[Holidays] Trip to the Edinburgh Fringe

It's a funny thing, but over the four years that I've spent in St Andrews I've only been to the Edinburgh Fringe festival for one day. Even that was only because a friend was up in Edinburgh and asked if I fancied seeing a couple of shows. I think it's one of those "you could go anytime, so you never actually get around to it" things. Well this weekend, with my girlfriend visiting St Andrews for the last time, I decided to do something about it.

We spent most of the weekend in Edinburgh, and managed to see nine shows over two days. Since there's so much happening at the Fringe, we decided to limit ourselves to comedy shows., and to stick to free events as much as possible. We had a quick look through the website on Friday and picked out a couple of things we wanted to see.  But we weren't prepared for just how busy the Fringe was, how many people there would be, and how early we would need to start queuing for some of the shows!

(Credit: sosogay.co.uk)

We arrived in Edinburgh about 1pm on Saturday, and tried to go see "Austentatious", an improvised Jane Austen play based on a title suggested by the audience. It was due to start at 1:30pm, but this is where our unfamiliarity with the Fringe really hit home - we were told that the tickets were all given out, and that we should turn up about 11:30 if we wanted to get in! Disheartened a little, we traipsed back towards the centre of Edinburgh for the second show we'd earmarked. Titled "First World Problems", it sounded good but was actually a bit of a disappointment. The two comedians were obviously first timers at the Fringe, and although the second was decent the first just wasn't really very finny, and clearly nervous. Not a great start to our weekend.

We then queued up for "Rat Pack Comedy", another show in the same overall venue, but actually ended up going to something different - "LOLympics". Basically there were two teams, with each comedian performing for one of the teams; if they were good enough, they earned a `gold medal'. It turned out to be very funny, if a little weird in places, and very much worth going to see. One of the main comedians was up for an award on the Sunday, and was funny enough that we decided to see his solo show if we could get tickets. The next show we saw was one of the highlights of the day. Called "Attack of the 50ft German comedian", it was hilarious. The comedian, Christian Schulte, defied a major national stereotype to prove that Germans can be funny, whilst playing many other stereotypes and historical events for laughs very effectively. I'm amazed that his show was free, and won't be surprised if he becomes really big in the coming years.

Who'd have thought it, a funny German! This was a seriously good stand-up gig. (Credit: edfringe.com)

After that we grabbed some dinner, then wandered up to the new town to see the star of the internet-famous 'Gap Yah' video. He gave a show themed around a parents open night at a decrepit public school, Ramshackle College, playing all of the characters himself with some pre-recorded voiceovers while he changed costumes. Some of the personas were brilliantly realised, particularly the Dutch PE teacher, and the 'Gap Yah' character made a welcome appearance. There also were some very astute comments regarding public education establishments in the show. The last event we went to was "Hope and Gloria", a comedy therapy session ostensibly led by the daughter of the usual therapist. The character had no qualifications, but 'knew what to do', and I ended up being the poor sod getting involved in the show which was really more her therapy than ours. It was a bit embarrassing at first, but looking back was pretty funny, and certainly something I'll remember!

We didn't get back to St Andrews until late, but managed to get up early so that we could get to Edinburgh for 11:30 - we weren't going to miss "Austentatious" for two days running! The two hours queuing passed relatively quickly, and were well worth it. The show, which for that day was called 'Northanger Tabby' by some wag in the audience, was hilarious. Some of it was intentional, but some of the laughter arose from the ridiculous situations that commonly arise out of improvised shows, including the cast breaking down in laughter themselves. It was great, and I'm not surprised that it was so incredibly popular.

The cast of "Austentatious". An absolutely brilliant show that was well worth queuing for two hours (Credit: austentatiousimpro.com)

Following that we actually went to see the "Rat Pack Comedy", which was ok but not great. Actually, it was a bit weird, and the four comedians seemed to spend more time heckling each other than actually doing their routines. I know that sort of fits in with the theme they were going for, and it sort of worked. In fact those bits were funnier than a lot of the actual stand-up! Then there was the man with no trousers who came on half-way through.....

The last two shows we went to see were the only ones we paid for the whole weekend. The first was an improvised murder mystery story, like "Austentatious" based on a suggestion from the audience. The one we saw was titled "The Fatal Aspidistra", and it was clear that none of the cast knew what Aspidistra actually was (it's a flower by the way)! It was quite funny, but unlike "Austentatious" none of it seemed to be intentional. The actual story was done quite well, but the girl playing the detective was a little wooden. The final show was a solo gig by Martyn Mor, the comedian from the "LOLympics" that we'd really enjoyed. Going to see his own stand-up was a good choice; it was a small gig, but because of that quite intimate and he really involved the audience in his tale of near-death incidents, and bucket-list choices.

Martyn Mor's show was entitled "What do you think of your blue-eyed boy now Mr Death".

A bit of a mouthful, but very funny and also quite touching in places. (Credit: thestand.co.uk)

All-in-all it was a great weekend, if rather long and tiring. Funnily enough, the shows that we'd picked out in advance were generally the worst ones we saw, Austentatious aside. It was the stuff that we just decided to go to based on a flyer or proximity that turned out to be the highlights. But that's the beauty of the fringe. There's so much going on that just wandering around and going to see whatever taes your fancy can lead you to some real gems.