Mark Watson: Flaws

By Ron Bingham

Poor Mark, here he is performing a show to mark his tenth anniversary at the fringe, where he details his gradual mental breakdown from stress and performance anxiety, and tonight’s (Friday) show was full of lunatics determined to send him back over the edge.

The patrons became as integral to this performance as Mark himself. The front row consisted of a stag party from Surrey, with the stag dressed as a “Jimmy”, behind them was the youngest person in the audience, a 14 year old called Brecon whose dad was determined to explain how he came to give his son that name (something about beech trees, apparently), and behind them was a gaggle of Edinburgh ladies who had dumped the kiddies for the evening and were determined to have a big night out. The audience, collectively, also tried to steal Mark’s most important, and probably irreplaceable at short notice, prop.

So I can’t say it was a typical performance, but it was a hoot. When Mark was given the chance to perform, we heard about his drinking and anger issues and how he was working through them, as well as stories about how supportive one of his children is. Mark’s performance was brilliant to the point of bravado, he is a very engaging person on stage despite severe provocation from a boisterous crowd. Ten years of Fringe performances have clearly given him the skills to wrangle the wild life into some sort of attentive assemblage. This also had a lot to do with the show itself which was wildly entertaining and well worth seeing.

Mark has changed a lot in ten years and since I first saw him. He’s still the energetic funny guy but he isn’t the ‘Welsh Comedian’ anymore, he was putting on the accent for comedy reasons and part of dropping it seems to be about discovering who he is and revealing that to us. It appears to have been a good idea, for him and for his audience.

Mark Watson is performing Flaws at Pleasance Courtyard.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/mark-watson-flaws

Mock Tudor by Lily Bevan

By Ron Bingham

Technology is the future of the past. This show is set in Hampton Court Palace and follows the small group of Tudor re-enactment players, who show visitors the story of Henry VIII’s decision to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn. On the day this is set, we also see their boss make plans to sack them and replace them with a Google Glass type experience.

The writer, director and star of the show is Lily Bevan and the other performers from The London Collective are – James Rastall, Sophie Bleasdale, Lily Bevan and Fraser Millward. The characters include a young man who has been recently bereaved, a young lady who “is into all that re-enactment stuff”, a wannabee actress who is hoping to be spotted and a lady who has just been recruited from the gift shop. Can they stop the plans of their boss and keep history alive, or will the machines win?

There is a wealth of historical detail in this show, some excellent comedy writing and costuming and excellent acting as the (real) actors act as (fake and often incompetent) actors. Best to forget that they are acting and just pretend you are at Hampton Court seeing the show, athough you should not join in and ask them questions during the Q&A. If you love a historical comedy/drama or a good bit of ham acting, you will love this show. The room is small but the seats are comfortable. This is a show the whole family CAN enjoy.

Mock Tudor is performed by The London Collective at Pleasance Courtyard.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/mock-tudor

Ladies Live Longer: Volunteerology

By Ron Bingham

This is not a cult, this is an excellent show. You must buy a ticket. This is not a cult, this is an excellent show. You must buy a ticket. This is not a cult, this is an excellent show. You must buy a ticket. This is not a cccccccc….

Oh dear. I am sorry. I seem to have come over all funny. Volunteerology is is all about the joys of volunteering. Your lovely hosts (Ladies Live Longer is made up of Louise Fitzgerald and Victoria Temple-Morris)  will take you through all the delights that can be had through a generous and giving lifestyle, including the greeting room, the chreche and the finance extraction zone. The cult leader, sorry manager, sounds exactly like a female Baron Silas Greenback (one for the Danger Mouse fans) with a similar lust for power.

The show is great fun, with sweeties at the start, a little exercise, some very funny sketches linked with the show’s theme and a couple of disturbing costumes. An excellent hour of entertainment from two very talented ladies.

This is not a cult, this is an excellent show. You must buy a ticket. This is not a cult, this is an excellent show. You must buy a ticket……

Ladies Live Longer are performing Volunteerology at Just the Tonic at The Caves.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ladies-live-longer-volunteerology

Sara Pascoe vs History

By Ron Bingham

Standup Sara Pascoe is playing in a lovely big room, which I am assuming is normally a lecture theatre. In front of the seats is a bench for resting your drinks on (that’s how students get through lectures these days, isn’t it?) and the seats are very comfortable. It also sets the scene for an extraordinary history lesson.

The history that Sara is fighting against is her own personal history, as we hear about her family, a few youthful crushes (I now have too much information in my brain about boy band Take That), her relationships and her biological clock. This is interspersed with a number of facts about biology and mating as well as opinions on relationships, sexism and the media. It doesn’t get heavy or preachy, and Sara is an engaging host through the intricacies of mating rituals (and sperm selection and drawing genitalia). Sara is like one of the best teachers you remember getting laughs from intelligent insights but also occasionally quite silly. I can attest that she is correct about how the rest of the world sees the local tabloid newspaper’s Page 3. Sometimes Britain can seem a little weird.

This follow up to Sara Pascoe Vs The Truth is for people who aren’t afraid to hear a little bit about the human body, well, quite a lot about the human body, and the latest anthropological theories about female sexuality and gene selection. I did get the impression that the show could more correctly be titled “vs sexual history”, but maybe that would have scared some people away. Sara isn’t scary at all, though there may have been some rude words used during the show. If you want a show which is very funny as well as educational for grown ups, with the added bonus of somewhere to rest your beer, get to this show. Sara is gaining quite a following, the room was close to full on the night I was there so I’d recommended getting tickets early.

Sara Pascoe is performing Sara Pascoe vs History at Assembly George Square Studios.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/sara-pascoe-vs-history

Lizzy Mace : Overlooked

By Ron Bingham

Lizzy, sometime comedy partner of Juliette Burton (as in Mace & Burton), is performing her first solo show this year. She plays a variety of characters who are the un-noticed or overlooked or ignored in life, starting with her own stage manager and moving through the girl who always looks after the coats at a party, a very shy dating video, the “other” baby bear from Goldilocks, a wallflower, fruit, the fourth pig in The Three Little Pigs and, what I am guessing is Lizzy’s favourite character, a psychotic sock puppeteer.

Lizzy plays the characters with just the use of some headgear, lashings of charm and a lot of energy and the audience is given an insight into the lives of those they don’t tend to see. There is some melancholy amongst the laughs and though all of the characters are quite different, showing Lizzy’s great performance skills, they are a fairly flawed or delusional bunch. There is a small section where there may be some terrible puns, but I don’t recall any swearing or anything that could offend sensitive punters.

The only problem is that this is in the still-under-construction Cowgatehead, so there is carpentry all around, no loo’s, little signage (look for the numbers taped to the doors, which are all covered with posters, so good luck trying to see the doors themselves), and a lot of noise filtering through from the shows all around. This is a great shame for punters and performers alike but shouldn’t put you off this very fringey creative, comedy experience.

This is a very good first solo effort from a very talented and intelligent performer, so try not to overlook this show in the programme. Do feel free to overlook the impertinent flyer-ers out the front of the venue, who will try to entice you to change to rival performances.

Lizzy Mace is performing Overlooked at Cowgatehead. For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

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

Midsummer Night’s Dream: The Rock Musical

By Ron Bingham

There was no warning (apart from the 13:05 start time) that this was a show performed by young teens (I’m guessing the average age was fifteen, but then, I’m old and everyone these days looks fifteen). Although American, this show is not part of the American High School Theatre Festival, the performance group is called Infinity Repertory Theatre (New York) and their performance is a retelling of the classic Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night’s Dream (which I always thought of as a Christmas play, due to the amount of times I saw it played in the Botanic Gardens during Australian summer evenings). It has been updated and abridged, but the extraneous material they’ve added (references to cars, mayors and guitars) can be disregarded and the play just enjoyed for the romantic farce that it is.

It starts with lovers Hermione and Lysander singing as they run away into the woods because Hermione’s father is against their love. Demetrius also fancies Hermione, but he has just dumped Helena, who still loves him. They sing some more and follow them into the woods, where Oberon, the fairy king, dispatches his naughty sprite Puck for a little merry-making, which goes wrong when the wrong man is given the love potion, Meanwhile Fairy Queen Titania falls in lust with Bottom, a yokel who’s head has been turned into that of an ass.  After some rather acrimonious scenes (and songs), Puck & his King put all aright and love is restored . Cue finale song and dance.

The music could be trimmed a little, as I thought the choruses went on for a bit too long without advancing the plot of the show. The music and dancing was entertaining though, and I could detect a few Springsteen influences in some of the songs. The large (about 200 seater) room was 3/4 full and the audience were enjoying the show. My favourite was, of course, Puck, who gets all the best lines and makes merry with the cast and audience for her own designs. Demetrius was also played by a lady (is New York running out of teenage boys looking for an acting career?).

If you are after a lunchtime show full of boisterous young singers and dancers retelling a classic Shakespeare comedy of errors (wait a minute that’s a different Shakespeare play but you know…) with a rock and roll beat, then you could do worse than picking up a ticket for this show.

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/midsummer-night-s-dream-the-rock-musical