Reviews & features: Issue 637

Flhip Flhop: Everything Happens on the Break

Comic theatre gives hip hop the brush off

Given how the Fringe aspires to be a place for artistic cross-pollination and experimentation, should we be surprised when worlds collide? Well, what about the pairing of hip hop culture and painting and decorating? The white dungarees and paint soaked…

Puppet show round-up from the Edinburgh Festival

Rounding up the best acts made of socks, sponges and foam

Puppetry acts are the black sheep of the performing arts family: indulged but not held in serious regard. Shitty Deal Puppet Theatre Company’s Oh! What a Shitty War (●●) recounts the history of warfare with hand puppets. Mistaking the charmingly…

Gelabert Azzopardi Companyia De Dansa

Double-bill from acclaimed Catalan choreographer

To say Cesc Gelabert is in a class of his own isn’t strictly true – but it’s fair to say there are very few pupils sharing the room with him. His unique and incredibly cerebral movement style has been enjoyed across the world, both as a soloist and with…

Festival Music hitlist

Amanda Palmer, Trembling Bells, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse, Benbecula Records, The Caledonia Sessions, Biffy Clyro, Orchestra in the Age of Enlightenment

David Ferrard: Scottish Folk Roots & Offshoots

A homecoming Transatlantic session

One thing you notice when you meet young David is his cheery, cherub-faced features, positively unraveled by his folklore tales of poet Burns, slavery and the Highland Clearances – oh, and he’s the youngest in a tight pub room of 20. Born in Edinburgh…

RAW

Aerial spectacular that never quite takes off

Sometimes, aerial dance doesn’t need a narrative. Some pieces, like 2007’s Fuerzabruta, present unconnected images, building a sense of wonder in the audience that grabbing for narrative meaning would puncture. Although it’s on a smaller scale…

The Magnets - Gobsmacked

Take it to the Fringe

A multi-talented ‘six-pack’ ensemble from England, The Magnets breath fresh air into a cappella singing, while adding their cheeky confidence, dancing and interplay theatrics. With both combination singing and each individual taking a turn under the…

Lola: The Life of Lola Montez

Biographical drama flamenco-style

The life of Lola Montez is ideal for the stage: an Irish woman who re-invented herself as a Spanish dancer, her fame in the 19th century makes her the natural ancestor of the modern celebrity. Yet this complex story is confused by the rapid pace, and…

Daliso Chaponda

An unpreachy hour relating abuse and misery

It’s pretty routine for comedians from elsewhere in the world working on the UK circuit to crack jokes based on the differences between their culture and ours. The vast majority of those acts are from Australia and Canada and, let’s face it, the…

Living Room

Improving on improv

Austrian acts have been too few and far between since the halcyon days of classical music. The multi-faceted session-like duo of Living Room take both a step into chamber music and another into the world of jazz improvisation. Messrs Christoph Pepe Auer…

Doctor Austin and Doug Safety's Time-Tastical Time Tale

It’s science Jim, but not as we know it

Time travel is a gift to fiction writers, but when it comes to the facts, even Doctor Who had to resort to describing it as ‘a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff’. Dr Austin and Doug Safety have set themselves a hard task. Starting with…

Tap Kids

Tapping the light fantastic

Anyone who pitches up at Tap Kids with a cynical attitude and a sense of impending dread will quickly find themselves struggling to contain smiles of unfettered delight. While the show – a hybrid of Tap Dogs and High School Musical – is rooted firmly…

The Incompatible Otway & Barrett

Otway or any way possible

One’s waited 30 odd years to see the John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett experience, therefore their arrival on stage 10 minutes late was easily forgotten. Like some adolescent kid accompanied by his grumpy grandad, jester John and Wild Willy playfully spar…

Felicity Ward

Tales of poor Aussie upbringing lack bite

There’s no denying that Australian comedian Felicity Ward has stage presence. There’s something about her that’s instantly likeable, from the butter-wouldn’t-melt way she breathes numerous expletives to the sweetness with which she interacts with the…

Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident

Pies fight puddings in this chuckle-worthy children’s tale

With its healthy eating message and cheeky send-up of a celebrity chef, there’s an educational element to Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident that many parents will love. Yet it’s delivered with such fiercely imaginative silliness that children won’t…

The Legend of Magnificent Moon

Interactive African tale

There’s a charming simplicity to this new show by Edinburgh-based Toto Tales, which you can’t help but warm to. Inspired by a traditional African tale, the story centres on two brothers – the Moon and the Sun – who love each other dearly, but find their…

5 questions: Potted Potter and Potted Pirates

With two high-speed shows on the go, David and John, stars of Potted Potter and Potted Pirates whiz through our 5 Questions. Give 5 reasons why people should see your shows They’re funny; interactive; action packed; have music; and are themed…

Luke Wright

His concerns may be petty but the poetry is not

You’ve got to hand it to Luke Wright. Since his first solo Fringe show in 2006, he’s come back to Edinburgh every year with a new collection of withering poems, each of which dissects the highs and lows of his chosen profession with equal menace and…

Des Clarke

Showbiz shine disappears with tired material

It’s a ‘semi-political’ show this year, announces Des Clarke (the neatly-eyebrowed one off the telly, not to be mixed up with the slightly less-tidily topiaried one from Neighbours). Des has booked himself a meeting with MSP Nicola Sturgeon in…

Ousia

Atmospheric illusion

All those who dared to board Darren Johnston’s Ren-Sa bus back in 2005, will know what a master of disorientation he is. It was a journey into the unknown, with blacked-out windows making it impossible to know where you would end up, or what would…

Gavin Webster

Surreal banter with a strong accent

The only thing worse than a comedian having a bad night is when he blames his audience for ‘not getting it’. So, it’s to Gavin Webster’s credit that he avoids addressing this particular elephant in the room until the very end of his Falderal hour when…

Isma Almas

Streams of gags keep this hour ticking over

The burka may be the most debated item of clothing in contemporary British society, but for any modern Muslim stand-up, it’s the equivalent of a comedy open goal. And Bradford’s Isma Almas is not one to slip such a gift past the post. Her warm-up act…

Frisky and Mannish

Simply top of the pops

Attention! Class is in session and pop parodies are on the syllabus. Within the structure of a school day, cabaret duo Laura Corcoran and Matthew Jones slip into their F&M alter egos (and Jones into some physics-defying leather-effect leggings) and…

Pippa Evans

Wicked musical comedy in every conceivable way

The ease with which Pippa Evans slips between her psychotic characters in this cabaret-style show is an instant reminder of why she was shortlisted for an if.comedy Best Newcomer award last year. However, there is an element of patchiness about her…

The Dark Party

Gothic sideshow for the Top Gear set

Unsure of whether it wants to be physical comedy, gross-out sideshow or gothic visual poetry, this unique hour just about delivers on all three fronts. Shep Huntly, Patrick Bath and Gordo Gamsby (collectively The Dirty Brothers) are dressed in…