Monday Review

Stewart Lee - 41st Best Standup Ever! Apparently "March of the Penguins" (a documentary about penguins showing how they make monogamous pairings and each couple carefull raises the young) was jumped upon by Born-Agains as evidence that God wants us to be good, because the penguins are. Stewart Lee wanted to call his show "March of the Mallards", since they're the only animal that reproduces by "gang rape", and are also the only animal to have been caught on tape by scientists performing acts of homosexual necrophilia. Clearly, evidence that God wants us to be evil.

The rest of his show was less entertaining and more repetitive. Typical stand-up.

Sarah Kendall Alternative comedy. A story about how the main performer was almost kidnapped by the Backpacker Murderers in the Belangalo State Forest. It was pretty funny.

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And that's the end of the Fringe! Walking around on Monday night, the streets were empty. It was like nothing had ever happened. Temporary cafes being disassembled, large video screens being taken down, and posters falling off their surfaces. It's kind of sad. My vacation is coming to an end...Now all that's left is fireworks on the 2nd.

Weekend Review 2

Sunday

A History of Scotland (in 60 minutes or less) A good children's show. Didn't really introduce me to any Scottish history I didn't already know, but it was entertaining.
Yamato Chanbara - The Legend of the Sword A Japaense sword-play story interspersed with peace signs and lots of cheesy faces. Nonetheless, it was kinda fun to watch the actors time their sword movements to the pre-recorded sound effects.
Ca$h in Christ Inspired by many Evangelical Churches (mainly the Hillsong Church). I think its major point was to make people afraid of Americans and Evangelicals. Did you know a large chunk of the population in the 'States believe that Jesus will return in the next 50 years?

Saturday

I caught the Saturday-night fireworks again. There should be really big ones on the 2nd of September.
Will Adamsdale: The Human Computer Alternative comedy. Just kind of crazy. The man turns himself into a human computer by using cardboard props and pretending to be the running applications. Not really recommended.
Nina Conti: Complete and Utter Conti More alternative comedy. This one being a ventriloquist. It was really funny.

Friday

We went to the half-price hut and snatched two tickets for half their normal cost. It was pretty sweet.
The Florists Mediocre play.
Potato: A Show That Will Save the World A man with a...9pm shadow dressed in a women's silk nighty walks on to the stage, "Let me tell you about manners. When someone sneezes, like, 'Atch. Oo.' you do nothing. You pretend it didn't happen. Like so. Atch. Ooo. *blank face*." And then, Osama Bin Laden is carried onto the floor by a wheelbarrow, giving a Johnny Walker promotion. Incredibly random humor, but very good. What you expect from the Fringe.

Can I briefly talk to you about the point of life?

I saw Mark Watson: Can I briefly talk to you about the point of life? last night at 11pm (it was a bonus show). Between it being his 4th gig of the day, the late hour, his collapsed lung, and a terrible bout of hiccups...he looked like death. He has really good reviews, I expected better, but as I said, he didn't look too healthy. That could be an excuse.

He looked familiar. I believe I've seen him on TV on Mock the Week. [edit: I know I've seen him on "Mock the Week"]

Weekend Review

Friday

Adam Hills: Joymonger Standup comedian from Australia. The best show I've seen so far.

Saturday

Hotel World A play about the death of a hotel worker and how it affects everyone else around her. It's performed by a group of six 14-18 year olds from London. It was good.
Auto Auto Two Germans beat a Vauxhall Astra Mk2 to pieces, shattering the windows turning the roof into a singing saw, etc. They use hammers and their fists to pound beats against the cars as they sing songs from just about everywhere. Entertaining.
Astronomy for Insects Weird as hell, and definitely freaky. It lasted twice as long as it should have, but if it were 45 minutes long instead of 1.15, it would have been excellent, but funky. I definitely didn't catch a transition between the "passageways to other universes" and Santa Claus. But that's what you get from Russian physical theatre.

Sunday

Escaping Hamlet I read a review that described it as "camp", and that's the truest description I can come up with. Hamlet wants to become an actor...some random actress jumped on the laps of the people in the front row. I really don't know why. And the stage and costumes seemed to emit some sort of bad funk.
Andrew Maxwell - Waxin' A fairly popular Irish stand up comedian. He was decent.

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The Udderbelly venue is a giant purple tent that looks like an upside down cow.

Jihad: The Musical

So, last night, on a bit of a whim, I dragged myself to the C and saw Jihad:The Musical.

Things of "note":
"We Jalalalalalalalala-love you!"
"I wanna be like Osama B and be Islamically renowned"
cast members traipsing about in pink-sequined burqas

I say this often, but with scenes like that, how could it not be good?! There were Afghani stereotypes, French stereotypes, American stereotypes. It was amazing and most definitely not PC. Not bad. Just...different.

Shows, Shows, and More Shows

Macbeth: Who is that Bloodied Man? was good. I think if I had read the play I would've known what was actually going on, instead of being solely amused by the stilts, fire, rolling lawn mower of beheaded ..heads, and the added bonus of motorbikes. Yeah. It was strange.

Best of Scottish Comedy was a typical stand-up comedy club/show, except everyone talked so fast I barely understood them half the time. Additionally, they had "standing room only". More amusing was the guy dressed up in a penguin costume all day (Stag party).

I was home around midnight to catch the fireworks over Edinburgh Castle from the window in my hallway:

Edinburgh Festivals

Well, the Edinburgh Festivals have begun. The Military Tattoo and the parade outside my window Saturday morning pretty much marked the start of it.

I saw Kristen Schaal last night. It was okay. Not really that funny. So maybe it was a little less than "okay".

Military Tattoo

What's that? Taiwanese girls in gogo boots standing next to American colonialists...standing next to the only steel drum military band in the world?

If that doesn't sound like fun, I don't know what does. Oh, wait. I forgot:

How could I forget playing trombone while riding a horse?!

Needless to say, I just returned from a very awesome (and very half price) Military Tattoo "Preview". By "Preview" it means we get to see all the media photographers get trampled by a Russian military band doing seemingly random marching sets. It was so great.