A group of us went to the edfringe festival for a week and challenged each other to write reviews. Here goes…
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**
Pleasance Dome (£12.50/£10.50)
A start to my week in edfringe began with a show in Pleasance. Being assured that acts in the Pleasance are notable above others attending, a group decision all round ended up in a warm and sleepy room with a less than entertaining one man show.
The show leads us through the life of the man in question: Johnny McKnight, as he discovers his homosexuality. It begins in his mother’s womb, then progresses through to school with his girlfriend, leads through puberty, early stages of adulthood exploring extreme sexual events before ending in the present – 30 years of age & gay. He does this mostly through story-telling but once in a while breaks into song, accompanied with a backing singer who takes on other characters dependent on scenes and a great live band.
A One-Man Show referring to none of the musicals shown in his poster
The opening scene as mentioned begins as Johnny dressed as a baby. This was the first of many moments when I thought I had paid too much for a fringe show. However, although a 30 year old man in diapers usually isn’t my kind of opening to a show, I found the idea behind it clever as he changed his costumes by adding clothes on throughout scene changes noted by the word “skip” to reflect his age and situation, before landing his final product – a 30 year old man in a tuxedo.
Nevertheless, the content of the spoken word which took up the majority of the show did not appear interesting enough for an oven-like room. Regularly I found myself nodding off and the songs weren’t enough to reinstate my sleeping brain. The comedy was in-your-face funny without the cleverness of suggestions, puns or other tools used to make people laugh in a punchline. All it was was a detailed account of life. This changes my phrase from “in-your-face funny” to just “in-your-face”.
Although the show was less entertaining on a personal level, I must admit that others in the audience did enjoy themselves and after asking others what they thought, the view was split between mine and “I laughed”. My suggestion is that if you’re on a small budget at the fringe, there are plenty of other shows you should be spending your money on. However, if you like the idea of a one-man show with a live band detailing an account of his life leading to homosexuality, then this is the show for you. For me – I should have “skipped” to another show…
