Desktop Image clean out

I like taking pictures of my bookshelves when they are all sorted out and tidy and stuff, before they are all covered in crap, this is one such instance...


Longer posts probably tonight (note: actually thinking about it, I've been watching bbc4 shows on iplayer so probably not), but for now have to clean out the ole desktop to make way for loads of teaching stuff, teaching about 4 different modules this term so it's pretty manic with that and bar work (thanks to that lovely phrase 'month in arrears' can I teach everything a month late then?) and comedy. Couldn't part with some of this pics so I'm putting them up here.

A wee pic I did for Owen Bryant from the Rose, as a tribute to his hedonistic lifestyle, this is 'Fear and Loathing In Norwich'.

My favorite picture of all time ever...I mentioned this pic as some sort of proof I made some one laugh once, but in retrospect someone else could have made my wee sis laugh

Reasons I love this ph0t0: 1) me and caitrin 2) a stack of comics 3) some diet coke 4) lovely view of home.


An article I wrote once that is bit like this one...although

mine was about ten years earlier damn it...

My favorite bono slag, not as good as this obviously. From my attempt to do a competition entries here here and here

One my first stand up pics

An old Hansai comic I own, my only ever purchase from a Christian bookshop recently mentioned in this book.

I am a ball bag

Cartoon I did for a Dublin magazine called SixMag..I thought it was funny. Editor Gary Byrnes once said I was like a new Flann O'Brien, a compliment I will take tot he grave...

My Aplple Mac style cartoons, again I didn't persue this avenue like a fucking idiot. Who would have thought that the Internet would explode with this sort of guff.

Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid - Theatrical Trailer

THE STING trailer

SLAPSHOT ORIGINAL MOVIE TRAILER

Cool Hand Luke (1967) Trailer

Cool Hand Luke - Car Wash

Peter Parker writes the news!

More scoops here

Via Something Awful

Upcoming Stand Up Dates...

The patented LorcMask(TM) drawn by Jos Norrish from an original design by Bob Moran, modelled by Johh Kearns...amaze your friends at parties and perturb ladies with the LorcMask (TM) while stocks last....

Some dates for your diary, if you have one, of my upcoming stand up dates in Norwich, would be great to see you there to listen to my demented rantings:

Monday 29th September - Laugh out Loud/The Rose Tavern, 88 Rupert St, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 2AT 8pm (2.50)

Tuesday 30th September -Soap Box/St. Gregory's Art Centre 7-11pm

Tuesday 7th October- Soap Box/St. Gregory's Art Centre 7-11pm

Thursday 9th October - Laugh out Loud/Queen Charlotte, 286 Dereham Road, Norwich, NR2 3UU 8pm (2.50)

Friday 17th October- Laugh out Loud/Ambar at the Odeon, Odeon Norwich Riverside Leisure Park Wherry Road Norwich NR1 1XA 9.00 (2.50)

Monday 27th October - Laugh out Loud/The Rose Tavern

Wednesday 5th November- Stone/Paper/Scissors Caberet at The Bridcage

Friday 7th November- Laugh out Loud/Ambar at the Odeon, Riverside

Thursday 13th November - Laugh out Loud/The Queen Charlotte

Thursday 20th November- Salt Box at the Ribs of Beef

Monday 24th November - Laugh out Loud/The Rose Tavern

Friday 5th December-Laugh out Loud/Ambar at the Odeon, Riverside


Links
Laugh Out Loud
Soapbox
Saltbox
Scissors/Paper/Stone Cabaret
Birdcage Revue

The Rose Tavern
The Queen Charlotte
Ambar
The Birdcage

Dee Lite - Groove Is In The Heart

how do you say?...

Wow! Alan Moore can't wait for the Watchman flick...

Wow!

Hey everyone! Libby here, your pal from Excitable Tedium PR!!with some news HOT news straight off the Hollywood press:

I recently caught up with wacky funny book man Alan Moore in his Hollywood home. He says he can't wait for top visionary director Zach Snyder's new action blockbuster Watchmen. 'Ah me and Zach, or the Zacster or Zac-man as I call him', grins Moore, 'are having a blast, he really has nailed it and we get on so well, he made me a cool jacket with the Watchmen logo on the back and he has one as well, and we go jet-sking together and all the ladies in bikinis at the beach see us in our cool jackets, it's awesome!'

Wacky funny man Alan Moore relaxes in California yesterday.

Moore loves all his movie adaptations and thinks that if he wasn't a funny book writer he'd definitely want to be an action film maker: 'I remember visiting the set of LXG: League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that was sooo cool I got to meet James Bond (Sean Connery) we had a great time he asked me where I got all my crazy ideas from and we had a whiskey'. The hairy funny man Moore is always open to the imput of great directors like Stephen Norrington (who made the unforgettable Death Machine with Brad Dourif and the masterpiece Blade):

'What's great about my work is it can be tampered with easily by Hollywood, especially with LXG you can add characters all over the place I never thought of adding Tom Sawyer into the mix, but it was a real blast 'cause he had a cool car and a big gun, which was extreme!' Moore's keeping stum on LXG2, It's tough because things like 2Fast2Furious came out so we don't know what to call it, it could be League of Xtreme Xtraordianry Gentlemen and Ladies or LXXGL for short, we're talking to Vin Diesel to play either James Dean or JFK (or cloned mixture of both!) cause it's set in like the 1950s or 60s or something oh and Thomas Jane has just signed up to play Oscar "The Wildman" Wilde...'

Well things seem to be going well for the humble writer from Britland who now has Hollywood in the palm of his hand, what's next! an LXG/From Hell crossover with Jason Statham as the Elephant Man? time will only tell... In the meantime we have Watchmen to look forward too, with a truckload of wacky characters including:

Doc Manhatthan (Vin Diesel): a big blue guy, his perscription, blowing stuff uuuup!!!
The Comedian (Chris Katten): he'll kill ya with his punchlines!!
Rorscach (Ryan Reynolds): He's gotta wonky face and a wonky mind!
Silk Spectre (Carmen Electra) : She's one sexy superlady!!
Ozymandias (the guy who played McLovin'): A rich geek with a funny cat!!

Wait a minute...it's not like that at all, this just in from reality:

Alan Moore on 'Watchman movie': 'I will be spitting venom all over it'

For the record, Alan Moore has not softened his view on Hollywood nor its plan to bring his classic graphic novel "Watchmen" to the screen next March. "I find film in its modern form to be quite bullying," Moore told me during an hour-long phone call from his home in England. "It spoon-feeds us, which has the effect of watering down our collective cultural imagination. It is as if we are freshly hatched birds looking up with our mouths open waiting for Hollywood to feed us more regurgitated worms. The 'Watchmen' film sounds like more regurgitated worms. I for one am sick of worms. Can't we get something else? Perhaps some takeout? Even Chinese worms would be a nice change." via Hero Complex



I'm warming to the trailer a bit but the music still reminds be of the NHS std 'give me what you got' advert, which I tried to find on youtube but couldn't it makes getting an std look really cool though, more accurately it an anti-std ad but in my mind it's always an std ad.

The Return of Captain Invincible: Everything is going to be just great again!...

While doing the Robocop post I came across some old clips from The Return of Captain Invincible, which seems to be overlooked in the current Superhero movie broohaha. It comes from an Interesting pedigree Australian director Philippe Mora, the great Alan Arkin and an amazing turn from Christopher Lee with songs from Richard O'Brien, which does give a Rocky Horror Picture Show feel to the songs. (oh and let's not forget Shock Treatment)



I remember watching it on BBC1 late at night and never forgot the pie fight scene and am surprised it hasn't had a big region 2 release, it's out on region 1 but really expensive. As a huge horror fan growing up, it was interesting to see Lee in this and Gremlins 2: The New Batch , it seemed like his camp retirement years, who'd a thought Lee would be at the forefront of nearly every major fantasy franchise of the late 20th and early 21st century, some great clips of Lee discussing The Wickerman remake (the bees! etc) he has a great air of demanding knowledge from a fan audience before they open their yaps with some question, even dispelling some myths Mark Kermode had about the film on the DVD extras...'I think you're wrong there my boy'.

What's great about The Return of Captain Invincible, similar in a way to Superfolks, Alan Moore's proposed Twilight of the Superheroes is that we see superheroes in decline but we only get small snippets of imformation of the 'glory years' that, you know, you have to fill in with 'your imagination'..remember that in movies? The Incredibles would probably the closest in recent times to The Return of Captain Invincible, especially the black and white flashbacks of Captain Invincible being charged with 'flying without a licencse' and 'wearing his underwear in public'.

It's a tough call with both superhero parodies and original superhero-created-specifically-for-film alike, something like Hancock starts to create the atmosphere of a 'world with superheroes' but doesn't go into the specifics of how or even why it happens.

The great Mister Midnight 'choose your poison' song with some added psychobabble:


More Evil Mr. Midnight stuff, I love the way the youtube posters are so surprised Lee can sing when he was a great singer. It's interesting how the mis-en-scene of this film with Lee's wee alien hench men and light and metal is very close to Star Wars and lets not forget the 'long before the crack of doom line'...

So next time you see The Return of Captain Invincible tucked away on some tv schedule you should check it out or whatever...

harry and paul bourne identity

it's amazing that because sketch shows are so bad now (without a sense of history for Big Train and Jam) that Harry and Paul seems cutting edge...or does it...

Give it up for the Comic Cast lads....

Just a quick shout out to Craig O'Connor and Liam Geraghty the Comic Cast lads who have been providing me with late night audio to the recent blogging madness. (that hoovering up all these great Siskel and Ebert movie reviews, found when I did the Robocop post)

Promo shot for the comiccast that reminded me a bit of this.

I first heard of the Comic Cast via Bob Byrne's blog, where his post on their great show here. If you've never heard the Mack Daddy of Irish Comics Bob speak this a great hilarious interview full of great personal anecdotes and his usual/unusal for most monkeys opinions of the world of comics. I especially loved his stories of sending someone out to get the 'megazine' and they'd be like don't you mean magazine, and you'd be there no..the megazine, obviously for me these discussions were with family members and not the parade of Bob's lady friends.

A representative pic of Bob and I at the Birmingham Comic Show last year.

The lastest one is an amazing interview with Cliodhna Lyons as some readers may know as the organiser of Ireland's 24 Hour Comics day which I must get to soon. I stay up half night here scrawling dementing pictures and ranting so it might be nice to do it with other people.

Listening to this interview was the reason for the more sentimental parts of my Robocop post as her father died a few months before mine last year while working for Goal in Sri Lanka. She created The Goal Anthology entitled after her father's answering machine message: "sorry I can't take your call right now but I'm off saving the world"

There's also some great discussions of the current Irish and New York comic scenes both in terms of artists and the academic training structure and Brendan and the Secret of Kells, trailer here. I'm working my way through the other episodes but the lads have a very nice relaxed style and it really creates interesting stories from the guests and makes me nostalgic for wandering around the comic shops of Dublin when I used to live there.

Bob's Interview
Cliodhna's Interview


The Goal Anthology

How much do I like Robocop...let me tell you the ways...

Did I mention I like Robocop, well yeah just a bit, like every single day to anyone that will listen. Check out the Robocop Archive for all the goodness. Here's a referesher course with the three trailers:







Note: This post started because I was reading about the Robocop remake (news such as it is here and here with Darren Aronofsky attached to direct) then it was going to be about jokey precursors to Robocop like Future Cop and then I descended into a mawkish sentimental thing.

Where did it all begin? (I hear no one ask) well I'll tell you. Back in the day my mam and dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I pointed to a Woolworths catalogue with the video cover of Robocop and said "I want that one". Who'd a thought that an interface with such a postage stamp-sized image would develop into a life-long obsession.

My dad was like are you sure? And god bless him he bought it for me in Armagh, and it was only on the way home that he realised it was an 18 certificate movie and I was only about 12 or 13. Christmas came and there was no sign of Robocop and then a bit later dad presented the video to me and said 'look, we didn't realise it was an 18 but you seemed to really want this, just don't show your sisters'. So for about 3-4 years I had this contraband Robocop VHS and I remember discussing it with my friend Martin McBennet when he came round, especially the Ed-209 shooting bit.

I remember everything about that video (still safe in my Batcave 1.0) the stand up trailers with Sam Kinison, the Steel Dawn trailer that was at the end of the movie, a card came up with something like : wait until the end of the feature to see a trailer for Steel Dawn. I used to read the back cover before I went to bed. I'll never know if I my dad knew how much getting Robocop for Christmas meant to me. I was always watching these types of films in the living room and he'd be in the sitting room watching TV or westerns. Part of me always thinks (and films studies academiwank will back me up) that the post-apocalyptic movies of the 1980s (Robocop, Terminator, Mad Max) were our versions of the western. There was something about my father's generation of men that loved John Wayne and the Magnificent Seven and all. He would walk past and go 'what are you watching?' and I'd be there 'ahh Robocop or Mad Max' and he'd pull a face and walk on, but obviously now, you think feck, if I'd been friendlier and go, 'Dad it's Robocop, I know it's Rio Bravo but you'd love it'.

But I never did, (also because sometimes it was Rabid Grannies and The Toxic Avenger) but you know, I feel our similarities kept us apart we both liked staying in rooms on our own watching our own movies. These watching experiences have always meant alot to me like seeing Forbidden Planet, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Beast With Five Fingers with dad and also a Hallowe'en where we all watched Misery but the Hammer Dracula was on afterwards and we watched and Dad told about seeing it at the cinema when it came out and seeing the crazy sausage finger decomposition scene for the first time. I always thought it was amazing that dad had seen these sort of films at the cinema and it contributed no small part to be going into film studies.

The trilogy as a whole as influenced so much action movies, whenever I see a smaller character jump on a larger character/monsters head and shoot at I always god 'up the old Robocop move'.
I just think of my equivalent If I ever had kids of making them watch Robocop, like it wouldn't be a treat or anything they'd have to watch, I've no kids so I have force my students to watch it poor buggers.

Some more robogems

The failed Robocop 2 prototypes

Siskel and Ebert lovin' the robo

P.S.

Frankenstein has just been attacked by the French Air Force and he's whipped their derrieres!

Death Race 2000

Frankenstein in his scary car...

Grumpy Machine Gun Joe Viterbo

There's no real reason for this post beyond* educating people before they see Death Race** but it's an amazing movie, just a sampling of the best lines :


Harold: As the cars roar into Pennsylvania, the cradle of liberty, it seems apparent that our citizens are staying off the streets, which may make scoring particularly difficult, even with this year's rule changes. To recap those revisions: women are still worth 10 points more than men in all age brackets, but teenagers now rack up 40 points, and toddlers under 12 now rate a big 70 points. The big score: anyone, any sex, over 75 years old has been upped to 100 points.


Junior: Frankenstein! Frankenstein the legend, Frankenstein the indestructible! Sole survivor of the titanic pile-up of '95, only two-time winner of the Transcontinental Road Race... Frankenstein! Ripped up, wiped out, battered, shattered, creamed, and reamed... a dancer on the brink of death... Frankenstein, who lost a leg in '98, an arm in '99! With half a face and half a chest, and all the guts in the world, he's back!
Junior: Here he comes: Machine Gun Joe! Loved by thousands, hated by millions!

Anyway if you haven't seen it, check it out, I got a copy for like 3 pounds in Fopp with some good trailers of things like Grand Theft Auto (with Ron Howard) on it. I suppose it's a generational thing but when I ws growing up there were so many over the top car racing/crash/stunt things that seemed to converge, the likes of The Wacky Races, The Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit. Check out the trailer for Cannonball Run II, such a nexus of old stars and cult heroes from Frank Sinatra to Jackie Chan to Richard Kiel, and an Orang Utang, it was the 198os you had to have a primate of some sort to slap people and make fart noises, it was our was back then.

But I digress, Death Race 2000 predates Cannoball Run with a filmic representation of a race from coast to coast and it's idea of points for running people over can be seen in Carmageddon and Grand Theft Auto . Director Paul Bartel was an underrated satirist of cult madness like Private Parts, Eating Raoul and Not For Publication.

There's an ongoing joke that the French are soon evil nation in the film where a right wing US government have to villianise nations to maintain a constant state of fear and war (those wacky sci-fi guys, when would that ever happen...) here's some great clips:

and if you must the new movie trailer below. I liked the gender play in Death Race 2000 with strong women with male navigators (Herman the German) but I doubt that's in the new film, also they way (similar to the Rollerball remake) where they have reduce the scope, location and overall outrageousness of the sport invoved.Whatever, I'll still go and see it but am sad that satire goes out the window in favour of po-faced action:


*Like there's any reason to any of these posts.

**Like there's any reason people will see Death Race

Thank you baked potato

where is the baked potato when you need it...

Fringe Favorites: Robin Ince.

Don't worry, this Edinburgh lovefest is nearly over, it's all becoming a distant memory as teaching starts again and the spectre of Christmas is upon us (and besides you wouldn't believe the geek backlog out the back wait until I start on No Heroics and the Robocop remake.)

As an impoverished performer, I could only afford to go to the free shows (blah blah change the record etc.) and Robin Ince did a whirlwind weekend of shows including His Book Group that I was too polite to get into because I thought it wasn't fair to go into the show because I was also performing at the Free Fringe when there was loads of people waiting, His Bleeding Heart Liberal show which I hung out with Georgina before at and just stayed there until it was on with a sort of 'I'm staying, I'm finishing coffee air', and the great Carl Sagan is My God oh and Richard Feynman Too, which fits in with the below post on the Golden Record.

Ince is amazing at combining very intelligent comedy that involves a lot of intellectual references but combines it with sets, or elements of sets that have elements pure observational stories that have the whole laughing in unison with recognition (e.g. the sleeping lout on the train story, amazingly executed). There is an element of preaching to the converted but would you rather be sitting in a Robin Ince audience where he is preaching to the converted, or in a major standup gig that preaches to the 'I'm being racist and sexist and homophobic, but I'm not really, I'm being ironic and postmodern but you love it anyway but hey postmodernism...shut up' crowd.

Carl Sagan is My God oh and Richard Feynman Too was a great show too with Josie Long, Peter Buckley Hill, and A.L. Kennedy MC's by Ince with an impressive stack of books which was good sign for me, just an excuse so I read aloud from this more often. In fact he was a bit of an ispiration have an idea for a show someday called Lorcan McGrane's Perversions where discuss the bizarre and amazing writing on gender and sexuality in the last century so, at last all these mucky books have a purpose. Robin seemed like a really nice guy too I introduced myself and mentioned the blog and gave him a card with Schrodinger's Cat on it, and told him my story of Schrodinger's Arsebone for his sins he listened and laughed, he could have told me to feck off, so he's also a cool dude.

I have a thought in the back of my head that one day I'll end up being the Robin Ince to Tom Moran's Ricky Gervais...

Some Incetube stuff if you haven't seen it already:

With Ben Moor:

and as If you don't know already...all comics are geeks...

Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot

The Golden Record: Sounds of Earth...

Apart from this lovely gallery, my other haven from the flyering madness on the Royal Mile was The Collective Gallery's great The Golden Record: Sounds of Earth exhibition curated by Mel Brimfield.

Where comedians, artists and filmmakers collaborated on various audio visual pieces all inspired by the materials placed on the Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 to introduce our culture to alien races via music and photos and smiling naked people. Like this one Termite Notification For Future Life Forms.

The first gallery consisted of 116 works the size of vinyl album covers each and intereptation of the 116 'images of earth' compiled by Nasa, see the images and loads more here. Youtube clip of the images here.

There was also a viewing room played a documentary by Brimfield and Sally O' Reilly which focused on Carl Sagan and Earth Ambassador for Earth Contact Day Karen Carptenter. In cynical times it was a refreshing nostalgia trip to hear things like UN chief's potential greatings for alien races.

The second room consisted of a series of 3-5 minute pieces from artists, comedians, actors, poets (including Stewart Lee, John Hegley and Robert Ince and Lawrence and Gus ) of their prospective greetings to aliens. It was quite a haven after seeing stand up all day to sit in dark room and not get asked 'are you afraid of terrorism?' or 'who here's from England, give us a cheer...whose here from Scotland' (shudder), although some bits were obvious sections of some performers stand up and one animation on hair uttered the phrase 'like a wisp of cotton candy over a paper cut' but more tales of that later.

Once of my favorite experiences in Edinburgh overall I'd have to say to get an oasis of sci-fi arty geekness among all the comedy.

Think of the Kittens

One of favorite moments of Edinburgh was when a hot girl gave me this box of chewing gum after hearing my set, I mean could have been a way round it, we could have worked something out together that night but I just got left with the chewing gum about 8 kittens died that night...sorry all.

It pays to get serious about car insurance...

...Especially when your spokesperson/spokesnovelty animal man thing is a creature with an elephant's head and faux converse sneakers like some mixture of an elephant and Peter Cook/David Tennant/Larry David/those midlife crisis guys in their fifties who in their minds think they combine the wit and popularity of all the latter three just by wearing Converse.

See also the Moonpig, er Moonpig, Tom does a great routine on the worried look on the Moonpig's face as he finds out he is just a floating disembodied pig's head in space.

and of course, the Foxy Bingo blaxploitation bingo pimp, which cleverly combines two things that old ladies don't like: a)pimps b) urban foxes and implies that a pimp with a fox's head encouraging them to gamble and dance in the streets (before he traps them in a world of urban fox based prositition) is something they might actually like.

George Dawes - Peanuts

Peanuts!

Shooting Stars - Mortimer Skanking

when all is lost you can always watch this...joyous

Fringe Favorites: Up The Arts at The Standing Order

One of the benefits of doing The Standing Order in Edinburgh at 9-10 was having another show to go to afterwards, Paul Ricketts and Verity Welch's Up the Arts is a club in Camden and they had a late night show, the Up the Arts Comedy Lock In for the whole run at the fringe.

See them in action here. ...lovely

It was really cool to meet them and also see the acts they had performing including Paul Foot and Daniel Simonsen (the guy from Norway that won the so You Think You're Funny competition) Imran Yusuf, and Otto Kuhnle and Frank Sanazi
One of the best was seeing Patrick Monahan who got a room of about 20 people really going after alot of people died.
There was a nice commradie with Paul and Verity as we were in the same venue in similar time spots in Wetherspoons including Gloria, what you've never heard of Gloria?! He was a guy who claimed to be a millionaire with a mansion in Soho. It this could have been true, but he had two bottom teeth missing and was in Whetherspoons every night, it could be true? John Kearns snapped a pic of him a the assembly rooms...viddy...

Anyway it was good to have people to chat with about such loons everyday, I also got too slots at Up The Arts which I can use as claims to fame, one night Shazia Misra couldn't make it because she had to Mock the Week or something and I got a slot and then on the last night on the Standing Order there was a space so I got to do a slot last on the bill on the last night which was really cool and Paul gave me the nicest introduction.

They also took me out a couple of nights to the Loft Bar which was really cool. It was strange to think that this building that's just a university building or whatever, for three weeks becomes this tendy bar that's it's hard to get into. P&V introduced it like fight club or something...don't stare, don't flyer and act like you are meant to be there, which was enough done, but exciting all the same. Is that Andrew Maxwell? (yes) is that Roy Walker? (yes) the end. One of favorite bits was talking to Kev F. Sutherland who I met a the Birmingham Comic Show, (his main site here) he is an artist for the Beano and does the Falsetto Scottish Puppets show, a fringe favorite. V had mentioned her son loves the Beano and he was really cool in doing a drawing, I had the A3 paper he had the markers, he carries them round too. A lovey Edinburgh story. Another night up there, I heard an Irish guy sitting beside us being called foxy, and it turned out to be the younger bro of one Alan Pollock's best homie Rob Fox who writes for the Observer.
Here's Jon Brittian at Up the Arts so you can see the madness of our Whetherspoons room:

Adam and Joe Song Wars Vol.1 Mini Mega Mix

Notes on Kenickie: The Movie

Kenickie: The Movie

What! you've never cast an imaginary version of Kenickie: The Movie, in your head? For younger readers I'll have to back up, you know the lady on the culture show and sometimes on comedy panel shows? She used to be in a band called Kenickie that basically was the main root-rut cause of teen lust back in the 1990s, viddy:







Whilst watching such 1990s-nostalgio-root-a-rama I imagined casting Kenickie: The Movie:
Lauren Laverne: Lauren Laverne

She has the continuing star power to of course play herself

Toby Jones as Johnny X

Poor wee Johnny X, or more exactly lucky wee Johnny X every night on tour with his wee beady eye scrunched up against his patented Kenickie TM 'lets see the ladies in the band' peep hole in the flimsy tourbus paritions....

Sophie Dahl as Marie Du Santiago

Justine Frischmann as Emmy Kate Montrose

This could be the start of an indie-lust trilogy followed by Elastica: The Movie and EchoBelly: The Movie.

Edinburgh: Those reviews in full then....

Yeah that's it, keep smiling, those reviewers know nottin' apart from how to review comedy...

Before going to Edinburgh I didn't realise the how important the reviews are to everyone, magazines like Fest, Three Weeks and The Fix only exist for the time of the festival, but for those three weeks they become like bibles and everyone goes mental for them. Our show got review in Three Weeks:


A Couple of Couples of Comics
Brittain, Kearns, McGrane and Moran/PBH's Free Fringe

Free comedy is a mixed bag, and free student comedy is an even bigger risk - but in this case it's one worth taking. East Anglian comics Tom Moran, Jonathan Brittain, Johnny Kearns and Lorcan McGrane filled an enjoyable if variable hour at the Standing Order. Brittain gave the standout performance with witty jokes and fast-paced wonderings about what not to say when your friend tells you she's becoming a man. Moran also put on a good show as compere, but lost it when he started reading his jokes out from a piece of paper. The rest were a likeable bunch who brought a few laughs, but whose acts need a bit more polish.
ong


The Standing Order, 2 - 23 Aug, 9.00pm (10.00pm), free, fpp 41
tw rating: 3/5
published: Aug-2008

and my performance on Sex tips for Pandas (see below) got reviewed too:

Sowerby & Luff - Sex Tips For Pandas
Georgina and Brian are a pleasant and friendly duo whose independent comedic styles compliment each other well. While Brian is confident and strong, Georgina is slightly timid and shy as well as flirty, giggly and full of wonder. I do feel a bit sorry for sluggish pandas though. They introduced two enjoyable stand up acts, of young, new talent. The first act offered quite straight faced comedy and had a good sense of comic timing while the second, Chris Martin, was impressively original, and had great stage presence and charisma. Chris and his friends are also planning a huge charity event for Comic Relief, 'Cricket on Mount Everest'. A fun hour and all for the price of diddly squat.
The Dragonfly, 3 - 23 Aug, 6.40pm (7.40pm), free non-ticketed, fpp 97
tw rating: 3/5
published: Aug-2008
We also had some good personal comments or as DanMcKee calls them 'unofficial reviews' via the Chortle and Edfringe sites:

From a guy called Mark Hunter on Chortle:
An incredibly funny show with something for everyone. The compere Tom Moran held everything together effortlessly with his witty one liners and strong stage presence. Next came Jon Brittain, who performs with such intense energy you can't fail to be impressed. Johnny Kearns was perhaps the funniest person I have ever had the pleasure to witness perform. He takes a risk leaving long pauses before punch lines, but these pay off - usually rewarded with rounds of applause. Lorcan McGrane, the weakest of the four, rounded off the evening. Despite an average delivery and too great an emphasis on sex, there were some enjoyable observational bits to his set. You won't find a better free show anywhere else in Edinburgh this year.
Mark Hunter, August 2008

From a guy who calls himself "dissappointed, Wales" on EdFringe:

A couple of hours wasted 23 Aug 2008 reviewer: Disappointed, Wales
It started badly - the compare said that one of the 4 had not been able to show, having become very acquainted with his WC. The replacement sang a song with mildly witty lyrics, said a few jokes without passion or presence and then finished with another song. 1/5 Next was a chap who was poor. jokes unfunny and light heckling/ chatting and ignoring from some of the locals threw him and he resorted to an obscure joke with a penguin (chocolate bar) which bombed and he buzzed off - thank goodness 0/5. Next chap okay - nothing special but reliable and had presence 3/5. Compare was the best of the and best joke was the put down of the hecklers - but it took him the last act to come up with it. 3/5

Phew! so my jobs is now to find the best bits and put them on my review section on your upper right. Some guys were a master at this we saw one guy reviewed as part of a group show mostly composed of open spots and the review ended with, 'these were mostly terrible but if must go and see someone, go and see such and such (1) and such and such (2). The next day this guy, such and such (2) had this postage stamped size 'review' on his flyer that just said amid eclipses "Just Go and See! Such and Such (2)" (names changed to avoid embarrassment)
So I'll have to find such gems amid the above reviews, wish me look and see the results in my 'reviews' section....

Edinburgh Favorites: Soweby and Luff's Sex Tips for Pandas..

Georgina, me and Brian at the Dragonfly

Producer Richard Cray and me on the last day

Sowerby and Luff's Sex Tips for Panda's podcast is a long-running great and funny podcast which is you listen to it you'll understand why it's called that. They had a run for the whole fringe at the Dragonfly which was a nice cocktail bar style venue. See above for a nice video version of their podcast with an interview with Peter Buckley Hill who runs the free fringe. There was a professional camera in on the day I did the podcast, with a small audience but one prone to laughing loads which was good, this show also got reviewed (see above) which was good. Video version will be up here as and when. I a

They've also got a book in the works

Brian and Georgina and their producer Richard Cray (also and avid blogger here) were really cool and it was great to have a permeant record of my edinburgh experience. The podcast it available on iTunes, but I have put up some links here:

Me on Sex Tips for Pandas

Jon Brittain on Sex Tips for Pandas Part 1

Jon Brittain on Sex Tips for Pandas Part 2

Dan McKee on Sex Tips for Pandas

Edinburgh Favorites: Owen Niblock's Twisted Whimsy

Owen with his wee stringed thing...

Geeks of Edinburgh fringe unite.

I'm slowly completing my 'fringe favorites' section where I give a wee mention to my favorite acts of the fringe. As I could only afford the free shows there may note be huge names (apart from the few cool dudes who did some great free shows despite being 'so hot right now' in the world of comedy.

One of my favorite one-man shows was Owen Niblock's great Twisted Whimsy which was at the White Horse, one of my favorite Edinburgh venues, a totally old school boozer with a stereotypically dower landlord, called "Rab", he was rake thin with a moustache a tie-shirt-jumper combo and a neat line in 'banter'. Basically this was telling every English person they were 'poofs' and saying things like 'cheer up for fuck sake, you're on your holidays' to a dour-faced American who ordered three gin and tonics. I escaped most of this because I was Irish but did once ask for a half pint which didn't go down too well.

The day I saw Owen there was a front row of 14-year-olds with their adoring parents in the back row, he handled it brillantly when doing his darker stuff red-faced saying 'I'm so going to hell', my favorite joke was 'I'm a computer programmer, it's in my blood, I'm type o1o1oo11o' a great combination of geekiness and prescision. His 30 jokes in G-minor is an amazing set with added musical effects. A really good show with a great balance of fun, geekiness and darkness.

What I enjoyed was when talking to Owen and he quitely says things like "I think next year I'll build a robot to do all the flyering" you genuinely don't know if this is a actual possibility, because with him it could definitely happen and all the comics would rent/buy one and put a rubber likeness of their face on it....

Here's the man in action in 2007: