The Adventures of the White Unicorn

Heli Parna is Estonian.  Not many people know much about Estonia.  And you won’t get to learn a lot more about it from her show.  That’s OK, because she does cover subject  that are more within most people’s everyday experience.  Feminism, relationships, breakups, dating apps.  And what the White Unicorn means, so that’s OK.

There was Heli, and then there were five of us in the audience.  Not much for a comedian to feed off, so I initially worried that this could feel like a long show, with forced laughter required.  Yet it was a surprise when the fifty minutes was up, and it felt like she’d got to know us almost as well as we got to know her.  It’s maybe not the funniest show you’ll see, but it has some good laughs, and it is warm and friendly, fun and absorbing.  Plus where else are you going to see an Estonian stand-up?  Well worth a look.

Adam Hills : Shoes Half Full, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A few minutes of audience interaction to get underway, with unpredictable consequences. A starting gambit favoured by many stand-ups, and Hills is as good as any, looking relaxed and never making anyone uncomfortable. On this occasion it produced a memorable moment, which proved worthy of a call-back at the end.

Then into the show. Adam is famous for championing the rights of people with disabilities, so he began with some of his own experiences. Notably playing disability rugby league, and realising that he had to overcome his own sense of fair play to use his opponents' disabilities against them. As they did against him. Which makes his point for him. Treat people as people, not as something alien. That theme continued into other subject, like muslims and trans people, and how, like all of us, they just want to live their own lives without the shit our society is dealing out to them. Sober subjects, but never awkward in Hillspeak, with so many great lines to soften the seriousness of the content.

He ends up talking about his own kids, and how his parenting skills struggle when they can be as funny as him, but also inappropriate. And this too fits into the overall theme of the show, which is about being tolerant, thinking about others, and learning that sometimes it's best to say nothing.

Very funny, warm, often wise. Hills makes you feel a bit better about the world, more hopeful at a time when hatred and violence seem to be overwhelming us. And how simple that really is to do.

He even sum sit up in just four words - Don't be a dick. And let some mariachi into your life. One of the most important shows on the Fringe.

Big Bite-Size Breakfast Menu One, Pleasance Beyond, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

This year's first helping of tea/coffee, strawberries, croissants, and mini dramas. Five actors performing five playlets in an hour.

Gnome Anne's Land sounds like a title that was then turned into a script. But it's pleasantly enjoyable anyway. A group of garden gnomes fear for their future, and realise the truth they've been hiding from. Featuring a union rep, groanworthy puns and surprise buttocks. Pure comedy.

True to You brings us a surprising first date off Tinder. It looks like being a failure, but maybe all is not what it seems? The capes reveal all. At it's best when breaking the fourth wall. A clever take on an established trope.

An Actor Prepares takes place in a theatre dressing room, a few minutes before curtain up. Simmering resentments between the old established star and the up and coming new boy boil over into a surprise twist. A nice nod to the old theatre.

Your Move was my favourite of the quintet. Another first date tale, this time set over a chess board. But the game is being played to some very unconventional rules. A smart metaphor for how relationships can play out.

Our Next Contestant features a TV dating show in which the host gets more than he bargained for. Revenge and a penguin make for an interesting mix. Unusual in having all five members of the cast make an appearance, and charmingly cynical.

There's no real theme to these 'menus', so it was a surprise to find first dates featuring so heavily! But none the worse for that. Wonderful early entertainment to start your day off with.

Jo Caulfield : Pearls Before Swine, Stand 3, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

No theme, no storyline, no happy ending.  Just funny  Jo tells stories drwan from life and where her imagination takes the things around her.  Men in the pub, ads aimed a women of a certain age and German porn films all get the Caulfield treatment.  And her most reliable source of material, the neverending disappointment that is her comedy husband.  Acerbic, sharp, smart, with unexpected punchlines.  Or even exected one.  The result is still laughter, because her delivery is spot on.  

Having seen her a few times before, there was some familiar material, which was a little disappointing.  But that didn’t stop me laughing, all over again.  If you are looking for a show that changes your life or tugs your emotions then this isn’t it.  But if you simply want to laugh, and laugh, for an hour then Jo Caulfield always delivers.

Keiran Hogson : Work In Progress, Pleasance Courtyard (Forth), Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 Yes, it's another WIP show, but Hodgson doesn't use his notes as much as expected, and is always funny. He says he's trying out a new style of comedy, away from his usual storytelling or character styles. But what we get still pays strong allegiance to both. It's about his relationship with the USA, from early childhood until the Obama years, and how the culture and politics affected him. So it's definitely a story, and he uses his impressionist abilities to fill out the characters discussed. - maybe not so different then!

It's a coming of age story. America, for him, was the epitome of cool when he was a kid, and he could never understand his parents favouring Europe. Then came Dubya... The politics changed, along with the music and movies he'd once loved. And 9/11 told him that the promise of world peace wasn't as real as he'd thought.

So it's a move from naivete to understanding, from confidence to uncertainty, and it ends... hanging, because he knows he has more to write. Hodgson is easy to like, and has an accessible style that contains plenty of unusual slants on past events. For this oldie there a few too many references to aspects of culture that only someone under forty is going to get, so maybe being younger would give you more than I got. As with any WIP it's a bit hit and miss at times. That will change as August progresses, he adapts the material to his audiences and learns the lines better.

Hodgson is certainly worth seeing, and provides an entertaining hour, but it's a shame he's not doing a longer run with this show. It might have been really good by the end of the month!

A Montage of Monet, Greenside@George Street, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A one man show starring Stephen Smith as the artist. It begins with him as an old man, raging against the failings of his body, and turns into reminiscence of a long life. Beginnings, failings, relationships, poverty, fame, riches, they're all there. And maybe that's the problem. Shoehorning so rich a life into 55 minutes is a near impossible challenge if you want to get so much detail in.

Consequently much of the opening feels more like lecture or polemic than drama, and that issue reoccurs throughout. The use of a screen to provide illustrations of people and paintings adds to that sense of education over entertainment. Not that it's boring though. Smith does a decent job with the clunky script, gets a few laughs, and does show his acting chops when the occasion allows. Perhaps he needs to remember he's not in a full size theatre, but a small room. His angry Monet was a bit too loud for the space!

And this is no hagiography. the man portrayed is arrogant, selfish and treats people badly, especially women. However there isn't really much about the painter. Yes, he loves painting from nature, and we hear about his influences, his own self of his place in the art world, but little of how he developed his techniques which made his work so loved.

If you want to learn a bit about Monet from a (mostly accurate) historical perspective it's interesting, but it offers little as a drama. Hard to recommend.

Luke Wright - Joy!, Pleasance Dome (10 Dome), Edinburgh Festival Fringe

 A poet for our opening show, and one with whom we're already familiar, have seen several times before. And he's so much more than a poet. Comedian, raconteur, showman. Even, as he demonstrates in this show, a bit of a dancer.

Wright explains that he had to choose the title, Joy!, almost a year ago, when he was feeling particularly joyful with his life, both personal and professional. But writing joyful material proved a lot harder in the chilly greyness of a January afternoon when he made a start. So this is not a parade of joys, but a look at the ups and downs of life. Because without misery how can there also be joy? Life is all about context.

So there's sadness, anger, affection, guilt, love, mundanity and, yes, joy, in Luke's writing. He shows off his technical mastery of complex verse forms, makes us laugh, makes us think, makes us feel. There's a lot cleverness, both linguistic and emotionally, and much to ponder on. How our words can affect others, how the ephemera of social media is a joy killer, how much family and friends are important to a joyful life. Even a bit of song and dance and an audience singalong!

It's a fast paced hour that never drags in the slightest, and makes you feel involved with a witty and very humane man. Highly recommended.