COMEDY PREVIEW

Bill Bailey

Death-defying antics from the Fringe old hand

Few things are certain in this life but sure as there are fish in the sea and birds in the sky Bill Bailey will make an appearance at the Fringe Festival. Currently loading up his packhorse with the vast array of musical instruments and associated paraphernalia that form part of his unique performances, the Somerset Cowboy is steering a course for three weeks of non-stop shenanigans at the Assembly Rooms.

A seasoned veteran of the Fringe, Bill Bailey’s eighth consecutive visit is this year showered in the celebrity stardust of the award-winner. He arrives no less, as the crowned clown of the comedy circuit, the winner of Best Live Stand-up at last year's British Comedy Awards. 'lt’s always nice to get an award,’ says Bailey, 'but it was just a bit of a night out really.’

An apparently blasé attitude does however belie Bailey’s considerable achievements. He first came to the Fringe back in 1985 with a student production of Under Milk Wood. As a founder member of The Rubber Bishops, a musical comedy duo, Bailey began his ascent of the comedy pile and confirmed his heady rise with his first solo show at The Gilded Balloon in 1995.

THEATRE PREVIEW

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‘I've put myself at severe physical risk'

Numerous TV credits then culminated in his superlative BBCZ series Is It Bill Bailey? in 1998 and, of course, in last year’s coveted piece of ITV perspex.

The award has initiated new challenges and given Bailey several new strings to his already bountiful bow. He made his acting debut this year, appearing alongside Brenda Blethyn in Saving Grace as a small- time drug dealer and will star in a new Channel 4 sitcom, Black Books, later this year with its writer and co-star Dylan Moran. Bailey is also currently to be found on BBC1 as a team captain on the irreverent debating series, Head On Comedy with fellow stand- ups Jo Brand and Ed Byrne. 'You get a different kind of enjoyment out of different things,’ says the hard- working comedian ‘but stand-up is still my favourite because it gives you so much freedom, you can do anything you want.’

Bailey’s shows continue to set a standard at the Fringe and although he's keeping the highlights from this year’s show under wraps, the all-singing, all-dancing trickster does confess to there being a dramatic opening sequence. ’If it all goes to plan it should come off. Basically, I’ve put myself at severe physical risk.’ Now that's the kind of dedication we all like to see. (Catherine Bromley)

I For details, see Hit/ist, right.

writer but one hell of an actor.

The story of two black kids growing up in Harlem, it is superbly directed by nva theatre company’s Angus Farquhar. Orlandersmith effortlessly

‘I want to dig darker and deeper'

With her scarlet and blonde dreads, Dael Orlandersmith looks like the Medusa. Her hair snakes around her head like so many subversive thoughts; it’s almost a piece of performance art in its own right. But do not - whatever you do call the 40-year-old, New York-based poet, playwright, actor and winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn award for new drama, a performance artist.

’I am an actor, not a cutesy personality,’ she insists. Which is why she loves working in Scotland, where her deeply truthful acting wins standing ovations. Anyone who saw her show, The Gimmick, when she toured it to Scotland last year, knows that Orlandersmith is not only a gifted

plays six characters, ranging from a six- year-old to a 3S-year-old guy. And before you ask, it’s not autobiographical: ’l am not interested in theatre as therapy.’

’In Europe, it is a given that I act, that I’m big and black, here they write: "She flaunts her girth”. It makes me sound like a performing sack of potatoes! I just want to do good work and get my writing published.’ Her collected works come out on Vintage in October, she is writing a new stage show, Yellowman, and a novel set in Harlem, and has plans for an evening of black and Celtic poetry with the actor Fiona Shaw. ’I want to dig darker and deeper.’ (Jackie McGlone)

I For details, see Hit/ist, right.

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Just stay out for a bit longer. . . go on

Bill Bailey

See preview, left. Bill Bailey (Fringe) Bill Bailey, Scotsman Assembly (Venue 3) 226 2428, 3—28 Aug (not 74) 7 0.30pm, £70/f72.50 (f9/70).

The Cuban Brothers Good Morning Havana

Havana via Leith in a Wildstyle, breakdance, trouser tearing orgy of song, smut and guaranteed laughs. Edinburgh’s finest Cuban ex-pats park their wagon of wayward desires outside the Gilded Balloon for a spell and whip up a South America storm. See preview.

The Cuban Brothers Good Morning Havana (Fringe) Gilded Balloon ’5 Cave (Venue 38) 226 2757, 4-5, 70-72, 77-79, 24-26 Aug, midnight, £9 (£8); La Belle Ange/e (Venue 707) 225 7536, 6, 9, 73, 76, 20, 23, 27—28 Aug, midnight, £9 (£8).

Cinderella

Taking the ’fairy’ out of fairytale and replacing it with crazed wailing banshee. Pyrotechnics, trapeze, video projections, motorbikes, spaceships and live DJs all play a part in this wild adaptation set in the University qudrangle. See preview. Cinderella (Fringe) Turbozone, The Quad (Venue 792) 530 3557, 4-74 Aug, 70pm, £72 (£9).

Yllana's 666

Dreams and fantasties are imagined and sometimes acted out by four death row prisoners in this scatalogical comedy from Madrid. See feature page 22. Yllana’s 666 (Fringe) Yl/ana, Pleasance (Venue 33) 556 6550, 4—28 Aug (not 7, 75, 27) 70.30pm, £9-f 70 (138. 50—169); 77—72, 78—79, 24—27 Aug, £9-f 70 (5850—269). Preview 3 Aug, 70.30pm, £5.

The Gimmick

See preview, left. The Gimmick (Fringe) nva organisation, Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 5—73 Aug (not 7) 70.30pm, £72 (f 7. 50). Preview 4 Aug, 8pm, £7.50 (£4.50).

3-10 Aug 2000 THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 87