I finally got to see one of the most talked about shows at the Fringe. I can not, and will not, even try to do justice to how big this show is but rest assured that they have won our very first TNC Best Improve Show of 2010. Nothing prepares you for the energy, skill, and insanity of this show. They have created an idea that is funny and creative with a troupe of performers who will quite simple leave you out of breath, one of the best shows at the fringe.

The Show or Last Nights Film – Treepocolipcs

Lights Camera Improvise is a improv show based on movies from The Scatpack. We are told by Jonathan that he has every movie ever made and ask the audience for suggestions which come pretty fast and stupid. After the audience came to life the suggestions got narrowed down to the last forrest in Wales in which our hero’s Michelle and Johan, lumberjacks and eventual tree warriors, as they battle with the ever decreasing destruction of the worlds tree. Enter Mr Smithy, Brian, Johan’s demented mother and disapproving father, Brain (Mr Smithy’s right hand guy) and you begin to see how The Scatpack work.

Jonathan Burke was in charge of the wider development of the story. Through his power with the remote he could pause, rewind and fast forward through part of the film when needed. When the performers would say something odd, unfitting, or if something was just plain insane happened he would pause it and illustrate that to the audience. This was a massive part of the show and his energy had some cast members from A Midsummers Nights Dream behind me in owe. One of the best pauses was during a kiss between Michelle and Johan, they remained kissing right through part of his next monologue and you could see Michelle’s body shaking with laughter.

Another stand out part of the show was when we had to get a sense of Mr Smithy so the next scene would take place in his office and we would get to see if he was evil or if he could be redeemed. This was one of the craziest moments and also one of the funniest. Getting disapproval from his staff Mr Smithy for no reason puches his assistant. Jonathan paused it and brought this up and when it went back to play Mr Smithy showed there was no redemption at all in his cold dark soul. People came in from all telling him he couldn’t cut down anymore trees one of them being his daughter ‘Daddy I don’t want you to cut down the trees’, to which Mr Smithy grabbed her head and twisted her neck. This was a touch of genius. The next guy to walk in had good news for Mr Smithy, the X3000, and got the approval from his boss, ‘I like you, remove my daughters body’.

The cast are quick and work so well together it leaves you stunned at what they produce in an hour. Throughout it all the audience is very much part of of it and I have never seen a ringmaster as goof as Jonathan. His role is a little odd in the improv world, though important and essential they sometimes can be a bit weak to the rest of the performance. Jonathan was like that essential ingredient that brings everything to tightly together.

The Scatpack’s Lights, Camera, Improvise is the final word in improvised comedy. Their skill is breathtaking and they give this their all. There is just five days left to see these guys and even with that they still gave a show that was like nothing you will ever see again. At the end they got a genuine standing ovation by an audience who wanted to show, they best way they could, their admiration for a show that will stick with them.

Much like the cast of Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens The Scatpack deserve your respect, what they do is like no other and their sellout audiences are testimony to a fringe original.

‘Lights, Camera, Improvise is unique and one of the best shows of 2010!’

C (+2) 4-30 Aug (not 16) at 18:55 (1hr00)
Tickets £8.50-£10.50 / concessions £7.50-£9.50 / children £5.50-£7.50
Parental Guidance To book tickets call 0845 260 1234.

Satire is a much part of the UK comedy tradition as much as strawberry’s and cream are part of the championships so it was not surprising to see one part of this years fringe line-up. Handled with care and great humour and written with a frightening sense of reality and facts the satire manages to keep the right balance without trying to preach and badger the audience.

One of the funniest and cruel ironies was the scenes when Obama is laughing at the fact that Tony Blaire is the Middle East was inspired. The writing is tight and thoughtful, they have been careful to keep this lighthearted and funny but at the same time they do open the possibility of further debate but that is not point of this show. The pace of the show at times is frantic and one of the most realised scenes was the Iraqi’s trying to get jobs. This showed not only the ignorance of the invasion and the broader lack of understanding in allowing the Iraqi’s to be a real self determined state, and the reason for the ongoing struggles with the insurgency.

Oh What a Lovely War on Terror is that most perfect type of show that gives you sad facts of how western governments and politicians mislead, lie, and go to war all under their own motives and beliefs. The show uses Iraqi’s looking for jobs int he new Iraq as a prime example of how freeing the Iraqi people was secondary to their real motives for war. The team work well together and make a very hard topic easy to follow though their Donald Rumsfeld was hard to take, and the fact that this was true made it more the worry.

This show does inform as well as entertain and they deliver so well with script that has been written. Rather than just focus on the current war on terror they examine the proxy between the former Soviets and the Taliban through the 1980s and 1990s. the 45 minutes, the infamous dossier (the thing they do here is pretty stunning) and the invasion of Iraq itself. Throughout the show the audience is given a fair balance of information, this I think is a little to generous as this audience knows all this. To some extent we do and we are poorer for not paying attention to it. How the public is manipulated is shown in a small way here…what becomes evident is that the pubic are too quick to act when ‘fear’ is created, yet has anyone started to answer any of these questions that this play ask?

Oh What A Lovely War on Terror is smart, funny, and well written. The cast provide convincing and honest portrays of these modern men and women who have helped create some of the problems society is now facing. Am not sure there was more they could have done, any more facts and the show would have moved towards lecture and that’s not their intention. All this is information that we are deciding to no use, question, or fight about.

C central (cabaret bar) 5-30 Aug (not 17) at 16:55 (1hr00)
Tickets £7.50-£9.50 / concessions £6.50-£8.50
Parental Guidance To book tickets call 0845 260 1234.XX

I think I have now seen enough Sketch comedy shows to be able to pass a valued opinion, though as a review I would be passing that opinion either way. Most of all types of comedy the sketch show format can either win or fall flat on its face, the performers have to judge quite quickly if they are keeping the audience and if they are overrunning their sketches. So I have a great deal of respect for anyone who attempts this.

The Plastic Seat Company are Mike Clark, Lewis Cook, Ian Collins & Alex Davies, though Mike was not there today, and their humour at best is crude, yet there is a skill to how these guys work and write their sketches that shows not only potential but the possibilities of great things in the coming year. Some of the sketches where a little hit and miss, and some I think may have been getting done for quite awhile as felt a little off (though its 6 days to the end of the fringe so am not going to be overly critical on those points).

But with all that said the guys had two really standout sketches that had me in tears. The Samaritans help line and the Afella sketches are stand out and illustrate how good these guys are and how much more they have in them. What Davis did with this was beautiful, even down to his jumping when the voice would ask certain words was a touch of class, and the conclusion was the slickest things I’ve seen. With their Afella sketch it was more Lewis surprisingly toned body that threatened to steal the limelight, for a little guy he packs a mean 6 pack. Yet they still managed to produce a sketch that was funny, well delivered, and slightly insane.

‘And that’s the Plastic Seat Company. Their humour is a little their own but they still managed to keep the audience with them and have great delivery and with a larger audience this would work wonders. And if they keep writing sketches as good as The Samaritans sketch then these guys are going to have a an amazing 2011.’

Shakespeare is a common favourite at the fringe and some productions, like the modern take on Romeo and Juliet which finished on Saturday, and The Tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. These are hard Shakespeare plays to try and rework and so to is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A long time favourite by fans and one of the most playful of Shakespeare’s comedies, getting to see this live is a real treat, getting to see it performed by such a steller cast is even more of a reward.

The cast work well together and some performances are stunning to watch. The first machanical’s scene is delightful and funny. James Fox (Bottom/Pyramus) really comes into his own with these scenes and throughout the production. And special note goes to Ciaran O’Connell who plays Flute/Thisbe  with great care and conviction. During the scene in which Thisbe kills her self over the death of Pyramus there was a great sense of honesty in the way he delivered his lines that the entire scene came to life.

The cast did a great job with this production and a lot of thought had gone into it. Yet for me the stand out performances where Barney IIey-Williamson (Lysander), Esme Lucas (Hermia), Dan Jacobs (Demetrius) and Jessie Leach (Helena). These actors worked incredibly together and gave very passionate, funny, and timed performances. During the battle for the love of Helena by Lysander and Demetrius not a moment on stage went past that wasn’t well timed or funny, this really was a highly skilled scene to the point where you actually start to feel sorry for Hermia.

Dance scene between Titania’s and Oberon’s fairies was choreographed by Ramsay Cockrane, who also played Theseus, was well conceived. There is a nice family connection with this production which adds nicely to a very well crafted version of the Shakespearian classic. Director Sue Cochrane has given the play good pace though some scenes come across better than others, but that’s a few rare occasions, over all the production is a triumph.

‘Bringing a play like this to the fringe is always going to have people question the production, you should hear the things people had said about Hamlet, but productions like this work because they have been guided well by their team and the cast have talent and convince in their roles. Not to be missed.’

C (+3) 22-30 Aug at 15:00 (1hr05)
Tickets £7.50-£9.50 / concessions £6.50-£8.50 / children £4.50-£6.50
Universal To book tickets call 0845 260 1234.