Fringe preview week: Day 4

Fourth day of the Fringe. Not much sleep due to last night's ridiculous experience and an early start required today. Got through it though!

Fringe show #17: Pleasance Press Launch
I first got to go to the Pleasance press launch about seven years ago when I worked in the arts, and somehow or other we've got ourselves in every year since then. It is a good opportunity to see a compilation show of whatever the Pleasance venue think are their best acts. Adam Kay was on, we enjoyed his show the other day. The Brothers' Othello (hip hop Shakespeare) looked good, we might check that one out. Well worth getting up before 10am for.
Rating: 4*

Fringe show #18: Gemma Arrowsmith: Defender of the earth
I've been to see Gemma Arrowsmith during two previous Fringes when she was part of a duo with Steve Mould. So this year we checked out her solo show. It was part of the Free Fringe which is usually an indicator of the quality you will get, but this was excellent. Gemma performed a selection of sketches which together formed a story about a day in the life of a girl that saved the world. As well as being delightfully geeky, it was also very well performed with Gemma playing a number of characters (sometimes in the same sketch) and pulling off many many accents. Lovely stuff, very likeable, highly recommend.
Rating: 4*

Fringe show #19: The Picture House
This was a musical about a woman who runs a cinema during the second world war. We picked this show because we saw them singing on the Royal Mile and they were very good. They didn't let us down, the singing was excellent in fact it was probably better than many of the professional touring musicals we see in Edinburgh. The show was charming, but somehow lacking in content. Not an awful lot happened. It was fine in all respects, but... meh.
Rating: 3*

Fringe show #20: Deanne Smith: Livin the Sweet Life
Love love love Deanne, this was the best show I have seen so far. We saw her last year and were delighted to find out she's back again for more. What a great act, Deanne has a lovely friendly and likeable manner at the same time as chucking in some well judged filth. What happened during her bikini wax was a particular highlight. Her prepared material is very slick and her audience participation is quick and witty. We laughed a lot and came away with a packet of crisps. What more could you want?
Rating: 4.5*

Fringe show #21: Best of the Fest
Best of the Fest? Seriously? This is the *best* they can do? We picked a bad night to go. Rick Shapiro was a particular lowlight. He rambled incoherently, talked about some really weird filthy stuff, and eventually got booed off. Nick Helm was alright, but I had seen his whole act word for word before, perhaps on TV or something. Felicity Ward again was fine, she was fairly amusing. Jimeoin was probably the best one but nothing epic. Pajama Men were just confusing, they did some 'improv' which seemed like very random sketches all smooshed together for no reason. This all made the compere Andrew Maxwell look pretty good. Only in retrospect though.
Rating: 2*

Mrs Cyclops recommends:

- Gemma Arrowsmith: Defender of the earth
- Deanne Smith: Livin the Sweet Life

Fringe stats:

- Total shows: 21
- Total cost: £46
- Average cost per show: £2.19