Comedy :: Review 14 Nov 2008
Scotty McKellar: Regulars to The Stand’s Melting Pot, a monthly showcase for new comedy writing talent, were in for a nasty surprise this week when it was usurped by a fundraiser for North Edinburgh Arts Centre. In place of the normal format, 15 sketches from the...
Film :: Comedy :: Review 16 Sep 2008
Kevin McHugh: Brought to us by the unlikely combination of MySpace and Film4, Faintheart is a moderately entertaining British comedy. Eddie Marsan plays the loveable Richard, a wannabe Viking who, with his merry men, re-enact Norse battles at the weekends – a ...
Film :: Comedy :: Review :: DVD Review 01 Sep 2008
Lindsay West: Following on from 2002's The Other Side of the Bed (El Otro Lado de la Cama), Emilio Martinez Lazaro's sequel of sorts is exactly the sort of plush, Spanish comedy of errors that begs for comparisons to early Almodovar. Viewing its predecessor is worth...
Comedy :: Review 26 Aug 2008
Emma Lennox: Susan Calman may be a school boyish, four foot eleven jokester, but this is one lady you wouldn't want to cross. Calman claims in complete sincerity that she “really, really fucking hates people,” before carrying on in her chatty Glaswegian...
Fashion :: Deviance :: Film :: Comedy :: Review :: DVD Review 22 Aug 2008
Lindsay West: Despite its vague billing as a risque German 'gay interest' comedy, Fashion Victims is in truth a far straighter affair than the rainbow titles and sartorial subtext might first imply. Looking more like a mortgage advisor than a fashion rep, Wolfgang (...
Comedy :: Review 18 Aug 2008
Emma Lennox: Squeezing between the burly armed men of George Street's Standing Order pub, I spot a hand written sign in green marker. It is scrawled in straight forward letters: 'PBH's Free Fringe', and points to an empty room. Clearly this is no multimillion pound...
Film :: Comedy :: Review 08 Aug 2008
Kevin McHugh: 'Hairdresser assassin' sounds like it could be the perfect cut. Zohan (Sandler) is Israel’s finest undercover agent, who men want to be and woman want to, you know, bed. But his dream is moving to New York and becoming a famous stylist, so he fak...
Laura Smith: Original, inspired, staggeringly unpredictable – The Rocker is none of these things and less. Feeling like a Saturday Night Live skit stretched until it cries out in pain, the plot of a film about a slacker has-been who finds a new lease of life ...
Film :: Comedy :: Review 18 Jul 2008
Laura Smith: Re-treading the ol’ nine month story arc familiar to knocked-up waitresses called Juno and the like, Saturday Night Live alumni Tina Fey and Amy Poehler play off each other beautifully as, respectively, a tightly-wound businesswoman who desperate...
Laura Smith: Don’t attempt to watch this film without first mentally assuming the approximate mindset of the average 14 year-old girl. Think pink and purple sparkles, sleepovers and makeovers, think squealing with gigglesome delight when the awesomest, bestes...
Film :: Comedy :: Review 11 Jul 2008
Paul Greenwood: The remarkable careers of Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon generated many great movies, but arguably none quite as brilliant as The Apartment, which now looks like it might be the best film of the 1960s. Eternal shnook Lemmon is CC Baxter, an office drone ...
Comedy :: Review 01 Apr 2008
Lara Moloney: Performing his show Final Destiny for the last time, well known home grown talent Des Clarke surprises the audience by getting two other comedians to hit the stage first. Wendy Wesson starts the evening with a perspective of a middle class girl from wo...
Emma Lennox: Generally fundamentalists of any kind are best avoided, but here self proclaimed "fundamental atheists" Rick Molland and Sully O'Sullivan really know how to rile the crowd into fervent disbelief. Can I get an amen? No you can't: we believe in nothing. ...
Patrick Low: Cutting an imposing figure, the invigorating Reginald D Hunter shines in this self-confessed 'work in progress', rallying the crowd and railing against his critics that say he lacks 'edge' because the title of his last Edinburgh show missed his tradema...
Paul Mitchell: Jason John Whitehead ruminates philosophically on his tenth anniversary as a stand-up comedian. It is a period of time that has seen his stock rise considerably without ever threatening to court either mainstream popularity, or unquestioned critical ac...
Patrick Low: Keara Murphy's talent is undeniable; she's a veritable comedic jukebox, pumping out pitch perfect accents from grimiest Glaswegian to haughtiest Home Counties. The only problem is her comic creations just don't make the audience laugh, give or take the...
Patrick Low: Brimming with confidence, but with no hint of arrogance, Kevin Bridges is already a masterful performer - and he's only twenty-one. The man can barely put a foot wrong in front of a home crowd with his candid take on Glasgow's grimy underbelly. In one ...
Carmody Wilson: A silly playtime for adults is what you'll get when greeted by charming hostesses Dee Custance and Sian Bevan at this kindergarten variety show. Games, prizes, and of course stand-up comedy are the day's activities as Custance and Bevan lead the audien...
Robert Wringham: There is a fine line between comedy and therapy - you fart your vulnerabilities, fetishes and phobias into the room and hope for the best. Wil's problem seems to be that he can never fit in: his coveted membership of skinhead society is marred by his h...
Anna Brailsford: A cowboy, an African American, a German and a Glaswegian walk into a bar. Punters, a little flummoxed by initial appearances are curious about the new arrivals. Each international arrival anticipates as much. To the comfort of the onlookers, they have ...
