Comedians

Edinburgh Review: Kai Samra – Brothers (WIP)

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© Kai Samra

This year, Kai Samra brings his work in progress show, Brothers, to The Mash House. Relatively new to the stand up circuit, this Brummie comedian appears remarkably comfortable in front of his audience. His delivery is calm and self-assured, but certainly not an act.

Samra talks about his family with no qualms about letting his listeners in, and this makes for a deeply personal hour of comedy. There are no sob stories here, just honest anecdotes and clever observations. He’s a very likeable performer and his relaxed and confident nature allows his audience to settle into the show effortlessly.

Brothers is a show about family, along with all its frustrations and affections. And Samra makes 45 minutes feel like ten. The laughs come easily and frequently, making it starkly clear that this comic could warm up even the coldest of audiences. It’s not hard to imagine this comic cracking into the mainstream some time soon.

This show is not a skeleton of a piece, and neither is it an amalgamation of too many half-formed ideas. This show already feels polished. So, when Kai Samra returns to Edinburgh next August, prepare for a fantastic, brilliantly formed hour of proficient stand up.

Edinburgh Review: Abandoman (Rob Broderick) – Pirate Radio

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© Rob Broderick

Irish improv hip hop artist Rob Broderick returns to Edinburgh with his solo show, Pirate Radio. Unlike previous Abandoman shows, Pirate Radio is a big-scale production. He’s ditched the powerpoint and electric keyboard for strobe lighting and ground-shuddering bass.

Rather than lots of small instances of audience participation (note Abandoman’s previous set-piece, ‘What’s In Your Pocket?’ where audience members hold up the most obscure item on their possession and Broderick improvises a rap about it), volunteer participants in this new show are a far bigger part of the proceedings. If you have something funny or strange to offer up, prepare to have a musical piece devised entirely in your honour.

Single audience members are brought up to stand in front of a packed Udderbelly, and yet there is never any hint of anxiety. Rob puts his participants at ease by spelling out what he requires of them and never failing to make it silly.

Being a much bigger, much more refined performance, it feels at times as though Abandoman has lost its personal touch. But where this show lacks in intimacy, Broderick makes up for in showmanship. From a heart-wrenching song about leaving a sleeping bag on a train, to a musical re-enactment of a childhood three-legged race, Broderick’s skill for snappy improvisation is as present as ever.

If you want your comedy upscaled, exciting and as loud as a music gig, Abandoman is no doubt the show for you.

Edinburgh Review: Simon Evans – Genius 2.0

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© Simon Evans

Bringing a reworking of last year’s show Genius to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Simon Evans proclaims that he has no issue with ‘digging the same furrow’. Genius 2.0 asks what the future of our society is. Are we regressing in terms of intelligence and creativity?

This is a show of comparison through the ages, from drinking laws to the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s about how our lives have become more restricted as the years have passed. Though academic in his tone, this doesn’t feel like a lecture. Evans is surprisingly able to keep his large audience on the same page as him, despite his flowery language and analytic, black-and-white approach to assessing the problems he raises.

Evans’ point is glisteningly clear, but it’s hard to fully invest in the idea that our society is less intelligent (or less intelligence-orientated) than it was forty years ago. Yes, there is certainly more of a focus on mind-numbing reality television and a vacuous idea of what constitutes beauty (often consisting of botox injections and lip fillers), but aspects of our society are arguably thriving as strongly as ever, in areas including but not limited to science, philosophy and literature.

I’d feel a little uncomfortable, as a twenty-year-old university student, to be sat in this comic’s audience if I didn’t know he had teenage children himself. It is these anecdotes about his kids’ experiences, inspirations and education that allow us to ascertain that Evans isn’t simply having a go at the youth of today.

As the show goes on, Evans allows himself to exist at the same level as his audience, sharing his irksome experiences with ageing, from thinning hair to forgetfulness. But the set piece of the show is one that rings in the ear long after Evans has left the stage. The downfall of our society, as Evans see it, is the fact it is shrouded in apathy. Our country is lead by someone who studied at Oxford, yet graduated in a 2:2 in Geography. Someone who bends over backwards, surely almost to the point of snapping, at a slight gust of wind.

Simon Evans’ outlook on the state of society today is strangely motivating rather than depressing. The powers that be may be failing us, but we each have the opportunity to flourish however we want to, despite this unsettling prognosis.

Helen Duff: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Matthew Highton

Who? Helen Duff
What? How Deep Is Your Duff?
Where? Heroes @ The Hive (venue 313)
When? 21:00

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

Yes totally prepared – if you take cutting myself off from too much social media scrolling and stocking up mejool dates as a sign of second to none self care!

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s all about falling in love for the first time, performing for the kids in the Rohingya refugee camps and realising I can orgasm. Not necessarily in that order.

What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?

I tried my very best to include the YouTube sensory sensation SLIME in the show and despite several previews where I ended up covered in the stuff, couldn’t bear to wash my clothes in coke every night of the Edinburgh run.

Who would most enjoy your show?

People who enjoy a well woven story about the ways a woman can become better connected with herself and her community, with several duff puns and dances thrown in for the fun.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes! I saw Pat Cahill’s show on the top of Bob’s Blundabus and it was fantastic! He’s doing 110% with John Kearns in that slot now instead which is bound to be brilliant. Lucy Hopkins is making something very special happen in the SpiegelYurt at midnight every day. And I’m also in Adam Larter’s Boogie Knight’s at 2pm everyday at the Hive. It’s a medieval disco with all the best boogie tunes of the 70s/80s. All the Heroes shows are a certified hoot.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

The variety of the landscape – I’m living in Stockbridge this year and the river running down to Leith is so peaceful it feels like you could be in the middle of nowhere.  

What are your plans for after the festival?

I’m making a wedding cake for 100 people for my boyfriend’s best friend’s wedding. Puts the pressure of Edinburgh in perspective!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR HELEN DUFF: ‘HOW DEEP IS YOUR DUFF?’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Dave Chawner: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© CR2 Studios

Who? Dave Chawner
What? Mental
Where? The Laughing Horse @ The Counting House (venue 170)
When? 19:20

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you? 

You can never be fully prepared for The Fringe. It’s a bit like taking a cat to the vets – you can do as much prep as possible, but in the end you’ll end up tearing your hair out, running round in circles and screaming while all the while telling yourself ‘it’s for the best’. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

This year’s show is all about mental health (rather than mental illness). The show uses comedy to normalise the conversation around mental health and make the topic fun. Because, let’s face it, whenever the topic of mental health comes up, it’s normally about mental illness. And, of course 1 in 4 of us has mental illness, but 4 in 4 of us has mental health, so why do we focus on illness rather than wellbeing?

What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?

Myself! I find it hard to focus. Writing the show takes a lot of concentration and that’s something that I have very little of. I get distracted by the easiest of… oh look, there’s a squirrel!

Who would most enjoy your show?

Anyone that has an interest in mental health. That includes (but not limited to) mental health professionals, students, people with lived experience of mental illness, friends, family and relatives of those people as well.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations? 

John Robertson’s – Sweaty, Sexy, Party, Party

Russell Hicks – Love Song For The Visciously Ambitious

Adam Kay – This Is Going To Hurt

Robyn Perkins – 10, 000 Decisions

Daniel Kitson – Good For Glue

Richard Wright – Virgin

Aidan Taco Jones – 52 Weeks

Sarah Iles – Ghosted

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city? 

Let’s face it, Edinburgh is proper beautiful. Like, I mean, real lovely. It never fails to surprise me, when wandering through the streets, if you look up, how amazing it is. It’s no wonder J K Rowling based Harry Potter on this place. And that’s my favourite thing, that at least 10,000 cafes, coffee shops and restaurants claim to be ‘the birthplace of Harry Potter’

What are your plans for after the festival?

I’m going to be touring my new book (which has just been released). I’ve got some filming I’m doing for ‘Stylist’ Magazine and am going back to the radio show I present. It’s The Breakfast Show on Panda Radio – it’s amazing fun and boringly I’m really excited to be back and into the swing of it again.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR DAVE CHAWNER: ‘MENTAL’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

July Comedian of the Month #49, Chris Washington

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Each Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy is a comic who has never previously featured on the website. Reasons for selection can include various current projects the comedian is involved with, or perhaps recent appearances on television programmes or podcasts. There is no strict criteria however, as Comedian of the Month simply stands as a collection of recommendations, highlighting interesting and original aspects of certain comedians and their work.

Chris Washington is a very enjoyable performer to listen to, largely down to his admirably laid-back delivery. This comic is down to earth and confident, and he doesn’t try to allude to something he is not.

Performing his 2017 show Dream Big (Within Reason) on the latest series of Live at the BBC, Washington talks about having small ambitions, not through fear of failure, but due to being genuinely content with his lot. He appreciates the small things in life; he’s got a Dyson for downstairs and a Dyson for upstairs.

Chris Washington

His anecdotes are idiosyncratic, yet believable, with hints of loving nostalgia for his school days interwoven within them. And the effect is a heart-warming one. Chris has a way to his comedy that reminds us of the simple pleasures of childhood, but also of where we’re at now. This show encourages stopping and looking back on your life, with all its peaks and troughs, taking a deep breath and assessing what is important, and what to feel grateful for.

Chris Washington, as well as clearly being a nice guy, is a performer who understands how to give just enough of himself to his audience, allowing us to relate to aspects of him but leaving us wanting more.

For more information, follow Chris Washington on Twitter, or visit his website.

COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Olivia Rhee: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018:

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© Olivia Rhee

Who? Olivia Rhee
What? Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist, Big O Makes It in New York… or, Does She?
Where? Laughing Horse @ The Phoenix (venue 146)
When? 21:00

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

I hope so! I have an open mind and so do not have any idea what it has in store for me, but I welcome it with open arms… Love conquers all…

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I think the title of my show says a lot: Adventures of the Singing Acupuncturist. Big O makes it in New York… or does she? It is my comedy debut and so introduces me, a (Korean-American) lady, into the Comedy World. I talk about topics such as my culture, my food (kimchi, etc.), my relationships, my career, and my life this past year… a lot in an hour? Yes, but entertainingly so.

What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?

Finding venues to host my preview shows and making my jokes funnier

Who would most enjoy your show?

Anyone who has a dream, has ever had a dream, and who enjoys learning about other cultures and getting free healthy tips and who enjoy laughing at me.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes, 1) Baby Wants Candy; 2) One Woman Sex and the City; 3) Even more Naked: Lucy Frederick; 4) Dave Chawner: Mental; 5) Cow Café Cabaret Show at Midnight; 6) Croft and Pierce: Comedy Sketch Duo; 7) Falling with Style: David von Jones; 8) Kimono My Comedy Show: Martin Angolo.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

How beautiful it is, with its hills and castle; and the people are friendly, I feel safe here, although I had a stalker the other night… (for the first time in the 9 years that I’ve been coming to the Fringe).

What are your plans for after the festival?

I will go back to work so that I can make enough money to do what I love, which is to perform on stage. If my show does well and is discovered by a wealthy billionaire producer, I hope to take my show on a World Tour!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR OLIVIA RHEE HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Edinburgh Review: Paul Foot – Image Conscious

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© Paul Foot

Paul Foot’s shows are always absurd, with only a vague grasp on reality. But this year there is something far more tangible about his material. Image Conscious has more popular culture references scattered throughout than previous years; has the world worn this comic down? This new turn for Foot is definitely a step in the direction of mainstream, but the reliability of it is somewhat refreshing.

The core of the show, a winding narrative about how to host a decent orgy, has Foot’s trademark madness written all over it. He layers details of setting, character and circumstance until he works himself up into a shouting frenzy. This is what Paul Foot’s fans come for.

These moments where Foot’s material flirts with reality are very satisfying. A particular stint about his hatred for Greg Wallace is particularly entertaining. We’re used to seeing Foot screaming at the top of his lungs about shire horses and fire engines, not BBC cookery shows. Foot is an expert at introducing various celebrities and celebrity has-beens into his ridiculous narratives, and this show is no disappointment. The things he has us imagining the likes of Clare Balding and Ronny O’Sullivan doing should not be repeated.

Leaving Paul Foot’s show feels like waking up from a dream; reality becomes a bit of a haze. At one point Foot had thrown pickled gherkins at the audience. Classic Paul Foot with an edgy twist, Image Conscious is unlike anything else you will see at the Fringe.

Edinburgh Review: Werewolf Live

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In Jon Gracey’s Werewolf, audience members are pitted against each other as they play the characters of werewolves and villagers. A fraction of the group of volunteers are given the role of werewolf, which means that they can choose one villager to be killed each night, under the cover of darkness (well, when we all have our eyes closed). The villagers must work out who the werewolves are and have them killed before it’s too late.

With only the werewolves being aware of who is innocent, this is a game of guesses and rash accusations. And watching people turn against their friends at the flick of a switch is always entertaining, especially when the reactions are spontaneous and unfiltered.

© Kate Rodden

Frontman Gracey is unsurprisingly the highlight of this show, and it’s a pity he doesn’t get more time to ad lib. He’s clearly comfortable on stage and his sarcastic comments and piss-taking is the glue that keeps the show from descending into chaos.

Werewolf is a an inventive concept. The rules are complicated enough, and the set up varied enough, so that the audience doesn’t get bored, and yet the game is sufficiently short to allow for three or so games during the show. A larger audience would undoubtedly make Werewolf more entertaining, as there could be an entirely new set of participants each round. This is why the comedian charity special on August 21st looks particularly promising.

Seven Questions With… Great British Mysteries

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© Michael Shelford

Great British Mysteries is the historical comedy duo made up of Olive and Teddy (played by Rose Robinson and Will Close), who are returning to the Edinburgh Festival this year with their second show: 1599?. Self-described as ‘Woman in Black meets Key Stage 2 Tudor history’, this silly investigation into various perplexing mysteries will leave you wishing you were a detective yourself, or perhaps not.
I asked Will Close from Great British Mysteries these seven questions to find out more about the pair…

1) How did you come to form Great British Mysteries?

‘Great British Mysteries’ began life when we were away on tour with the 1927 show, ‘Golem’, which we were involved with for about two and half years. We did a lot of shows and a lot of travelling and during that time started kicking around an idea for this odd character comedy piece. When we came back, we got Joe Hancock involved as Director/Technical Master/Overlord and then it became quite a productive trio. We’d all done or been involved in comedy before and have known each other a long time so it was a natural fit.

2) What is the biggest mystery you’ve ever encountered?

Well we are mystery geeks so that’s a tricky question. My favourites to read about are probably Nessie, the Yeti and Sea Serpents of all guises. Although, I am quite fond of Mokele-mbembe who are supposedly a species of dinosaur still alive and well in the Congo. Real-life ones on the other hand, that’s probably less exciting… What will become of my student loan? That’s currently baffling mystery hunters everywhere.

3) What makes you laugh the most?

Very hard. I love Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, Limmy and the list goes on and on and on. My best friend Tim who is a prawn farmer in Canada also makes me laugh, but for different reasons. I mean, he’s a prawn farmer in Canada. That’s gold.

4) Do you like going to the cinema?

I do but I’m not very good at getting it into my routine. Joe and Rose go more. I always book for anything fantasy related – dwarves, elves, dragons and I’m there. But I tend to forget the rest of the time. I have a PictureHouse membership but I just use it as a means of getting slightly reduced popcorn.

5) What is your best Christmas memory?

Ooh, I think they are always best when you’re young. The year we got a Nintendo 64 is hard to top. I saw this large box under the tree on about the 10th of December and then that was it. I couldn’t sleep with excitement; ‘Is it?’, ‘Isn’t it?’, ‘Maybe it’s just more handkerchiefs from my Grandma in a very large box.’ The actual moment the anticipation broke on Christmas morning; I can’t even recall. It was a blur. Mario 64 was seared onto my eyelids for months afterwards.

6) What is the biggest onstage disaster you’ve ever had?

I don’t think there’s ever been anything too disastrous. In a funny way, when something backfires or doesn’t work it can actually create quite a fun vibe. We were doing Golem in Manchester once and the screen (which is completely integral to the whole show) just switched off. Gone. No more films. I was playing drums and doing a live score of the action but then it just vanished. Me and the pianist just jammed out for fifteen minutes and then it came back. I think the audience quite enjoyed it. At least, that’s what I tell myself.

7) What is your most obscure achievement?

I can make an elephant with my hands. It’s nothing perverse, I just bend my fingers into odd shapes… Oh, and I’m tragically good at FIFA. A misspent youth… But at least I know about Mokele-mbembe.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ‘GREAT BRITISH MYSTERIES: 1599?’ HERE