tin, but nothing more.

Tuesday

Jon Richardson

Jon Richardson, it could be said, is something of a one trick pony. It's a trick which as helped him become a successfully stand up in just a few years, by one, some have commented, is starting to wear a little thin.

Generally, it's a bad sign if a comedian needs props (see Alun Cochrane), and Jon Richardson has gone all out this year, with a giant traffic light (with changing lights on demand), suspended from the ceiling. He refers to it all of four times in the show, twice to ruefully acknowledge that spending £500 on a giant traffic light was perhaps a mistake.

The traffic light is used as a set up for the anecdote on which his whole show is based. The premise - he spat at a traffic light, here's a bunch of things wrong with the world, and we're back at the traffic light without fully explaining what happened.

There are laughs, but not big laughs. Whilst many comedians talk about the everyday in a way that the audience think 'I can totally relate to that, but I thought I was the only one', Jon Richardson is setting himself apart from his peers, going that little bit further in alienating himself from the audience.

In a nutshell, this show simply wasn't as funny as his previous. But it was still a fairly well constructed show, that moves away from the standard observation garb everyone else is doing. How long it'll continue to be popular for is a different matter.