Hello, it’s been a while. For those of you who
don’t remember me, I’m Jen. I’ve been gone for a little while. Unfortunately I
must have blinked and missed all of the parades of weeping Buffery readers
wailing in the streets, but I thank you all for your support nonetheless.
The reason
I have been gone a little while, and was also gone around the same time last
year, as the sharpest amongst you may have twigged (well, probably not, I’ not
actually that self involved) , is because for the past two years now I have
spent most if not all of August working up at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
And for two years and two weeks now, I have been fully intending to write an Assorted Buffery
piece on my experiences. This year, thanks to Feature Friday (via one small
delay) as well as the tireless support of my co-ed, Becky, this has finally
happened. Still two weeks late, but what are you going to do?
Unfortunately, as I spent the majority of the
month running around like a fly with an unusually colourful rear end (again), I
didn’t actually have the opportunity to see a great deal of shows, aside from
the ones I worked on, whilst up there. In light of this, I have
opted to take a lighthearted little look at the shows I did manage to see, as
well as the overall mood, and word on the street of this year.
Perhaps you saw some of the shows, or can check
them out next year or at a venue near you, and this article will have some take
home value after all.
I presented to you: a fringe, on the Fringe. Apologies for all the hair puns in advance, couldn’t
help myself.
Shows seen by myself – 2013
Title of Show
Charmingly, catchily bonkers, Title of Show, based on the original off-Broadway production, tells
the story of two young writers and their cast, as they attempt to submit an
original musical to a local competition. Plot wise, that’s pretty much all you
need to know, as the show they eventually write is just a collation of their experiences
whilst writing this exact show. It’s meta gone mad. As one of the actresses
says, “if the finished script is in that envelope, why are we still talking?”.
The extreme post-modernism of this show makes a little hard to get into at
first without giving yourself a headache but, thankfully, once you’re in, you
stay in, going home to promptly download half the original soundtrack if you’re
me. It’s a surprisingly powerful, relatable show, especially in a room full of
luvvies, and you can catch it in London soon.
Brett Goldstein – Contains Scenes of
an Adult Nature
Having briefly worked with the talented Brett last
year, his show was a must for 2013. He is
a comic on a philosophical and moral mission, but with the emphasis
still very much on the comic. This, I think, works both for and against him during his
routine. Contains Scenes of an Adult
Nature is a follow on from 2011’s ‘Brett Goldstein Grew Up In A Strip Club’
, with the focus this time being the damaging nature of the porn industry.
Again, funny but also clever, it was touching to see a male stand up proudly
identify as a Feminist just a few short minutes into an Edinburgh set. I wanted
to applaud, but I think I may have caused a scene. Which is an achievement at
Edinburgh, I’ll admit. Brett’s skill with callbacks as well as anecdotal style
made this an enjoyable hour’s entertainment. I couldn’t help wishing he’d gone
a little further with the porn discussion, however, as I think he has more of
value to say than he is perhaps aware.
The Showstoppers
The gold standard of Edinburgh improvised musical
theatre, no trip to the Fringe is complete without at least three visits to
Showstoppers. Working together since
2008, the award winning troupe are always entertaining, always slightly mad,
but above all always talented.
Richard Herring – We’re All Going To
Die
We’re
All Going To Die – perhaps not the most cheerful of
premises from the Fringe veteran (in hair terms, would a fringe veteran have a
very long fringe, sort of like a beard for your forehead? I can’t be
sure). This show, however, showed
Herring to be a member of the ever growing club I’m entitling ‘comics with a message’. His personal calling in this instance, as it were, was to get us all
thinking, and ultimately talking about the prospect of our own demise. I can
already feel the doubt radiating from my screen, but my God was it fun.
Surprisingly uplifting, inspiring and delivered with all the usual charisma
fans old and new have come to expect from Herring’s stand up, radio show and
Metro columns, We’re All Going To Die more than delivered. All hail the King of
the Fringe.
Sandi Toksvig – My Valentine
My
Valentine, the ever delightful Toksvig’s love letter to
life itself, is packed full of tender anecdotes, and sharp observations, really
drawing her audience in to her living room style set. Delivered with her
trademark sparkle and friendly wit, it felt rather more like the audience had
popped round for tea than paid ten quid a ticket. A lovely way to spend an
afternoon.
Tom Wrigglesworth - Utterly At Odds With The Universe
Comedian and storyteller Tom Wrigglesworth’s set
was undoubtedly the best thing I saw this year. He also had the best hair,
unbeknownst to him, in keeping with my pun based theme. Reminiscent of the style and
subject matter of Alan Bennett’s work, Wrigglesworth, a talented weaver of
words in his own right, tells deliciously detailed anecdotes mainly focused
around his late granddad, with tenderness as well as humour. The show is a rare
combination of poignancy and hilarity, and it is indeed rare to witness a show
which makes you laugh and cry with equal intensity.
Adam Kay – How To Be A Bogus Doctor
This was an utterly mental presentation of
character comedy as Kay’s character, with cameo from my better half, attempted
to teach the audience how to become, you guessed it, a bogus doctor. The dizzyingly
hilarious hour of bonkers bogus props, real life medical horror stories,
terrible advice as well as some good old fashioned let’s make the audience feel
as uncomfortable as possible fun was impossible not to become swept along with.
It’s also worth noting that it was sold out for its entire run, a real rarity
this year. I’d like to say it was all down to the cameo, but I think Kay’s
alter ego, not to mention his own genuine talent would quite rightly have
something to say about that.
Finally, The buzz (cut) shows this year as far as
I heard deserve a wee mention: Bo Burnham, Blam, The Confessions of Gordon
Brown, The Play That Goes Wrong, Snakes the Musical.
I highly recommend that you go forth and Google all of the above.
All that is left to say is roll on next year!
Only, not too quickly, I need some time to recover…
Jen
This, naturally, brought us on to the finale. It
would be fair to say that it did not have anywhere near the level of closure
hype as the finale of Broadchurch or even the inferior MayDay, due at least in
part to it being such a short run. I, at least, still found myself intrigued as
to who the murderer wold turn out to be, ever unable to resist a good old
fashion whodunit. By this point DC Brand had a confession on her hands, but
unfortunately not one she believed. Running out of options, she is forced to
consider the possibility that the answer may lie a little closer to the
deceased boy’s home than anyone would like to believe, especially as Daniel
Reid’s alibi begins to unravel through the unwitting handiwork of former lover Teresa
(Ruta Gedmintas). As the show reached its, actually rather chilling climax, the focus began to fall on the Reid children themselves, as well as upon the
condition of young Sam, as his autism symptoms took a dramatic turn for the worse. 
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