83 Reviews (so far) for 2022 the
Edinburgh Fringe (In order from most enjoyable to least)
Welcome to the 2022 version
of my Fringe reviews. This year is
unlike any other because my 49-year old stepson, Breck,
will choose most of the shows for the first week. He loves comedy and magic much more than I do
so I won’t get to see much theater until the 11th. As usual, my incredibly knowledgeable friend,
Tim, will choose our plays for a week, Aug 22-26. If you want suggestions for strong plays
before I have a chance to write many reviews, I suggest you look at my schedule for
those dates. You can see my schedule at 2022 Schedule.
I
hope to have the time to write my traditional three sentence reviews for all
the shows I see. I try to have a
consistent star rating across the years with 5-stars indicating a show that is
excellent in all aspects of its production.
Usually only around 10% of the shows meet that
criteria. Four
star shows are usually excellent in many aspects, but have area(s) that
were problematic for me. A three star rating is not a condemnation, and just indicates
that the show had provided normal enjoyment for me. Shows that I give less than three stars have
serious problem(s) for me. Nonetheless,
I have no desire to hurt the feelings of the people who made the effort to put
on shows this year. So
I will only be posting reviews of the better shows to edfringe.com.
You
can find out about me,
and my extended thoughts about reviewing at the bottom of this page. I
think that the most useful aspect for my readers is the rankings. I base the rankings on my enjoyment of the show,
so they may not reflect the quality of the script and/or acting. I prefer plays to comedy acts,
but work in a little of the latter for diversity. I have discovered that I have a penchant for
true stories. The comments are usually
only three sentences long because I have little time between shows, and, after
all, I am here for the shows. You can
also see my 15 reviews for 2021 Fringe, 171 reviews for 2019 Fringe, 177 reviews for 2018 Fringe, 151 reviews for 2017 Fringe, 171 reviews for 2016 Fringe, 189 reviews for 2015 Fringe, 165 reviews for 2014 Fringe, 152 reviews for 2013 Fringe, 135 reviews for 2012 Fringe, 175 reviews for 2011 Fringe, 200 reviews for 2010 Fringe, 177 reviews for 2009 Fringe, 153 reviews
for 2008 Fringe, 162 reviews for 2006 Fringe,
and 151 reviews for 2005 Fringe. I always enjoy chatting with both audience
members and dramatic artists. If you
wish to contact me, send e-mail to Sean Davis.
You
can change the sorting column of the table below by first clicking anywhere in
its header. Each succeeding click in the
header sorts the table by the column clicked.
Succeeding clicks of a column will reverse the previous sort order. I have now added a Date column on the right
so that returning viewers can sort by it to see my most recent reviews.
Fringe Festival Reviews
Rank |
Review |
Venue |
Begins |
Ends |
Date |
1. |
The Choir of Man (*****) This musical is
set in local tavern in which the men chose to sing rather than form sports
teams. This is classic revue that mixes upbeat
singalong songs with dance with solo ballads with audience members invited on
stage to be the center of attention. I saw this
show in 2019, and the vibe was just as great this time, as the audience
joyfully joined the pub men. |
Assembly Hall |
20:40 |
21:40 |
4 |
2. |
Mitch Benn: It's About Time
(*****) Benn mixes poignant stories from
his life with observations about spending time wisely with well written,
short songs in a way that I just loved.
Whether it is dealing with his dying mother during Covid, or railing
against the politicians, his humanity and wit are always plainly evident. I particularly appreciated his reminder
that rather than repeating itself, events are often similar, but each is an
opportunity for change. |
Underbelly, Bristo
Square |
16:00 |
17:00 |
5 |
3. |
Police Cops: The Musical (*****) The energetic and talented cast
of six young people smoothly perform the songs, choreography, and hi-jinx of this send-up of rookie cop movies. Though I missed a few lines because of my
poor hearing, what I did hear was clever and tuneful. It was joy to watch each of them tackle their
many roles so effectively. |
Assembly George Square Studios |
19:00 |
20:25 |
9 |
4. |
Intelligence (*****) In the basement of the United
States State Department, three women take turns enacting meetings between an
envoy and a leader of an Islamic terrorist organization. The writing is taut, and the evolution of
the three characters intriguing. A
date/time clock above the proceedings adds a subtle urgency to the
proceedings. |
Assembly Roxy |
12:40 |
14:00 |
11 |
5. |
Joshua (and Me) (*****) A young woman
relates the true story of how growing up with an autistic brother influenced
her and her normal brother. This is
not a simple tale of an undervalued daughter, but rather of how her brother’s
improvement impacted her over the years.
Though I found her looped background difficult to understand with my
poor hearing, it was an effective way to convey the changing atmosphere of
the house. |
Pleasance Dome |
10:55 |
11:55 |
11 |
6. |
Camille O'Sullivan: Dreaming
(*****) Loud at times, but still
great. A force of nature in the mold
of Janis Joplin wihttout the drugs. |
Underbelly Bristo
Square |
19:20 |
20:35 |
16 |
7. |
Out of the Blue (****) The thirteen Oxford men are back
with their smooth acapella and loose choreography. I always make time to see them each year,
and they again brought tears to my eyes with their harmonies and
camaraderie. Normally I give them five
stars, but this year’s selection of songs had fewer songs that I knew than
ever before. |
Assembly George Square |
15:00 |
16:00 |
10 |
8. |
Kevin Quantum: Dark Matter
(****) Kevin starts off successfully
guessing drink an audience member is thinking of, and from then on continues
with a polished show of patter and new magic.
I am reluctant to use the word “tricks”, because
my cynicism took such a beating. While
Breck and I could figure out some of the magic, there were some that left us
astounded. |
Gilded Balloon Teviot |
15:30 |
16:30 |
6 |
9. |
Happy Meal (****) |
Traverse |
10:30 |
11:45 |
14 |
10. |
Fanboy (****) A thirty something
nerd whose life revolves around Star Wars et al, interacts with his 8-year old self on a video cam, and a mysterious being who
resembles the Emperor, as he deals with his own world view conflicts. On the first day of the Fringe, with Breck
choosing only comedy shows, only this piece brought tears to my eyes because
of its sincerity and depth. Despite
the low budget, and maybe because of the low budget, the multi-media worked
surprisingly well to convey the pureness of childhood. |
Pleasance Dome |
12:15 |
13:15 |
3 |
11. |
Card Ninja
(****) This is not a
magic or sleight of hand show, a man who can throw cards with amazing speed
and power. Though he is a one trick
pony, his skill, his Ninja persona, and his interaction with the audience
were wonderful. Breck stood out as a
participant who finally caught a thrown card, and then counted how many cards
were thrown at him in ten seconds. |
Gilded Balloon
Teviot |
16:15 |
17:15 |
3 |
12. |
Cassie and the Lights (****) |
Underbelly Cowgate |
12:30 |
13:30 |
13 |
13. |
Love Them to Death (****) |
Underbelly Cowgate |
15:30 |
16:30 |
14 |
14. |
Starship Improvise (****) With the audience only providing
the title, initial emotion, and starting location on a starship, this show
has a predefined structure that gives it a big leg-up on other improvised
shows. The pre-filmed credits and
introductions tell us who their characters are within the Star Trek well
defined command structure. With this
as a starting point, the actors easily slide into their well worn roles to exploit the seams of fun in the
given premise of the day. |
Pleasance Dome |
15:00 |
16:00 |
7 |
15. |
Ari Eldjárn:
Saga Class (****) Eldjarn populates his stand-up routine with comments about
Covid, his native Iceland, and his two young daughters. His gentle humor warmed my heart throughout
his show. Imagining an Icelandic man
trying to cook some ham on a new lava flow only to see his expensive skillet
melt is something I will never forget. |
Monkey Barrel 4 Blair St. |
17:00 |
18:00 |
8 |
16. |
Somethiing About Simon (****) |
Assembly Rooms |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15 |
17. |
Christopher Bliss: Captain Words
Eye (****) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
18:40 |
19:40 |
13 |
18. |
Are You Being Murdered? (****) Arthur Bostrom beautifully
executes this one hander about a murder that takes place on the set of the
old Brit sitcom, “Are You Being Served?”
The acting, staging, pacing, and murder tale,
are all top notch. Besides Bostrom’s
winning characterization, I appreciated how the playwright had given
nicknames to the supporting characters so we could easily keep track of them.
|
Pleasance at EICC |
12:00 |
13:00 |
6 |
19. |
Pip Utton
as Dylan (****) As usual, Utton
dons a character, and uses his research to allow us to present him as a real
person rather than just a celebrity. In
this case, we are treated to a man who is first, and foremost a
singer/songwriter who has no desire to be an icon of a generation. I found it most telling,
that he spent many days at Woody Guthrie’s bedside as he died of Huntington’s
disease. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:30 |
14:30 |
7 |
20. |
Pete Firman: Bag Of Tricks (****) With his
likable persona, and smooth patter, Firman makes
the most of his bag of well-worn magic tricks. Other than the first trick involving a
chair in a carton that mysteriously turns upside down, I had seen all of the tricks before.
Nonetheless, even from the first row, his sleight-of-hand was top
notch, and a joy to watch. |
Gilded Balloon
Teviot |
20:00 |
21:00 |
3 |
21. |
What the Heart Wants (****) Woody Allen and Frank Sinatra
try to collaborate to write a film treatment starring themselves. Sinatra’s excellent singing combined with
their discussions of possible plot variations combine for a unique exploration
of relationships. Unhappily, the last
line of the play was so badly delivered that the power of its revelation was
lost. |
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose |
14:00 |
15:00 |
6 |
22. |
Foundations (****) Touching. |
Underbelly Cowgate |
11:05 |
12:05 |
13 |
23. |
Fiji (****) Complex throughout. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
13:55 |
14:55 |
14 |
24. |
An Audience with Stuart Bagcliffe (****) This tale has a naďve, sickly
teenager present an autobiographic Fringe show about his protective mother
and his naivete. The actor is perfect
at conveying his awkward awakening to the opposite sex, while dealing with
his offstage mother. I loved his
quiet, subtle performance until the director spoiled the atmosphere with a
superfluous cacophony of light and sound to needlessly highlight the boys already traumatic experience. |
Zoo Playgound |
10:55 |
11:50 |
7 |
25. |
Pip Utton
is Adolf (****) First section as great as ever. Second section doesn’t have the punch of
his 2003 verrsion (through no fault of his own.) |
The Stand's New Town Theatre |
21:00 |
22:00 |
15 |
26. |
ALOK (****) Great poetry. |
Traverse |
21:00 |
22:00 |
11 |
27. |
Shelton on Sinatra (****) Piano too loud. |
Le Monde Hotel |
16:30 |
17:30 |
15 |
28. |
Mark Watson: This Can't Be It
(***) Funny, but too scattered for me. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
21:00 |
22:00 |
14 |
29. |
Bad Clowns: Invasion (***) This delightful show has three agents
using an alien detector gun to find an alien in the audience who will disarm
a ticking time bomb on the stage that will destroy the Earth in less than
hour. Their frequent misuse of a
memory washer straight out of “Men in Black” keeps the plot jerking along in
a most amusing fashion. I was really
impressed the complex Rube Goldberg bomb with its moving lights and elevating
whatever. |
Gilded Balloon Teviot |
13:30 |
14:30 |
4 |
30. |
Arthur Smith: My 75 Years at the
Edinburgh Fringe (***) The well
travelled comedian covers the Fringe from its beginnings, and his
shows there from 1977. His shows have
varied from early zany comedy with plates crashed on people’s heads to
Leonard Cohen homages. His mix of
laconic humor goes down well. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
14:40 |
15:40 |
11 |
31. |
Dragons and Mystical Beasts
(***) A trainer of heroes asks the
children for help at becoming a hero himself by completing six quests
involving magical creatures. The
beautifully made puppet creatures vary from a tiny fairy to a three-person
dragon. The minions within the larger
creatures made them come alive for the entire audience. |
Underbelly Bristo
Square |
11:20 |
12:20 |
5 |
32. |
Caligari (***) This adaptation of the 1920
landmark horror film “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” has four musicians trying
to deal with both the evil doctor, and their own tenuous grip on life. The production, including an appropriately
bizarre cabinet conveys the macabre feeling of the movie perfectly. Their own ambivalence about their fate adds
an extra dimension to the show. |
Underbelly Cowgate |
18:30 |
19:30 |
12 |
33. |
Agent November: Indoor Escape
Game – Murder Mr E (***) Ten of us were tasked to
determine who of six suspects had killed Mr. E by solving seven or eight
multi-level puzzles. Since the three
of us worked on only one, I can only speak of it, and can say it required a
mix of skills, and benefited from teamwork.
On the whole it was a very satisfying puzzle
solving experience. |
The Stand's New Town Theatre |
15:00 |
16:00 |
8 |
34. |
Mischief Movie Night (***) Tasked with creating an action
movie involving a grandma in a kitchen, the moon, and a dystopian future, the
troupe created a story that was fun for the audience. I found the professional improv group a
vast improvement over the cringe worthy amateurs at the Fringe. Nonetheless, I would only recommend this
for people who can find ad hoc wit an acceptable
substitute for a well written script. |
Pleasance at EICC |
18:30 |
19:30 |
4 |
35. |
Pete Heat:
Blimey (***) The Wee Room
seems like the perfect room for Pete’s casual, intimate approach to magic
presentation. Using only small props
like dice, cards, and soda cans, he still explores a wide range of magic
tricks including mind reading, object creation, and object
transformation. All in all, it was a
lot of fun. |
Gilded Balloon
Teviot |
20:40 |
21:40 |
6 |
36. |
Flo & Joan: Sweet Release
(***) The musical pair combine witty
songs, audience interactions, and humorous tales from their lives to create a
delightful show for their audience.
Though their personas are strikingly different, the two sisters
clearly enjoy working together to create a sharp show. I must admit that I was too old for many of
their pop culture references, but still had a fine time. |
Assembly Roxy |
20:10 |
21:10 |
10 |
37. |
Angela Barnes: Hot Mess (***) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
19:00 |
20:00 |
11 |
38. |
Tiff Stevenson: Sexy Brain (***) Stevenson combines tales of her
episodes of ADHD (Sexy) brain, with feminist observations. Whether it was thwarting her partner’s
marriage proposal with endless guesses, or society’s backhand negation of
women’s concerns she keeps things light.
My favorite was her mind bending revelations
after smoking marijuana during her mid-life “crisis” (“breakdown” for women)
in Los Angeles. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
20:00 |
21:00 |
8 |
39. |
Seann Walsh: Is
Dead. Happy Now? (***) The comedian
tells of his life since the newspapers published a photo of him passionately
kissing his married Strictly Come Dancing partner outside a club. Whether it was dealing with the career
crushing aftermath, the poop of his dog, or his heroin smoking father, he
strove to create tales with an amazing mix of pathos and humor. I found myself alternating between
empathizing with his plight, and laughing out loud
with him. |
The Stad Comedy Club |
22:00 |
23:00 |
3 |
40. |
Kafka and Son (***) The Czech author writes a letter
to his overbearing father expressing his anguish. His acting, the use of props, and only occasionally
overloud music all impressed me.
However, the unrelenting dour tone needs an occasional uplifting
moment—maybe from his courtships. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
10:30 |
11:30 |
4 |
41. |
Tim Vine: Breeeep! (***) The king of
one-liners is still going strong after all these years mixing in in puns,
visual gags, and ditties to create a clever mélange of humor. With my poor hearing, I did miss many of
his quips, but those I heard were worth it all. The rest of the audience had a great time; like Laugh-In
of the sixties, if you didn’t like that joke, just wait a few seconds, and
there will be another. |
Pleasance
Courtyard |
18:00 |
19:00 |
3 |
42. |
Nic Sampson: Marathon, 1904
(***) Combining facts
with his a bit of fictionalized backstory, Sampson
provides a lively account of an real, bizarre Olympic marathon. He focuses on three racers, and their
amazing obstacles including wild dogs, strychnine, and enforced
dehydration. My one complaint was that
he chose Breck without warning to participate at several points in the show
without instead of asking for a volunteer.
I should note that Breck acquitted himself admirably,
and added a lot to the fun of the show. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:40 |
17:40 |
7 |
43. |
Richard Hardisty: Silly Boy
(***) |
Pleasance Below |
16:30 |
17:30 |
10 |
44. |
Benjamin Alborough: Absolute Monopoly (***) Alborough
polls the audience for rule changes that would allow Monopoly to be completed
in an hour. I would expect this
premise would rarely work as well as did this time. The two volunteer players, one a big relaxed guy, and the other a small, effete fellow
interacted in wonderfully unexpected ways, including dancing together, and
threatening the host. |
Gilded Balloon
Patter Hoose |
21:15 |
22:15 |
5 |
45. |
Silkworm (***) Too slow. |
Assembly Roxy |
18:50 |
20:05 |
14 |
46. |
In Pursuet
(***) Great acting. |
Underbelly Cowgate |
15:50 |
16:50 |
16 |
47. |
The Trial (***) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
15:00 |
16:00 |
12 |
48. |
Dreamgun: Film Reads (***) For this day, the invited actors
read a re-worked “Breakfast Club”. I
found most of the edits amusing, and the occasional
bloopers from the un-rehearsed readings by the capable cast to be fun. The disjoint of a bearded undercover cop playing a
high school girl didn’t work well, but the small woman playing a dumb brute
had great lines throughout. |
Underbelly, Bristo
Square |
18:50 |
19:50 |
7 |
49. |
Watson: The Final Problem (***) Tim Marriott portrays Doctor
Watson talking about his military career, how he met Sherlock, and the events
leading up to Sherlock’s death. Much
of the text is straight out of Conan Doyle’s story, and
is well told. It does suffer from a
lack of movement on the stage. |
Assembly Rooms |
13:10 |
14:10 |
9 |
50. |
Richard Stott: After Party (***) Stott tells of his personal
experiences as both a person with a small, deformed hand, and a man in his
mid-30s who is behind his advancing friends.
He presents an odd mix of woe-is-me, and guilt about achieving so little. The best of his tales explored the
definition of “disabled”, and how he was clearly hindered by his hand and the
mental issues arising from his treatment, but is not
disabled enough to be used as “disabled” in films. |
Underbelly Bristo
Square |
16:15 |
17:15 |
9 |
51. |
The Endling (***) |
Underbelly Cowgate |
14:10 |
15:10 |
13 |
52. |
Exodus (***) Great acting, but too much of a
mash up. Killing a baby can never be
funny. |
Traverse |
10:30 |
11:55 |
16 |
53. |
Irvine Welsh's Porno (***) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:50 |
17:50 |
14 |
54. |
Americana: A Murder Ballad (***) |
Assembly Checkpoint |
13:20 |
14:35 |
12 |
55. |
Any Suggestions, Doctor? The Improvised Doctor Who Parody (***) |
Pleasance Dome |
18:30 |
19:30 |
10 |
56. |
Garrett Millerick: Just Trying
to Help (***) Millerick is a passionate, often
angry man who wants to share his take on topics ranging from Margaret
Thatcher to Covid to the Queen. His
slant on history is both funny and harsh.
Though he held a microphone, it was unneeded because he shouts almost
all the time. |
Monkey Barrel 4 Blair St. |
18:25 |
19:25 |
8 |
57. |
This Moment in America (***) Collection of excerpt
was good, but text had no drama. |
Underbelly Cowgate |
12:40 |
13:40 |
16 |
58. |
Foil Arms and Hog – Hogwash
(***) Three fellows provided a few
sketches interspersed with a lot of inconsequential audience interviews. It just didn’t seem a good value for the
high price we had to pay. The running
gag about re-uniting long lost people fell flat for me, but their routine of
two suitcases on an airport carousel did work. |
Underbelly, Bristo
Square |
21:15 |
22:15 |
7 |
59. |
Paddy Young: Laugh, You Rats!
(***) Young presents stand-up comedy
about a wide range of topics which were shortly forgotten by my two friends
and me. We could only remember his
long discourse on how Northerners are always portrayed as simple, dumb people
in commercials. He just isn’t
exceptional. |
Gilded Balloon Patter House |
17:40 |
18:25 |
5 |
60. |
Character Building Experience
(***) Sasha acts as dungeon master for
three fellows she invited to complete a quest in an hour. Their quest this day was to deal with a
town in which the humans have been replaced with intelligent cows. As a weekly dungeon master, Breck offered
many helpful suggestions to the novice adventurers as they whimsically
journeyed through the weird world. |
Laughing Horse@The
Counting House |
13:45 |
14:45 |
5 |
61. |
Boris the Third (***) Sophmoric |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:10 |
17:10 |
13 |
62. |
Something About George (***) Lounge act. |
Assembly Rooms |
14:30 |
15:30 |
15 |
63. |
Muller's Last Tape (***) Too little |
Assembly Rooms |
11:40 |
12:40 |
15 |
64. |
Let's Talk About Philip (***) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:00 |
17:00 |
11 |
65. |
1972: The Future of Sex (***) |
theSpace on North Bridge |
13:20 |
14:10 |
10 |
66. |
Adults Only Magic Show (***) After seeing eight magic shows,
I am afraid that Breck and I had become jaded. Other than their contrived escape routines,
and one card trick, we had seen all of their tricks
at the Fringe already, and many were better executed by others. Their dialog was fun, and it did take me a
while to figure out their new card selection trick which depends on some
nifty shuffling. |
Assembly George Square Studios |
21:15 |
22:20 |
9 |
67. |
Fire Signs (***) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
11:45 |
12:45 |
12 |
68. |
Crybabies: Bagbeard
(***) If you like the idea of a fellow
wearing a blue plastic shopping bag as a beard throughout a show, then this
is for you. It is zany, chaotic, and
sophomoric. Not my cup of tea, but
Breck loved it. |
Pleasance Dome |
17:50 |
18:50 |
6 |
69. |
Mind Mangler: Member of the
Tragic Circle (***) This show has an obviously inept
mind reader try unsuccessfully to convince the audience that he could read
minds with the aid of an equally obvious planted assistant. He did do some magic tricks, but his patter
and less than deft execution didn’t help matters. Even Breck found this shtick tedious. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
21:30 |
22:30 |
8 |
70. |
The Oxford Imps
(***) Six Oxford
students and their keyboardist fed audience suggestions into their prescribed
scenario blanks. There were a few
comedic gems, and, thankfully, no really weak
actors, but floundering seem too prevalent.
It became all the more apparent as they would
choose to repeat a good idea that had gotten a laugh until had worn
desperately thin. |
Gilded Balloon
Patter House |
13:40 |
14:40 |
3 |
71. |
Badass (***) If you haven’t dealt with
cancer, then this is informative. I
have, and there was nothing new here. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
14:05 |
15:05 |
16 |
72. |
Handbook of Civilian Defense
(What Every Loyal American Can Do To Help the United
States Win the War) |
Greenside Nicholson Square |
20:50 |
21:40 |
12 |
73. |
The Greatest Hits of Lily and
John (***) |
Pleasance Courtyard |
16:30 |
17:30 |
12 |
74. |
Hound of the Baskervilles (***) |
theSpace on North Bridge |
12:05 |
12:55 |
10 |
75. |
Men With Coconuts (***) This was another show that
seemed to believe that louder is necessarily funnier. With my hearing loss and their keyboard, I
rarely could understand them, and left. |
Gilded Balloon Patter House |
19:45 |
20:45 |
5 |
76. |
Richard Herring: RHLSTP (**) Through no fault of the
ever-engaging Herring, I thought this would be one of his stand-up gigs
instead of an interview for his podcast.
His interviewees Flo and Joan from “Flo and Joan: Sweet Release” were
nice enough, but it just wasn’t what we came to see. |
Assembly Rooms |
13:00 |
14:00 |
8 |
77. |
Destiny (**) Walked out because we couldn’t
understand them through their thick Wiltshire accents. |
Underbelly Cowgate |
17:20 |
18:20 |
16 |
78. |
Hey, That's My Wife! (**) Sophmoric. |
Hill Street |
17:50 |
18:50 |
15 |
79. |
Gash Theatre Needs Some Space (**) Low budget weirdness. |
Assembly Rooms |
22:25 |
23:25 |
15 |
80. |
Pauline (**) Self centered Fringe trope. |
Pleasance Courtyard |
12:20 |
13:20 |
14 |
81. |
Scottish Falsetto Socks:
Eurovision Sock Contest (**) The puppeteer presents places
eight costumes on his socks to create signers from eight different
countries. This overloud show comes
across as an improv show with its tuneless, witless songs. It seemed that the puppeteer spent a day
creating the eight sock sleeves, and then decided to just wing the rest of
the show. |
Gilded Balloon Teviot |
16:30 |
17:30 |
4 |
82. |
General Secretary (*) For no apparent reason, two
young women are made rulers of the entire world. As they unsuccessfully deal with the
problems of the world we can see that not only are
they incompetent, but so was the playwright.
There is nothing here worth your time. |
Gilded Balloon Patter House |
15:00 |
16:00 |
4 |
83. |
Janeane Garofalo: Pardon My Tangent (*) Janeane seems to have taken the title to heart, for she could
not stay focused for the whole show. She
bounced from commenting on people’s hair to half told stories about talking
with her brother to incomplete political diatribes. Occasionally she would have a witty asides, but they were lost in her scatter brained
show. We came away guessing that she
was on some medication that went horribly wrong. |
Gilded Balloon Teviot |
19:15 |
20:15 |
6 |
I am a 69-year old retired Computer Science lecturer from the University
of California in Davis who thinks even a bad play is better than no play at
all. I have been to the Fringe fourteen
times before. In 2005, I fulfilled a
dream of seeing an entire Fringe Festival.
Since then, I have been here for the whole Fringe every year except
2007, and 2020. I have learned to devote
most days to only venues that are close to each other to maximize the number of
performances I can see. I expect this
year to be better than last—Covid is under control, more shows, and many new
friends.
After
attending more than 1000 performances, I have a much better idea of my biases
and prejudices in the role of a critic.
To limit my analyzing shows during their performances as much as
possible, I have intentionally avoided any training in criticism and the
dramatic arts, both formal and informal.
I find that I prefer fact to fiction, innovation to repetition,
coherence to creativity, the concrete to the symbolic, and cleverness to depth. I realize that many of these are antithetical
to the spirit of the Fringe, but I cannot deny my nature. In particular, I
just do not like shows that push the bounds of creativity beyond my ability to
make sense of them. Because I choose to
fill time slots with whatever is available, I still expose myself to such
shows, and do not mind. However, I do
feel a little guilty giving a low rating to a show on which a company has
worked so hard, and with such commitment.
Nevertheless, I envision that that is my role—to accurately report my
enjoyment so that others may better use my ratings. In all but a very few cases, I admire the
effort of each company, and wish them well.