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COMEDY PREVIEW
Terry Alderton
Southend‘s funniest man wants understanding
It’s not easy being Terry Alderton. Last year, his debut Fringe show received rave reviews and a Perrier award nomination. Then, those nice folks at the Beeb offered him lots of TV opportunities, the * most high profile being the position of co-host of
theatre comed
the National Lottery show, Red Alert with that ’4' 2‘“
original bonnie wee lassie, Lulu.
Overnight, Alderton was turned on by the broadsheets and labelled ‘sell out‘ and 'the
new Jim Davidson’. He has gone in the
space of a year from funky, hilarious, up-
and-coming stand-up to bedfellow of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown and John Virgo. Here are five misconceptions about Terry Alderton: 7. He’s the new Jim Davidson.
Terry Alderton is not the new Jim Davidson. It’s hard enough having to put up with the current one and his bigoted, sexist, Tory outlook without creating another. Alderton is surprisingly calm about all this. ‘I don't mind that, but the person who said it meant it in a derogatory sense. Some failed stand-up who pans everyone and sees mainstream as a criticism.’ 2. He thought Red Alert was good.
'I know Red Alert was a bit dodgy,‘ he admits. 'But it was good for me as it got me a start on TV and you've got
to be professional; you can't just go “this
is shit, I’m gonna be shit too".‘ 3. He’s not versatile.
He covers a whole lot of bases: impressions, stand-up gags, manic mic-in-mouth sound effects, surreal storytelling. He's pretty unclassifiable. ’That's probably what I really wanted. Some people might say that‘s a bad
thing but you can't win, really.‘
4. He's bugged about being called ’mainstream’. ‘l've been dubbed ‘Mickey Mainstream'. I don't
DANCE PREVIEW
Aria Spinta
European dance collective
Sometimes you just have to ignore an artist's woollier creative statements and
just go with the flow of what’s on stage. That’s certainly how you should approach Déja Donne’s Aria Spinta; roughly translated from the Italian as ’pushed air’. In what seems a weak year for Fringe dance, this performance is one to pin your hopes on.
’The piece is precisely what you see,’ states co-choreographer Simone Sandroni. ’There are no anecdotes, no symbols and no morals. Life is the basis of our interaction with the audience, and life is made up of falls. of mistakes, of accidents and all those factors which might as easily stop us acting out our show as stop us living.’
Fair enough, but what are we actually seeing in this work, created last year with Czech choreographer Lenka Flory and four other dancers
have to go “my mother- ,w‘ in-law . . . “ to get I!” laughs, but I'm " mainstream; that‘s what I do and I‘m proud of it. One thing they say at the BBC is a lot of new comics just want to be nine o'clock on BBC2 but me, I'm happy to entertain the working classes; seven-thirty, BBC1. There seems to be some big problem with that. I want to play for everyone. And what's wrong with doing a family crowd. It’s not like I'm doing old jokes, I want to appeal. I‘d rather be with people who want to have a laugh than stand around saying: “Oooh. Is there irony in that? Where’s the message?“
5. You ’/I have heard it a//
before.
‘One of the biggest compliments ever paid to me was when a punter
came up to me after a show and said, “I don't know what you were on about, but I couldn't stop laughing. There are no jokes, but it was hilarious".’ (Mark Robertson) I Terry Alderton (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 2 7--26 Aug (not 24) 8.25 pm,
£77(f70).
from the continent? Hysteria reigns, but of a deliberate and not unhappy kind. In a madcap case of choreographus interruptus, cast members claim to have forgotten some of their steps. Or they accuse one another of changing the order of taped music.
This manic cartoon comedy of breakdown and surprise is peppered with plenty of fast, fresh motion. The dancers are like gifted adult children let out of a theatrical playpen falling down around their ears. However, they’re unable to hide their considerable virtuosity behind the absurd, impulsive behaviour dictated by pretend chaos.
Sandroni and Flory were both members of Ultima Vez, the company led by the much-heralded Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus. Aria Spinta has his sense of serious, exploratory fun. (Donald Hutera)
I For details, see Hit/ist, right.
Hitlifl *
These will, these will, rock you
Priorité A Gauche
99's Perrier Newcomer winners Ben ’n’ Arn are back with a full show from the rapping duo who played a part in gaining them glory last year. Priorité A Gauche (Fringe) P/easance (Venue 33) 556 6550, until 28 Aug (not 22) 9.05pm, £8—£9 (£7—£8).
The Johnny Vegas Game how
After the slight disappointment of The Erpingham Camp, Johnny is on more familiar ground by getting back to grassroots entertainment with his own game show. That means tough questions, fabulous prizes and maybe the odd contestant punch-up. The Johnny Vegas Game Show (Fringe) Edinburgh ’5 Garden Party (Venue 50) 226 2428/2757, 22—26 Aug, 8pm, £70 (£9).
Ross Noble
Wizardry in motion from the quickest thinker on the circuit as he does his best to make life easy for those tough nuts on the Perrier panel. Ross Nob/e (Fringe) Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226 2157, until 28 Aug, 9pm, £8.50 (£7.50).
Irvine Welsh And Niall Griffiths
Two residents of Cutting Edge Avenue meet up to discuss writing on the fringes. See preview. Irvine Welsh And Niall Griffiths (Book) Charlotte Square Gardens, 624 5050, 22 Aug, 8.30pm, £7.50 (£5.50).
Aria Spinta
See preview, left. Aria Spinta (Fringe) Déja Donné, Continental Shifts at St Bride’s Centre (Venue 62) 346 1405, 27—31 Aug (not 23—26, 29) 8pm, £7.50 (£5.50).
Jerry Sadowrtz
The wit remains on the bilious side but no matter how hard he tries, you just can‘t stop yourself from loving Mr. Grumpy. He's something of a card, these days. Jerry Sadowitz (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, until 28 Aug, 8pm, £10/£77 (£9/£ 10).
17—24 Aug 2000 THE UST FESTIVAL GUIDE 45