Wednesday 6th August 2008 (aka the day it didn't stop fucking raining):
Well, it's just a few days now until the Fringe Programme comes out for 2011. (Eep! Now it's only a day!) So I'll relive the wettest day I've ever spent in Edinburgh (everyone please remember your wellies!!).
We began the day by getting absolutely soaking wet (our hotel was a fair distance from the City centre and I think we may have jumped on a bus or into a taxi but it didn't make much difference). We then saw Golden which was a modern day re-telling of Macbeth. I think it was quite good. It was a very small venue with seats on all four sides which is generally quite dynamic.
After that we had to get a taxi back to our hotel to get changed before getting a taxi to an old church to see Kes. This production was by schoolchildren who were excellent (especially the main little boy playing Billy - perfectly heartbreaking) and their teachers who were not! I enjoyed it but not as much as the film.
Then we found some lunch and bought some ponchos (you may look silly but you need a poncho for proper Edinburgh rain!).
Next was Columbinus which we saw in a Quaker-y place. (The Quakers seemed very nice.) It was a very interesting play about the events that led up to the school shooting in Columbine. I loved the first half but was less bothered about the second half.
The play began with all of the kids (about fifteen to twenty of them) getting up, having breakfast, getting dressed and going through their normal routines. It was very ordinary but remarkable in its everydayness. I love stuff like that (like Mrs Dalloway and The Hours). I'm not sure that it made me think anything new or different about the shootings but it was a really well done play. (Usually at the Fringe you have very little time to process everything right after it's happened. You generally have to save things up and think about them later on when you get a bit of time. Conversely, you may end up having an epiphany in a split second. That's why the Fringe is so great!)
The nice Quaker man offered us all a quiet room to sit and have a think/pray in but there was no time. We went to TGI Friday in a desperate effort to cheer ourselves up. The play had been heavy; we were still soaking. My trainers were absoutely appalling waterlogged. It didn't matter how many times I changed my socks it was all squealchy and gross. I was ready to cry (knowing me, I probably did!) but lovely Stewart Lee was next.
We went to the Stand (aah) for Stewart Lee: Scrambled Egg. This wasn't a proper show; it was Stew doing material that would end up on Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle S1 (similarly Vegetable Stew was the preparation for SLCV S2) but that was fine as it was advertised as such.
The idea was that Stew would have a little egg box with six 'eggs' in - each with a different topic (lasting about a half an hour) and he'd do two for each show of the run. (Or something like that; it was ages ago now!) Anyway, he'd spent a long time making the eggs and the box and it was a great idea however, he hadn't come up with enough material to do this (three hours - the length of the entire series) but he did have enough for a brilliant hour.
It wasn't as good as 41st Best Stand Up (the first SL show I saw where I just fell in love with him - comedically!) but it was still great: this was the first time I heard a lot of the stuff that ended up on the show including Radio 4 comedy, celebrity hardbacks, Franklin Ajaye comedy record and Del Boy Falling Through The Bar (which was part of 41stBSU) too.
The main drawback (other than still being completely sodden!) was that we'd got there late and there were no seats left (bear this in mind for Stand gigs!) and we had to stand up. While standing is perfect for music it's rubbish for comedy. When you collapse into giggles there's nothing solid to collapse into which means that you just have to absorb your own laughter (if that makes any sense at all!) which is hard at the best of times but with no sleep and very damp - it's just no fun. (If it had've been someone crap and not lovely Mr.Lee it would've been horrendous!)
Then we met up with one of R's lovely friends for some hot chocolate. He and P caught up in The Conan Doyle and Nat and I got a taxi (we got taxis everywhere that day! They're cheap in Edinburgh and we were past caring anyhow) to see Grease Lightnin' Drag Show (it had Grease, men and drag and Australians!). It was pretty silly (erm, unsurprisingly) and maybe not as good as I'd expected/hoped it may be. My main quibble was that they were just miming. I would've rather seen them sing (but I think it may have been partly a copyright issue, not sure!). Anyway, it was nice to disappear off for a bit of fun with Nat! (And I'm sure equally good for R to be away from us and our silliness!)
We finished our night at the Stand Up For Freedom Amnesty International benefit show hosted by Ed Byrne. I'm not overly bothered about Ed but he's such a lovely guy and deals with the compere role perfectly - you can't not like him!
I can't remember the order but the comedians we saw that night were:
Mark Watson - doing the same stuff we'd seen him to a couple of days before; still brilliant though (and you never know who's going to turn up at these things when you book [well, depends when you book, I suppose] so do take the chance that you'll see some bits of people's sets twice; this may seem a bit annoying but I find it fascinating to have the opportunity to see the comedian's skills at making the material fresh every night. When you see something again you can see the comic is truly excellent at their craft.)
Sarah Millican - again, we'd seen Sarah Millican (at a Juppcast) and we were going to see her again that week (we'd also seen the same material at a pub night a million years ago; I'd go on to see Not Nice again. It was amazing though!)
Alan Cochrane -funnily enough, I liked Cochrane a lot more here than I had at the Stand. The lateness of the hour was the same but perhaps for a huge venue like the Assembly on the Mound (one of the big rooms there anyway!) he simply tried harder than he had hanging out with his friends. My opinion of him seems to change a lot. I wouldn't go out of my way to see him but I do like a lot of things about him. Hmm.
Otis Lee Crenshaw - This was the first time I'd seen Rich Hall as Otis and I loved him. Very enjoyable.
I think Wilson Dixon was there too but I'm not certain!!
Any that was it - our day ended by waiting (in the rain, by puddles/lakes) for a taxi. I had never been so glad to take off my clothes. We saw some amazing stuff that day but because of the weather it was the worst day of the Fringe (still a ridiculously brilliant day compared to ordinary days at work etc!!)
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
Sunday, 5 June 2011
Grey's Anatomy (Things You Can Disagree On and Things You Can't)
I love Grey's Anatomy. I always have. The only slightly iffy time for me was when Izzy was having ghost sex with dead Denny (it turned out to be a hallucination caused by cancer). As long as it wasn't going all supernatural (it actually does do that a bit sometimes as with Meredith when she briefly stopped breathing and saw Denny in the afterlife - another hallucination or something else?). Anyway, while I'm not too keen on any ideas of heaven, GA creator, Shonda Rhimes often puts in little bits of religion. I don't know what she believes in (and it doesn't matter really) but the whenever the show has a religious character who's a regular they're always much more bothered about their own God than the ideas of any one institution. (Guest characters who are religious in a judgemental way are not dealt with kindly.)
In fact in a recent episode when Callie and Arizona were getting married, Dr Bailey suggested that God was much more progressive than any of churches that spoke on his behalf; it was just a question of people catching up to God. I don't believe in God and am not a fan of religion (to say the very least) but the idea of a being I don't believe in being happy for two women to get marry is preferable to me to the idea that a being I don't believe in will send them (and me) to hell.
So it's a very liberal show especially for American network television. In the recent finale (season 7) Cristina Yang (played by Sandra Oh) discovered she was pregnant. This wasn't the first time. In the very beginning of the show she became pregnant after sleeping with Burke (who left the show when the actor was fired for being homophobic). She knew that she didn't want the baby and scheduled an abortion. Before she had it though, it was discovered it was an eptopic pregnancy (where the baby grows outside the womb) so the pregnancy was not viable.
In seven years Cristina has changed in many ways but she still doesn't want a baby. She's married to Owen who does want a baby. A few episodes ago they talked about their feelings and could not agree. Now, I'm not saying you have to agree on everything before you marry someone (or commit to them forever in some other way) but you do have to agree on the big stuff. As Cristina points out you can't compromise; "you can't have half a baby".
Owen tries to tell her what a great mother she'll be then tries to convince her she won't have to be too involved with the baby or give up her career. She says "I'm not a monster. If I have a baby I'll love it." Which is brilliant to hear. So many people think that if you don't want to raise a child you must hate them or doubt your ability.
Owen acts as if Cristina is being unresonable for not changing her mind. The truth is they should never have got married. Not until they'd got this stuff sorted. (In fairness they had a somewhat rushed wedding following a crazed gunman attacking the hospital.) It's just too important. I honestly do feel bad for Owen but mostly I just feel angry with him for failing to realise that Cristina not changing her mind is the same as his point-blank refusal to change his mind.
So what will happen at the beginning of season eight? The finale ended with Owen chucking Cristina out of her home as she'd made an appointment to have the fetus terminated so I can't really see much a future for them. I just hope that she does go through with the abortion; so that people might come to understand that it's not something where you just change your mind (perhaps it is for some people but surely they've been more than represented on TV all ready most notably Miranda on Sex and The City).
I watch a lot of TV and the only actual abortions I've encountered have occured in Six Feet Under and The L Word. (While Miranda chooses not to have an abortion in SATC it is revealed that Sam and Carrie have both had them in the past.) In Dawson's Creek Pacey's sister Gretchen either had an abortion or miscarried but she won't tell Dawson which (this occurs when Dawson's mother, Gayle gets pregnant and considers her options, ulitmately she keeps the baby).
Apparently (I have learned from googling) somebody had an abortion on Friday Night Lights which goes out on NBC. However, that was a young girl (ditto Claire in Six Feet Under). Is Grey's Anatomy finally going to show an adult married woman making that choice?
In America approximately 3,700 abortions are carried out every day and 48% of these women are over 25. There are many reasons women may choose to have an abortion but some of them must just not want to be mothers. It will be interesting to see what happens with Cristina.
R hates Grey's; he hates Private Practice (the spin off) even more but while we may disagree the merits of medical dramas we've agreed not to get married or to have children.
In fact in a recent episode when Callie and Arizona were getting married, Dr Bailey suggested that God was much more progressive than any of churches that spoke on his behalf; it was just a question of people catching up to God. I don't believe in God and am not a fan of religion (to say the very least) but the idea of a being I don't believe in being happy for two women to get marry is preferable to me to the idea that a being I don't believe in will send them (and me) to hell.
In seven years Cristina has changed in many ways but she still doesn't want a baby. She's married to Owen who does want a baby. A few episodes ago they talked about their feelings and could not agree. Now, I'm not saying you have to agree on everything before you marry someone (or commit to them forever in some other way) but you do have to agree on the big stuff. As Cristina points out you can't compromise; "you can't have half a baby".
Owen tries to tell her what a great mother she'll be then tries to convince her she won't have to be too involved with the baby or give up her career. She says "I'm not a monster. If I have a baby I'll love it." Which is brilliant to hear. So many people think that if you don't want to raise a child you must hate them or doubt your ability.
Owen acts as if Cristina is being unresonable for not changing her mind. The truth is they should never have got married. Not until they'd got this stuff sorted. (In fairness they had a somewhat rushed wedding following a crazed gunman attacking the hospital.) It's just too important. I honestly do feel bad for Owen but mostly I just feel angry with him for failing to realise that Cristina not changing her mind is the same as his point-blank refusal to change his mind.
So what will happen at the beginning of season eight? The finale ended with Owen chucking Cristina out of her home as she'd made an appointment to have the fetus terminated so I can't really see much a future for them. I just hope that she does go through with the abortion; so that people might come to understand that it's not something where you just change your mind (perhaps it is for some people but surely they've been more than represented on TV all ready most notably Miranda on Sex and The City).
I watch a lot of TV and the only actual abortions I've encountered have occured in Six Feet Under and The L Word. (While Miranda chooses not to have an abortion in SATC it is revealed that Sam and Carrie have both had them in the past.) In Dawson's Creek Pacey's sister Gretchen either had an abortion or miscarried but she won't tell Dawson which (this occurs when Dawson's mother, Gayle gets pregnant and considers her options, ulitmately she keeps the baby).
Apparently (I have learned from googling) somebody had an abortion on Friday Night Lights which goes out on NBC. However, that was a young girl (ditto Claire in Six Feet Under). Is Grey's Anatomy finally going to show an adult married woman making that choice?
In America approximately 3,700 abortions are carried out every day and 48% of these women are over 25. There are many reasons women may choose to have an abortion but some of them must just not want to be mothers. It will be interesting to see what happens with Cristina.
R hates Grey's; he hates Private Practice (the spin off) even more but while we may disagree the merits of medical dramas we've agreed not to get married or to have children.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Evolution Emerging 2011
Last night I went to an amazing mini-festival in Ouseburn. Evolution Emerging is the little sister of the big Evolution Festival happening over the bank holiday weekend. However, in my opinion this free festival offers a lot more quality than the much larger festival (which is £25 per day or £35 for the whole weekend; a very reasonable festvial price but not as good as free!) - which while offering a lot of great music (including some from Evo Emerging such as Toyger, Vinyl Jacket and The Lake Poets) like Iggy Pop and Billy Bragg, also has Tinie Tempah (oh dear) and a lot pretty bland, boring stuff.
Anyhow, Evolution Emerging was spread over six venues in the Ouseburn Valley (a place so cool the New York Dolls chose to record their most recent album there!) - The Cluny, The Cluny 2, The Star and Shadow Cinema, The Tanners, The Cumberland Arms and The Tyne Bar.
Absolutely great! I hope to see him again on Sunday!!
After that we had a brief stand about outside the Cluny venues (Cluny 2 was especially hot and steamy!) before heading into the Cluny for a bit of Toyger. They were a cool, fun band who looked to be having an amazing time.
They also dealt very well with the crazy dancers in the front (most dressed as tigers, one girl just wearing a bra!) who kept knocking into people, causing choas etc! They were fun though and the band seemed bemused and flattered.
We left to have a little wander to the Tanners but we stopped in at the Star and Shadow on the way to meet up with Zoe (she'd left after a bit of The Lake Poets' set and gone to see Motion Tourist and Pilots - I think!) and see a tiny bit of Grandfather Birds.
It's a combination of electronic computer stuff and Mikey's guitar or clarinet! Really interesting and clever. We headed back before the end to make sure we got back into the Cluny 2 (they were operating a one in, one out system).
It was still boiling in there; we decided to go on the balcony (hotter but less crowded) and saw the end of Ajimal's set which seemed really good. I'll have to look them up (and listen to my free CD!). The had violins and a cello (which I love).
Then Zoe spotted a free bench so we got to sit down (we were all tired!) for the final band of the night! Hyde&Beast took ages to set up and while we knew who they were (David Hyde, Futureheads drummer and Neil Basset, ex-Golden Virgins drummer) we weren't sure who played with them live but were thrilled to see Barry Hyde on keyboards and Lucas Renney having a wonderful time on the guitar. In fact they all looked like they were having a lot of fun! It was great and I look forward to seeing them again in a couple of weeks.
Overall, the night was wonderful. Every venue we went to (and we only didn't make it to The Tyne!) had a brilliant atmosphere and despite everywhere being packed and hot, everyone was really lovely. We'll be back next year!
Anyhow, Evolution Emerging was spread over six venues in the Ouseburn Valley (a place so cool the New York Dolls chose to record their most recent album there!) - The Cluny, The Cluny 2, The Star and Shadow Cinema, The Tanners, The Cumberland Arms and The Tyne Bar.
We started off at the Cluny with Vinyl Jacket
We only stayed for a couple of songs as we were trying to get to the next venue (the downside of festivals, I suppose!) but I really enjoyed them and will definitely look out for them (we were given free CDs which include a lot of the music we heard which was great; I was prepared to pay a tenner or whatever it cost!).
We then made our way up the hill the Cumberland Arms. We passed Hyde&Beast on the way! And we located Zoe (yay!). This venue was very cramped and it felt like seeing people play in a barn or something! But I was very impressed with Tomahawks For Targets.
I'd been listening to all of the bands (or most of them) playing to decide who to go and see and I loved these! I subsequently discovered that I knew (vaguely) the bass player, Ross! So that made it all the more exciting (he grew up in my street and was friends with my brother; I hadn't seen him in at least a decade!).
We headed down the hill again and had a quick drink in the Cluny 2 before heading downstairs to see the amazing The Lake Poets. I was so excited about R seeing him! (And I think R was very impressed by the This Ain't Vegas cover - the world of Sunderland bands is small and lovely.)
Absolutely great! I hope to see him again on Sunday!!
After that we had a brief stand about outside the Cluny venues (Cluny 2 was especially hot and steamy!) before heading into the Cluny for a bit of Toyger. They were a cool, fun band who looked to be having an amazing time.
They also dealt very well with the crazy dancers in the front (most dressed as tigers, one girl just wearing a bra!) who kept knocking into people, causing choas etc! They were fun though and the band seemed bemused and flattered.
We left to have a little wander to the Tanners but we stopped in at the Star and Shadow on the way to meet up with Zoe (she'd left after a bit of The Lake Poets' set and gone to see Motion Tourist and Pilots - I think!) and see a tiny bit of Grandfather Birds.
I enjoyed them but not as much as last time I'd seen them. We didn't see their full set though.
We then popped across the road to see Waskerley Way at the Tanners. His stuff is so unlike anything else.
It's a combination of electronic computer stuff and Mikey's guitar or clarinet! Really interesting and clever. We headed back before the end to make sure we got back into the Cluny 2 (they were operating a one in, one out system).
It was still boiling in there; we decided to go on the balcony (hotter but less crowded) and saw the end of Ajimal's set which seemed really good. I'll have to look them up (and listen to my free CD!). The had violins and a cello (which I love).
Then Zoe spotted a free bench so we got to sit down (we were all tired!) for the final band of the night! Hyde&Beast took ages to set up and while we knew who they were (David Hyde, Futureheads drummer and Neil Basset, ex-Golden Virgins drummer) we weren't sure who played with them live but were thrilled to see Barry Hyde on keyboards and Lucas Renney having a wonderful time on the guitar. In fact they all looked like they were having a lot of fun! It was great and I look forward to seeing them again in a couple of weeks.
Overall, the night was wonderful. Every venue we went to (and we only didn't make it to The Tyne!) had a brilliant atmosphere and despite everywhere being packed and hot, everyone was really lovely. We'll be back next year!
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Three Weeks
It's three weeks until the Fringe programme comes out!!
You can order your programme here: http://www.edfringe.com/ (or choose to become a Friend which saves you money if you see a lot of shows!).
You can get a few ideas (and book selected shows) from here:
http://www.assemblyfestival.com/ Most exciting is Hot Tub With Kurt and Kristen (I hope it's on when I'm there!) - Kurt Braunohler is also doing a solo show! Yay!
There's a few shows you can book all ready here too: http://www.underbelly.co.uk/webpages/edinburgh/index.php (eep Frisky and Mannish - Pop Centre Plus).
The Pleasance have been 'Pleztweaking' on Twitter and have revealed the following people will be doing shows:
http://twitter.com/#!/ThePleasance/pleasance-2011/members
I'm most excited about James Acaster's solo debut, Tim Key's return and will hopefully see Thom Tuck too.
I'm not for a moment suggesting that http://www.edcomfest.com/ is the only place to look. There are so many more places to see shows than the big four! That being said they do tend to race to get the shows out and onsale so you can generally find out more sooner.
I've been checking here too http://www.freefringe.org.uk/ but no details yet. I'm eager to see what shows Robin Ince is doing (other than the one I all ready have tickets for - his angry show with Michael Legge at the Stand).
There's yet another week to wait for the Book Festival details (http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival) and their tickets don't go on sale until June 26th (my anniversary so I'll definitely remember to book! I've missed Lady Antonia Fraser twice now!)
I can't wait to have the programme arrive and to be able to start planning another lovely trip to Edinburgh! In the mean time there's checking Twitter and the websites above and dreaming, hoping and speculating!
You can order your programme here: http://www.edfringe.com/ (or choose to become a Friend which saves you money if you see a lot of shows!).
You can get a few ideas (and book selected shows) from here:
http://www.assemblyfestival.com/ Most exciting is Hot Tub With Kurt and Kristen (I hope it's on when I'm there!) - Kurt Braunohler is also doing a solo show! Yay!
There's a few shows you can book all ready here too: http://www.underbelly.co.uk/webpages/edinburgh/index.php (eep Frisky and Mannish - Pop Centre Plus).
The Pleasance have been 'Pleztweaking' on Twitter and have revealed the following people will be doing shows:
http://twitter.com/#!/ThePleasance/pleasance-2011/members
I'm most excited about James Acaster's solo debut, Tim Key's return and will hopefully see Thom Tuck too.
I'm not for a moment suggesting that http://www.edcomfest.com/ is the only place to look. There are so many more places to see shows than the big four! That being said they do tend to race to get the shows out and onsale so you can generally find out more sooner.
I've been checking here too http://www.freefringe.org.uk/ but no details yet. I'm eager to see what shows Robin Ince is doing (other than the one I all ready have tickets for - his angry show with Michael Legge at the Stand).
There's yet another week to wait for the Book Festival details (http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival) and their tickets don't go on sale until June 26th (my anniversary so I'll definitely remember to book! I've missed Lady Antonia Fraser twice now!)
I can't wait to have the programme arrive and to be able to start planning another lovely trip to Edinburgh! In the mean time there's checking Twitter and the websites above and dreaming, hoping and speculating!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Lewis Schaffer in Washington
Comedians almost never play in Washington, where I live. My dad saw Sarah Millican at the Arts Centre years ago (before I saw her and I saw her in 2007 or something - way before she was well known!) but usually there aren't many comedy gigs on too near my house. Which isn't exactly a problem - I'm willing to travel miles and miles for comedy, music, plays, etc - however, it is lovely to pop to a gig in a matter of minutes.
And it was Lewis Schaffer! I'd only seen him once (Ed Fringe 2008) but I'd always remembered him fondly and enjoyed reading about him. He's pretty strange and says things that are quite wrong. But gets away with it because he seems like such a lovely (though mad) guy.
He is still on his Free Until Famous tour and some of the material was stuff I'd heard three years ago - still, it was great to see him again and he did have some new stuff about Argos (which he pronouced Ar-gose much to everyone's delight!) and customer service (which was spot on!).
However, the gig was seriously marred by the audience. In the first five minutes Lewis pointed out that it was a free gig so the audience may have been thinking he was shit; he said conversely that we had come to a free show - maybe we were a shit audience who didn't want to pay for the show (instead you paid what you thought appropriate at the end - a good system, I always think!).
He was sadly right for the most part. The audience didn't seem like a comedy audience, rather an audience who had come for a free night and to get drunk. I'm fine with people getting drunk, of course, if they want to. I tend to only get drunk when I'm not seeing something. I'd hate anything to spoil the music, comedy or whatever I'm seeing. (I realise some people feel it improves things; I've never felt it necessary. The show itself is enough for me.) But fair enough, people can do what they like. However, the drunkenness (combined with people just being generally annoying) came to impinge on my night and the quality of the show. And that really pissed me off.
Schaffer asked a few questions; some audience participation was just part of the show. Which is fine. But as a comedy crowd you have to know when to shut up and listen to the jokes. And people didn't. They thought they could do better. One woman (she was so ridiculous!) shouted at him for not making jokes about Bin Laden. As if it was some sort of request show.
Lewis himself was so personable - he shook hands with us at the start and the end of the show; during the interval (which was silly as it wasn't a long enough show to warrant one!) he wandered around checking everyone was enjoying it so far. His personality made me all the more angry with the crowd for berating him, heckling and being mean about America (and one guy was being mean about Schaffer being Jewish!).
There was a family in the front row (and they'd clearly sat there to ensure the show was all about them!) and I've never seen people so weird. It seemed to be a daughter, her partner, her parents and her friends (a couple). She looked humourless from the start, got offended by a Madeline McCann joke (it wasn't particularly bad; I certainly wasn't too uncomfortable), and - the creepiest bit!! - in the interval she sat lovingly stroking her mam's hair. She was in her thirties. Oh, it was just so icky. The looked like lovers. Bleurgh.
When I left I told Lewis that I loved America (the hecklers had been so mean!) as I truly do. I think he appreciated it.
There are more comedy shows coming up there but I'm not sure that I'll be going. I want to support local artisitc endeavours but I'd far rather spend time with real comedy fans who know how to behave. I'm just counting the days until our Stand opens!
And it was Lewis Schaffer! I'd only seen him once (Ed Fringe 2008) but I'd always remembered him fondly and enjoyed reading about him. He's pretty strange and says things that are quite wrong. But gets away with it because he seems like such a lovely (though mad) guy.
He is still on his Free Until Famous tour and some of the material was stuff I'd heard three years ago - still, it was great to see him again and he did have some new stuff about Argos (which he pronouced Ar-gose much to everyone's delight!) and customer service (which was spot on!).
However, the gig was seriously marred by the audience. In the first five minutes Lewis pointed out that it was a free gig so the audience may have been thinking he was shit; he said conversely that we had come to a free show - maybe we were a shit audience who didn't want to pay for the show (instead you paid what you thought appropriate at the end - a good system, I always think!).
He was sadly right for the most part. The audience didn't seem like a comedy audience, rather an audience who had come for a free night and to get drunk. I'm fine with people getting drunk, of course, if they want to. I tend to only get drunk when I'm not seeing something. I'd hate anything to spoil the music, comedy or whatever I'm seeing. (I realise some people feel it improves things; I've never felt it necessary. The show itself is enough for me.) But fair enough, people can do what they like. However, the drunkenness (combined with people just being generally annoying) came to impinge on my night and the quality of the show. And that really pissed me off.
Schaffer asked a few questions; some audience participation was just part of the show. Which is fine. But as a comedy crowd you have to know when to shut up and listen to the jokes. And people didn't. They thought they could do better. One woman (she was so ridiculous!) shouted at him for not making jokes about Bin Laden. As if it was some sort of request show.
Lewis himself was so personable - he shook hands with us at the start and the end of the show; during the interval (which was silly as it wasn't a long enough show to warrant one!) he wandered around checking everyone was enjoying it so far. His personality made me all the more angry with the crowd for berating him, heckling and being mean about America (and one guy was being mean about Schaffer being Jewish!).
There was a family in the front row (and they'd clearly sat there to ensure the show was all about them!) and I've never seen people so weird. It seemed to be a daughter, her partner, her parents and her friends (a couple). She looked humourless from the start, got offended by a Madeline McCann joke (it wasn't particularly bad; I certainly wasn't too uncomfortable), and - the creepiest bit!! - in the interval she sat lovingly stroking her mam's hair. She was in her thirties. Oh, it was just so icky. The looked like lovers. Bleurgh.
When I left I told Lewis that I loved America (the hecklers had been so mean!) as I truly do. I think he appreciated it.
There are more comedy shows coming up there but I'm not sure that I'll be going. I want to support local artisitc endeavours but I'd far rather spend time with real comedy fans who know how to behave. I'm just counting the days until our Stand opens!
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
The Stand
I love The Stand. I know I've said it before! I dare say I will say it again!! The Newcastle Stand (our very own!!) will open in October (I knew it would be around then but it's good to know exactly when! I hope very much that it opens on or near my birthday: it will be amazing!).
But October is quite a while away. What's less far away is August - glorious month of Fringe-y fun. And today the Stand announced their Fringe line up: http://www.thestand.co.uk/fringe2011.aspx
It's very exciting! The best things are shows I all ready knew about: Stewart Lee, Bridget Christie and Richard Herring's podcast. Yes, yes and...yes!
There are some people you just expect to play the Stand (but it's still exciting to have it confirmed; some years people don't do the Fringe at all so you never know for sure): Simon Munnery, Andy Zaltman (and his presence means Political Animal too), Bob Doolally (who I don't think I'd ever bother seeing but my dad loves him!), etc.
Phill Jupitus is a nice surprise! I'll definitely consider trying to fit him in to my busy trip. Tony Law (yay), Alun Cochrane, Stephen Carlin, Ava Vidal, James Dowdeswell, Tiffany Stevenson and Susan Murray are returning; I think a lot of performers like to play the Stand every year. Because it's quite simply the best.
The show I got most excited about is Robin Ince/Michael Legge: Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire 2: Back In The Habit. We missed their show last year as they only did two weeks (not the third one when we were there!) but oh, I love them both!!
I would also love to see Lloyd Langford (I still haven't!), Joanna Neary's new show sounds brilliant (Youth Club), I'd quite like to see Francesca Martinez's show What The Fuck Is Normal? I hadn't heard of Lee Camp but he sounds intriguing. I'd be interested to see a Fred MacAulay show. Mitch Benn's doing a short run. Oh, and there's Todd Barry (from Flight of the Conchords) and Omid Djalili is doing a few dates before his UK tour.
I'm very excited indeed. The only thing is there's another month before we'll know the rest of the Fringe line up so we'll just have to hope that nothing sells out or take some risks in guessing now! It's tricky. I would imagine that not many people will be buying tickets this incredibly early!
I wonder how long until the Big Four release their dates. Have fun scheming and dreaming!
But October is quite a while away. What's less far away is August - glorious month of Fringe-y fun. And today the Stand announced their Fringe line up: http://www.thestand.co.uk/fringe2011.aspx
It's very exciting! The best things are shows I all ready knew about: Stewart Lee, Bridget Christie and Richard Herring's podcast. Yes, yes and...yes!
There are some people you just expect to play the Stand (but it's still exciting to have it confirmed; some years people don't do the Fringe at all so you never know for sure): Simon Munnery, Andy Zaltman (and his presence means Political Animal too), Bob Doolally (who I don't think I'd ever bother seeing but my dad loves him!), etc.
Phill Jupitus is a nice surprise! I'll definitely consider trying to fit him in to my busy trip. Tony Law (yay), Alun Cochrane, Stephen Carlin, Ava Vidal, James Dowdeswell, Tiffany Stevenson and Susan Murray are returning; I think a lot of performers like to play the Stand every year. Because it's quite simply the best.
The show I got most excited about is Robin Ince/Michael Legge: Pointless Anger, Righteous Ire 2: Back In The Habit. We missed their show last year as they only did two weeks (not the third one when we were there!) but oh, I love them both!!
I would also love to see Lloyd Langford (I still haven't!), Joanna Neary's new show sounds brilliant (Youth Club), I'd quite like to see Francesca Martinez's show What The Fuck Is Normal? I hadn't heard of Lee Camp but he sounds intriguing. I'd be interested to see a Fred MacAulay show. Mitch Benn's doing a short run. Oh, and there's Todd Barry (from Flight of the Conchords) and Omid Djalili is doing a few dates before his UK tour.
I'm very excited indeed. The only thing is there's another month before we'll know the rest of the Fringe line up so we'll just have to hope that nothing sells out or take some risks in guessing now! It's tricky. I would imagine that not many people will be buying tickets this incredibly early!
I wonder how long until the Big Four release their dates. Have fun scheming and dreaming!
Charlie's Comedians - A - Andrews, Will
Well, I must say Will Andrews does a very convincing North East accent! I honestly thought he was from up here...turns out he was born in Zimbabwe! Anyway, apparently he started off doing this Geordie character, Tony Carter. I haven't seen him do this but when I have seen him he's still had our accent! So, I'm a little confused about that. Nevermind.
I've only seen him twice and never for a full set; once was with Greg McHugh when they did about ten minutes as part of a Juppcast (in 2008) as Will and Greg, their sketch show.
The next time I saw him was at the very end of the Fringe in 2009 when he did a set for BBC Comedy Presents which included him playing the Dogtanian theme on his ipod and doing a bit of stuff based on that. R laughed for about ten minutes!
And the eternal question: do I fancy him? No, I don't think so!
I've only seen him twice and never for a full set; once was with Greg McHugh when they did about ten minutes as part of a Juppcast (in 2008) as Will and Greg, their sketch show.
The next time I saw him was at the very end of the Fringe in 2009 when he did a set for BBC Comedy Presents which included him playing the Dogtanian theme on his ipod and doing a bit of stuff based on that. R laughed for about ten minutes!
I'm not sure what a full hour of Will would be like - chaotic and a bit all over the place perhaps but with moments of surprising stuff relating to eighties cartoons. I honestly don't know but maybe one day I'll find out.
And the eternal question: do I fancy him? No, I don't think so!
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