My Top Ten

A MONTH TO REFLECT ON

More than four weeks have passed since the end of Edinburgh Fringe 2013.  In an earlier post I wrote about the first few days of that wonderfully crazy three weeks in which we ended up seeing around fifty five shows plus numerous street acts, exhibitions and general daftness.  It feels like a good time to look back at the list of acts we saw and work out which were my personal top ten moments.

In flipping through the list of events I find some I struggle to remember at all, others that bring a smile of recognition, and a few that provided great moments of pleasure.  With only four immediately falling into that latter category it has taken me a bit of time to decide on which six would make the grade from that big group in the middle.  Maybe if I wrote this again tomorrow it would change, but for now here's my ten most memorable moments of Fringe '13, in no particular order.

In that earlier post I mentioned that we had a few big name acts on our schedule. Whilst they were all good, most weren't quite good enough to make this list.  With one exception. Maybe he hasn't been on the telly as much as some, but he's a star of Radio 4 comedy and has a formidable reputation as a radical political activist and voice speaking out for the rights of oppressed groups and communities.  When Mark Thomas combines that talent for advocacy with his powerful comic instincts, and a stage energy that wraps itself around an audience, the result is as near to genius as gives me no qualms about using such a frequently abused term. 100 Acts of Minor Dissent is an account of his efforts to commit that number of mischief making actions over the course of one year. These range from well organised events, such as bringing an Irish ceilidh band into an Apple store to protest about that company's tax avoidance shenanigans, to the schoolboy silliness of slipping a piece of paper into a bookshop copy of a Dan Brown with the words "the person who bought you this hates you".  Many of his targets are the big businesses which take so much and give little, but he also makes strong points against the minor, joyless conformities of life that take pleasure out of daily living.  The show is now touring the UK and you really, really should go to see it if you get the chance.

My second choice is a bit of a cheat, as it wasn't officially a Fringe show at all, but wouldn't have been what it was without the presence of so many performers in the city.  It once again features the amazing Mr Thomas, this time acting as compere of a stand up show which took place in the street outside the Russian Consulate.  This was a protest against the suppression of LGBT rights under the rule of the homoerotic Putin.  There was an enthusiastic, colourful crowd, a generator powered by two red faced, sweating cyclists and an incredible line-up of top class comedians. Although it's the only time I've seen Susan Calman not be at all funny.  Largely because she cried and sobbed during her brief set, overjoyed that so many people turned up.  You can see footage of the gig here, just so you know what you were missing.  This may turn out to be the only time in my life when I’ll be able to text my wife to say she can find me under the pirate flag next to the transvestite nuns.  But who knows that the future holds?

There's a lot of comedy on this list, but then we did go and see a lot of comedy.  But to introduce some variety my third choice is a one-woman play.  Although it did have a lot of laughs in it.  An antidote to the pervasive RomCom genre, Operation : Love Story is about one woman's efforts to bring a couple together without their being aware of her role.  Her methods are amusing, romantic and, sometimes, scary in an I've-got-a-stalker kind of way. The use of scene cards to break up the storyline works effectively and allows writer/performer Jennifer Williams to constantly revisit and subvert her character's plans.  I hope she'll be back with a new story next year.

Music next.  Well, sort of.  The event was listed under Music in the Fringe brochure, but could just as easily be in Comedy.  Or Legend.  Or National Institution.  Anyone turning up in the hope of hearing virtuoso playing and quality singing would have left bewildered.  For this is the self-proclaimed greatest failure in rock and roll, the unique institution that is John Otway.  He can't really sing.  He's not much of a guitarist.  He looks less of a rock star and more a middle aged man who'll do something embarrassing at a wedding.  He is simply John Otway and there isn't another performer like him.  Whatever category you might try to slot him into he just ends up being an Entertainer.  And Enthusiast.  And Eccentric.  Maybe even Excellent if you were careless about the definition.  The show is just fun from start to finish and is basically an explosion of Otway personality and ego wrapped around songs and stories and antics.  Plus a bit of audience participation.  If you have no clue what I'm talking about then have a look at this and marvel at the chutzpah.  Go see Otway: The Movie if you can.  We did and it's brilliant.  A BAFTA awaits.  Or maybe not.

Music and comedy combine again in my fifth selection.  A Danish Bagpipe Comedian does what it says on the tin.  He's called Claus Reiss, he's from Denmark, he plays the bagpipes and he's a very funny man.  Tall, blonde, very good looking (my wife says) and a striking figure in kilt and waistcoat, he tells tales, plays the occasional tune and uses the bagpipes to illustrate aspects of his stories.  Is the this the only man in the world to use the instrument to impersonate a Wookie?  Some of the stories lacked a decent punchline, but any failings are made up for in his audience interaction.  Even more impressive when you remember English is his second language.  We laughed, we joined in, we came away with a new catch phrase and we had a chat with one of the nicest men you could meet.

How about a lecture next?  Nakedy Nudes treated the audience to a slide show illustrating the history of the nude in art throughout the centuries.  And told us why Australian Hannah Gadsby, who has a degree in fine art, can no longer take the subject seriously.  She began with a fine seventeenth century Italian portrayal of a reclining nude woman, pointed out the finer qualities of how the lady has been depicted, then asked us to concentrate on the background, specifically the top right corner, where two other women appear.  One of them doing something slightly strange.... I won't spoil it for you in case you ever get to see her. Anyway, it's one of those 'you had to be there' moments.  But Gadsby had us creased up with her words, the picture provided a recurring theme throughout the hour, and gave us yet another new catch phrase.  If you sit through her discourse you will never look at classical art in the same way again.  We've never been fans of Medieval and Renaissance religious art, but now that we know what to look for....

Back to the music.  And comedy.  And variety.  My seventh choice is a cabaret act.  Tricity Vogue's Ukelele Cabaret.  And what you get really depends on the night you turn up.  Tricity Vogue is a well established Fringe performer and we enjoyed her solo show of suggestive songs drawn from her apparently extensive love life.  She is very much the guiding star, and compere, of the cabaret set and dominates proceedings.  Just as well, as the quality of the support varies hugely.  Every night there are three different acts, the only qualification being that they must use a ukelele somewhere in their act.  Each does a short set which is voted on by selected members of the audience.  The winner is given the 'Uke of Edinburgh' award which entitles them to deliver a song whilst playing a uke strapped to TV's head. There is a fair bit of audience participation too, with silliness a prime requirement.  On the night we attended there was one group of locals who were fun, but, well, a bit crap. Fortunately both the other acts were hilarious.  Unfortunately I didn't note the name of the (very deserving) winner, because I'd liked to have seen her solo show.  Wearing a dress and white socks like some caricature of a Swiss Miss, she bent the image somewhat with Nana Mouskouri glasses, a teacosy hat and a cod East European accent.  Three strong young lads were selected from the audience and cajoled into holding her aloft while she played her song.  Some face licking was involved.  You had to be there.  And if you were there you couldn't stop laughing.  What a great atmosphere.

Number eight.  Poetry.  We descended to a pub basement to find two guys looking relieved that someone else had turned up.  They needn't have worried because the room was packed when the show began and more kept coming.  I felt compelled to go to this one when I saw the title - That's Not How You Spell Pedantic, a one man show starring  Jim Higo from Hull.  He began by asking if there were any pedants in the audience.  One of those first two guys stuck his hand up.  And my wife pointed at me (it didn't count though, as she used the wrong finger).  There were a couple of disappointingly sexist comments in the show, but if I can be allowed to pass over these then this was a superb way to spend an hour.  If you were middle aged.  Jim's ranting rhymes largely targeted the perceived inanities of an internet and texting dominated society where the spelling and grammar and manners our generation were brought up with are being ignored, to the point where language becomes incomprehensible and ignorance seems to be prized.  We laughed our heads off, while the youngsters in that basement sat stony faced, their world being derided.  I wouldn't want to think that way all the time.  But I knew exactly what he meant.

My ninth is, I feel, a great discovery for us and a man we'll be sure to see in future.  Aidan Goatley works in a pet shop and is a film fan.  He has a relationship with his father in which visible emotions play little part.  Ten Films With My Dad tells the story of how they came to bond through shared visits to movies.  It is often moving and always funny.  There are short film clips used to illustrate the points he makes along the way.  Not from the Hollywood blockbusters - that would have been unaffordable - but ultra low-budget recreations made by Aidan and his mates.  And his dog.  The image of said small canine scampering from the Brighton waves with a shark fin on his back has stayed with ever since.  Mr G had another show running on the Fringe and for various reasons we missed out on seeing it. But he turned up as the final act of a comedy night we attended, performed some of that set we’d failed to see, and was the star of the evening.  In a just world Aidan Goatley would be a big star.

And finally.  Number ten.  One act, three gigs.  We first came across them in the street at the last year's Fringe.  The sound drew us in and wouldn't let go.  We saw their stage show and loved the music and the stories of how they first got together.  This year they were mostly performing on the streets, and we kept missing out on seeing them, but they were scheduled to perform three times in the Tron Kirk.   An old disused church on the Royal Mile, this year it turned into a free music venue, with a bar, pizza, a crazy artist painting a fifteen metre mural, and different musical acts every hour from midday, every day.  We dropped in a few times and usually dropped out just as quickly. T here was some awful stuff going on in there (as a chat with the artist later confirmed - and he was there fourteen hours a day).  People in the seating area generally watched the acts on stage, but there was usually a crowd standing at the bar, talking loudly.  Getting through to that lot took something special.

Mik is a classically trained guitarist, a virtuoso.  Jake comes from a heavy metal rock background.  Together they are The Showhawk Duo and have come up with their very own sound combining their individual strengths.  They have also, we noted one year on, developed into genuine entertainers.  Their musical influences are drawn from many sources.  You get to hear Disney tunes on steroids, Ibiza dance music, Tchaikovsky with a rock rhythm and, my favourite, the Ray Charles classic Hit The Road Jack melding into Paganini and back again.  The lads (still only in their early twenties) are smiley, enthusiastic and keen to interact with their audience.  And just a bit mindblowing to watch.  They mostly play in the Bath/Bristol area, lots of busking and some professional engagements.  Why, oh why, aren't they famous?

We saw all three of their Kirk performances.  Watched an audience, who mostly had no idea what they were about to see, being won over such that each gig ended with a standing ovation.  The last of the three events began with the noisiest crowd at the bar and even they were converted long before the finale.  Here's some footage of the end of that last gig.  Sorry about the sound and video quality, but just feel that atmosphere.  And maybe even see us going crazy in the front row.  That, above all the others in a truly marvelous month, was my favourite moment of Fringe 2013.

Roll on August 2014.