Edinburgh
Edinburgh Fringe: Dana Alexander/ A Sentimental Journey/ Dog-Eared CollectiveThursday, 11 August 2011
After 12 years in the business, Dana Alexander, an ebullient and instantly likeable presence on stage, is still the only black woman on the Canadian comedy circuit. Not that her ethnicity is Alexander's pre-occupation – it most definitely isn't –... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Lounge Room Confabulators/ Andi Osho/ Matthew CrosbyWednesday, 10 August 2011
Imagine that Tim Burton, or some other great modern-day storyteller of your choice, knocks at your door and asks if he can come into your living room for an hour to tell some fantastical stories. You would get some beers in and friends around... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: Margaret Cho/ The Wheel/ Jessica ForteskewTuesday, 09 August 2011
Margaret Cho, Assembly **** Margaret Cho is back, and how. Ten years away from the Fringe, the American-Korean bisexual - “I'm just greedy, I guess” - is a little softer around the edges maybe, but still as funny. With her lefty humour,... Read more... |
Edinburgh Fringe: The Monster in the Hall/ Joel Dommett/ Katherine RyanMonday, 08 August 2011
The Monster in the Hall, Traverse **** David Greig's indie comedy musical, first performed at Glasgow's Citizens Theatre at the end of last year, is a bright and inventive four-hander about a 16-year-old girl struggling to keep everything together.... Read more... |
CD: Les Bof! – Nous SommesFriday, 05 August 2011
Sixties-style garage rock can really hit the spot. Snotty vocals, amped-up guitars and an attack that draws from The Kinks, Pretty Things and so on can be just the tonic when a sea of tougher-to-process stuff is drowning everything else out. But... Read more... |
The Pajama Men, Soho TheatreTuesday, 21 June 2011
The 2009 Edinburgh Fringe featured a likeable comic duo in pajamas with imaginations as elastic as their faces. The titular garment – spelt the American way after their nationality – suggested both excitable role-play after lights out and those... Read more... |
Southern Tenant Folk Union, King and QueenTuesday, 21 June 2011
“If you’ve got the heart,” sang a suave Ewan Macintyre, “then you can be involved, you can be a part”. There was more heart in the room last night than you’d find in a whole tour of Mumford & Sons. And art. Nothing too flashy to begin, just... Read more... |
Case Histories, BBC OneSunday, 05 June 2011
Thanks to her evergreen bestseller Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson can call on an army of fans to buy her work whenever it appears in print. Its debut on screen is, perhaps, another matter. Will they buy the BBC’s rendition of Case... Read more... |
Villagers, Liquid Room, EdinburghMonday, 23 May 2011
Last week Villager-in-Chief Conor J O’Brien was awarded an Ivor Novello award (Best Song Musically and Lyrically, in case you’re curious) for the title track of his Mercury Prize-nominated debut album Becoming a Jackal. Several questions arise from... Read more... |
Nina Conti, Menier Chocolate FactoryWednesday, 11 May 2011
You don’t see much ventriloquism these days. It’s a comedy form mostly associated with variety and Victorian music hall - although it goes back at least to the Greeks - and gives a lot of people the heebie-jeebies. I know several people who can’t... Read more... |
Shelby Lynne, Queen's Hall, EdinburghSunday, 01 May 2011
It may not be a particularly popular statement, but the financial black hole rapidly consuming the music industry undoubtedly has its fringe benefits. Five years ago Shelby Lynne would have toured the UK with a session band and played for perhaps 70... Read more... |
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi, Usher Hall, EdinburghSaturday, 26 March 2011
White-knuckle crescendos loom large in that greater-than-ever conductor Neeme Järvi's spruce Indian summer. Short-term bursts were the chief payoff in tackling Dvořák's deceptively simple-seeming Serenade for Strings with a huge department on all... Read more... |
