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Fin Taylor: When Harassy Met Sally review – white-hot takes on #MeToo

August 9, 2018TheGuardian

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Amid the garish sex comedy, the standup provocateur makes a striking effort to embrace the complexity of gender politics

Those who shoot from the hip can easily shoot themselves in the foot, but Fin Taylor seems happy to take that risk. Taylor is one of those (straight, male) provocateur comics whose fearless plain speaking can shade into shock-jockery. But he’s a lively watch and often worth listening to – in recent years on the subjects of race and leftwing tribalism, and now – hold on to your hats! – on post-#MeToo gender politics.

When Harassy Met Sally isn’t a delicate take on our current moment, but alongside the missteps and highly debatable claims, there is some worthwhile thinking. And – in lieu, perhaps, of trigger warnings – Taylor has devised an amusing way to signal when his hot takes are about to get hotter to handle.

Natalie Palamides review – big, uneasy laughs in fearless Time’s Up comedy

August 8, 2018TheGuardian

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
Palamides’ goofy interactive comedy about a macho ‘douchebag’ has a confrontational sting in its tale

You could piece together Natalie Palamides’ remarkable new show, Nate, by splicing some of the great fringe comedies of the last half-decade. Adam Riches’ rowdy burlesques on alpha masculinity are in there, as is Zoë Coombs Marr’s cross-dressing satire on sexism, Dave. It’s hard not to recall Adrienne Truscott’s game-changing show about rape jokes, Asking for It. Then there’s Palamides’ own Laid, which won her the best newcomer title last year and whose eccentric, silly-but-suggestive atmosphere is recreated here.

It is a potent cocktail: a goofy interactive comedy about a macho “douchebag”, with a confrontational sting in its tale. Nate starts superbly, as Palamides – disguised under a lumberjack coat, biker boots, shaggy moustache and marker-pen chest hair – motorbikes on stage to a cock-rock soundtrack. She is chugging cans, toting fake phalluses and flaunting her 2D masculinity.

Lost Voice Guy review – self-lacerating comedy with something to say

August 7, 2018TheGuardian

Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley combines the political and personal with razor-sharp observations about disability

‘If you expect me to be that sweet and innocent tonight, you’re in a for a big surprise.” And so Lee Ridley greets his audience – those wooed by his winning stint as Lost Voice Guy on the recent run of Britain’s Got Talent – in a tiny garret room at the Edinburgh fringe, booked before fame came calling. His new show, Inspiration Porn, is more political – and more vulnerable – than anything you would expect to see on the same TV programme as Simon Cowell. It is a distinctive mix of barbed disability comedy and the kind of self-mocking humour that Hannah Gadsby, with her Netflix hit Nanette, has recast in a troubling new light.

There were times, in other words, that I felt saddened by how ruthless Ridley is with himself onstage – his disability (Ridley has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak), supposed unattractiveness and low self-esteem. But that is his prerogative, and certainly fits with his show’s rejection of the inspirational rhetoric that surrounds high-achieving disabled people. In the “posh old man” tones of his voice synthesiser – the unorthodox comic timing takes some adjusting to – he contrasts inspirational quotes and “yes we can” Paralympic mottos with the realities of his own life: lazy, lonely, he tells us, and “shit at everything”.

Lost Voice Guy review – self-lacerating comedy with something to say

August 7, 2018TheGuardian

Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
Britain’s Got Talent winner Lee Ridley combines the political and personal with razor-sharp observations about disability

‘If you expect me to be that sweet and innocent tonight, you’re in a for a big surprise.” And so Lee Ridley greets his audience – those wooed by his winning stint as Lost Voice Guy on the recent run of Britain’s Got Talent – in a tiny garret room at the Edinburgh fringe, booked before fame came calling. His new show, Inspiration Porn, is more political – and more vulnerable – than anything you would expect to see on the same TV programme as Simon Cowell. It is a distinctive mix of barbed disability comedy and the kind of self-mocking humour that Hannah Gadsby, with her Netflix hit Nanette, has recast in a troubling new light.

There were times, in other words, that I felt saddened by how ruthless Ridley is with himself onstage – his disability (Ridley has cerebral palsy and is unable to speak), supposed unattractiveness and low self-esteem. But that is his prerogative, and certainly fits with his show’s rejection of the inspirational rhetoric that surrounds high-achieving disabled people. In the “posh old man” tones of his voice synthesiser – the unorthodox comic timing takes some adjusting to – he contrasts inspirational quotes and “yes we can” Paralympic mottos with the realities of his own life: lazy, lonely, he tells us, and “shit at everything”.

Garry Starr Performs Everything review – theatre saviour’s complete works of silliness

August 7, 2018TheGuardian

Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh
Damien Warren-Smith’s alter ego delivers a drama masterclass, leading us from clownish chaos to feats of comic genius

‘Theatre is dying. Garry is our only hope,” we’re told. Arriving in Edinburgh with considerable buzz from the Melbourne and Brighton festivals, Damien Warren-Smith’s show – like Jon Pointing’s last year – is comic catnip for theatre people, and a hoot for everyone else. Warren-Smith plays Garry Starr: gangly of limb, quivering with sincerity, and frequently stripped down to nothing but the ruff around his neck. He’s here to rescue forsaken theatre by demonstrating every one of its genres in 60 minutes. He manages 13, by which time the clownish chaos has reached a dizzying pitch.

The idea, he tells us, is to breathe life back into an art form that’s been hollowed out by his bete noire, and supposed former employer, the RSC. So here is Starr playing Pinter with an audience stooge, and being very particular about the famous pause. Euro-theatre is represented by a contemporary-dance Kafka. Slapstick descends into barely choreographed violence involving Starr, four punters and several floppy foam pipes.

Garry Starr Performs Everything review – theatre saviour’s complete works of silliness

August 7, 2018TheGuardian

Underbelly Cowgate, Edinburgh
Damien Warren-Smith’s alter ego delivers a drama masterclass, leading us from clownish chaos to feats of comic genius

‘Theatre is dying. Garry is our only hope,” we’re told. Arriving in Edinburgh with considerable buzz from the Melbourne and Brighton festivals, Damien Warren-Smith’s show – like Jon Pointing’s last year – is comic catnip for theatre people, and a hoot for everyone else. Warren-Smith plays Garry Starr: gangly of limb, quivering with sincerity, and frequently stripped down to nothing but the ruff around his neck. He’s here to rescue forsaken theatre by demonstrating every one of its genres in 60 minutes. He manages 13, by which time the clownish chaos has reached a dizzying pitch.

The idea, he tells us, is to breathe life back into an art form that’s been hollowed out by his bete noire, and supposed former employer, the RSC. So here is Starr playing Pinter with an audience stooge, and being very particular about the famous pause. Euro-theatre is represented by a contemporary-dance Kafka. Slapstick descends into barely choreographed violence involving Starr, four punters and several floppy foam pipes.

Jordan Brookes review – digressive, demented and deeply unsettling

August 6, 2018TheGuardian

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
The self-proclaimed ‘riskiest comic in the biz’ is playing with our heads again, and this time the stakes are higher and the thrills greater

‘I’m the riskiest comic in the biz,” Jordan Brookes boasts in his new show, Bleed. Then he tells us again, and again, until the phrase collapses into gibberish, and his self-esteem collapses, too. Last year’s gripping show Body of Work, nominated for the Edinburgh comedy award, had many hailing Brookes in just those terms. But on the evidence of this follow-up, which is even better, success won’t go to his head. There can’t be much room in there, after all, what with self-loathing, images of violence, playful impulses and limitless ideas for how to subvert a comedy show all jostling for attention.

You’ll learn more than you want to about what his orgasm sounds like

Maureen Lipman Is ‘Up for It’ review – big personalities, old jokes and smooth music

August 6, 2018TheGuardian

Assembly George Square Theatre, Edinburgh
The actor and comedian’s lucky dip of a show offers sketches, songs – and a controversial take on #MeToo

‘Old-fashioned,” Maureen Lipman calls herself at the start of Up for It, and the term certainly applies to her show, a medley of music and standup, character comedy and counter-revolutionary views on #MeToo. It is, she says, the kind of cabaret that she and co-star, jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth, would enjoy, and will likewise appeal to anyone drawn to big personalities, old jokes and music so smooth you could slide a whisky tumbler down it.

Lipman starts as she means to go on, mixing self-deprecation (“You thought your wife had booked to see Su Pollard”) with steely self-regard. “People like me, we’re shunted aside these days,” she complains, notwithstanding her casting last week in Coronation Street. There follows a monologue about 21st-century telly, in which Miriam Margolyes farts her way around the world and Lipman hosts a show called Walking with Wrinklies.

Maureen Lipman Is ‘Up for It’ review – big personalities, old jokes and smooth music

August 6, 2018TheGuardian

Assembly George Square Theatre, Edinburgh
The actor and comedian’s lucky dip of a show offers sketches, songs – and a controversial take on #MeToo

‘Old-fashioned,” Maureen Lipman calls herself at the start of Up for It, and the term certainly applies to her show, a medley of music and standup, character comedy and counter-revolutionary views on #MeToo. It is, she says, the kind of cabaret that she and co-star, jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth, would enjoy, and will likewise appeal to anyone drawn to big personalities, old jokes and music so smooth you could slide a whisky tumbler down it.

Lipman starts as she means to go on, mixing self-deprecation (“You thought your wife had booked to see Su Pollard”) with steely self-regard. “People like me, we’re shunted aside these days,” she complains, notwithstanding her casting last week in Coronation Street. There follows a monologue about 21st-century telly, in which Miriam Margolyes farts her way around the world and Lipman hosts a show called Walking with Wrinklies.

Harry and Chris review – romantic pandas and ice-cream puns in jaunty comedy hour

August 6, 2018TheGuardian

Just the Tonic at the Mash House, Edinburgh
So long as you can avoid making the inevitable Concords comparison, this peppy musical duo delivers some pleasantly diverting songs

Joke that you’re “the nation’s favourite comedy rap-jazz duo” and you’re bound to recall “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody act” – as if it weren’t hard enough already for musical comedy duos to escape Flight of the Conchords’ shadow. But Harry Baker and Chris Read have made waves over the last year (Radio 2 appearances; guest slots on Russell Howard’s Sky show) with their brand of peppy comic song, and, provided you put Conchords comparisons to the back of your mind, their latest fringe offering makes for a pleasantly diverting hour.

There’s no edge whatsoever to what they do, and at points the show shades into blandness. It’s not clear what distinctive new qualities they bring to the musical comedy party. Their songs range frictionlessly across subjects from the romantic lives of pandas to the woes of supporting the England football team. When they do address something contentious – the spectre of terrorism in their final song, for example – they reap platitudes (“Fear only has the power we give it,” runs their wholesome refrain).

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