Café Ruse

By Ron Bingham

Four actors playing: a cafe owner, a sick child, a precious artwork, a couple of Nazi handlers of stolen goods, a sexy lady, an ingenue who is a crack codebreaker, a pair of builders who may be more than they appear, an unemployed loser, an incompetent baker, a couple of the verge of a breakdown, a couple of sweatly naked male torso’s and one or two more I may have missed.

The plot of this play is (approximately) a cafe is being forced to close because the parents of a sick child who ate a loaf of bread from there are suing the cafe. The owners need to come up with some cash quick to pay the bills but that’s not important. This show is really giving the audience a chance to see four very talented actors going crazy trying to play all the listed parts, in order to keep the story going, while wrestling with a lot of props and costumes. Sometimes they fail, but they always managed to incorporate the accidents into the show, never stopping for a second, until the inevitable satisfying ending (for those that survive).

If you are after an hour of frenetic and well acted action/drama/heist/murder/mystery/noir theatre, which will leave you breathless with laughter, then you must book a ticket for Café Ruse. Once the word gets out on the street, there won’t be any chance of picking up tickets, so take my advice and book now. It’s on at 2pm, making it the perfect way to start an afternoon of Festival fun.

Café Ruse is on at Zoo Southside.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/cafe-ruse

Tedfest

By Ron Bingham

Tedfest is a loving celebration of the brilliant Irish 90s sitcom Father Ted and this, as our host Father Joe Dolan explains, is a condensation of the annual four day Tedfest that has been taking place off the West Coast of Ireland for the past nine years. As the original Tedfest only allows 500 tickets and is held in the freezing February temperatures, I recommend this as an acceptable substitute (but you should visit the Aran Isles in summer as they’re lovely – I couldn’t help but wonder if the Irish Tourist Board are sponsoring the show?).

This mainland version of Tedfest starts with a song from Fr Dolan, then moves into a very heretical dance from someone called JH Christ (who did a very good impression of Roger Voudouris – Google it, kiddies), which gave the ladies in the audience quite a turn. After the stage had been cleared we moved on to the “Ted’s Got Talent” segment, which tonight saw a harpist battle with a comedy magician for the chance to move to the next round. I was very much on the harpist’s side until she made disparaging comments about my homeland.

Following this it was the turn of the “Lovely Ladies” to negotiate the intricacies of walking across the stage and chatting to the Father. They were both lovely, so why does there always have to be a winner and a loser?

The final section of the show was the tryouts for The Toilet Duck Award, which had the longest and most repetitive introduction in history. Four comedians were given precisely two minutes to deliver a routine and win the audience’s hearts.

Tedfest was a load of fun. If the references above make little sense to you, no matter, you don’t have to have been an obsessive fan of Father Ted to enjoy yourself but fans will know the sort of twisted humour to expect and this is a joyous shared experience for all. There’s a fair amount of swearing and some things of an irreligious bent, but it’s all in good fun (ah, buy a ticket, g’wan g’wan g’wan g’wan g’wan g’wan g’wan g’wan ….)

Tedfest is on at Underbelly, Cowgate.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

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

Rachel Parris: Live in Vegas

By Ron Bingham

Rachel Parris: Live in Vegas takes place in the Attic at the Pleasance Courtyard. This is a smallish room up three flights of stairs that has no discernable ventilation. It will get hot. Bring water and something to fan yourself with. For some reason, the staff refused my (sensible) request to employ some local youngsters to be stationed around the room waving palm fronds.That’s my public service warning out of the way.

The show itself is a very entertaining one-woman / multi-character cabaret show. Rachel starts by explaining how she has been trapped working on the Vegas stage due to a small gambling problem, before giving us a full Vegas style stage show with three other entertainers. the first artiste we meet is Crispin Prentice, a Britpop star from the upper side of the tracks. He sings a couple of songs about the difficulties faced by those born with a little (too much) money.

He is followed by the glamorous country star Gracie-Lou Steinberg, who sings some lovely country and western songs, but definitely not on themes that would get them onto Nashville radio.

The finale, and star of the show, is Felice. I’ve never seen so many gold sequins on a dress; she looked like a moving disco ball. Felice sings about the most important person in the world, herself. I was privileged to be allowed to touch (fleetingly) her hand.

The acts are separated by some sponsored advertising (very clever way of filling in while Rachel changes costumes). Rachel’s songs are well written, amusing and, apart from the heat, this would be one of my top recommendations so far. A show for those who want to go to see one of those glittering star-studded shows in Vegas but who don’t have the time or money.

Rachel Parris is performing Live in Vegas at Pleasance Courtyard.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/rachel-parris-live-in-vegas

Comedians’ Cinema Club

By Ron Bingham

Comedian and brilliant improvisor Eric Lampaert has created a show where he gets a group of comedians together (there were eight or nine at the show I saw), acting out a famous film. The audience is also invited to help and the action is directed by someone on the side of the stage, which is turns out to be a pretty important part of the performance, as sometimes the actors have not seen the film which they are recreating.

Today’s film was Aliens. Only about half the audience admitted to having seen this classic (and half the cast). Scarily the ladies playing Ripley and Newt were unaware of their fates. Eric played the Alien, wearing a couple of taped together bin bags (very hot in an already hot room), spraying water bottles at the cast and audience, while shouting “eat my how Alien Acid Jizz” as well as giving audience members face palms (thus infecting us with more alien eggs).

I think the best way to describe the recreation of the film is disorganised chaos which was ridiculously funny. Poor Newt spent most of the play with her head up the back of Ripley’s skirt (even while they were running round the back of the room) and it was pointed out (by Eric the Alien) that Newt was being played by his fiancee, at which point it went to wrongtown.

I’m not sure how much better this was than yesterday’s version of Forrest Gump, or tomorrow’s film (whatever it may be), but I can guarantee that you won’t get covered in “water” or receive an alien’s egg. This show is highly recommended but just be warned you will have a random cast playing random movie, but if you enjoy semi-scripted chaos with energy and public liability insurance, come to see this show.

Comedians’ Cinema Club is on at Just the Tonic at The Tron.
For Tickets and more information go to the Edinburgh Fringe Website:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedians-cinema-club

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