Tag Archives: Frank Skinner

Edinburgh Fringe 2023 Reviews – Lena, Sooz Kempner: Y2K Woman, Walking Home, and Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt

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Lena, Assembly George Square.

The staging of this show reveals the two opposing aspects of Lena Zavaroni’s life in sharp contrast. On one side of the stage is a platform with a band, and the name LENA large in lights; on the other, a modest living room with a small TV and past-their-best armchairs. This simple, unsophisticated upbringing did not prepare her for the excesses of showbiz. When Lena Zavaroni was taken away from the family to start her career with an unprecedented five-week victory on Opportunity Knocks! no one could have foreseen the future. It looked like a golden, star-studded fast route to success – but, in fact, it was child abuse. Tim Whitnall’s movingly written, superbly performed musical play starts with Lena awaiting her last chance surgery; then Hughie Green introduces scenes from her life, starting with her being spotted at a Rothesay club, through TV stardom, hit records and international success; all of which came to an end with Lena’s increasing Anorexia. Erin Armstrong is simply brilliant as Lena, with terrific performances from Alan McHugh and Julie Coombe as her conflicted, ineffectual parents, Helen Logan as her manipulative manager and Jon Culshaw as Hughie Green. A fascinating, immensely sad piece – I remember Lena Zavaroni’s early successes well, seeing her on television and buying her records; but would any of us have done those things and supported her career if we had known what it was doing to her brain? Failed by everyone around her, this is a tough story immaculately told.

 

Sooz Kempner: Y2K Woman, Underbelly Bristo Square.

Sooz Kempner is on cracking form as she takes us back to New Year’s Eve 1999, and wonders what she would tell her 14-year-old self about how her life would develop. This is a fast, slick and very funny show that touches on loads of topics and each time the humour lands home. Crammed with callbacks, both verbal and visual, and with superbly original material. Absolutely first rate, loved every minute.

Walking Home, Gilded Balloon Teviot.

What happens when, one morning, someone at your office doesn’t come in as expected? They haven’t telephoned to say they’re unwell, and this behaviour is most out of character. Then HR send an urgent email to all staff recommending safety training. Gradually it is revealed that they have been attacked when walking home the previous night. Prickly Pear Productions have created this devised performance, based on the testimonies of around forty people. Each of the four characters has a short sequence when they come out of character and address the audience directly, asking about our experiences relating to personal safety and sexual assaults. The main message that comes through is that there is always something that we can all do to make life safer for everyone; there’s always some help one can offer. However, I think the play is written in a rather manipulative way; it’s designed to make us all think one thing, and then make us feel guilty for thinking it. The play obviously comes from a good place, but it could probably do with a little refinement.

3-stars

Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt, Assembly George Square.

Frank Skinner has us all in the palm of his hand right from the start, with his masterful, gentle pace which masks a devastatingly wicked sense of humour. The hour is packed with brilliant, original material that he glides through with effortless determination. A complete masterclass in comedy.

The Edinburgh Fringe All Month Long – 22nd August 2023

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Only four shows today – a nice mix of drama and comedy!

Here’s the schedule for 22nd August:

12.35 – Lena, Assembly George Square. From the Edinburgh Fringe website:

“1974. 10-year-old singing sensation Lena Zavaroni rockets to stardom on Opportunity Knocks, ITV’s top talent show. 25 years later, we discover a very different Lena, one for whom the glory days are long gone. Exploring what had happened to her in the intervening years reveals a wholly contrasting story. Written by BAFTA and Olivier award-winner Tim Whitnall and directed by Paul Hendy, Lena, a compelling play with music, features a live band and five-strong cast, starring Erin Armstrong as Lena and Jon Culshaw as TV’s original Mr. Starmaker, Hughie Green.”

I remember what a big star Lena Zavaroni was in the early days – and how tragically her life developed. I think this could be quite a sad play, but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.

15.10 – Sooz Kempner: Y2K Woman, Underbelly Bristo Square.

“The award-winning, viral sensation returns with a brand-new hour following her sell-out 2022 run. As the year 2000 approached, Sooz was about to turn 15 and the PlayStation 2 was about to launch… it was a new beginning for the world. But with the Millennium Bug, was the world also about to end!? Now, almost a quarter of a century later, things feel eerily similar… New millennium, video games, Alanis Morissette… a show for anyone who remembers the year 2000 or had big dreams as a kid. ‘Kempner has funny bones’ **** (Scotsman). ‘Brilliant’ (LA Times).”

I’d heard a lot about Sooz Kempner in the past until last year we saw her for the first time and she’s every bit as good as I’d hoped. Can’t wait for this!

17.30 – Walking Home, Gilded Balloon Teviot.

“It’s just another day in the office when news that a colleague has been sexually assaulted reaches the boardroom. Emotions run high, but deadlines need to be met. Walking Home is a devised performance exploring the politics and tensions within the issue of sexual violence against women and people of marginalised genders. Shedding a light on the community’s role in this conversation, it’s built on real experiences collected from people of diverse genders, nationalities and walks of life.”

Another play that tackles an important issue for our times, I hope it’s enlightening and bold. Should be good!

20.50 – Frank Skinner: 30 Years of Dirt, Assembly George Square.

“A highly anticipated brand-new hour from comic legend Frank Skinner (‘King of stand-up’ (Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard)), following his sell-out hit Showbiz. ‘Frank Skinner has funny bones… even at the top of the comedy tree it’s rare to see his sort of fast-thinking but slow-talking instinctual wit…’ (Dominic Maxwell, Times). ‘Doing what he does best… the gags just keep on coming. Stand-up’s coming home’ (Mark Wareham, Mail on Sunday). ‘Skinner is warm, impeccable company and his way with a punchline is masterful… a delight.’ (Paul Fleckney, Guardian).”

Second time lucky for the return of Frank Skinner with the show that he was due to bring to the Edinburgh Fringe last year but couldn’t because of a family health issue. Hopefully now he’s back and on terrific form!

Check back later to see how we enjoyed all these shows!

Review – Frank Skinner, Man in a Suit tour, Derngate, Northampton, 13th May 2014

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I’ve enjoyed watching Frank Skinner on the TV on and off over the past 25 years or so. He’s always good value guesting on panel shows and we both used to love his Fantasy Football programmes with David Baddiel. Mind you, I draw the line at Room 101. You have to have some standards. This is his first stand up tour in about seven, and certainly the first opportunity we’ve had to see him live, so I grabbed excellent tickets the moment they went on sale. Unfortunately, Mrs Chrisparkle was delayed coming home from work before the show so I was sent on ahead to the theatre to order the drinks, whilst she gobbled her evening meal and followed on in a mad flustery indigestive panic, arriving one full minute before the show started. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. However, she needn’t have worried too much about hurrying as the first twenty-five minutes or so was in the company of support act Gareth Richards.

Maybe it’s a big ask to warm up a full Derngate auditorium on a Tuesday night, but I’m afraid I just didn’t find Mr Richards very funny. His style seemed quite detached and introverted, which I don’t think transferred to the big stage very well. Amongst his material he had a couple of rather dubious jokes that, if you thought about them, made fun of the mentally ill and debased the status of women – you can get away with that kind of stuff if you have a really deft touch or a controversial persona to hide behind but he had neither. Before launching into his final song he said that after the interval we’d have the pleasure of the company of “Frank Skinner!” which was a cue for cheers and applause. But the cheers and applause were infinitesimally quiet, to which Mr Richards said “Oh no, I’m meant to have warmed you up – I’ve killed you!” He had a point. Mrs C needn’t have rushed after all. I should say though, in the interests of fairness, the people I stood next to at the bar in the interval absolutely loved him, so what do I know.

As the title of the tour suggests, Frank Skinner emerges after the interval, dressed in a very smart suit. Stylistically he’s undergone something of a sea-change over the years and now presents himself, visually, as the height of respectability, despite inside being still as mischievous as ever. He’s very engaging and smiley, gets a great rapport with the audience, has lots of chats with people in the first few rows, and gets us all on his side right from the start. He’s excellent at setting up jokes for later on too, which is always a rewarding skill.

His delivery is relatively slow and deliberate. Not too slow; but you wouldn’t want it any slower. He also spends the entire evening pacing from one side of the stage to the other, but again, very slowly. Not so much like a caged tiger (which can be very offputting), more like someone who’s been told to exercise but doesn’t want to. I always think the way a comic walks (or doesn’t), and speaks either quickly or slowly, gives you an indication of their energy levels and their self-confidence. Mr Skinner’s presence was very reassuring and extremely self-confident; the relatively slow pace allows him the time to think on his feet and to be flexible with his material, going off at tangents in a well-thought-through way, rather than blundering into them only to find a dead-end.

A lot of his material concerns his relationship with his girlfriend. We loved his observation that at his age – which is not dissimilar to mine – to say he has a girlfriend sounds as weird as if he said he has a skateboard. He has a really funny routine about her horrendous ability to remember an argument and make it last…and last. It’s material that many people do but his is somehow additionally credible. Another of his very quirky observations was a comparison between poor people of today and poor people of forty years ago. Very nice. But all round, he’s cram-packed with excellent material.

Mrs C noted how, as the evening progressed, his language became progressively more profane. It’s true, I think he held back some of his more old-fashioned material for the end of the show. It’s a bit like when you meet someone new for the first time, you’re always on best behaviour for a while. Then you might accidentally on purpose let slip a minor swear word to see how they react – that’s how you find your combined level. Once you’re old mates, you talk the same way. I guess he thought his average audience is probably quite a rude bunch. He’s probably right. Mrs C was also disappointed he didn’t sing “Three Lions”. I have a feeling that phase might have passed several years ago. Would have been fun though, if he’d sang what is the best football song evah.

A very enjoyable night with a very assured performer delivering great observational comedy at a deceptively relaxed pace. His tour continues into June and I believe he’s doing Edinburgh this summer too. Definitely recommended!