Sleep is for the weak! This I say repeatedly to myself as I try desperately to pry myself away from the loving lack of arms of my duvet. I'm in a polygamous relationship with my duvet and coffee (they want different things out of life). But the Fringe comes but once a year and so once more into the breach, dear friends.
If you're squeamish you may want to look away now - this next one isn't pretty. I'll tell you when it's safe.
Smart Attack - 1 star
In three words: Trapped in yurt
Highlight: In the words of Braveheart ... FREEDOM!
Waiting outside a small yurt in the Three Sisters - currently dubbed the Free Sisters (alas this does not mean drinks are on the house) - in a sea (or at least puddle) of fairly young children, I was gleeful to hear those three little words: No under 12s. Then I got inside the wonderfully quirky tent and my those three words soon changed to "those lucky bastards".
It takes a lot of talent to pull off a sketch show. I've given this show one star so I'm pretty sure you can figure out my view on that! Loosely based (and even coining that term requires a certain amount of forgiving artistic licence) around the "make and do" style kids' TV shows of the 1990s, I expected nostalgia wrapped in sticky-back plastic or some dodgy comedy poster painting. The dodgy bit was scarily accurate. I also expected the group to make and create things (a joke that made me laugh, for example). There was exactly one minute of making something out of products provided by the audience and it was actually the only decent bit in the show. Had the pair brought in various bits and bobs (ironic as the end product was for some reason Bob Geldof on this occasion) and done improvised makes (or one big piece of hilariously bad crafting) from suggestions thrown out by the audience then the show might have actually worked. Unfortunately, I was subjected to very samey characters being trotted out on a (completely too figurative) carousel. Situations and characters were completely predictable and out-dated and jokes completely failed to hit the mark. Some of my fellow audience members managed to plot their escape - presumably taking the make and do theme on themselves and fashioning shovels and other escape equipment from the things around them (or, you know, slipping out the door but where is the fun in that imagery). I was not quite so lucky and found myself trapped in a yurt - this is not a metaphor - eyeing the exit like a dog longing for a ham that is out of reach. Luckily, the show was free so all I lost was an hour of my precious life... Bastards, I want that back!
OK, you can look again. Sorry about that.
AAA Batteries Not Included - 3 stars
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| Taken from comedy.co.uk |
Highlight: Improvised sock puppet fight.
After escaping the yurt - again, not a metaphor - I wandered, dazed and confused, in search of comedy... and a drink to be honest. Slowly coming out of my coma, I eventually found AAA Batteries Not Included - a show using the "title with multiple "A"s at the beginning so it is at the start of the Fringe Guide" technique.
Looking beyond the venue's attempts at queue management (serpentine, people! Serpentine!) people were sardined into a small and dark back room - the host's Tsar Nicholas II T-Shirt gave little comfort in this situation. This show was massively over-subscribed which, from my tiny over-heated space in the back corner, actually gave me hope. Luckily, this time I was not let down. The show is very much one of those pot luck affairs; different guest acts appear each time, presumably to drum up business for their main shows and solo performances throughout the Fringe. Our host, Chris (who did tell us his last name but... well... memory) was genuinely funny and did well to include both adults and children in his ad-libbed act. Somehow, this led to him removing his shoe and sock and creating a crocodile sock puppet - the adults were definitely more amused by this than anyone else. Guest acts also raised laughs though had a tendency towards fizzling out before the end of their time - though this did create the highlight of the show whereby fellow performer was forced, by the audience, into sock puppetry and the two rival foot accessories fought bravely to the death!
Fun for all ages but I suggest getting there early if you want to take a punt on it.
Boris and Sergey's Astonishing Freaktorium - 4.5 Stars
In three words: Genius at play
Highlight: The body count (insert evil laugh)
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| From Flabbergasttheatre.co.uk |
And so, on to the (freak) show. Our puppet hosts Sergey and Bori, dressed respectively as Gary Oldman's Dracula and a lollipop - yes, it's that kind if show - bring us into their weird and twisted world of freaks and oddities and introduce us to a myriad of bizarre acts. Though simply constructed puppets, the characters are fully rounded and very real individuals. Devoid of any facial features, our hosts are still twice as expressive and compelling than Keira Knightley and Keanu Reeves combined (ooh, bitchy). The body (puppet) count soon hilariously starts to add up in this delightfully black comedic affair which successfully masters the sick and twisted with a glee we all share. There is gorgeously tangled web of improvisation, dance routines and things you shouldn't laugh at but do. The audience leaves haunted, amused and wondering who is sicker: the puppets or us. A macabre masterpiece not to be missed.
Note
For those left wondering, the the answer is "yes". My friend was picked on and was possessed by the ghost of a small child. I am now calling him "Jessica".
Lady Rizo - 5 Stars
In three words: What a lady!
Highlight: Getting a front row cabaret table (A wuss out? Well, then you go and try and pick just one moment from the show. I dare you!)
Now, that's what I call cabaret! Sitting at a small cabaret table at the front of the Assembly Checkpoint (this involved much queuing with some "charming" nutcases to secure a the best seats in the house - totally worth it!), a man who shares my table is told by an usher that he is extremely brave - this is going to be good! The blue-wash lighting and starlit backdrop sets the scene. Lady Rizo enters amongst the audience, wrapped in a gorgeous red hooded cape - I totally need to get me one of those! Handing out roses and playing with the crowd, she has the audience - myself most hypnotically included - in the palm of her hands. I am the last lucky recipient of a blossoming red posey, my (it must be stressed, male) companion is impregnated - it's a diva - and the smoldering songstress reaches the stage. With a flourish, she loses her cape and reveals a figure-hugging gown and the first song is done! Already, I know that my love of Lady Rizo is not mis-remembered. I am - as they say in books of old - undone!
With a unique blend of natural humour, charm and an inimitable voice that captures both soft emotion and big power, Lady Rizo tells us in a mix of story and song tales of heartbreak, romance, sex and how she became the cabaret goddess that we see before us. For over an hour, we sit entranced by her charm and raw power as she weaves her spell though her own individual take on cover songs and own material, far removed from her cruise ship roots. Her self-penned lullaby, Cherry Lane Saint -available on her brilliant album, Violet (I am not ashamed to plug this) - is a moving high point towards the end of the show andI was very glad to hear it live and extremely passionately rendered. An evening with Lady Rizo is an electrifying one which wakens all the senses and is over all too soon.I never wanted it to end and as I drifted back into the streets of Edinburgh, it was with a sense that my cabaret experiences were but a wonderful dream and that "real life", well.... sucked! A perfect night with the Queen of cabaret and. I left it with a feeling of exhileration, a beautiful rose and (I'm not ashamed to admit) a bit of a girl-crush. Do yourselves a favour this Fringe and escape the mundane world for the land of cabaret and its new Goddess, Lady Rizo.
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