feltiVCI OPM'IOPM theatre comedy dance music books
COMEDY PREVIEW
Omid Djalill British-Iranian comic explores ethnicity and crowd-pleasing
You’ve had one successful stand-up Fringe run, so you just regurgitate the same popular material for run number two, right? Well, not if you’re Omid Djalili — Britain’s only Iranian comedian — who promises a very different show from 1999’s Arabian ceilidh extravaganza.
’I don’t have the musician or the spangly suit,’ says the man who played the ’Arab scumbag’ in The Mummy and Gladiator. ’I’ve picked the best stuff of last year, like ethnicity.’ Previously, Djalili opened his show with a phoney Iranian accent before lapsing into perfect English without a word of explanation.
’I have a lot of new dark shit,’ he
says. 'Also, I’m exploring why comedians like to be crowd-pleasers. People shout at me: "Do a song, do a dance", but never: "Do the stuff about your abusive father". I’m trying to explore that in a Lenny Bruce way.’ Crowd-pleasing is still guaranteed. (Miles Fielder) Warm To My Winning Smile (Fringe) Omid Djali/i, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, 4—28 Aug (not 78, 22) 8.55pm, £8.50/£9. 50 (£7. 50/£8. 50). Preview 3 Aug, £4.
COMEDY PREVIEW
Off The Wall Improv Comedy
America ’s top improv ensemble lmprovisational comedy has long been a favourite with UK audiences thanks to Whose Line is ltAnyway7. Making
They're Off The Wall and they're just making it up
COMEDY PREVIEW The League Against
Tedium
Simon Munnery is sailing the seas of comedy and crossing the meadows of mayhem on a van converted to resemble a boat. Or at least that’s what he wants you to believe with his latest League Against Tedium quasi-Nietzschean offering, I Am, I Will.
His follow-up to last year's Perrier-nominated gas attack is a further exploration of his fascination with technology, gadgets and technofrippery. 'I’ll be standing on the roof of a van, which is done up like a ship's deck. l’ll pop up on the sail/screen and the projector. You could view it as an all-in-one outdoor TV station, broadcasting to whoever’s there.‘
And there, are the sounds and graphics he controls from a
computer keyboard slung over his shoulder, rock 'n' roll axeman style. ’I prefer using images more like a language, bringing more meaning to situations and producing something more akin to a live film. Also,
you can jam.’
The League Against Tedium is a wonderful‘y self- contained set-up informed by the ethos of punk: his journey to Edinburgh will be broken up by a scattering of impromptu free gigs. Bridging the gap between Wittgenstein and pantomime, the humour itself is
their Fringe debut this year, Hollywood’s original improv allstars, Off The Wall, will show us just where it all started. The seven-strong ensemble have been together for over twenty years and, during that time, celebrity guests at their shows have included Robin Williams, Chevy
s. 1
drny absurdist.
mmaawwk
Bridging the gap between Wittgenstein and pantomime
As an added bonus, The League will end each Edinburgh performance with a procession. Punters are encouraged to bring along their own banners and
placards and join in the struggle. Now that’s what I call
Chase and Shelley Winters. Off The Wall is now rightly regarded Stateside as the crowned kings and queens of the genre. The show’s host, Tom Tully, admits that, ’it's always been a dream of ours to come to the Edinburgh Festival.’
Their spontaneous mix of improvised sketches, games and songs will be based entirely on topics thrust upon them by the Gilded Balloon crowd. 'We love the element of surprise and it being a new experience every single time.’ (Catherine Bromley)
% Off The Wall Improv Comedy (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2757, 6—20 Aug, 8.45pm, £8.50 (£7.50).
THEATRE PREVIEW
Crucifixion
Human rights exp/oration
’As religious icons go, they don’t come any more famous than Christ, and I thought it would be interesting to pitch him against the embodiment of evil that was the Nazis.’ Playwright, director and star of his own show, Steve Lambert is explaining the motivation behind Crucifixion, Badac Theatre’s second production following last year’s Ashes To Ashes.
Again he is dealing with a specific human rights issue; again the setting is Auschwitz. But where last year’s show dealt with genocide, Crucifixion tackles the weighty topic of religious persecution. If all this sounds heavy going, Lambert claims otherwise. ’It’s not a dirge,’ he says. ’We’ve tried to make the play an all-round experience, both vocal and physical. The main aim of the play is that when someone
post-deconstructive neo-absurdism. (Ross Holloway) gig IAm, / Will (Fringe) The League Against Tedium, Meadows Theatre Big Top (Venue 789) 667 0202, 5-27 Aug (not 8, 22) 9.30pm, £8. 50—£9. 50 (£7. 50—£8. 50). Preview 3 Aug, £2.50.
walks out of the theatre and they later hear of someone being tortured, they’ll then have an image to put to the words.’ (Doug Johnstone)
a Crucifixion (Fringe) Badac Theatre Company, Hill Street Theatre (Venue 47) 226 6522, 4—28 Aug (not 76) 8.30pm, £7 (£5.50).
MUSICAL PREVIEW
Molly Bloom: A Musical Dream
Controversial Joycean satire Here’s a potent theatrical idea. Plant James Joyce’s lusty creation Molly Bloom atop a piano and have the character sing the last chapter from seminal novel Ulysses. It’s so potent that the Joyce Estate unsuccessfully tried to ban English-born and Italian- raised actress Anna Zapparoli and her husband, composer Mario Borciani, from doing so.
The pair make rich musical links between Molly’s many moods and memories. ’We’ve been as faithful to the spirit of the text as we could be,’ Zapparoli says. With song titles like ’Song Of The Big Hole’ and ’Song Of Sucking’, the result is one of the more sexually frank Fringe shows.
Zapparoli, who will not use a brogue, feels great kinship with Molly. ’She's like a child, saying lurid things with absolute innocence and candour. Always obscene but never vulgar, and as big as the earth. Having her on the piano, it’s like she’s lying inside the music.’ (Donald Hutera) ea Molly Bloom: A Musical Dream (Fringe) Anna Zapparoli And Mario Borciani, C (Venue 34) 225 5 705, 3-27 Aug (not 74, 27) 9pm, £7.50 (£5.50).
56 THE lIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 3—10 Aug 2000