A benefit gig, laid on at short notice by mark Thomas and The Stand, to help fund the striking refuse workers. A large audience were treated to ten minute sets from a star studded comedic line up.
The first half was MCed by Mark Nelson, always a reliable opening act to get the audience in the mood. He introduced Kiri Pritchard-McLean, who talked about her plans to almost adopt and why four was better than one; Danny Bhoy with an alternative and much funnier speech for Queenie to come out with; Shazia Mirza on how little influence us older white men have in society; and the incredible Jason Byrne who riffed out a hilarious set from one audience interaction.
The acerbic Jo Caulfield took over the introductions after the interval, with her own take on the class distinctrions of Edinburgh - and Leith!. First to be brought on was another local luminary, Vladimir McTavish, and his confessionally awful haircut; another Scot, Sisie McCabe, whose accent probably baffled a large section of the audience, which only enhanced the laughs for the rest of us as she talked about trying to bring her parents into the twenty first century; Rachel Fairburn on her Mancunian accent; and Mr Thomas himself venting his ire against the tory government by taking the piss. The gig ended with an impassioned speech for solidarity and the upholding of workers' rights from Chris Mitchell of the GMB, and reminder of what the evening was all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment