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COMEDY REVIEW Boothby Graffoe - For Your Consideration
{1-- 4-‘2- § A comic chameleon and a superb
Giaffoe was gu'Itzn'; in Inn has past caricaturist, Lynn Ferguson Is a one-
reVIews to let ll‘, know how good he woman shot In the arm for stand-up.
was Apparently, 13((()T(llll(i to one In Fran/t, she comperes her own open
paper he has a 'lightnIng tornit mInd'. mike SOSSIon, In the course of which
It was good of him to let us know this, she plays a range of slyly observed
because on the eVIdence of the night I characters from the comedy cichIt.
attended he appeared to l‘e merely a It Is testament to Ferguson's Innate
decent ('(‘i'neihan ttya”: to make the ; talents that she can not only
best of some i'T‘i‘."ll"‘( re material convincingly morph from ageing Irish Admittedly he trim to expand upon pub bore to post-feminist mm, but
the stand-up format with a few also make bad Jokes and poor
musical numbers One is Inventive, performances hilarious. Her
another Is Inteiininahle He attempted characterisation Is immaculate, relying
some sketches that wouldn’t lookout on the slightest phySIcal quirks — a tilt
of place at the arse end of a Channel 5 of the eyebrow, a widening of the
schedule on a weak night He also kept eyes. An orIgInal, Incisive delight.
checking how much more time he was (Hannah McGill)
obliged to fill So did I. 'Rory Ford) Frank (Fringe) Lynn Ferguson,
3‘53 For Your Consideration (Fringe) Calder’s Gilded Balloon (Venue 38) 226
Boothhir G/‘affoe, Pleasant e (Venue 33) 2757, until 37 Aug, 7pm, [7. 50
556 6550, until 3] Aug (not 25 Aug), ([6 50).
7 (IS/HT), [9/{8 50/[8 t{8/157 50/f7).
COMEDY REVIEW Lynn Ferguson: Frank
THEATRE REVIEW
REVIEW Dazed and Confucius ;
Fiona Knowles plays Jenny, a middle— aged woman in the grip of a destructive stupor that convmces her , she is 102 years old After losing her mother and her (Ob In the space of eight months, she shuts the door on
\‘Isitor's, bingeing on whisky and ancient cakes
Knowles' determined energy absorbs you in this passionate fight to regain faith in life, and the characters salvaged from Jenny's past are \.’lg()l()tJSly charismatic. Rona Munro’s script almost makes the play as moving as It aspires to be, but it's let down by an uncomfortably trite resolution, upsetting a finely balanced, cautiously redemptive tone. (Chris Small)
Rayhon Kan seems to he a likeable chap, so it", a pity that hrs material Is predii table and often banal People really wanted to like this Chinese (ornit from Islasteiton, New Zealand, but he didn't give the audience enough reason to on along with him Sexual Innuendo in Star I‘i'ars Is the strength (.‘f the ll(lil.'l‘l-C).'I(; set, ‘.'."l)|(ll winds, often ll)(()ll( IIIszvely, along the path of his Me ()I‘ the L‘lll("l hand, when Kan pulls (cit the stops and raves a little, things start to get Interesting More spontaneity and fewer (heap rat Ial and srnutty gags would help see Kan appeal to more than the lowest common denorrIInat-' ir (Tracy Griffen) Dazed and CON/L Ius (Fringe) 3525? The Granny Knot (Fringe) The Raihon Kan, Ca/di 's‘ Gilded Balloon MsFits, Diverse Attractions (Venue 77) (Venue (5’) 226 2157, until 37 Aug, I 225 8967, until 22 Aug, 7.45pm, 730pin, [7 ([6) [5 50 ([3 50).
Determined energy: Fiona Knowles in The Granny Knot
theatre ° dance 0 comedy
THEATRE REVIEW Stealing The Smile
at #3?
Mamma mia! In this dark satire on artistic pretensions, Mamma Razzo’s consumptive son takes up painting and heads off to Paris to do mischief with the Mona Lisa. Ho hum. Sadly the rollicking farce and tragi-comedy combine In a mish-mash that even Giovanni’s fun lovin' anarchist mum -- played as Alison Steadman dorng a party piece impersonation of Churchill — can save.
As for the rest: forget subtlety. We know we are in France because someone runs onto the stage wearing a beret whilst brandishing a baguette, and we know we are In Italy because the women lean out of windows getting hysterical while the men quote Dante at each other. (Graham Dickson) a Stealing The Smile (Fringe) Grinning Gargoyle Theatre Company, C too (Venue 4) 225 5705, 6—37 Aug,
6. 75pm, £6 (£5).
THEATRE REVIEW
Free Rope — Pikes and Patsies
‘33! its ‘tbr
Scottish history: Mel Gibson meets Sean Connery, right? The Saltire Society is staging three plays about Scotland’s real past, including this one about the story of the revolutionary pike plotters,
The cast is small but talented, and David Gallacher makes an excellent host as the Reverend John Witherspoon, the man who tried to bring a sense of revolution to Scotland. He leads the audience through the John Knox House, introducing us to the monarchist Braxfields and their
Grim-8pm
Frankly brilliant: Lynn Ferguson
radical counterparts.
The mobility, surroundings and seriousness of it all can mean it’s hard to escape the llTTDFQSSIOH that you’re on a school trip, but at least they don’t mention Diana. ( Nicky Agate)
a Free Rope (Fringe) The Saltire Society Netherbow Theatre (Venue 30) 556 9579, until 37 Aug (three different shows on a/ternating evenings) 6.30pm 8r 8 30pm, [6 (f4).
COMEDY REVIEW
Caffeine e at: it-
Forget cigarettes and alcohol. Caffeine is the drug that most use to survive the Festival madness. Edinburgh-based comic Dave Williams is no exception, as he takes the audience on a guided tour into his world of perfect coffee, cafe etiquette and snobby waiters. The show gathers momentum as the caffeine kicks In for Williams and the audience alike (thanks to the complimentary cuppa). His brilliantly surreal, almost deluded rambling shows all the signs of a hardcore coffee addict — although he only admits to drinking a few cups 3 day. Easily identifiable too is the paranoia of the 'single person in a cafe syndrome’. A fantastic solo Fringe debut, which elevates the humble coffee to almost iconic status. (Tracy Griffen) fi Caffeine (Fringe) Dave Williams, Calder's Gilded Balloon (Venue 36) 226 2151, until 31 Aug, 7.45pm, £6.50 (£5.50).
STAR RATINGS tittt HMW,aw *itt a
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20-27 Aug 1998 THE usr 51