Alasdair Beckett-King : The Interdimensional ABK, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

ABK comes visiting from an alternative timeline where everything is getting better, just as we descend into chaos.  He's here to offer his observations on our world, and suggest how we can make it better.  Complete with an inspirational cartoon rendition of his good self, and some nifty gestures we must all learn to copy if we aspire to be him. And maybe you should...

Beckett-King creates his own off-kilter take on the world, surreal and familiar, bizarre and still immediately recognisable.  Why not shorten a Shakespeare play into the 150 most used words?  (The result is both gibberish and deeply meaningful.)  How would Poirot handle an embarrassing situation in a train toilet?  Do goths have a choice?  These are the big questions ABK wants to answer for us.

There's a bit of audience interaction, but he's far too charming for anyone to feel alienated.  There's whimsy, silliness and the odd sharp social and political observation.  Nothing too explicit, but the sub text is clear.  ABK is one of the good guys.

And one of the funny guys.  I laughed constantly at the inventiveness and otherworldly cohesion of his sideways view on our world.

If you've not discovered ABK yet, now is the time.  One of the lesser known jewels of the Fringe.

Alasdair Beckett-King : The Interdimensional ABK is on in the Pleasance Dome until 26 August.