Joe Wells: King of the Autistics, PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth.
Joe Wells’ new show is a comedic exploration of all things autistic, including how autistics are perceived and treated, and what are the qualities that make good parents of autistics. He also tells us how he accidentally upsets a wide range of people, including listeners to his podcast and Christians; probably also people who use e-scooters, but don’t press him on that. Earlier this year he came to the decision to step down as self-styled King of the Autistics – shame, I think he should rule on! Joe always comes at comedy from a good place and leads you down unlikely alleyways to subvert your expectations. A delight as always!
3rd Rock from the Pun: Darren Walsh, Laughing Horse @ Bar 50.
For his new show, Darren Walsh has scoured the Internet for Artificial Intelligence – and all the media he uses – video, audio, etc, has been created by AI. That doesn’t include the jokes; fortunately for Darren, AI is rubbish at making you laugh. Darren is a superb exponent of the art of the pun and will make you cringe, gasp, groan, and laugh ecstatically at a series of inventive, outrageous, or downright corny puns assembled together to explain the development and history of the Universe as seen through AI eyes. Friendly, fast, and funny!
Married at First Sleight, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose.
Hudson and Hudson, the married magicians, base their act on the fact that she’s quirky and cheeky and he’s a bit of a dickhead (her words). Their magic tricks are brilliant, and their mind-reading stunts are out of this world. There’s a sequence when the ghost of Cat’s late aunt comes to the stage to assist her with a couple of tricks; you come away realising that the power of suggestion is an amazing force and it is very spooky how these tricks worked so well. However, they seemed to find it difficult to establish a rapport with the audience and we never felt comfortable with, or really believed, their faux-argumentative stage personas. This may be why their jokes and humour that frame the tricks fell flat. And that’s a big shame, as you felt that the show as a whole became hard-going for them. Fortunately, the magic outweighs the laughs, but it does need to be snappier and crisper.
The Rite of Spring / common ground[s], Pina Bausch Foundation and Ecole des Sables, Edinburgh Playhouse.
The evening starts with Common Ground[s], a two-hander choreographed and danced by Germaine Acogny – co-founder of the Ecole des Sables in Senegal – and Malou Airaudo, who had worked closely with Pina Bausch. It’s a dignified, elegant and controlled piece of choreography and dance, reflecting the many moods shared between two people over a lifetime of dance. It manages to be both supportive and light-hearted; I won’t pretend to understand all the interactions it depicts because this is essentially a private piece that offers us little insights and flashes of recognition.
After the interval – a good twenty minutes or more where the backstage team transforms the stage from its opening bareness to the peaty plains of Africa – it’s time for Pina Bausch’s stunning Rite of Spring, an extravaganza of movement and rhythm, accompanied by Stravinsky’s mesmerising music, where opposing groups of men and women come together to perform a sacrificial rite where one young girl dances herself to death. It’s an astonishingly vivid spectacle, and takes your breath away with its beauty, bravery and sheer bravado.
P. S. Don’t try to take a half-drunk bottle of water into the auditorium. Security will insist you tip it away. If they do that to ensure that you buy another one at their bar, it didn’t work with me.
P. P. S. Our performance was very nearly ruined by an arrogant, entitled git of a man who took photos and videos of Rite through almost the entire performance, despite the protestations of a) his nearby theatregoers, b) the front of house team and c) Security. I really thought there was going to be a punch-up at the end, so badly had he aggravated everyone around him. And the lesson to be learned is – don’t waste Security’s time checking for half-empty bottles of water, get them to eject antisocial audience members as soon as they become a problem.
99 Red Hot Kitties and Cockatoo, The Space @ Niddry Street.
Apparently every night is a different line up for this little burlesque show – I can only say that perhaps we went on an off-night. There were a couple of acts that were decent – a lady depicting a black widow spider who staples a black ribbon to her body, and another lady who cheers up a bad day at the office by stripping to her scanties. But on the whole it was rather underwhelming, and I have to say that some of the audience members were a little more well-oiled than was good for them.
