FESTIVAL FEATURES | Liam Williams Liam Williams with sketch trio Sheeps
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whose laughter comes at a rather low price in August
PHOTO © MARK DAWSON PHOTOGRAPHY
on a i re. That feels really primitive: has anyone really had a think about what Boni re Night signii es as it’s pretty dark stuff?’ One month ahead of show number one, Williams admitted to being quietly coni dent about Boni re Night’s success: ‘I did a preview the other night that went well, so I’m going to be complacently and dangerously reckless from now. I’ll give up working on the show, abandon all the material, and just be swaggering on stage.’
While admitting that he considered giving Edinburgh a miss this year to concentrate on his literary ambitions (‘I have a literary agent; in fact, everything I need is in place except the book. Watch this space’), he believes that the Fringe helps build a solid structure into a stand-up’s calendar. ‘It institutionalises comedians in the build-up. The thing I like about stand-up is that deadlines are so imminent and so dei nitive. If you’ve committed to doing a gig, you’ve got be ready, and if you’ve committed to doing an Edinburgh show, it just has to be ready. There’s no postponing.’
There are certain names that have been dropped into reviews of Liam Williams, ranging from Les Dawson (for an ability to look like he’s losing his grip on a performance only to quickly regain it, a skill which can only be pulled off by owning a true mastery of the craft) to Bo Burnham and Ali e Brown for their shared Gen Y anger and neuroses, and Philip Larkin for the northern poetic quality. And there are certain words that recur, too, of which ‘nihilist’ might well be top of that particular hit parade. ‘It’s a strong word to use,’ reckons Williams. ‘But certainly in my teenage years I would proudly accept that moniker. And I haven’t really changed that much; my stand-up persona is a rehash of my teenage persona, so I can’t complain. Then again, a true nihilist wouldn’t care at all.’
Liam Williams: Boni re Night, Free Sisters, 622 6801, 6–19 Aug (not 17), 11.30pm, free, 20–30 Aug, 7.30pm, free; Sheeps Skewer the News, Cellar Monkey, 221 9759, 21–30 Aug, 2.30pm, free.
14 THE LIST FESTIVAL 6–13 Aug 2015
MIKE WOZNIAK Promising ‘regime-changing stand-up’, the Fringe’s very own Magic Mike unleashes his One Man Dad Cat Band, a gruelling yet hilarious road comedy about a car journey Woz took from Edinburgh to Exeter with a feline animal in his boot. Free Sisters, 622 6801, 6–30 Aug (not 17), 1.15pm, free.
AHIR SHAH The man we once dubbed as ‘made for stand-up’ is here with Distant, his fourth solo Fringe hour. It appears to be featuring everything from economics to extremism and politics to pirates. Counting House, 667 7533, 6–30 Aug, 7.30pm, free.
PIPPA EVANS Letting her rock-country buddy Loretta Maine loose for a bit, Evans is in town as her actual self, insisting There Are No Guilty Pleasures, a show about not worrying if you happen to like ‘bad’ stuff. There will be songs. Bannermans, 226 0000, 8–29 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 1.45pm, free.
MORGAN BERRY Joe Rowntree once more transmogrii es into Morgan Berry: Pet Bereavement Counsellor. The show is called Watership Down. And if you’re not i lling up right now, then you have no soul. Banshee Labyrinth, 226 0000, 8–30 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 6pm, free.
DANIELLE WARD She’s been to a party at Sting’s house and written one joke for Harry Hill’s TV Burp. Now, Ward is Dani Frankenstein, Nottingham’s foremost feminist hip hop sensation. Voodoo Rooms, 226 0000, 8–30 Aug (not 11, 18, 25), 12.30pm, free. (Brian Donaldson)