Shove the bacon
buttie in my face and absorb it instantly.
Things I will
not miss about the Fringe are: the wet drips which fall from the grim underside
of that bridge in Cowgate, the stairs (that are everywhere), and flyers.
Hungover days
and the restless nights that come with drinking too much, and then the Scottish
fried goods and the endless walking over from New to Old parts of town. It
never stopped not even in the downpours or in the early morning, stuff just
kept going on.
Lurching down
steep steps, which I’d only just clambered up half an hour ago to collect some
pants I’d left in the print storage room (spare pants - because I’m always
prepared - or because I forgot that I’d left my pants in a back room of a venue
and thought before catching the train “outta here” that I should probably
collect them).
Sweating. Ski
jacket. Prepared for all-weather but not for all this weather meaning the sunshine
we’ve been getting. In Scotland? I know right.
But the upside
of all this traipsing by a banister is, or, were the shows. I managed to see a
heck of a lot of good shows. So here’s some I remember the most jotted down for you:
Le Gateau Chcocolat who is a big black beautiful opera
singer told an achingly honest tale of a young man who grapples with
depression, being gay and being black. The lighting design was the lighting
design to beat all others. His voice is ridiculously amazing.
The show which
dedicated it’s heart and soul to the artist and wife of Beatle, Yoko Ono,
titled appropriately Oh No! by Jamie Wood was brimming with creative
nurture. The most enticing bit was when Jamie curated some Bagism on stage and
invited a member of the audience to get in a bag with him and get completely
naked. The minutes of silence that ensued after this innocent plea was met with
awkwardness until a fly lad of 23 got up, crossed the stage and entered the
bag/blanket with him; they both followed to get completely butt-naked beneath
the sheet and then continued to talk about whether said young lad had ever
fallen in love before, and what it means to love a person. Performance art +
comedy = happy fun.
LetLuce in Sea Men (A Naval Tale) was a hilarious and sometimes trippy
ride in to the world of two clown-character comics who’s unfurling narrative
about a fish who wants to go clubbing on River Island and a pirate captain who
wants to drink the Potion of the Ocean (said in an elongated Brummie accent)
was just the bomb. The nuts. Mighty Boosh would have taken their hats off to
the pair.
The stand-up
that I enjoyed the most was Liam Williams
with his second stand-up hour: Bonfire
Night. A pretty neat and of course, damnably clever hour to follow up his
last show (Capitalism). Lots of
self-hating and millennial naval-gazing, you just have to laugh or else you’d
cry.
They’re my picks and in hindsight, I did have a good time and managed to tone my arse from all the stairs and got a surprising tan out of the outdoor flyering ordeal so, all’s well that ends well.
They’re my picks and in hindsight, I did have a good time and managed to tone my arse from all the stairs and got a surprising tan out of the outdoor flyering ordeal so, all’s well that ends well.
