My Fringe: Part III

Today is all about theatre, circus and some puppetry at the Underbelly. It's also about the gold postbox I found and - after a quick Google search - apparently it's a wee homage to Sir Chris Hoy and all those gold medals he's won.

AHoy Hoy, Sir Chris' postbox on Hanover St

The Night of the Big Wind @ Underbelly is an unusual departure from the frenetic bustle of the Fringe. The most striking thing about the show is the ornate puppetry. A young boy is controlled by actors as he wanders morosely about his surroundings, hopping off tables and emulating fishing locals as they laze about. Faceless and beautifully-carved, the wooden child conveys a surprising intensity of emotion and loneliness. While our actors play characters themselves, they alternate effortlessly with their miniature props. Isolation is captured perfectly through a tiny puppet, no taller than fifteen centimetres, who is surprisingly life-like as he meanders across the land. When the inevitable storm hits, the easy pace is obliterated. Panic and devastation reigns and turns the set upside down. The Night of the Big Wind doesn’t concern itself too much with a story, rather it explores the sense of living in this place and this time. At any given moment, there’s inexperience, hope, devastation, ambition and humour to the performance which asks only to be experienced, rather than thought about.

A wee jaunt up to Bristo Square and I met the spiffingly-lovely Morgan and West, top hats and all, leafleting for their magic stuff. These very pleasant guys have a cracking show this year with Clockwork Miracles.

What you see if you look up at Underbelly.

Scribbling now at Underbelly, Ratatat blaring in the pub which is nice. Laptop teetering on a table that looks like it wants to die. Not so nice. Going by the wobbling of my ‘desk’ caused by passers-by, the floorboards are on their way out too. Just saw Tumble Circus @ the Udderbelly. My first ever circus show. Well, since I was a small child. An outing captured in a photo of a chubby younger-self perched atop an elephant. Tumble Circus tells the story of Tina and Ken, an acrobatic couple stuck with one another for seventeen years, both personally and professionally. The story here is of boredom, incompatibility and comedy. They tumble (as per advertised), twist, balance, jump and more often that you’d expect, slap one another. The moves are nice but the music and lights don’t always fit and there are lacklustre flourishes that leave me unsatisfied. The premise works; at odds personally but very much together professionally. Their final act on a circus swing high in the rafters is engaging, fun, humorous and interesting but I can’t help notice a lack of energy and excitement in the performance as a whole.
One Hour Only @Underbelly has to be my treat of the day and it’s a stand-out for the week so far. Marly is studying forensic biology and to pay her way she’s started a new job at an ‘upmarket’ brothel. Her first client is AJ who is 21 today and about to enjoy a birthday treat from his mates. The two bond in unlikely ways as they talk frankly about love, life, youthful aspirations and sexual attitudes in contemporary Britain. There’s a journey here and it’s gripping, funny, refreshing, honest and moving. Brilliant theatre.

The Lonely One @ Underbelly is a one act play inspired by an excerpt from Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. This locally-dubbed 'Lonely One' is an ominous presence terrorising a sleepy American town. This is atmospheric and creepy theatre with puppetry, light boxes, torches and a distinctive art deco style. The minutiae detail is lovely to watch and the visual richness is bang on. Everything about this play is ominous and richly presented in an H.P. Lovecraft style. It's fun to watch but the story lacks much plot or narrative. Again, this is another show for the eyes.

My Fringe: Part II





I’ve got the scratchy-eyelid thing happening which has been aided by my lack of caffeine today; I rarely go a day without the frothy goodness of a cappuccino. I spent my day tasting the delights of the Gilded Balloon taking in some mind-reading, magic and theatre.

A Donkey and A Parrot

A Donkey and a Parrot is a charming one-man theatre show. Sarah Hamilton enthusiastically tells the story of her family’s survival as they try to escape religious persecution in France, attempting the treacherous clandestine journey to England. Along the way they encounter crooked boatmen, slave drivers and helpful neighbours. Through mime, finger puppetry, song and movement all atop a large and curious wooden barrel, her great ancestors’ story is played out. At times, the tale seems too dense and frenetic for one narrator as she inhabits up to sixteen characters while punctuating her monologue with comments from her current self. Expect donkey impressions, avian conversations, French children who need to pee and clichéd American slave owners. This is entertaining and fun physical theatre which insists on being unexpected and resourceful, even if it gets away from you at times.

From finger puppets to tricky fingers it was on to magic with Morgan and West Clockwork Miracles. These guys get tighter and tighter every year and their slick, stylised show is always a Fringe treat. Our loquacious Victorian duo teach us the proper etiquette of drinking tea while demonstrating some mind-reading. There are three of four tricks which are simple, snappily-presented and full of whimsy and today they certainly hit the right spot with the audience whose raucous appreciation drowned out our waistcoat-clad duo several times.

Mr Morgan and Mr West

The Magical Adventures of Pete Heat was a very different magic show. Pete is all smiles and charm and possess an absurd sense of comedy which exudes a semi-intentional sense of disorganisation. Off-the-wall humour and silliness is at the heart of this show ; there’s shuffling a loaf of bread and an affluent monocle-wearing weasel. His magical adventure features all manner of card magic and a neat trick of manipulating audience members which would have had more impact had it felt less frenetic and bitty. The closing trick involves underpants which can only be a good thing.

Doug Segal: How to Read Minds and Influence People bursts with energy and there’s a keen interest in involve the audience in his routines. With a background in advertising and psychology, Doug whisks his way through his performance to appreciative applaud. Mind-reading shows are of a certain ilk; novels and dictionaries are distributed to audience members and our host is able to pluck seemingly impossible words from their minds. This is fun and Doug relies on interaction with his crowd, keeping them intrigued. A special moment arrives when he is able to teach one volunteer how to read the minds of three other spectators.

Tomorrow… to the Underbelly.



Fringe Review: The Colour Ham

The Colour Ham does something new with the sketch show and an unpredictable mixture of illusion, mind-reading and comedy is fun, fresh and very, very silly.

The raucous atmosphere means jaw-dropping magical feats don’t quite have a home here. Save for a neat disappearing bottle trick through the stomach, the magic itself is nothing remarkable, instead there’s more emphasis on the comedy and boyish joviality of our Scottish trio. There’s an energy and irresistible comradery between the performers as they stumble through their show, which goes delightfully wrong at every turn.

Kevin McMahon is our magician, Colin McLeod a mind-reader and Gavin Oattes our comedian. While McMahon and McLeod are ighly skilled illusionists – both having performed at the Magic Castle in LA - Oattes provides the comic relief. He is funny, naughty, rude and scathing of his pals and takes every opportunity to thwart their routines and slag them off. At one point he pretends to be hypnotised and as Colin briefly exits the stage he smiles vacantly at the audience, telling them ‘I fucking love being hypnotised.’

Such is the tone of the performance. Highpoints of the show include a skit where Kevin performs some magic for a glaikit and excited Gaelic TV presenter (Oattes).

The Colour Ham offers variety to the more traditional child-friendly and clean-cut shows filling the rest of the Magicfest calendar and its mischievous atmosphere, adult content and bizarre turn of events make it a good choice for comedy (and a spot of magic) at this year’s Fringe.

The Colour Ham will be on at Just The Tonic @ The Caves until August 12

Magicfest Review: Lewis Barlow

As Close as You Can

Lewis is very much the traditional magician. Rather than entertain with banter or comedy, he focuses on tricks, encouraging them to speak for themselves. His more subdued style may not be for everyone and though his magic (and mind-reading) stumps audiences and his sleight-of-hand is mesmerising, there’s simplicity to his routines which, at times, could use more energy. He is the third magician (I’ve seen) this year performing the rope trick at the Magicfest and while it’s flawless, it lacks any dressing up and sadly this becomes tiring to watch.


Lewis tells us from the off he is no comedian and if there is comedy, it’s not intentional. A magic audience wants to discover the illusionist and enjoy their style through the performance, and stating this from the off perhaps robs him of some of his charm.

Understanding the nature of close-up magic Lewis seeks plenty of audience participation (in a small venue holding forty) and he succeeds in creating a tense intimacy with each routine from predicting the future and mind-reading to impossibly locating a specific business in the Yellow Pages, based on the audience’s guidance - the final flourish in this trick is especially nice. And of course, it wouldn’t be close-up without the obligatory card magic.

Lewis consistently impresses with his close-up illusions and this year is no different.

3 stars

Magicfest Review: Matthew Dowden

Magic of the Movies

Chronicling the magic of the movies, Matthew guides us through his favourite moments from Charlie Chaplin, ET and the Rat Pack to the Godfather and James Bond. A large screen behind our magician depicts nostalgic scenes as he sings, dances, plays the piano and of course, creates illusions.

The show is energetic and dripping with passion for the craft. There are the oldies but the goodies; cut the rope and the bottle and tube trick. While it’s showcased differently, incorporating the magic of the silver screen, Matthew offers little new material. Illusions are punctuated with his surprisingly gentle singing and some comedic movie impersonations.

At times, it feels a little too cluttered and at odds with itself, but Matthew’s classic conjuror persona and charming smile never fail to engage his audience and he keeps the momentum going.

It’s the sleight-of-hand though that is the real gem of the show. With a deck of cards he masterfully flicks, throws, produces and fans them as they disappear into a bucket, only to re-appear in his hands. Few magicians currently performing can boast such clean flourishes and expert misdirection and Matthew’s card tricks are always a high point of his performance.

The Magic festival, this year more so than ever, seems geared towards kids (most shows suitable for aged five and above). The performers therefore have the awkward task of keeping both younger and older audiences entertained and while this is obviously a kids’ show, our illusionist’s skills remain fun for all to watch.

Matthew delivers an energetic, whimsical, polished and charming show of magic and the movies.

4 stars

Magicfest Review: Michael Neto

Beginning his show as a bumbling and unhinged scientist, Michael Neto wanders on stage and with the help of two audience members and a vial of ominous fluid, he transports coins through the table into a glass. The illusion is cute, amusing and finishes with an impressive flourish. Michael will bring this act to the World Championships of Magic.


Making his debut in Magicfest’s first year, Michael won the Magic Off competition with a neat coin disappearing trick and since then has settled happily into his act. Originally from Portugal though now based in Glasgow he has grown into a fine performer, tempering slick sleight-of-hand with confidence, humility and an unusual sprinkling of comedy.

UPCLOSE, it seems, earns its upper-case letters in a fantastic performance at the intimate and haunting venue of The Vault, nestled under George IV Bridge. Gasps and at one point, a cry of ‘No!’ can be heard from the audience as our performer locates cards and flips decks to a chosen number, both blindfolded and using only his tongue. A signed card is even folded up neatly and transported into the empty pack at the corner of the table, an impossible distance away from our magician’s meticulous and sprawling fingers.

The show does that rare thing of delivering beautiful illusions with a twist in a flawless performance and with UPCLOSE Michael has proven himself one of the finest magicians performing today.

5 stars

My Fringe: Part I

I'm arriving in a heap to this year's festival. Happily though, I am here now and only a few days late. I allowed myself some me-time and have been separated from my laptop for perhaps a little too long. It's been a busy few weeks. A job rejection which was sad but it did result in freelance work and oodles of positive feedback. I was lucky enough to get along to the Olympics on Saturday afternoon which was fantastic and utterly astonishing. The place is something to behold and I got to glimpse Usain Bolt doing his 100m heats which was, of course, wonderful. He is extraordinarily tall. And fast. Finally managed to see The Dark Knight Rises and I may be the only person who was underwhelmed by it. But that's another blog for another day. Regrettably still not seen Spidey... Something to remedy next week. Oh, and I hit a personal best on Tetris of 216 lines.

Attempting a bit more this year from reviewing magic, theatre and performance for the Skinny to venue reviewing (and some comedy) for Across the Arts as well as some podcasting for Subcity. Oh, and some filmed reviews live at the venues. All that around work, it's sure to be interesting...

Monday was prety much an orienteering exercise, slowly, calmy and gently immersing myself into the festival, much as one does with a hot bath.

I'd yet to try a freebie magic show so I went along to Wet Paint at Le Monde on George Street. Illusion-designers (!) Neil Kelso and Ben Hart perform a variety show, each popping on and off stage and accompanied by a miniature jazz band. Kelso, fresh from compering the Magic Festival gala show last month is a wonderfully sweet and mischevious-looking man and his tricks, though basic, largely involve storytelling, playing to his strengths. Ben Hart opts for more interesting illusions with even more interesting props from a sword and scissors to a lightbulb. His final illusion involving the latter is particularly fun and unexpected; something we’re seeing less of in modern magic performances. It’s not as slick as it could be, with our performers all-too-often ‘handing over’ to one another rather than working together. When the two finally perform an joint-illusion the contrast works well and there’s an effortless banter. More of that would have been nice. Wet Paint is worth a visit if you fancy some magic and perhaps sells itself short being a free show.

Some fantastic lamp-art at Geoge Sq Gardens

I popped along to see The Vocal Orchestra at the Udderbelly on Bristo Square. Seven mouths and seven mics, these guys are amazing; beat-boxing, singing, dancing, re-creating Mortal Combat, drum kits and even a time-machine. Each performer is given a chance to break from the group and present their individual talents and while the sound effects are unbelievable, the vocal range is another happy surprise. Energetic they work together and create genuine excitement with what they do as they bounce across the stage. The song choice was, at times, obvious and more of a musical mix-up might have encouraged this talented septet to push themselves further. With tickets costing up to £16, The Vocal Orchestra is at the more expensive end of the Fringe but it's also a highly polished show that earns its asking price.


Here we go day two…