Tag Archives: James Loveridge

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2016 – Spank! 27th August 2016

Posted on by

For our last show on Saturday night and indeed for us at the Fringe this year it’s our third and final visit to Spank! (We love it) this year. I can’t think of anywhere better to round off the perfect Saturday at the Fringe. It’s at midnight, at Belly Dancer @ Underbelly Cowgate and I’m expecting a marvellous time.

A reminder of the blurb: “Spank! returns for an incredible 13th year with sexy hosts, awesome comedians and the inevitable gratuitous nudity. With the most exciting comedy and cabaret talent on the Fringe, don’t miss the ‘best wild night out’ (Scotland on Sunday) at the festival! Spank! You love it! ‘This is what the festival should be about’ (List). ‘Legendary party night? Get down there right away!’ (Time Out). Previous acts include Rhys Darby, Jack Whitehall, Katherine Ryan, Josh Widdicombe, Adam Hills and many more! Ages 18+.”

Once again our terrific hosts will be the incredible Mr James Loveridge and the delightful Miss Abigoliah Schamaun, and I’m partying till dawn. Well, at least until Mrs Chrisparkle says it’s time to go back to the hotel. Check back very late – or maybe tomorrow morning – to find out if it was the perfect send off, and thanks very much for following our antics at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. If you’ve been up here too, I hope you had a ball!

Post-show update:

For our final Spank! James and Abigoliah were absent, off doing Spanktacular instead, so we had Danny O’Brien and Laura Lexx, and although they presented it efficiently they didn’t have the same chemistry together which was a bit of a shame. Still, the acts were great. Brilliant musical comedy (sex face) from Totally Wired; great material from Rory O’Hanlon and Dylan Gott; more musical mashups from Axis of Awesome; ridiculously funny book based material from Christopher Bliss, and absolutely top stuff from Leo Kyle and Janey Godley. The naked promo was provided by one of the show technicians – Dan – and he did it to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Trust. Brilliant night of comedy!

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2016 – Spank! 25th August 2016

Posted on by

For last show on Thursday night it’s back for the second of our three Spankings this year, because, as the saying goes, we love it! It’s at midnight, of course, at Underbelly Cowgate (Belly Dancer) and will be the usual riot of unexpected misbehaviour and gentle teasings.

A reminder of the blurb: “Spank! returns for an incredible 13th year with sexy hosts, awesome comedians and the inevitable gratuitous nudity. With the most exciting comedy and cabaret talent on the Fringe, don’t miss the ‘best wild night out’ (Scotland on Sunday) at the festival! Spank! You love it! ‘This is what the festival should be about’ (List). ‘Legendary party night? Get down there right away!’ (Time Out). Previous acts include Rhys Darby, Jack Whitehall, Katherine Ryan, Josh Widdicombe, Adam Hills and many more! Ages 18+.” Looking forward to seeing our genial hosts again, the incredible Mr James Loveridge and Miss Abigoliah Schamaun, and I don’t expect to be in bed until very late. Check back very late – or maybe tomorrow morning – to find out just how spanklicious it was, and you can also find out about our first show for Friday.

Post-show update:

This was a truly fun-filled Spank, and not just because of the guests! We started off with The Establishment, whom we had seen the day before at The Fainting Couch; then superb Canadian comic Allyson June Smith, making her UK debut Laura Prangley, hilarious Australian David Quirk, Emman Idama, Fraser Geesin and headline act Patrick Monahan. Naked promo was by Ellen who said she did it for fun and to promote good body image; but we later found out it was because her ex was at the same show with a new date! Patrick’s act was like a game show where Ellen (and her friend) got to choose a new date. James Loveridge’s mum and dad were in the audience and his dad was one of the contestants in the game show. You really had to be there!

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2016 – James Loveridge: Castles in the Sand, 23rd August 2016

Posted on by

Our next show stars someone we saw last night! For the first time we’re getting to see James Loveridge doing his own stand-up material rather than co-hosting Spank! The show’s called Castles in the Sand, and it’s on at The Liquor Room at the Laughing Horse @ The Hanover Tap (long name!), Hanover Street, at 20:45 on Tuesday 23rd. Here’s the blurb according to the website: “James once has sex in a cage, whilst a stranger’s rabbit watched him from an ironing board. This story will not be featuring in the show… ‘Undoubtedly the best free show that I have seen at the Fringe.’ ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). ***** ‘Loveridge brought out some of the shock and awe – all with a smile on his face, too’ (ThePublicReviews.com). **** ‘He had the rest of us in stitches throughout a polished yet ever-evolving act, with asides and quips just as strong his actual jokes’ (Skinny).”

I’m really looking forward to seeing James do his proper material as he’s a naturally funny and friendly guy on stage and I’m sure he’ll just blow us away. Check back about 9:45 to see if he’s as good a stand-up as a compere, and by then the preview blog for our next show should be available to read too.

Post-show update:

He sure did! That was fun! James takes us through an hour of embarrassing recollections, some of which involve sand (ahem), as well as some surprising comic stories from his current and previous relationships (sounds like he was well out of one of them). We can add our cringey reminiscences to the mix too, which is a nice way of involving the audience. He’s got a gently laddish way about him which makes it easy for someone like me to relate to his escapades! Full of laughs – everything you want from an hour’s stand up!

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2016 – Spank! 22nd August 2016

Posted on by

Just like last year, we’re going to see Spank! on Monday night because there’s no finer way to end the perfect day. If ever there was a justification for the old saying, You can’t have too much of a good thing – this is it. Our midnight show at Underbelly Cowgate (Belly Dancer) tonight is only the first of three that we have booked for this anarchically wonderful comedy melange.

Here’s what the blurb has to say: “Spank! returns for an incredible 13th year with sexy hosts, awesome comedians and the inevitable gratuitous nudity. With the most exciting comedy and cabaret talent on the Fringe, don’t miss the ‘best wild night out’ (Scotland on Sunday) at the festival! Spank! You love it! ‘This is what the festival should be about’ (List). ‘Legendary party night? Get down there right away!’ (Time Out). Previous acts include Rhys Darby, Jack Whitehall, Katherine Ryan, Josh Widdicombe, Adam Hills and many more! Ages 18+.” Our hosts, like last year are the incredible Mr James Loveridge and Miss Abigail Schamaun, and I genuinely can’t wait. It’s going to finish at Whenever o’clock so check back much later on – or maybe tomorrow morning – to find out how much spanking took place. And you can also find out about our first show for Tuesday. Are we halfway through the week yet? Not quite!

Post-show update:

I don’t know what it is about Spank (you love it) that I enjoy so much, but all through August before we came up to Edinburgh, I’ve been jealous of the people watching it whilst I was watching it patiently at home.  Tonight, as well as the fabulous Abigoliah and the sensational James, we had Ben who had an argument with Baccara, Martin Crozier who insisted I was a doctor, Conor (?) who had very slow cum, Andrea Hubert, who was so sensitive to her cancer suffering boyfriend, Lauren Pattison, the pride of Newcastle, Alex Kealy, who’s mum is fit and baby-faced Matt Green. Plus we had a real life fight – huge kudos to Paddy for taking control – and the Naked Promo was Ryan who was promoting a bar – Pollyanna’s I think. Fantastic night as always. Why weren’t you there??

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2015 – Spank (for a third time)

Posted on by

Perhaps it’s no surprise that our final show of the Edinburgh week is a third trip to see Spank, having enjoyed it so much last year it seemed to make sense to just keep going back his year, because every night is different. There’s not a lot more to say about Spank other than what I’ve already said in preparation for Monday night’s and Thursday night’s shows. Looking forward to an anarchic and unpredictable few hours in the company of James Loveridge, Abigoliah Schamaun and their assorted guests. Midnight at the Underbelly Cowgate, Belly Dancer is the time and the place. Hope our friends Lord Liverpool and the Countess of Cockfosters enjoy it as much as we do.

No more preview blogs to add, but I will put up our final reactions to this show either before bed or tomorrow morning. If you’ve followed our Edinburgh adventure throughout the week, thank you for your attention and I hope it’s been of some interest. If there are any shows that I’m itching to write more about (and I am sure there will be), I’ll hopefully get round to those in the next week or two. Happy Fringing!

Update:

A long late night with the Spank team is always a complete pleasure. Abigoliah and James were on top form and they presented the inventive Chaos Therapy, the punful Darren Walsh, the amazing Womanz, the young pretender Elliot Steel, a chap whose name I didn’t catch but had some great anti-elderly material, and the riotous Keith Farnan, who described Lord Liverpool and me as Statler and Waldorf. We also had Alfie Brown, for whom it all just didn’t work, sadly, and our naked promo was comic Danny O’Brien, who we saw on Monday. I can’t think of a better way to end our Edinburgh week!

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2015 – Spank (a second spanking)

Posted on by

Yes our final show of the night is the second visit this week to the Underbelly Cowgate (Belly Dancer) to see Spank, a riotous few hours spent in the company of James Loveridge, Abigoliah Schamaun, and a host of as yet unannounced guests. If you need reminding, here’s the deal: “Spank returns for an incredible 12th year with sexy hosts, awesome comedians and inevitable gratuitous nudity. You love it! ‘This is what the festival should be about’ (List). ‘Legendary party night … get down there right away!’ (Time Out).”

Who knows what they will have in store for us tonight? I just hope it’s as good as it was last year! We’ll be starting here at midnight and going on till the wee hours. Maybe it’ll be best to check back in the morning for our reactions and to find out where we’ll be starting our Friday. Sleep well!

Update:

Spank (we love it) as funny as always, with our hosts on top form and a bunch of brilliant guests. We enjoyed sketch group Giraffe, Trinidadian Archie Maddocks, John Robertson of The Dark Room (he nicked my beer but was quite nice about it and good old James replenished me with a Sol), Papa CJ, Rhys Nicholson, Ian Smith, and Felicity Ward. The guys all struggled to be heard over the constant chat of a party of Underbelly box office girls who heeded not the beseech to “shut the f*ck up”, but never mind. And kudos to our naked promo, Tom who was representing a musical at 11:30 in the underbelly- but I can’t remember its name! Great night!

The Edinburgh Fringe One-Weeker 2015 – Spank!

Posted on by

One of the absolute highlights of our visit to Edinburgh last year was seeing Spank! on the Sunday night before we left to go home on the Monday. And ever since we decided to come back this year we’ve been looking forward to extra helpings of Spank, and our midnight show at Underbelly Cowgate (Belly Dancer) tonight is only the first of three that we have booked for this anarchically wonderful comedy melange.

Here’s what the blurb has to say: “Spank returns for an incredible 12th year with sexy hosts, awesome comedians and inevitable gratuitous nudity. You love it! ‘This is what the festival should be about’ (List). ‘Legendary party night … get down there right away!’ (Time Out).” Last year’s brilliant host Lames Loveridge will be joined by Abigoliah Schamaun, who is new to us so I’m very much looking forward to seeing what she has up her sleeve.

It’s going to finish at Whenever o’clock so check back much later on – or maybe tomorrow morning – to find out how much spanking took place. And you can also find out about our first show for Tuesday. Are we halfway through the week yet? Not quite!

Update:

Spank (we love it!) was as brilliant as ever! James and Abigoliah were the perfect hosts and the place was pretty much packed out for a Monday night. I ended up on stage twice: first time was because a younger guy two spaces along was spitting image of me 30 years ago, so he got us up to compare. The second time was to receive and chew a Mintie from the warm undergarments of Miss Penny Greenhalgh, who had previously been roller blading with another guy from the audience – you had to be there. Other amazing acts included Christopher reading from his World War novel, Danny O’Brien discussing the ins and outs of cunnilingus (as you do), Woman, Matt Reed and Janie Godley. Brilliant stuff.

And how could I forget the fantastic Billy, from The Big Breakfast, doing the naked promo! Good man!!