Edinburgh Festival

Water under the bridge

(0)

This article is from 2009.

Water under the bridge - Former Perrier winners at the Festival 2009

Former Perrier Award winners appearing at the 2009 festival

Brian Donaldson picks out a quintet of former Perrier Award winners who are appearing again this year without having to worry about all that nomination nonsense

Dylan Moran

The youngest winner of the Perrier when he tousled his way to glory in 1996, the Edinburgh-based Irish fella’s victory speech has gone down in Perrier Award speechy history for his passionate insistence that nominee Bill Bailey should have been given the nod. Clearly this made quite an impression on the losing hippie materialist who then joined forces with Moran for three successful series of Black Books. In which, curiously, Moran’s Bernard ritually abused Bailey’s Manny from start to finish.
Edinburgh Playhouse, 0844 847 1660, 10 & 11 Aug, 8pm, £20–£18.

Frank Skinner

In 2007, the cheeky Midlands chappie made an emotional return to the Pleasance Cabaret Bar, the tight and sweaty venue where he won the Perrier in 1991, to perform a series of comeback shows. This year, he hits the Assembly Rooms to host his Credit Crunch Cabaret. Looking back though, it was a really weak year when he won it, only having to beat off Eddie Izzard, Jack Dee, Lily Savage and Avner the Eccentric. Now, whatever became of Lily Savage?
Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, 14–30 Aug (not 17), 6.50pm; 27–29 Aug, midnight, £10.

Sean Hughes

He may have now sprouted some regrettable facial fuzz, but the slim (gaunt) frame and boyish (rabbit caught in the headlights) expression are still intact. Seems barely like yesterday when the London-born Irishman sidestepped Dillie Keane, Pete McCarthy and Jimmy Tingle to take the Perrier. It was, in fact, 1990.
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, 22–30 Aug (not 27), 8.30pm, £12–£14 (£11–£13).

Daniel Kitson

Almost certainly the most reluctant ever winner of the Perrier, the hyper-sensitive Yorkshireman was nominated in 2001 with Love, Innocence and the Word Cock before scooping the prize a year later with Something. A heavyweight shortlist included Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili and Noel Fielding, but Kitson practically went out of his way to deny ever having won the thing, getting grumpy with everyone in his wake, including his own PR, Peter Kay, journalists and punters arriving at his gigs mildly squiffy. Performing at midnight makes perfect sense, then.
The Stand, 558 7272, 9–30 Aug (not 14 & 15, 21 & 22, 28 & 29), 11.59pm, £10.

Al Murray

The Pub Landlord really does take a dip into the nostalgia bank this year by performing material from all his Perrier-nominated shows from 1996 up to the winning set of 99. Having lost out thricely to Navan lads Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan, and Royston Vasey’s League of Gentlemen, it seemed he might never become a winner. But eventually he beat off competition from Ross Noble and the Boosh to finally swing the trophy aloft.
Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 26–29 Aug, 1pm, £5.

This article is from 2009.

More: Comedy, Al Murray, Dylan Moran, Edinburgh Festivals, Frank Skinner, Perrier Award, Previews, Sean Hughes

Comments

No comments yet – be the first.

To post a comment you'll first need to sign in: Forgotten your password?

Sign in

Not registered? Sign up – it only takes a minute.

RSS feed of these comments