It’s gone 2am and I travel back in nine hours. This is gonna be a quick one.
Tamar Broadbent: All By My Selfie – Cowgatehead – 1.30pm
Musical comedy with a beautiful voice. Charismatic personality. Material about social media, walk of shame, drinking games, some audience interaction. Well put together show. Full review to follow. Yet again, a good start to the day.
Short break
I finally had some social contact (yaaaay!) Not only did I arrange to meet my friend Rosie, but I also bumped into the Bite Size Breakfast team at the same time. Good stuff.
Present and Correct – Sportsters – 5.35pm
Great premise. Poorly executed. Felt under-developed and immature. A couple of stand-out moments, but probably the first show I’ve seen that I wouldn’t recommend.
Another short break, this time for chips and cheese. Brighton chip shops, please take note. This is how you do it:
Thing that I can’t remember the name of, or find on the EdFringe website – Cowgatehead – 7.30pm
A sketch show that I wasn’t a fan of. It had it’s moments, but I found it lacking in generosity of spirit.
BattleActs – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters – 10pm
Short-form improv. Charismatic host. Fun games, including some new takes on old favourites. Audience were well into it. Enjoyable show.
The Is Your Trial – Assembly (The Box) – 11.20pm
Seriously – I stayed out and went home on the night bus for THIS? Let me tell you why I went to see this. Back at the start of 2011, I started sketching out the format of an improv show set around a courtroom. It’s nearly ready to go. Today, someone handed this flier to me and mentioned that it was improv. “Fuck”, I thought. “Not only has someone already thought of this, they’re high-profile comedians and they’re bound to put on a really good show. The bastards.”
The judge in the show is played by Tim Fitzhigham, while guest comedians make up the other roles. In this case, one of the barristers was Jarred Christmas. There were several problems with the execution of this show, but the main one was that they invited – nay, ordered – sometimes reluctant audience members to play the part of the defendant. They often loaded so many questions at the shell-shocked defendant that even a seasoned improviser would struggle to keep up. Many of the jokes landed at the expense of the audience member, and the “charges” brought against the defendants were not clever or witty enough to hold the interest. Because of this the jokes felt cheap, and there was an air of discomfort in the room.
Of course, with any improv show there is an element of risk. Each show is different to the last, and sometimes a show just goes badly. However, I felt short-changed on a number of levels, and there was an air of arrogance about the show that made it inaccessible in places.
And I haven’t even mentioned getting there five minutes before the start, to be told it’s on two-for-one but that I couldn’t have a discount from the £10.50 ticket price for my one ticket.
However, I did come out knowing that my sketched outline of a show won’t be facing too much competition.
When I finally get it up and running.
Right, it’s nearly 3am. Bed time. Night all.
Thank you Edinburgh. It’s been so much fun. See you next year 😉