By Lisa Clark
Bec Hill is always delightful. Looking for an hour of joy and laughs at the Fringe? You just can’t go past whatever show Bec is doing each year and 2017 is no exception. Out of Order, is definitely the show you ordered.
I haven’t seen Bec perform live for a number of years and I was pleased to learn that she still uses her flip charts to tell funny stories (three in this show). There was a time several years ago when butcher paper flip charts were all the rage. Many gave up their flip charts and moved on to white boards or, like Bob Dylan, went electric with multimedia laptop slide shows etc. but Bec has stuck with her flip charts and has gotten better to the point of creating a new and exciting artform. There is smoke, glitter, things blow up and off her butcher paper. Her inventiveness is utterly enchanting.
Bec’s conceit is a large board covered in post-it notes, with topics written on each one. She encourages the audience to yell out topics and her show will follow the audience’s whims. Hopefully no show will be exactly the same. Certainly not in the same order. Some of her topics are short jokes and some are longer stories, they are colour coded so the audience knows. What the audience doesn’t know at the outset is what the balls we are all handed will be used for. We do find out of course.
Yes, there is a little audience participation but no more than the gentlest of type where all the audience takes part and no one is forced to. Importantly, rather than trying to embarrass an audience member or set someone apart, Bec is all about sharing the space and everyone creating a show they can enjoy together. For the brightest spot in the Edinburgh showers, go see Bec Hill.
Out of Order is on at Gilded Balloon Teviot until August 27