Richard Herring: Oh frig, I’m 50!

By Lisa Clark Richard herring 50pic

Richard is shocked to find he is turning 50. This show is a sort of follow up, or perhaps, a 10th anniversary of his Fuck I’m 40 show. He has kindly provided crowdfunded programmes on the seats, just in case you haven’t followed Richard Herring’s career. We also get some time to peruse them before the show starts.

This is a pleasant show about a lads lad manchild dealing with aging, being ignored by the younger babes and getting used to being married with kids. The most interesting point he made was that being 50 and ignored by Babes made him realise that this was the 1st time that a white privileged male felt a little of what it was like to not have that privilege. To drop in the pecking order of life. The rest felt a little annoyingly like humblebragging.

Richard had several stories to tell around fatherhood – he’s had a daughter since he was 40 and there is another on the way. Talking about the joys of sharing his kids toys and some of his kid’s TV shows are the highlights and he’s brought a gorgeous ‘Penguin Race’ toy to show us. He talks about the consequences of some of his newspaper articles and I can see why the guy behind me in the queue before the show was saying how he went out of his way to get the newspaper to read Richard’s column. Richard is a great story teller and the jokes keep rolling throughout.

Some of Richard’s filthy tales are not for those looking for a comfortable ride. Otherwise it’s a pretty run of the mill show for a talented, middle aged comedian and a friendly catchup for his fans.

Richard Herring: Oh frig, I’m 50! is on at Pleasance Courtyard until August 26

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/richard-herring-oh-frig-i-m-50

Juliette Burton – Butterfly Effect

By Ron Bingham Butterfly Effect

Good luck trying to get a ticket for Juliette’s show, as it is selling out days in advance, and that is no surprise. This is a well crafted show about the crazy year that Juliette has had and how being unexpectedly kind can have far reaching positive consequences.

In previous shows, Juliette has spoken about her mental health issues and her relationships with her partner, friends and family. This show continues the theme with a little more detail about her parents and their effect on her. We have some video footage of Juliette out and about testing some theories about cat-calling and kindness. There are some lovely hand drawn illustrations and a challenge posed to the audience at the end.

The pace of the show is relentless. There is a lot of story and comedy to get through and there is hardly a moment to catch your breath from the time the show starts to when it ends (there may be presents after the show, as well).

If you love a good solid hour of honest story-telling with a lot of love and humanity, plus a bunch of very funny jokes, then I can only suggest booking tickets as fast as you can. Uplifting, entertaining and engaging.

Butterfly Effect is on at Gilded Balloon Teviot until August 27

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/juliette-burton-butterfly-effect

Alice Devlin – Extra-Curricular

By Ron Bingham
Alice Devlin

North Londoner Alice has reached a crossroads in her life. Should she stick with a job she hates? (that brings in money for food and rent) or should she use one of her “special” skills and attempt to forge a career doing something she loves?

This show is meant to help her decide, with the help of the audience (there is only a little voluntary audience participation). We get to see some of Alice’s skills, which include dancing (ballet and tap), juggling, playing a musical instrument, hula-hoop, mime, an unconvincing Australian accent, hosting a radio show and so much more. If you’re lucky you may even receive a totally imaginary cup of your favourite coffee.

The show is rated 14+ but there is nothing of an offensive nature (and the first girl in the audience Alice spoke to was 13). The show starts at 11.40 and is a lovely way to start the day, as Alice keeps the pace well, there are a lot of very funny moments, and you even get a bit of dancing.

Extra-Curricular is on at Just the Tonic at The Mash House until August 27

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/alice-devlin-extra-curricular

Pottervision

By Lisa Clark
Pottervision

PotterVision is pretty much what a fan wants from this sort of Festival show, a crowd pleasing comic enactment of several key scenes from Harry Potter & the Sorcerers Stone with gentle digs and silly hi-jinx.

The conceit of the show is not wildly original but cute and it works; that this performance was created by a quartet of players but 2 of them have buggered off with all the props and costumes leaving Lukas Kirkby & Tom Lawrinson to cope. They’ve popped out to the shops for some silly wigs & turned some sticks into wands and are doing the best they can. The packed audience is fully on-side and raring to go with them, just as well they are able to deliver.

Lukas and Tom make a good double act with Lukas is more of the organised straight guy trying to keep Tom from heading off the tracks onto his own loopy ideas of how to do the show. Tom is relaxed but also naughtily cunning in getting to do his own thing which gets some big laughs. They both have a lot of energy and commit fully to the show. They also clearly know The Sorcerer’s Stone novel backwards.
There is some gentle audience participation – I was invited on state to be sorted into Hufflepuff – some rude innuendo that never goes too far and a fabulous finale.

Yes it pokes fun at some of J K Rowing’s ideas but this does not denigrate the work or sneer at the fans in any way. It is pretty funny and you can take your teen Potterhead kids for a laugh.

Pottervision is on at Laughing Horse @ Espionage until August 27

This show is free (donation)

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/pottervision

Lucy Pearman – Maid of Cabbage

By Ron Bingham Maid of Cabbage

Maid of Cabbage is an entertaining and funny one-woman romp by Lucy Pearman. Unsurprisingly it is about the first day on the job for our country maid(en), who is set the task of locating the perfect cabbage. Sadly Lucy is not really competent to judge what a perfect cabbage looks like, and she has a dark side that keeps trying to break out and cause (comedy) chaos. Along the way, we meet the Lord of the manor, get shown a number of interesting vegetables, learn what happened to out maiden’s lost love and find out whether she can keep her job for a whole day.

There are a lot of props, a little puppetry, quite a bit of (non-threatening) audience participation, an excellent costume change and a lot of laughs. Lucy is engaging and entertaining, the story flows well, and there are very few breaks in the mayhem and jokes.

If you feel like seeing an excellently acted and very funny show, and aren’t afraid of the possibility of wearing a silly hat or holding a cabbage in your hand, then I can thoroughly recommend Maid of Cabbage.

Maid Of Cabbage is on at Heroes @ The Monkey Barrel until August 27.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/lucy-pearman-maid-of-cabbage
This show is free (donation)