Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and are
ready for the week ahead! No? Me neither. Wake me up in a week.
However, before I go into a deep hibernation, I suppose I had better talk about my weekend at the Fringe Festival. Yup, for the first time in my 27 year life (and my 24 years or so living in Scotland), I've attended shows at the Fringe (as I've technically visited before, though not deliberately) and it was great fun! For those who don't know, the Fringe is a month long festival held in Edinburgh that has a variety of comedy, theatre and music/dance shows (and many in-between – Entertainment Ed). However, this doesn't really put the size of the festival into perspective, so here is a couple of other facts:
Earlier, I had decided to spend a weekend visiting some of the shows and enjoying the festival atmosphere, and so it began with Alison and I heading to the vegetarian restaurant David Bann, which was actually queued out the door...not great when you have a show to get to! However, we decided to wait it out and were rewarded with a delicious meal and a lovely sharing platter for dessert (try the vegetarian chilli in the red bean pancake). I say rewarded...we still paid for it but you get the idea. The décor of the restaurant was pretty plain but that doesn't matter as long as you get good food and drink: that's all that matters and that's what you got. David Bann's has a good selection of drinks and the food was really good as well, and quite inventive. Worth a look if you are vegetarian and are looking for a more upmarket meal.
After dinner, we headed to the first show of the weekend: Stephen K Amos, which was held in the Comedy Stand. It's been a long time since I've seen Stephen K Amos (on tv, not in person - Ed) but he was as funny as I remembered. When he first came out, he informed us that this was a 'work in progress' and that he was test running some new jokes out. Uh oh, this could be hit or miss. However, my worries were unfounded as he promised and then delivered we were going to laugh and have fun.
Word of warning though, and I'm pretty sure that these are general rules for comedy shows: don't shout out and avoid the front rows. Let's just say that I felt sorry for the 20 year old neuroscience student who came to the show with his mum, who then decided to also shout out. Obviously, I'm not going to sit and talk about the show in detail (though that would make my job a little easier) but both Alison and I were laughing from start to finish.
Finally, we ended the evening with a couple of drinks at The Red Squirrel, which is always great for a good beer and a chat, then we headed back to the flat and then to bed, to rest up for the next day.
After a well deserved sleep, it was then time for an early start as there was a show I wanted to go see at 10am, so we decided to skip breakfast (opting for a brunch) and headed straight out. As such, we headed happily and merrily into town, with a spring in our step and a song in our heart at the thought of this enjoyable free show. After a short bus journey, we navigated the crowded streets of Edinburgh, searching for the venue and eventually, we found it: rising up on the horizon like an angel. We had arrived. Like children at Christmas, we rushed into the venue and approached the desk, eager to join the show...
You can probably tell where this is going right? Yup. We didn't get in. Turns out (and this is a useful thing to note for the future – Ed) that free events often need tickets. Oh. Makes sense, yes, but it never even occurred to me. Oh well! Somewhat dejected, we headed off to find a place for breakfast and ended up at the Filling Station, which was ok (get the waffles, not the fry-up) and it filled a hole.
Feeling somewhat better after food, we headed around the streets (after buying tickets for the next show, of course. You're not getting me twice!!!), enjoying the street performers that we were able to see over the crowds. Damn you shortness! That said, I have a whole new appreciation for performers who use unicycles: you can actually see them above the crowds! The street show we spent time watching was a hula-hooping Australian woman who was performing a fake American tv show with guests from the audience. Entertaining but slightly odd, especially when she began throwing her underwear into the air. And then we came across the man playing the grand piano in the middle of the street...
After a while, we walked to Haymarket for the next show, which was my favourite of the week: Taekwon Percussion Performance – Bigabi. Now then, this is a show comprising of an eclectic (but well balanced) mix of Taekwondo, drumming and dance, with bits of comedy and story scattered throughout. Let me put it this way: you know it's going to be good when you're warned that there might be pieces of broken board flying through the air. The first three quarters of the show were loosely story based, with you getting to know some of the characters as they fought between themselves, mixed up with dancing and intense traditional drumming. The final quarter was the grand finale: a fast paced and explosive performance of martial arts and gymnastics, with lots of kicking and flips and breaking of boards. I was genuinely engrossed from start to finish. And if you don't believe me, I recommended this show to my parents and when they came back I was told that my mum had sat with 'a smile from start to finish'. A truly brilliant show.
After a quiet Saturday evening and Sunday morning, my parents arrived and after a while, we headed to the final show of the weekend: AAA Stand-up. After a quick beer in the courtyard, we entered the basement for the show, which was comprised of 3 amateur comedians performing around 15 minutes of comedy each (including the host doing his sections as well). Overall, it was a fairly funny show, if a little slow paced but the highlight was the final comedian (can't remember his name sadly) who managed to trick the crowd into believing that he was Glaswegian, then English, then admitting he was actually Glaswegian as previously stated, all the whilst telling some pretty hilarious stories. A good end to a great weekend and a strong finish to the show.
Wow, it's kind of hard to talk about comedy shows...'they're funny and er um, they wore a nice t-shirt'. This is probably why I'm not a reviewer but he did have a really nice t-shirt...
Pick of the Week
Guardians of the Galaxy – Forget whether or not you're a marvel fan: this is just a damn good film. With great casting, characters and action (plus a couple of spectacular dance scenes to boot and a quirky soundtrack), you'll love this if you're an adult or child. A mix of action, drama and comedy, the story follows a rag-tag band of heroes trying to save the planet who arrested them. Oh and one of them is a raccoon and another is a tree. Plus, if you're a Marvel fan, then there are a few surprises and treats for you as well!
Music of the Week
This week, it's the turn of the comedian piano player, Tim Minchin - Rock and Roll Nerd.
See you all next week!
However, before I go into a deep hibernation, I suppose I had better talk about my weekend at the Fringe Festival. Yup, for the first time in my 27 year life (and my 24 years or so living in Scotland), I've attended shows at the Fringe (as I've technically visited before, though not deliberately) and it was great fun! For those who don't know, the Fringe is a month long festival held in Edinburgh that has a variety of comedy, theatre and music/dance shows (and many in-between – Entertainment Ed). However, this doesn't really put the size of the festival into perspective, so here is a couple of other facts:
- Over 100 venues
- The guidebook has over 500 A4 pages of shows
- Each page can have over 10 different shows, each with
multiple dates (and most do)
- In 2012, there were over 40,000 performances
Earlier, I had decided to spend a weekend visiting some of the shows and enjoying the festival atmosphere, and so it began with Alison and I heading to the vegetarian restaurant David Bann, which was actually queued out the door...not great when you have a show to get to! However, we decided to wait it out and were rewarded with a delicious meal and a lovely sharing platter for dessert (try the vegetarian chilli in the red bean pancake). I say rewarded...we still paid for it but you get the idea. The décor of the restaurant was pretty plain but that doesn't matter as long as you get good food and drink: that's all that matters and that's what you got. David Bann's has a good selection of drinks and the food was really good as well, and quite inventive. Worth a look if you are vegetarian and are looking for a more upmarket meal.
After dinner, we headed to the first show of the weekend: Stephen K Amos, which was held in the Comedy Stand. It's been a long time since I've seen Stephen K Amos (on tv, not in person - Ed) but he was as funny as I remembered. When he first came out, he informed us that this was a 'work in progress' and that he was test running some new jokes out. Uh oh, this could be hit or miss. However, my worries were unfounded as he promised and then delivered we were going to laugh and have fun.
Word of warning though, and I'm pretty sure that these are general rules for comedy shows: don't shout out and avoid the front rows. Let's just say that I felt sorry for the 20 year old neuroscience student who came to the show with his mum, who then decided to also shout out. Obviously, I'm not going to sit and talk about the show in detail (though that would make my job a little easier) but both Alison and I were laughing from start to finish.
Finally, we ended the evening with a couple of drinks at The Red Squirrel, which is always great for a good beer and a chat, then we headed back to the flat and then to bed, to rest up for the next day.
After a well deserved sleep, it was then time for an early start as there was a show I wanted to go see at 10am, so we decided to skip breakfast (opting for a brunch) and headed straight out. As such, we headed happily and merrily into town, with a spring in our step and a song in our heart at the thought of this enjoyable free show. After a short bus journey, we navigated the crowded streets of Edinburgh, searching for the venue and eventually, we found it: rising up on the horizon like an angel. We had arrived. Like children at Christmas, we rushed into the venue and approached the desk, eager to join the show...
You can probably tell where this is going right? Yup. We didn't get in. Turns out (and this is a useful thing to note for the future – Ed) that free events often need tickets. Oh. Makes sense, yes, but it never even occurred to me. Oh well! Somewhat dejected, we headed off to find a place for breakfast and ended up at the Filling Station, which was ok (get the waffles, not the fry-up) and it filled a hole.
Feeling somewhat better after food, we headed around the streets (after buying tickets for the next show, of course. You're not getting me twice!!!), enjoying the street performers that we were able to see over the crowds. Damn you shortness! That said, I have a whole new appreciation for performers who use unicycles: you can actually see them above the crowds! The street show we spent time watching was a hula-hooping Australian woman who was performing a fake American tv show with guests from the audience. Entertaining but slightly odd, especially when she began throwing her underwear into the air. And then we came across the man playing the grand piano in the middle of the street...
After a while, we walked to Haymarket for the next show, which was my favourite of the week: Taekwon Percussion Performance – Bigabi. Now then, this is a show comprising of an eclectic (but well balanced) mix of Taekwondo, drumming and dance, with bits of comedy and story scattered throughout. Let me put it this way: you know it's going to be good when you're warned that there might be pieces of broken board flying through the air. The first three quarters of the show were loosely story based, with you getting to know some of the characters as they fought between themselves, mixed up with dancing and intense traditional drumming. The final quarter was the grand finale: a fast paced and explosive performance of martial arts and gymnastics, with lots of kicking and flips and breaking of boards. I was genuinely engrossed from start to finish. And if you don't believe me, I recommended this show to my parents and when they came back I was told that my mum had sat with 'a smile from start to finish'. A truly brilliant show.
After a quiet Saturday evening and Sunday morning, my parents arrived and after a while, we headed to the final show of the weekend: AAA Stand-up. After a quick beer in the courtyard, we entered the basement for the show, which was comprised of 3 amateur comedians performing around 15 minutes of comedy each (including the host doing his sections as well). Overall, it was a fairly funny show, if a little slow paced but the highlight was the final comedian (can't remember his name sadly) who managed to trick the crowd into believing that he was Glaswegian, then English, then admitting he was actually Glaswegian as previously stated, all the whilst telling some pretty hilarious stories. A good end to a great weekend and a strong finish to the show.
Wow, it's kind of hard to talk about comedy shows...'they're funny and er um, they wore a nice t-shirt'. This is probably why I'm not a reviewer but he did have a really nice t-shirt...
Pick of the Week
Guardians of the Galaxy – Forget whether or not you're a marvel fan: this is just a damn good film. With great casting, characters and action (plus a couple of spectacular dance scenes to boot and a quirky soundtrack), you'll love this if you're an adult or child. A mix of action, drama and comedy, the story follows a rag-tag band of heroes trying to save the planet who arrested them. Oh and one of them is a raccoon and another is a tree. Plus, if you're a Marvel fan, then there are a few surprises and treats for you as well!
Music of the Week
This week, it's the turn of the comedian piano player, Tim Minchin - Rock and Roll Nerd.
See you all next week!
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