IAN STONE A slice of healthy disrespect 0000

A regular on the national comedy Circuit, Ian Stone's usual 9.05pm crowd are more likely to conSist of chattering stag dos and leery hen parties. But the skills he has shaped to deal with such baying crowds make putty of a gently merry, receptive Edinburgh audience. For some Circuit acts it's eaSy for there to be no real substance to the crowd- pleasmg material but Stone has never been one of those. Firstly poking fun at his JeWish heritage. Stone goes on to tackle anything religious; the ‘healthy disrespect‘ of his show title is spread widely. He is a tetchy man and the show catalogues various gripes of his. starting With an argument With an Israeli couple in a predominantly JeWish shopping centre in north London.

He moves on to ponder Jesus' DOSSIble Scandinavian roots and then suggests that if men can't control themselves around Muslim women without veils then it's their problem not the woman's. As Stone freely acknowledged. offence may be caused for those of a sensnive disposmon. but as grumpy as Stone is. it Simply isn’t intended. It‘s clear to see that his material is written with Wit and intelligence. and performed with a cheeky smile and a healthy dollop of self-deprecation. (Marissa Burgess)

I Underbe/Iy, 0870 745 3083, until 26 Aug (not 73), 9.05pm, 8950—97050 ($850—$950).

SIMON BRODKIN A one-man comedy club 000 I

In this age of panel gameshows and 15-minute slots on Radio 4, a solid hour of stand-up is simply too strenuous fOr performers and audiences suffering from an attention span bypass. Simon Brodkin thinks he's found the answer to this thorny issue. The riSing star's Fringe show is based around the Simple-yet- inspired concept of a one-man comedy

Club hosted by a geld-festOOned Cha‘. w'itl‘. a gob like a blunderbuss The conceit allows Brodkin to inhabit four contrasting stand-ups. creating layers of mini-shows-Within-a-show. before shedding his protective skin and appearing as himself for the final act

Brodkin is undeniany a gifted Character comedian. Every tic and mannerism of his variOus creations is so minuter observed that it's very easy to get swept along with the notioi‘. of a grotesgue open mic Slot The common thread is Brodkin's propensity for close- to-the-knuckle material, from the laconic American who challenges the audience's notion of racism to Brodkin's own eye-watering take on Hitler and the Holocaust.

The inevitable problem With Brodkin's approach is that. while his creations are preCisely realised. some are funnier than others. The ridiculous posturing and inspired ad-Iibbing of his graceless compere may be conSistently amusmg. but a couple of the other entries may have less of a shelf life. (Allan Radcliffe) I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 12), 7.30pm, 58.50—59.50 (E7—E8).

NINA CONTI

A tender display of an ancient art 0000

If your idea of ventriloquism involves slightly strange men jamming their hands up fluffy toys. then think again. Nina Conti is an eminently presentable young woman, with a Simian sidekick more at home with muttering depressed asides (‘oh sweet Jesusl'), than waving enthusiastically to the nice children. In a wholly realistic voice, the monkey swears frequently, castigates Conti and revels in his own fictitiousness. never seeming other than fully alive and occasionally expressing his tendencies towards depression. Conti laughs at his jokes, blushes at his crassness. and never once looks like she's painfully chewing a pineapple. In fact. if the show were iust a monkey routine it would be pretty darn good. but Conti is a virtuosic performer. At one point she conducted a three-way conversation between a west Midlands housewife who wants to be a mermaid. her boorish husband and the monkey. Then there was the penis and voodoo woman double-act. which. for sheer weirdness was hard to beat. Freud himself would have had a field day. This is an excellent show: professional, often hilarious and. occasionally. unexpectedly tender. (Hannah Adcock) I Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 27 Aug (not 75), 8.20pm. 9950—5 7050 (58—29).

WIL HODGSON

Ex-wrestler grapples with mainly excellent material 000

Profiles don't come much more distinctive than Wil Hodgson‘s. With a meticulous pink Mohawk, kohl-rimmed eyes and camp/punk cargo trousers. he looks like a Viking berserker crossed with a highlighter pen. To add to this fairly splendid confusion of expectations, his fiercely enthusiastic, generally philanthropic set is delivered not in a Rottenesque London snarl but a liquid West Country burr.

Diving into the theme of appearance-versus-reality naturally suggested by his looks, Hodgson takes the small but stentorian preview audience on an Iliad of life-affirming preposterousness. He is not ashamed of his My Little Pony collection. He prefers real women to the airbrushed simulacra spanning the centrefolds of lad mags. He loves bad food and has the paunch to prove it, but in his difficult and tragi-comic youth (the show's main thrust) he was thin and weak, defenceless against jocks and elder punks.

Hodgson’s enthusiasm is beguiling, and is backed by a keen observational nose. At his best when forcing himself to be concise, packing up the essence of a bit in a funny, satisfying, thought-provoking epigram, he brings his obvious intelligence to bear in most of his material, but sadly not all. Some segments fall just short of the pitch of surrealism promised by their own premises, others spend too much time on jokeless conversational set-ups.

Driven by the same polarising impulse as many circuit comedians (which seems to limit stage persona options to a) boundlessly genial best-mate-you- never-had; or b) borderline sociopathic doomsayer), Hodgson opts for the former. You can't help feeling that his true character lies in the middle: a basically optimistic lad pushed to spells of darkness by chance and genetics. It’s difficult to imagine Wil Hodgson ever falling completely flat, however; his combination of vibrancy and smarts are likely to see him improve rather than deteriorate. (Sam Healy)

I P/easance Courtyard, 556 6550, unti/ 2 'Aiig mu: ’3. (C8—C9).

iii-wimp rift»:

Superb... Beautiful and funny - Time Out

Pick of the Fringe -Attitude

Pleasance Dome

4pm (Venue 23)

1-27 August 2007 (not 1 5th)

wwwmyspace.com/ the_cakes_sketchcomedy

i

9—16 Aug 2007 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 23