Edinburgh in August can easily pass for the centre of the world, and no other city comes close to giving itself up in the way Edinburgh does. Only a World cup or Olympic host city can match the intensity of tourists and events, and to those cities, that generally happens just once. So, Edinburgh in August is where aliens would naturally head if they needed to find the main boss of the earth. More likely than not, they’d be flyered by an improv group who label themselves “witsters” (Oxford Imps, I’m glaring at you), asked if they want to watch “a chat show where a dinosaur is just one of the hilarious guests”, a suggestion which would push any self-respecting alien invader over the edge, or get invited to a show starting in “five minutes” – always, always five minutes – where Peter Pan meets Fatal Attraction. In Penge.
Welcome to the Edinburgh Fringe! It’s just one of the festivals taking place in August. Others include the Edinburgh Art Festival, the Royal Military Tattoo, the International Festival and the Free Fringe. Tickets sold last year for the Fringe reached 2,500,000 and as it’s the 70th anniversary of the first fringe this year, it’ll surely be even bigger. Cast your mind back to 1947, where a war-ravaged Britain was just recovering from years of hell, under the miserable spell of austerity and still having food rationed and reflect on what a fantastic idea it was to create a festival to give people some excitement. The first festival had its own fringe, where small acts not invited to the main party found venues around the city to perform in. 70 years later, it’s the biggest arts festival in the world and such an enjoyable and enriching experience, I imagine it’ll remain a central part of my summer plans.
This was my third Edinburgh Festival and over six days, I saw fourteen shows and took a day trip to North Berwick. On our first day, sort of fresh from a 4-and-a-half-hour train journey from London, we headed to our first show, Sarah Kendall’s One-Seventeen. Used to shouting, lots of swearing and the standard tricks of comics, Kendall’s work was a gentle introduction to proceedings and it is soon clear that Kendall is a skilled storyteller rather than a comedian and even though the main thread of her story is about divorce, everything in the show is quite low-key. From hamsters on their death beds to her son’s behaviour, this is a well written and at times poetic show, but one that lacks any defining passion.
Tapes! On sale!
Later in the evening, we trekked to the beautiful Assembly Halls, all Harry Potter on the outside and a bit crumbly on the inside to see Mark Steel. His show sets out the template that so many comics seem to do > come on with a massive grin > proceed to tell everyone how shit your life is > go pretty personal about your ex > slap hand against head and go “oh, you know what it’s like” > do some observational comedy. Steel added lots of sharp one-liners and plenty of surreal ideas into the mix but his delivery style showed he was out of touch when talking about transgender people but when he was on topics like politics or unsolicited calls from PPI companies, he really shone. As the show centred on his recent gruesome breakup, some distance from that would probably make the show more funny and less bitter.
The view from the Mound
Our second day included one play and two stand up shows. We started with The Dreamer, by Gecko Theatre Company. Having seen their beautiful show Institute, I was very excited to see what they would do when teamed up with a Chinese theatre company. The results are little less than breathtaking; the show opens with Chinese screen dividers being used to project a visually stunning backstory to the audience. Images come and go, stories are guessed at and the screens are whipped away. We’re suddenly in an office and somehow the performers have tricked us into thinking we know what we’re seeing. The level of precision on display is a constant surprise; the performers are always two steps ahead of the audience in making movements that delight and move everyone in the room. You may not get a chance to see Gecko at Edinburgh, but they perform regularly and are sensational.
Back to comedy for the rest of the day, with Jon Pointing’s debut solo show. Pointing plays Cayden Hunter, a drama coach/guru/mentor who likes to touch himself and demands adoration from the audience, giving irritated glances to us if we aren’t thrilled enough by his work. The show’s format is a drama workshop and he takes us through ways to be better actors, walking us through his life so far as a devised piece of physical theatre that is both cringe-worthy and hilarious. As with all ghastly comic creations, seeing Cayden fall apart is hugely enjoyable and Pointing doesn’t disappoint as the ego comes crashing back down to the room. His ending, another devised theatre piece of his death, leaves the audience wanting more.
Edinburgh is both a great festival city and a beautiful city
In the evening we see Adam Riches, Winner of the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2011. This is his first stand-up show since 2014’s Adam of the Riches and there’s an intensity to Riches’ work that places him in a league of his own, especially when it comes to audience participation. In the past, audience members have been made to play swingball, have fed him food “like starlings do” (for avoidance of doubt, yes, he wanted audience members to feed him food from their mouths) and shower him on stage. Riches pulls up a man onto the stage, to take part in a sketch about sniping, but the audience member is visibly uncomfortable, at one point saying to Riches “I’m not your fucking friend”. But through his charm and command of the room, Riches stops this from becoming a disaster before grabbing another audience member to take over. Audience participation is usually something people hate and while Riches makes the audience do silly things, he is constantly laughing along with them before doing stupid things himself; there’s a generosity and warmth to his show that makes him one of the finest comedians on the circuit. It is wonderful to have him back.
