Fringe 24: Wyld Woman: Legend of Shy Girl, The Speakeasy Experience, Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare

Our necessary train was cancelled due to a passenger being disruptive on it, and we got to Polishing Shakespeare about 5 minutes too late to be let in. Gutted and privately promising myself to hold a grudge against the Twilight Theatre Company forever, I asked at the local box office what else was on right where we were. There was only one other possibility in the time open to us, and this was Wyld Woman: Legend of Shy Girl . So we went for it.

Hmm.

We've seen 12 shows this Fringe. This is the only one I would call a dud. There was a film crew at the back of the tiny auditorium, and I couldn't help wondering if the performer, who also wrote the piece, cared more about the camera than the audience, showreel tomorrow rather than plaudits today. This production has been described as having 'sold-out, highly-beloved runs in NYC'. If that's the case, I cannot understand the keen of folk. There were sweet moments, and she undoubtedly had an aptitude for multiple characterisations, but with the best will in the world the material itself was weak.

This was followed by The Speakeasy Experience which was an hours worth of relaxing hidden in a big hole behind a wall. There was a flapper, a little jazz vinyl, a nice chunk of history about the prohibition era, and two cocktails including the Southsider (Al Capone's favourite) and the Monkey Gland, which has its own unforgettable provenance. Then it was time to head to one of Ed Fringe 24's major highlights:
Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare.

It looks as though it's going to be a standard proscenium Shakespeare production complete with pretty set. The idea is to present an abridged version of one of the bards' plays, in this case Much Ado About Nothing. What makes it different is that one of the cast has genuinely been drinking for four hours beforehand. The aim, as the narrator tells us, is to 'see how quickly the wheels come off this thing.' The results were absolutely magnificent. We were still laughing as we made our dash to Haymarket for the last train only to find it had been cancelled, leaving us stuck there until the buses, supposedly on their way since midnight, turned up at 1.30 am. Just as well too cos the night sky opened and pelted us with sheets of rain all the way home. Saturday at the Fringe had many heroes but only one villain: Bloody Scotrail.

Fringe 24: Shake It Up Shakespeare, The Last Gun, Ha!Milton

We couldn't do a damn thing on Sunday. I turned into an old lady with a purring cat cuddled in my arms. We were all very tired. I still am. But friend was charmed enough with the Fringe to want to stay a day longer, so Monday was our last foray.

Shake It Up Shakespeare gave us an improv creation based on taking names, lines, and ideas from the audience and turning them into a Shakespearean play on the spot with iambic pentameter and all. The venue was a small and distinctly non soundproof stage with a bare raised platform and no wings. Six performers waited, three on each side, and just ploughed in to create and perform. This of necessity meant there were longeurs and fumblings now and then, but these were few. Mainly the results were fun precisely because they were raw. Comparisons to Murder She Didn't Write were inevitable. That production was bigger, much more controlled and therefore much more polished, different rather than better. It was possible to watch both without feeling one was treading old ground. Everything was fresh.

Then there was The Last Gun, a personal favourite of mine this year. The Last Gun is described as a 'Comedy Fest Award-nominated sketch-comedy mockumentary [...] Saddle up for a surreal ride through a definitely real film that no one seems to remember ...' But there's so much more to it. Five minutes in I wasn't sure. 10 minutes in I was captivated. The word 'surreal' gets used too often as code for stuff that gets laughed at in uncertainty. This is surreal but not trying to baffle us into approval. It's creative, clever, warm, engaged with the audience, and extremely funny. We loved it. I'll look out for more of Will BF's stuff if I can.

Milton Jones in Ha!Milton was interesting. We started this Fringe with a show about old style stand up comedians who focused on crafted jokes with punchlines and here he was delivering one-liners, a routine generally based on the stuff that's made him such a hit on Mock The Week, i.e clever puns and word work. He was OK, not laugh out loud but OK. Compared to the other shows he seemed a bit tired. I wondered if an hour of his particular style was just too much, but then right at the end he asked the audience to suggest a couple of subjects and they did. His responses to these were fast thinking and bright, much more so than his scripted material. Had he done an hour of these, he would have set the Fringe on fire.

Our guest has gone home this morning, and I am exhausted. We've had a great time, and theoretically there are a couple of shows I would like to go see, but...eh, no. How this can be when all I've done is wander the city with chums in search of entertainment? Time for a long bath and sleep.