Fringe Review: A Guide to Second Date Sex

A Guide to Second Date Sex is an achingly funny and frighteningly accurate account of this dreaded, yet necessary, ritual.
The stage reeks of youth; a Sports Direct mug sits next to the laptop, the odour of Lynx hangs in the air, dirty underpants are strewn on the floor, the bed is crumpled, even though it's made and the bathroom has pubes on the floor. Laura meets Ryan properly for the first time in this bedroom, plucked from the comforts of the boozy pub where an attraction - vague or otherwise - was established. 
The immense fun of this show is the 'Oh my God, I've been there' factor as we see the two move stiffly, touch tentatively and talk bollocks.
Panicked thoughts play aloud, educational shorts discussing basic sexual attraction appear above our bachelor's scruffy bed and there's the usual problem of our lady visitor having not shaved...
Mishandled, the simple premise of this show threatens to be sleazy and cliched but here is crafted perfectly and slickly mixed with humour. The whole narrative, though exaggerated, is consistently filthy and funny, though it never veers too far from the believable so audiences can consistently imagine themselves in the position of one of our protagonists.
Actors Amy Butterworth and Thomas O'Connell play off one another's crippling self-doubt and, surprisingly, there's a genuine sense of attraction and tenderness between the two despite their inharmonious union. 
A Guide to Second Date Sex is achingly funny and entertaining theatre which you want to tell your friends about.

Fringe Review: Swamp Juice

DIY Puppetry fun about the perils of life in a swamp

The stage is awash with props, resembling something of a well-loved kid's dress-up room. Our performer shuffles on stage and speaks in a made-up language as he proudly gesticulates his way through some home-made props and lighting equipment.
Swamp Juice is quirky, bizarre and impressive. Shadow puppetry and physical theatre tell the story of a mean old man who visits a swamp and antagonises the inhabitants. Narration alternates between various characters made from gloves, tinsel and card (complete with moving parts) who are projected onto a screen.
Audience interaction is both oddly and cleverly incorporated into the story but this has its downfalls. The numerous, often ambitious, techniques require some faffing about both on and off stage and while the audience is curious as to where it's going, the preamble can feel overlong and at times begins to eat into the excitement of the story.
The 3D finale is wildly creative and our performer literally shows no sense of boundaries with his work. Swamp Juice is ambitious and funny and the weaker transitional areas of the performance ought to be forgiven for the gutsy show as a whole.
With this performance Jeff Achtem has proven himself to be an extraordinarily skilled storyteller and animator. Though the technical aspects of his performance are at times, somewhat clunky, he is energetic and brave and will doubtlessly continue to look for ways to not only entertain an audience but tell his delightful stories.

4 stars

Fringe Review: Ian Kendall, Obsession, a Life with Magic

After twenty-one consecutive years Ian Kendall is performing his final Fringe. Obsession: A Life with Magic is a love letter to his craft and a collection of his favourite sleights.   

As far as the magic goes, there's nothing new here. Nothing which will surprise, shock or awe. He will not pull flaming chainsaws from his backside. What he will do is perform classic routines. Perfectly. Watching our lofty magician flit effortlessly through his store of standard magical objects suggests there's little he's not mastered.

The narrative of the show is nostalgic and personal. We are taken on the journey through his early life, encountering the illusions he mastered along the way. Introducing the audience to various props of sentimental significance helps us connect with his story, understanding the obsession which has ultimately led him to over two decades at this festival.

Magic aside, Ian is a joy to watch. This is partly due to his inherent charm but there's an excitement about what he does with playing cards, elastic bands and coins. The Fringe veteran carries himself with comfort and ease and frequently calls upon audience members, chatting happily whilst they provide assistance. As a result, Obsession feels like a intimate party. There's no attempt to dress up the tricks, our illusionist simply spends his last Fringe showing us how beautiful classic magic can be.

4 stars

Fringe Interview: Morgan and West

Victorian duo Morgan and West have become part of the magic furniture at the Fringe. Famed for their slick performance and well-mannered loquacious humour, they chatted to Rebecca Paul about their craft and the two shows they’re bringing to the Fringe this year.

‘With Clockwork Miracles we want to deliver some really strong, original and entertaining magic that, as well as being baffling, is visually and aurally impressive. We want the show to be a spectacle, rather than just a bunch of tricks.’
‘Our second show, Lying, Cheating Scoundrels, is unlike anything we've done before – and as far as we know unlike any magic show before at the Fringe. Inviting our audience to sit round a card table with us has brought a whole new range of challenges and opportunities, presentational and methodological, and the show has grown into a very different beast to what we first imagined.’

The image of the Victorian Magician is integral to every aspect of their work and while it provides a springboard for ideas, it can also make devising the tricks that bit more difficult.
‘The aesthetic influences everything we do - we can’t use a prop that looks out of place or borrow a phone from a volunteer, as stylistic anachronism shatters the experience for an audience. Even the humour in our show has to come from our characters. It’s challenging, but these limitations force you to be creative and original, which is something we strive for.’
Watching the two perform in such synchronicity, one wonders how long it takes to produce such a polished act but apparently it's never quite perfect.
‘Every time you do a show, or a trick, or even just say a line, there’s a chance to tinker with the delivery and try to improve: every show has the potential to be better than the last. Still, we’re known for being very polished on stage (it is something of a necessity when working in a double act) and that takes a lot of work. Each Edinburgh show is built over the course of a year or so. We get up each morning and work on the tricks, or the props, or the million other things that go towards making a show.’
'All magic is based upon slipping a lie past your audience that they won't notice. Some routines require lots of these lies, all piled on top of each other, this can be quite tricky (if you’ll forgive the pun). Other tricks are based around one single untruth that has to be disguised so it doesn’t stick out for the giant porky that it is. Both of these things lead to complex tricks but in different ways: sometimes we’ll spend hours devising methods to accomplish the nigh-on impossible, but in other cases the difficulty is in the idea, the motivation and scripting of the trick.'

Magic faces a challenge at the festival. If a Fringe-goer sees a bad comedian they will invariably go and see another one. Sitting through a sloppy, cliched magic show, on the other hand, is enough to turn off audiences all together. That said, magic has seen a resurgence in recent years. In 2000 there were just two shows at the Fringe while this year sees an extraordinary boost at forty-two separate performances.
Morgan and West put this down to TV appearances from the likes of Penn and Teller, Derren Brown and David Blaine with his brand of street magic.
'There's also an increased appetite for cabaret and variety shows as new audiences are exposed to live magic.
'TV is grand but things are even more impossible when done in front of your very eyes. More inventive acts are trying to break in and it’s brilliant that more and more magicians every year are putting on shows.
'It also makes it more of a challenge, which is great, because you have to make sure your show is more miraculous than the last one your audience saw.'

Morgan and West are playing at the Gilded Balloon until the end of the month

Fringe Review: Clockwork Miracles

Ah Morgan and West. This Victorian illusionist duo gets tighter and tighter every year and their slick, stylised show is always a Fringe treat.

A love of all things scientific, mathematic and paradoxical is at the heart of the Clockwork Miracles. There are three of four tricks which are simple, snappily-presented and full of whimsy and going by the raucous applause, they certainly hit the spot with the audience.

While the narrative of the act ticks like clockwork (oddly enough), there are delightful unexpected interruptions. A new routine is underway and Mr Morgan unexpectedly encounters a mechanical error. Mr West looks on, a growing sense of concern causing the quiver of his sculpted moustache. He begins inspecting the broken magician and some illusions simply trickle out. Later Mr Morgan is encouraging Mr West to don a clown nose and an ornate and silent-comedic style illusion ensues. These are beautifully executed magical moments which punctuate the performance and catch the audience off guard.

As with all magic, there are re-imaginings of the older tricks but here the accompanied whimsy keeps them fresh. Some routines drift into the mind-reading domain and these work well, though they lack the snap, crackle and pop of the more traditional illusions.

As ever, these guys work splendidly together and Clockwork Miracles is the result of a meticulously planned and admirably creative magic show.

4 stars

Clockwork Miracles runs until August 27 (not 14) @ Gilded Balloon
The dashing duo also have another magic show; Lying Cheating Scoundrels. A more intimate evening of cards around a table. Cosy. Runs until August 26 @ Gilded Balloon at midnight

Fringe Review: The Fantasist @ Underbelly

Through puppetry, movement, physical theatre and music we are taken on Louise’s journey as she battles bipolar disorder. From the off, The Fantasist grips the audience in a way rarely seen and this hold is only tightened over the hour.

Taking place entirely in Louise’s apartment, she is visited alternately by a kindly healthcare worker and the creatures of her imagination; a tall, dark stranger, a flying vampiric hag, two freakish charred heads and (my favourite) a small wooden pose-able doll akin to Morph, who vies for her attention with indiscernible child-like moans.

The exhilarating highs and interminable lows of the mental health disorder are tortuous, frightening, incomprehensible and extraordinarily funny, often all at once. What at one moment is freeing for Louise, suddenly becomes dark and dangerous. Interestingly the puppets don’t change – her nurse is even present in the room – but there’s an obvious ‘come down’ and the atmosphere suddenly becomes tumultuous. This is, by and large, thanks to ingenious manipulation of puppetry and choreography with few props or lighting helping our performers along the way. If ever a production dismisses the notion that puppetry is immature and unimpressive theatre, this is it.

In The Fantasist it is mesmerising and perfectly married to its subject matter. The emotions of such an intense disorder are explored through Louise’s lustful and obsessive relationship with the tall stranger who romances her, only to disappear and leave her distraught. She is harassed by the small doll, bullied by the vampiric hag and cajoled by the two heads. Somehow, at the same time she is also enticed and encouraged because she exists in a world where everything makes sense. Manipulation is everywhere.

As the lights fade, the audience is left shocked, exhilarated, saddened and amazed at the story that has just been told.

The Fantasist is one of the finest pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen (and next week I'm sending my mum).

(a very easy) 5 stars

Presented by Theatre Témoin and Cie. Traversière, The Fantasist runs until August 27.

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.