Edinburgh Festival Fringe Day 4

Thursday 15^th August

To say I had been looking forward, and was very excited about, the second of today’s shows is an understatement.  Of course that excitement didn’t extend to the physical part of my being.  I prefer that to be contained, controlled and hidden. But the day of the show I booked first had arrived.  That day being when I get to sit in the audience of The Comedians Comedian Podcast.  More on that later.
For now let’s concentrate on the Amnesty International Secret Podcast. This, as the name so obviously suggests, is in support of Amnesty International.  This is the organisation who concentrates on issues of freedom of speech and human rights.
Each show is hosted by a different comedian  Today it was the turn of John Moloney, who over the course of an hour brought fellow comedians onto the stage who in turn offer their opinions on topics currently in the news.  They also hand the stage over to other comedians who provide us with five minutes of their own brand of humour.  Most of the comedians being showcased are lesser known but ambassadors for the causes all the same. 
In this recoding of the podcast their showcase comedians were Lee Camp from America and Diane Spencer from England via Australia.  In addition to these two, Beardyman, a champion beat boxer, was also given stage time.  The non performing guests were Mark Dolan and Alfie Moore.   
After coming onto stage and doing some of his own stand up comedy John Moloney introduced the first act, American stand up Lee Camp.  His comedy largely consisted of jokes at the expense of his home country and to a lesser extent Guantanamo Bay.  Even after having seen him on television a few times I wasn’t sure I liked him (as a comedian).  However, in this live context my opinion of him shifted, albeit just a little.
Mark Dolan was next to come onto the stage.  He talked about his show ‘You’re Awesome’ in which members of the audience are invited onto stage to talk about their achievements in life.  We also found out a little background information on him.  For instance, he informed us of his beginnings in comedy.  These date back to 1993, when he was part of a sketch group, formed at university and his experiences of the Festival at that time.
Next to perform was Diane Spencer. I had had first hand experience of her stand up when I saw part of her show Wit, Charm and Filth on her YouTube channel.  Then I thought she was Australian but I have since found that she is British.  Even then I found her engaging and witty, relying on stories of her own life experiences and mostly about the prejudice she has suffered because of her hair colour.  The reason I thought she was Australian was revealed to me after seeing her perform on this podcast.  She has put a lot of thought into the way ginger haired people have been maligned over the years.  In the short time she had on stage here she informed us of the way Australians are more prejudiced against redheads than just about anywhere else in the world.  Of one experience she explained how a particular pub in Australia conducted a ‘Bring a Ranga’ night. This ‘event’ is centred on someone without ginger (or red) hair bringing a ginger (or red) haired person with them in order to get in for free.  She had been with a bloke at the time to whom she asked its meaning, and when he explained the term she refused to go with him.  Later that evening she decided to go to this pub on her own and see if she would be allowed in.  However when she got to the pub she was turned away because ‘it’s Bring a ranga’ not ‘being a ranga’ night.
After Diane Spencer came Alfie Moore.  John Moloney introduced him with the opening gambit of From Copper to Comedian; he is the Laughing Policeman, its Alfie Moore. It’s a strange change of career but as Alfie said he wanted to show that there are some policemen with a sense of humour.  His comedy credentials include the name of his first Edinburgh show as I Predict a Riot, which he had to then change to I Predicted a Riot.  Alfie’s latest show is called Viva Alf’s Vegas, A show in which he highlights some of his gambling habits and addictions. Alfie talked about how for him this is an exercise in catharsis. 
From there, host John Moloney moved the proceedings on by introducing Beardyman to the stage.  Having won numerous awards he now demonstrates his skills in a variety of ways, performing shows at comedy and other festivals, all around the world.  He has turned beat boxing into an art form, and combines the musical with the technical.  He started off by demonstrating a few simple drum sounds, snare, kick, and hi-hat, before bringing his equipment on stage.  He informs us that what we see is called the Beardytron 5000.  Essentially it’s a mixing desk connected to three iPads.  He tells us that in his current show he is attempting to produce an albums worth of new material each day.  In order for him to do this he simply asks the audience to suggest a subject and a musical style to work with.  From here he will use just his mouth to produce all the sounds; the technology is just there to manipulate those sounds.  For the purposes of this podcast it was suggested he create a dance track in the style of Goa Trance, with a Middle Eastern flavour.  He started off with a basic drum beat followed by some vocal sounds and then some synthesiser sounds, and before we knew it he had created a track that would not have been out of place on a 90’s dance compilation.  It was a great demonstration of the human voice box and his skills individually.  And that is where the show concluded. 

Before going into the Gilded Balloon for the second show of the day, The Comedians Comedian Podcast hosted by Stuart Goldsmith, me and my friend spent some time walking around Potter row, and circling the Underbelly.  As we were sitting on a wall outside the Underbelly we were offered flyers from all manner of people.  One of those flogging their wares was a certain Mr Hardeep Singh Kholi.  Having spotted him out the corner of my eye I nudged my friend and pointed in his general direction.  He then came over to us and we chatted for a brief moment.  He mockingly offered a negative summary of his show to which I responded ‘I’ve heard you on the radio and I’m sure it’ll be great’.  And not long after that it was time to head in to The Gilded Balloon for The Comedians’ Comedian podcast. 

For those that are not familiar with this podcast the premise is this; Stuart Goldsmith, who is an established comedian, invites other comedians to talk about their work.  How they gather material, what inspires them to write, what keeps them motivated, etc.  Having once taken part in a Stand up comedy training programme I am curious to know from the professionals how their jokes work, and the general mechanics of comedy.  I have been listening to this particular podcast since the first one appeared on Soundcloud about a year ago. So for me this was one of the festival highlights.  For this edition of the podcast Stuart was talking to Tim Vine, a British comedian who has, over the last twenty years, amassed an enormous arsenal of one liner jokes. 
In the course of the interview we find out that at one low point he was prepared to give up on comedy completely.  This was whilst supporting another British comedian, Boothby Graffoe.  Having talked to him about his concerns he was convinced that he should stick at it.  I for one am glad he took this advice. 
The advice merely consisted of Boothby shrugging his shoulders at Tim, suggesting not to worry about it and carrying on.  Not one of the greatest pieces of advice you can give someone but it seemed to work in this case.
The interview was carried out very well, as I have come to expect from Stuart Goldsmith.  Although it’s an interview situation the mood was kept light by Tim chucking in the odd joke such as ‘Velcro, what a rip-off’!  I’m very much looking forward to hearing the edited highlights of this show when it appears on Soundcloud.