FESTIVAL COMEDY | Reviews

ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN Touching confessional from firebrand American ●●●●●

Last Fringe, Abigoliah Schamaun’s Subtle offered a mix of raunchy sex anecdotes and sideshow freakery. A feat involving a needle and Schamaun’s flesh resulted in at least one woman fainting. This year, the fiery American ditches the pain pranks and instead turns inward for a series of reflections on her childhood. From embarrassing incidents to her relationship with her parents,

she looks back at the factors that defined her life and, evaluating her current self, gives something akin to a State of the Abigolian Nation address. No story is too painful for this full-on performer as she drops a bombshell about an early childhood diagnosis and, returning to it repeatedly throughout the hour, works through her parents’ resultant course of action. Delivered with gusto, Schamaun adds further material, culled

from conversations with her mother and a recent move to London, into the mix. Through sheer force of personality she somehow makes it all stick. She unabashedly relives graphic sexual encounters; her ballsy persona is undercut with warmth, making her sexcapades some of the show’s highlights. All of this is framed within the sharing of a file of her childhood

wishes, photographs, conversations and mementoes compiled by her father. While Schamaun tries to evaluate her current place in life, she measures herself against the child formed by and wished for in her father’s file. The result is a touching tribute to the formative influence of her parents, their hopes for her and their support. Schamaun emerges as a genuinely interesting person who gives

the appearance of living up to the sexy, confident, capable persona she presents onstage, a persona it is in everyone’s interests to get to know better. (Suzanne Black) Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 24 Aug (not 11), 6.45pm, £8.50–£10 (£7.50–£8.50).

TOBY Slightly sick sisterly show ●●●●● JEN BRISTER Struggling with herself as 40 looms ●●●●●

Sarah is nursing her sister Lizzie back to health after a near-deadly car crash. In order to facilitate her recovery, the two are performing a sketch show at the Edinburgh Fringe. A picture emerges of the murderously co-dependent duo: suffering innocent Lizzie and stage-hogging manipulator Sarah. The real-life Daykin sisters’ dedication to their

characters both grounds and carries an otherwise scattered show. Under the pretence of rehabilitating Lizzie and raising funds for her treatment, the pair offers an array of skits containing varyingly successful songs and characters. The best a bird-brained view of Westminster politics stands magnificently on its own then segues neatly into the over-arching narrative. However, most of the stand-alone scenes are a distraction from the increasingly depraved plot. On the night of this review, a late start led to a good

portion of the audience having to leave early and missing out as the framing plot escalates in intensity and funniness in the last quarter. With several concepts on the go, Toby juggles them admirably but a little more faith in the solid comedy play holding the show together could have turned this into a more cohesive production. (Suzanne Black) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 25 Aug (not 12), 5.45pm, £9.50–£11 (£8–£9.50).

46 THE LIST FESTIVAL 7–14 Aug 2014

Jen Brister used to admire the hippies at Glastonbury, sticking it to ‘The Man’, gleefully selling leather bracelets out the back of a van. What seemed like a brave stance against cultural oppression now makes Brister’s blood boil. ‘Get a job! Pay your taxes!’ the Londoner found herself nearly shouting when she revisited that music festival 15 years later, on the brink of turning 40.

It’s one of many moral conundrums she wrestles onstage; like the time she was banned from a right-on women’s club after her comedy offended females, or was misconstrued as a racist by a German in a drunken chat over immigration. Brister lives in the void that’s grown between the once- strident, optimistic, feminist lesbian she was in her teens, and the cynical, garden-centre-frequenting, Scandinavian-drama obsessed woman that she is dismayed to see emerging more recently.

Plenty of people are making jokes about UKIP,

the Daily Mail and bedroom tax, but Brister lifts the obvious subject matter with her supreme knack for facial comedy and accents. Her take on a Cockney speech impediment, incensed housewife and neurotic lesbian are all highlights. (Claire Sawers) Whistlebinkies, 226 0000, until 24 Aug (not 12), 1.30pm, free.

ANDREW MAXWELL Tremendous chipping in on a national debate ●●●●●

This is Andrew Maxwell’s 20th year at the Edinburgh Fringe and if he has become jaded by coming up so often, then there was no evidence of it on this evening. Given that he is an Irishman living in London, it’s perhaps a surprise that the crux of Hubble Bubble is the independence referendum. While many comedians at this year’s Fringe are bound to make a nod at some point to its existence, few would make it the mainstay of their act.

Though it’s abundantly clear which side of the debate he falls on (you’ll have to go to find out), this is a show less about politics and more about ideas of nationalism and national identity, albeit done in a way that gives him ample opportunity to demonstrate his remarkable grasp of different Scottish accents. He also displays the impressive amount of research he has done not just on the debate but also on the history of Britain and its people.

The show is not perfect, however, and the hour feels unbalanced with the first half a lot stronger than the second. Maxwell, though, is a consummate performer and two decades in, it seems his charm and wit remain in plentiful supply. (Gordon Eldrett) Assembly Rooms, 0844 693 3008, until 12 Aug, 10.20pm, £15 (£13).