Pleasance Times Issue 4- 17/08/12

17 AUG 2012 ISSUE #04

HOFF WAY THROUGH

ISSUE 4newest.indd 1 8/15/2012 3:40:34 PM

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HOFFING MAD!BY SOPHIE CHILVERS

We’re already over half way through the Fringe after a

fantastic first two weeks. Blessed with unusually good weather, more acts than ever before and some exhilarating secret gigs by the likes of Eddie Izzard, there’s still plenty of excitement to come. Positive that he will be arriving in style we can’t wait to welcome David Hasselhoff to The Pleasance, as he makes his way to Edinburgh to perform a week of his show An Evening with David Hasselhoff Live.

Listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as ‘the most watched TV star in the world’, the Hoff is famous worldwide for his roles in Baywatch and Knight Rider. More recently he’s appeared on our screens as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, scouring the country for entertainment worthy of the Queen.

With songs, audience interaction, music, media and dance, this is a chance to get up-close and personal with the Hoff.

Delivering his life

story uncensored, he’ll be telling the audience all about his life; trials, tribulations and successes. Don’t hide at the back as chances are he’ll be getting people up on the stage

with him for company, and if you’re really lucky you might even catch a glimpse of KITT.

An Evening With David Hasselhoff Live is on 21-26 August, at 6pm at the Pleasance Courtyard

COVE

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DAVID HASSELHOFF AT THE FRINGEITCHING TO GET STARTED

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HOFFING MAD!DAVID HASSELHOFF AT THE FRINGE

With such a great focus on new work, the Fringe

is the perfect place for debuting theatre and trying out new and interesting concepts. This is where Itch: A Scratch Event steps in. The Pleasance and Comedians Theatre Company have teamed up to create their very own two-night platform for brand new writing to have its first outing to an open and willing audience, and an opportunity for new work to be shaped.

We were first treated to a series of duologues about relationships, featuring Charlotte Jo

Hanbury (Sitcom Double Bill). The skits were light-hearted, poking affectionate fun at the little quirks of all relationships. These relatable skits were performed script-in-hand, but they were highly accessible as new works.

The second part of the show saw a newly scripted radio play about a new Temp, Tom the Temp, starting at a Call Centre. This excerpt starred sketch comedy favourites McNiel and Pamphilon, as well as Nat Luurtsema from the show Jigsaw. Watching a radio play on stage was an interesting experience, the cast setting up the

stage like a radio studio to get the atmosphere right. The surreal and silly dialogue was hilarious and well delivered by all cast involved.

Two more acts gave sterling performances to close the line-up. Matthew Osbourne performed a monologue as an unhappy and isolated loner who has taken refuge in a shopping centre. The performance was markedly intense in comparison to the others during the evening, but made for a more diverse and more interesting mix. Osbourne was fantastic, his stage presence, even within this short segment, was astounding. He had the audience in stunned silence. The event was topped off with Alan Francis performing a touching and hilarious phone conversation of an elderly man trying to get a good price for a takeaway, a great end to the night of new performances.This selection of new writing and fresh sketches was a great showcase of the real, raw talent which exists at the Fringe. You can catch this event all year round at The Pleasance theatre in Islington.

ITCHING TO GET STARTEDBY ANDY SMITH


MCNEIL AND PAMPHILON PHOTO BY IDIL SUKAN

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BY ANDY SMITH

TWO GOOD TO BE TRUECOMEDY DUOS ON THE FRINGE

Laurel and Hardy, The Two Ronnies, Reeves and Mortimer: there is something about

double acts which often strikes a perfect comic formula. With a wealth of comedy shows consisting of only two performers at the Fringe, this year is no different.

Amongst these shows is McNeil and Pamphilon, a sketch-come-stand-up show centred around the relationship between the two performers, and their disagreements and squabbles which amount to comical body swapping and hilarious arguments. The pair have an almost Mighty Boosh-esque rapport between them, and the resulting patter makes up a lot of the genius of the show. Who knows how much of it is improvised and how much is scripted? Either way, the banter between the two of them comes across as mostly being off-the-cuff, which gives the show great air of spontaneity.

The pair have worked in larger groups before, and have also done solo stand-up shows. Watching

the show, you can’t really imagine them having anyone else in it with them. They have been a duo since 2008 ‘after the final remaining person in our (now gladly defunct)sketch group ‘Bottom Set Maths’ (what were we thinking?) feigned illness’. When asked about working as a double act, the boys said they preferred it to larger sketch group work: ‘the more people involved, the more things have to be decided by committee. Now, we only have to argue

with each other. Which we don’t really do. We’re both too old and tired to bother’.

Taking a different form, Max and Ivan’s two-man comedy Max and Ivan are Con Artists, is a sketch show with a narrative. A well thought out and perfectly judged pastiche of a Hollywood favourite – the heist, created through a series of different characters and sketches, all weaving into an intricate and exciting plot. Max and Ivan answered a couple of very quick questions for us

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@ANDREWO’NEILL: MY SHOW WAS SO GOOD LAST NIGHT TOM DECIDED HE’D JUST LEAVE JERRY ALONE


MCNEIL AND PAMPHILON PHOTO BY IDIL SUKAN

regarding two man shows:

How long have you been performing as a sketch duo?Max: We’ve been performing as a sketch duo for the last few years.Ivan: And as a failed interpretive dance act for the previous six.Max: I’d prefer not to talk about that.Ivan: We were called Inspiritron.

How did you get into performance comedy?Max: In this double dip recession it just seemed like the most obvious choice for a viable and long-term career.Ivan: I just really liked fancy dress.

Do you prefer working as a pair rather than in a larger group?Ivan: I’d prefer working as an ORANGE.Max: I’m seriously thinking of working on a solo hour.

In their show, Max and Ivan show us a completely different angle to sketch – by including a narrative it binds the show together as a whole, making it all the more memorable.

Taking the helm of new sketch this year are the infamous duo Ford & Akram in their show Bamp! in which they must get the word bamp into the dictionary, despite it actually not meaning anything. The narrative follow-through of the plot draws all the sketches, songs and silliness together into a hilarious tapestry for the audience.

Having performed their

debut show Humdinger last year, and being recognised by The List as ‘Ones to Watch’ for 2011, Ford & Akram are a relatively new sketch duo on the Fringe. Don’t be fooled though, the amount of hype surrounding the pair is in no way undeserved.

McNeil and Pamphilon are on at 4:30pm in the Baby Grand, Max and Ivan are on at 3:30pm at Upstairs and Ford and Akram are on at 3.15pm in the Attic (all in the Courtyard) until the 27th August

MAX & IVAN PHOTO BY MARTHA PAVLIDOU


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TEN MINUTES TO CURTAIN: THE BACKSTAGE INTERVIEW ED EALES-WHITE

Proof is on until the 27th August at 2pm, Pleasance Courtyard

What’s the show about?The show is called Champions, it’s a character sketch show. Just me celebrating every day people. So, ironic champions, because they are the losers really. They are all just champions in their own little way, I like to think. There’s a lot of different styles of comedy in the show, some shorter sketches, some which are longer and more fully formed characters with a story. I think it’s a lot of fun.

Who are your inspirations?Paul Whitehouse, late Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon.

What’s your history with the Edinburgh Fringe?I did Clever Peter, and I still do. I wrote and performed a sketch show with them 2008-2010, and we came back last year with a Best of... show, which we did a couple of nights of. Clever Peter is three performers, I’m one of them, and another guy who writes for us and does our music.

You had a show on Radio 4 with Clever Peter, how was that?Yeah, that came out in May, and it was really good fun. It’s just so nice to be commissioned to do something, to be given a deadline and told ‘you’ve

got to write this thing’. It’s so great to think we’re actually getting paid to do this. Paid very little, but still paid. It’s a great feeling. Hopefully we might get more of that kind of work.

How did you get into writing and performing comedy?I started doing it at Uni. I wrote some sketches and got a couple of friends involved for the written sketches, and then we went and started performing at scratch nights. We then formed our own group the year after and started performing every week for free for students. That’s where it really started.

Do you prefer performing with a group or as a one man show?The simplest way to put it is that the best Clever Peter show is something that I could never beat on my own, because I’m sharing it with other people. Doing Champions I’m getting to share the experience with the audience which is really fun, but when you’ve got the double-whammy of sharing it with the audience and the people on stage, that’s really it. Having said that, when group stuff’s not going well I prefer being alone.

Ed’s show Champions is on until 27th August, at the Courtyard at 5.45pm

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STRIKEOUTTHE CAST OF PROOF SELECT THEIR PREFERENCES

London vs Edinburgh(in August)

Poetry vs Prose (Impossible to choose)

Driver vs Passenger (Avoid any criticism)

Letter vs E-mail (Doesn’t require an immediate response)

Restaurant vs Takeaway (Depends who’s paying)

Spiderman vs Batman (I’ve always fancied a ride in the Batmobile.)

Speaking vs Listening (Much more interesting)

Beer vs Wine (Not fussy. I love them both.)

FOR1DEALS AND OFFERS2

Cut out and present to the Box Office for

2-for-1 tickets for:

Gilbert & Sullivan

In Brief(s)

16:30 20th and 23rd August Pleasance Courtyard

Pleasance OneProof is on until the 27th August at 2pm,

Pleasance Courtyard


With striking ‘nostalgia for the past’, The Big Bite-

size Breakfast present their Vintage Menu. Whilst vintage is extremely popular currently in all walks of fashion and the arts, this is a great dose of theatre to start the day. Performing a collection of short plays about the Second World War, numerous perspectives are presented, spanning from the comical to the more serious.

Sat comfortably with complimentary coffee and croissant in hand the show begins in the modern day as a couple obsessed with 1942 strive to do everything they can to imitate life in this beloved era. Keeping to the rations, inventing affairs with GIs and manipulating excuses so as not to have to go to the front line, this piece is a light-hearted and humorous start to the vintage line-up.

Followed by three more stirring dramas about life during the war, the cast depict some interesting lesser known experiences of the time. In a monologue of a war wife, married life during the war is shown in various lights. Another

short piece, Perfidia, illustrates the secretive story of two strangers who come together to shelter from an air raid; the war brings them closer than we might expect. Finally we hear of the bizarre life of Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood actress, inventor and known during the war as ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’.

Elise Fabris, who plays several characters in the

show, stated how ‘history tends to repeat itself’. After noticing that there were vintage clothes everywhere, with the essence of the 1940’s still present in culture today, the director thought it would be fitting to base a show around this idea. Having put together a vintage tea party complete with singing tea ladies, this show was a further exploration on this theme.

BY SOPHIE CHILVERS

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VINTAGE PLEASANCE:INSPIRED BY HISTORY

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HISTORY TENDS TO REPEAT ITSELF

@PAULFOXCROFT: INADVERTANTLY HEADBUTTED A SINK WHILE “CATCHING” TOOTHBRUSH


The cast told us how it’s really quite moving to be involved in a play about the war, as many of their grandparents and the older generation can relate to what the show is about, though not forgetting that ‘it’s good for the younger generation as well to remember’. A great way to see a collection of shorts, White Room Theatre also presents two other menus for you to peruse.

Stepping further back in time to the Victorian Era, Miriam Margolyes presents her one woman show Dickens’ Women. In celebration of Dickens’ 200th Birthday Margoyles cleverly, humorously and energetically interprets the women of his novels, many of which are based on the women from his personal life. Having appeared in over 40 films and winning numerous awards it is wonderful to see her gracing the stage, bringing a new life to Dickens’ female characters.

Highlighting Dickens’ writing brilliance, Miriam however is not afraid to show his misogynistic opinions and how they are reflected in his characters. At the start of the performance she admits, ‘I’ve had a passion for Dickens all my life’ yet he ‘has a demonic side to his character’. Margoyles has expressed in the past that she wishes almost to shock the audience in showing them a different side to

Dickens. Vibrantly depicting

the women of the books, including the famous Miss Havisham of Great Expectations, Nell Trent from The Old Curiosity Shop and Miss Flight of Bleak House, Margoyles is enchanting. These women have been depicted numerous times in adaptations of Dickens’ works, but this performance is something quite unique. These interpretations are entwined with interludes of informative biographical

description and so the show becomes not just about the characters, but equally about Dickens himself. The research that went into this piece must have been extensive and Miriam’s great interest in the subject is apparent, creating a truly remarkable play influenced by classic literature of the past.

The Big Bite-Size Breakfast Show is on in the Pleasance Dome at 10:30am. Dickens’ Women in on at the Pleasance Courtyard at 2.30pm


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The Cambridge Footlights society is viewed as a comedy institution

by many, and this year they bring their 50th Edinburgh sketch show, The Perfect Strangers, to The Pleasance.

Following the likes of Monty Python, David Mitchell and Stephen Fry, the Footlights have a lot to live up to. We spoke to the co-director of The Perfect

Strangers, Abi Tedder, about the 50th anniversary, who said ‘it’s an exciting thing for the Footlights to have been here for that long’. With such famous alumni, people will expect big things from the show; ‘John Cleese and Graham Chapman directed by Trevor Nunn was the first show Footlights took to Edinburgh, which is amazing’. Tedder told us what effect this has in the eyes of the Footlights cast, saying ‘It makes you have to be better. If you come with a student comedy thing to Edinburgh, it’s student comedy and people are open to it, whereas with Footlights, people go and see it thinking it’s going to be Steven Fry – as professional, as rehearsed’.

This pressure does not cause the Footlights to falter in their performance, the five-person cast presenting a sharp, quick and witty show. The show this year is a different style to previous years, with ‘a lot of props, a lot of big characters, and it’s slightly

more crazy; it’s very different from last year’.

We can also see the output of great new talent from the Cambridge Footlights after performers have graduated from Cambridge, as Abi explained: ‘Sheeps, The Pin, Alex Horne and Tim Key are all Footlights alumni performing at the Fringe’. This demonstrates the power of Footlights to both spot talent, and to nurture and produce great performers. Tedder, commenting on the popularity of the Footlights said ‘if you’re going to University and you want to get into comedy, it’s such a great opportunity’.

This inimitable force in sketch comedy is presenting a great show to celebrate its 50th year, and we look forward to the next 50 Edinburgh shows they bring us.

The Perfect Strangers is on at the Pleasance Dome at 4pm until the 27th August

50 YE

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DAVID ELMS

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PLEASANCE PICTURE SHOWHIGHLIGHTS OF ALL THE PLEASANCE HAS TO OFFER CAPTURED BY OUR RESIDENT PHOTOGRAPHER IDIL SUKAN

DAVID ELMS DANIEL SIMONSEN

CAMBRIDGE FOOTLIGHTS


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PHOTO BY IDIL SUKAN

NO HOLDS BARDChicago Shakespeare

Theatre Company p r e s e n t s

Shakespeare like no other. Rapping their way through the epic tragedy of Othello, this show takes a different angle on the famous play. In a modernised version of the story, Othello and Desdemona meet through their love of music, but jealously comes between them as we know, leading to a tragic end.

The four cast members complimented by their DJ, cleverly rap and rhyme through the story. After co-creating and performing in The Bomb-itty of Errors and Funk it up About Nothin’, the Q Brothers are back with another fabulous adaptation. Highly comical throughout, the songs use ingenious wordplay reflecting on both the Shakespeare play itself and modern culture. There are many references to contemporary everyday life experiences, fusing the 21st century and Elizabethan worlds together.

Colourful, vibrant and extremely energetic, the performance is seamless. Extremely fast paced,

with each member of the cast playing numerous characters, their ability to swap and change between these is impressive. The use of small costume changes, done through an abundance of hats and wigs, is extremely effective. The cast are not only funny throughout but equally give a striking

performance in the scene of Desdemona’s death, leading to total silence from the audience.

This show is enjoyable for all ages, Shakespeare virgins and experts alike. Re-written in a new hip-hop style with heaps of originality, Othello The Remix is not to be missed this Fringe.

BY SOPHIE CHILVERS

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PHOTO BY IDIL SUKAN

NO HOLDS BARD We asked the group some questions on thier experiences working on such a big project.

Why did you want to adapt Othello in particular this time? We didn’t! We were working on Madsummer Night’s Dream when the Globe commissioned us to write a piece for the Globe to Globe festival. We are glad it happened.

How did you guys meet? Well when I (JQ) swam out of my mother’s womb, GQ was there waiting for me. In other words, we share parents.

Who writes the songs for the show? What are your inspirations?We both write the songs for the show. G concentrates on lyrics more while J focuses on the music. Our main inspiration is the guy we steal everything from, Shakespeare. But we are heavily inspired by tons of hip-hop too as you will see in embedded references throughout the show.

Why are you excited to be at the fringe and what’s your history here?We don’t have anything like the fringe festival in America. Nowhere else in the world is there this large of a celebration of theater. It’s amazing. Our last two shows, The Bomb-itty of Errors (2002) and Funk it up

About Nothing (2008), were award-winning Fringe shows. We are so excited to be back.

Othello The Remix is on at 1.55pm at the Pleasance Courtyard until the 27th August


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Being Britain’s favourite all-keyboard, internet-based, two-piece musical group is tough. It’s tough because of the constant pressure to maintain our high standard of keyboard-playing and songwriting.

It’s tough because we have to constantly think of new ways to implement existing synthesised sounds to create lush polyphonic audioscapes of popular music.It’s tough because our flat’s really small and we sometimes have to rehearse in the kitchen. However, when Pleasance Times asked us to reveal our top five funk songs; we knew it would be one thing that would not be tough.Actually, they approached us to write something else, but we persuaded them this would be better. Here it is.

Just Around The Corner – Herbie HancockHerbie Hancock is

one of the greatest names in funk. And by that, we mean his name is one of the greatest names in funk – alongside Bootsie Collins, Stevie Wonder and Shuggie Otis. He’s also one of the greatest names in funk, and this track features one of the grooviest bass lines you’ll ever put in your ears.

D.M.S.R. – PrincePossibly our favourite synth-funk song, (this list isn’t in order by

the way); ‘D.M.S.R.’ stands for ‘Dance. Music. Sex. Romance’. Presumably Prince’s four best things, in order of preference. The song is an upbeat,

sexy, 8-minute party track; but for some reason, it ends with a woman screaming ‘Somebody call the police! Somebody please help me! Help me’, which always seems a bit odd. Oh well, that’s Prince!

Now Do U Wanta Dance – Larry GrahamWe once listened to this on loop for

twenty minutes solid. We didn’t mean to – the ‘song repeat’ button had been selected accidentally, and the song is so repetitive we just didn’t notice. We think that speaks volumes about the track’s ‘listenability factor’ though.

Star Wars – Maynard FergusonThis is actually a disco cover version of John

Williams’ famous film theme. The very idea may sound ridiculous – and for the most part, the song is – but it’s too darn funky not to include. Maynard Ferguson was renowned for playing unnecessarily high trumpet parts, and he does not disappoint on this. Particularly on the final three notes. Absolutely stupid.

Sexy Dancer – PrinceFinally, it’s Prince again. ‘Sexy Dancer’ (not to be confused

with the equally funky ‘Sexy MF’) is just a bloody great funk song. Prince is a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and apparently sometimes knocks on people’s doors to discuss his faith. We’ll leave you with that thought. Bye.

TOP 5 FUNK TRACKSBRETT DOMINO TRIO’S

The Brett Domino Trio’s Edinburavaganza is on for one night only, 18th August at 6pm,

Pleasance Courtyard

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THE WHEELCHAIR ON MY FACESonya Kelly! The woman on the telly! (... em, The Savage Eye... it was in Ireland... it was a funny sketch show that nearly won a television award.. in Ireland... ) Writer and performer of the comedy memoir of her very short sighted youth.

The Wheelchair on My Face. A look back at a myopic childhood. This is the true story about the little girl from Ireland who couldn’t see but didn’t know. Think, Little Miss Sunshine meets My Left Foot. She wandered around in a swirl of coloured blobs until she was seven, walking into walls and nearly under buses. She thought it was the same for everyone. How wrong she was.

Because, because, because, because, becauuuse!! Because of the wonderful things she does! This is a blurry tale that must be told. Glasses wearers of the nation gather around. You are not alone.

The Pleasance Courtyard Cellar but also 18 venues all over Ireland, including a tiny Island where they all spoke Gaelic and the show went up late because of an over extended mass.

Fishamble: The New Play Company, producers of the finest new Irish writing for the past 24 years (they won piles of troph last year), saw the show at the Dublin Fringe last year and said, ‘How do you do Sonya Kelly? May we bring this show to the Pleasance in 2012?’ And she said, ‘Oh that would be awfully nice.’

The Wheelchair On My face is on at the Courtyard at 2.10pm until the 27th August

Who? What?

Where?Why?

How?

SONYA KELLY GIVES US THE SCOOP

The Brett Domino Trio’s Edinburavaganza is on for one night only, 18th August at 6pm,

Pleasance Courtyard


HOW TO BOOK:ONLINE ATwww.pleasance.co.ukON THE PHONE

0131 556 6550

Pleasance Courtyard, 60 Pleasance, EH8 9TJ (9am-midnight)

Pleasance Dome, 1 Bristo Square, EH8 9AL (10am-1.30am)

OR

IN PERSON AT THE BOX OFFICE

/thepleasance

@ThePleasance

/ThePleasanceTV

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The Pleasance Theatre Trust Ltd is a registered Charity in England and Wales. Charity No 1050944. And in Scotland SC043227.

Edited by Sophie Chilvers & Andy SmithEdited by Sophie Chilvers & Andy Smith

17 AUG 2012 ISSUE #04


Pleasance Times Issue 4- 17/08/12

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