Farewell Fringe, 2014:

Source: here

This has been the busiest Edinburgh Fringe experience I think I've ever had, but unfortunately (aside from a few tweets and Instagram photos) I haven't been able to share much about the great shows I've seen.  Tomorrow is pretty much the last day to see the majority of shows at the Fringe, so - if you're spending your Sunday in Edinburgh - here are a few brilliant comedians to see before they skip town.  So long, Fringe 2014!  I'll put my sharp elbows away again, until next time.

3pm: #meetandtweet by Declan Dineen (The Mash House, £5)
Declan is a lovely, genuine guy and his story about meeting 150 of his Twitter followers in person is heartwarming and inspiring.  I even met up with fellow blogger Jodie in my very own #meetandtweet after seeing the show.  You can read my full review and interview with Declan here if you need any more persuading.


6:45pm: It's Pronounced Abigoliah Schamaun by Abigoliah Schamaun (Gilded Balloon, £10/£8.50 concessions)
Sassy New Yorker Abigoliah is filthy, fun and absolutely hilarious.  She bares all about her childhood and personal life in this stand up set, which will prompt tears of laughter, sadness and joy all at once.  And she shares some really embarrassing school photos that will make you feel a lot better about your own.  Read my review and interview here.


8:20pm: Me, My Selfie and I by Dan Clark (Pleasance Dome, £12.50/£11.50 concessions)
If you haven't seen Dan Clark's BBC TV series How Not to Live Your Life then stop reading this and start watching it immediately.  Once you've done that, go and see what may well be his last Fringe show ever before he runs away to Hollywood and never returns.  In his show, Dan shares a lot of cringingly brilliant truths, sings a few songs and is generally charming and hilarious.  Check out my interview with Dan (who put up with me for an hour after I promised it would be a twenty minute long chat) here.  After you've finished watching How Not to Live Your Life.

Fringe first impressions:

I did something unheard of this year.  I made it to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe early.  I even saw two shows on their first day!  If you read my Festival post from last year you'll remember that I don't normally get very excited about the hoards of tourists that flock to Edinburgh every summer, or about having approximately four million flyers shoved in my face over the course of an afternoon, but for some reason I'm quite pumped about it all this year.  It might have something to do with working far away from the city centre these days, and also it isn't weeing it down with rain like it did last year (and the year before).  In any case, I thought I'd share my first impressions of the Fringe with you nice and early, so that you can go and enjoy the same brilliant shows I have, if you fancy them!

Source: here

We've Become Mango: Talking Limbo
Southsider (venue 148), West Richmond Street
3rd to 24th August (excluding Wednesdays)

Some of you might remember a past review I posted here of the sketch comedy group, We've Become Mango.  I'm glad to say that the trio are back and stronger than ever for this year's Fringe.  After a remarkably slick preview show in the basement of The Tron pub last month, I was very much looking forward to seeing the Mango family's Fringe offering, and it didn't disappoint.

I hope you like parties, because We've Become Mango are throwing one nearly every day of August at the Southsider on West Richmond Street in your honour.  Greeted by James at the door with a plate of biscuits (apologies if the group have used up all of their biscuit budget by the time you make it to the show and you don't get one) we filed into the intimate back room of the Southsider, sat in the front row and only got mildly picked on.

Marianne, Richard and James kept us entertained with sketches punctuated by party games, throwing in some polished versions of old jokes that I was quite happy to see again among some brand new material.  As long as you can understand Twitter, are comfortable with men breastfeeding and enjoy a few rude jokes, I would recommend that you check We've Become Mango out.  After all, it's FREE to attend, and you can purchase alcohol nearby.  Just don't go with your parents, okay?

Source: here

Scroobius Pip: Words
Pleasance Dome (venue 23), Bristo Square
7th to 26th August (excluding 19th)

First of all, before I get into this review, I just want to let you all know that the Pleasance Dome is not in the Pleasance.  And for all of you shaking your heads in dismay, I live here and I didn't know that.  It doesn't make sense.  So, in case you're visiting for the Fringe (or are just clueless, like me) I thought I'd better share that important piece of information.  Luckily, we had plenty of time to leg it across to Bristo Square where the venue actually is...

Scroobius Pip became well known for his work with DJ and music producer Dan Le Sac, and if you've heard any of their music before, it will probably be Thou Shalt Always Kill, their first single.  I've loved the duo from the minute Craig first played me that song back in 2010, but if you know me, you know that I am all about the lyrics.  You might be surprised that someone with such indie rock leanings would be excited by rap, but it's got so many words.  And, if Scroobius Pip is writing them, they are clever, calculated and meaningful words, too.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Pip's solo spoken word tour, but I knew that it wasn't an experience I should miss.  Clearly, a large number of other people thought so too, as the opening night's show was sold out!  The set list was eclectic, with some older and some newer pieces mixed in together.  Some have since been put to music by Dan Le Sac, whilst some were only ever meant to be spoken word poems.  A number of serious social themes are covered, some of which are deemed 'disturbing' - suicide, self harm, abusive relationships, etc. - but should really be talked about more often.  There is also a lot of swearing.  It's great.  The show was broken up by Scroobius Pip's charming and witty musings about the Festival, Edinburgh and life in general.  I won't spoil anything for you, but his stage entrance was a stroke of genius too, and I hope he does it every night.

Near the end of his set, Pip jokingly warned any reviewers in the audience to concentrate on the funny and heartwarming moments of the night in order to convince others to buy a ticket, but in my opinion it is far easier to make people laugh than to make them feel.  Sobs from around the room during The Magician's Assistant, the lump in my own throat during Angles (it gets me every time) and roars of indignant agreement and understanding during Rat Race - they all made me realise that Scroobius Pip's true talent lies in capturing and articulating raw human emotion.

After the show, Pip stayed behind to sell his own merch and chat to anyone and everyone who wanted to meet him.  Craig and I hogged him for a little while, and he was such a genuinely lovely guy.  I was thrilled to meet one of my lyrical heroes, and if he's one of yours too (or you are just looking for some new ones) then don't miss this show.

We've Become Mango:

You know how some people are just disgustingly talented?  I've mentioned my friend Marianne's blog here before, and also showcased some of her artwork.  If you've had a look at her blog, you'll probably already know that she is quite an articulate and humorous human being, but did you know that she is also a member of a three piece comedy sketch group called We've Become Mango?  And did you know that they are actually funny?  (Marianne isn't even paying me to write this, although she did ask that I give We've Become Mango five stars for any upcoming Fringe flyers.  Here they are: *****  Enjoy!)

Image found here

Bribery aside, going to amateur comedy shows was quite the thing during my first year at uni, and as a result I have seen some good stand up and also some truly awful stand up in my time.  I remember seeing Kevin Bridges (before he was famous) fill in at the last minute for another act at our Union.  He opened his mouth and swore profusely into a microphone for half an hour in an attempt to hide the fact that he didn't actually have any jokes to tell.  Going even further back in time, I can recall sweating through unbearable performances by my high school's Comedy Club, who had a grand total of one member with any comedic talent in their midst (sorry to any Comedy Club veterans who might be reading this...).  The harsh reality is that live comedy, and particularly live sketch comedy, isn't that easy to pull off, unless you really know what you're doing.

Image found here

We've Become Mango (also known as Marianne, Richard and James) certainly seem to know what they're doing, or have got me fooled at the very least.  Their recent live sketch show at Edinburgh's Bedlam Theatre, entitled 'Talking Limbo', was well attended and very well received by the audience.  Despite claims of stage fright, the trio exuded confidence on stage, and kept us all laughing with them (not at their expense) even through minor technical difficulties.  The structure of 'Talking Limbo' gave each member of the group a chance to flaunt their strong talents as individuals, but also showcased the trio's obvious chemistry and comedic compatibility.  Most importantly of all, they really looked like they were enjoying themselves up there, filling the venue with an infectious enthusiasm that I never felt at those ill-chosen university comedy gigs.

We've Become Mango will be back with a vengeance for this year's Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, so look out for them if you happen to be in the area this summer.  Be nice to them if they thrust a flyer in your face, and go and see their show if you can, because they are the funniest amateur comedy act I've seen (and better than a lot of the professional ones I've seen too...).  If you like taking the piss out of pop culture, overdramatic comedy falls on stage and guessing the difference between bodily functions for fun, then you'll love these guys!  (They make it all a lot funnier than me, I promise!)

You can find We've Become Mango on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wevebecomemango

or Twitter: @wevebecomemango

Like and follow them for updates about upcoming shows!

The Edinburgh Pestival 2012:

I'm usually a bit cynical about the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, although I've never figured out exactly why.  It might stem from working in a shop in the centre of Edinburgh over the last few summers.  The anger that rose up inside me when my two minute walk from the train station became a fifteen minute assault course because of all the tourist traffic on Princes Street is indescribable.  Every year I say I'll spend at least a whole day seeing what I can see at the Festival, and every year I fail miserably.  Even this year I haven't dedicated a whole day to Festival madness, but I have caught a few special shows that I very much enjoyed, and I thought I could share with you.

witheredhand.com

To kick off the Festival season, Craig, our friend Ruaridh and I saw Withered Hand play at the Queen's Hall on Saturday the 4th of August.  Although the three of us have seen Withered Hand (also known as Dan Willson) play several times before, both on his own and with a full band, this was probably his biggest gig yet that I've attended, and it made me happy that so many people showed up to support him.  If you've never heard Withered Hand before, I would highly recommend it.  I'm struggling to compare his music to anything else, but if you like clever lyrics, acoustic guitars and folky leanings (like me) then you should give his music a listen.  It's all good, but I'd always recommend you to start with No Cigarettes, Cornflake and Religious Songs, and then see where the mood takes you from there.  On this occasion, Withered Hand was supported by Darren Hayman and Ballboy (Gordon McIntyre), and the whole show was compered by Josie Long, who you may remember as the ditzy guidance counsellor in Skins.  It turns out she is also a rather funny stand up comedian, and she made the 'waiting around between bands with your feet starting to hurt' bit far more enjoyable.  Needless to say, Withered Hand (an his fantastic band) were incredible, and we all sang along to our heart's content.

rhysdarby.com

On a very rainy Monday night (the 6th of August) a group of us went along the Pleasance Baby Grand to see Rhys Darby's one man stand up show.  He's most famous for his role as Murray in comedy TV show Flight of the Conchords, and there are nods to that throughout his show, but it turns out that Rhys isn't much like Murray at all.  I was surprised by how animated and physical his performance was, and he was extremely funny, laidback and likeable on stage.  There was no picking on the audience - something that makes me very uncomfortable at comedy shows.  He actually accepted a gift (a tinfoil robot) from one member of the audience at the beginning of the performance and posted a photo of it on Twitter later, which I thought was very sweet.  I won't spoil any of the jokes for you, but Rhys Darby's dancing is a wonder to behold, and worth the ticket money alone.  His show is called This Way to Spaceship, and it runs until the 27th of August, so go and see it for yourself if you get the chance!  I highly recommend it.

Smile-N Productions

The final show that Craig and I attended is quite close to my heart.  On Friday the 10th, we went down to Stockbridge Parish Church to see 'I Got It: An Actor's Tale', a musical written by 18 year old Marc MacKinnon, who was in 2nd year at my old high school when I was in my final year there.  I was so impressed when I heard that Marc had not only written an entire musical by himself, but was also going to direct and appear in performances of it on the Fringe.  I was excited to go along and support him, and I really enjoyed 'I Got It'.  Unfortunately, the show only had a short three performance run, but all three shows were very well attended and Marc has received some excellent feedback.  I'll include a link to a detailed review of the show here, in case you're curious about the plot.  Personally, I was blown away by how great the whole cast were, and still can't believe that an 18 year old wrote the entire script and score himself!  I would definitely say that Marc was one to watch!  You can like his production company's Facebook page and get updates about any shows that they might be putting on in the future here: Smile-N Productions.

Although I've nothing else planned or booked for the Fringe, I'm still oddly proud of myself for seeing a small but varied selection of shows this year.  Have you visited Edinburgh for the Festival this year?  If so, what did you see, and do you have any recommendations for shows that are still running?  I'd love some suggestions!  I would advise you all to definitely go and see Rhys Darby if you can, he was excellent!