#Spotlight By Lou on #EdinburghFringe Favourite and Regular, Arthur Smith @ArfurSmith Reunites with Phil Nice in new #EdFringe Show, Oof! #WhatsonEdinburgh #Edinburgh #Oof @ThePleasance Venue 33 #PleasanceTheatre

written by Louise Cannon (Lou)
Arthur Smith has reunited and teamed up with fellow actor and writer, Phil Nice to bring their new witty and relatable comedy drama about age, friendship and more to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. You can find the duo at The Pleasance Theatre – Venue 33 – Cabaret Bar between 2:30pm to 3:30pm from 2nd to 18th August. See further details and tickets below.

Oof takes audiences on a comedic, reflective journey. “Legendary double act Fiasco Job Job, Arthur Smith and Phil Nice, having surprisingly beaten the visitation of the grim reaper, reunite for one final time to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Two old men on a bench reflect on religion, politics, life and happy slapping, but it transpires there is more to their relationship than we realise. Hilarious sit-down drama about age, showbiz and the cartography of friendship.”

Arthur Smith says Oof is “Waiting for Godot meets Morecambe and Wise.”

Arthur Smith has been a stalwart of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for years. His debut was in 1978 and here he stays with his quick-wit for the whole of August with his shows. This time, he is joined by his fellow comedian and actor, Phil Nice.
The pair have known each other for decades and even worked on tv together in Arthur and Phil Go Off… Separately, Arthur Smith has appeared on The One Show and comedies such as People Just Do Nothing, Grumpy Old Men and voices animated tv show, The Rubbish World of Dave Spud and many more…Phil Nice has appeared in tv shows such as Outnumbered, Broadchurch, Doctors and many more… Both are also writers.

You can purchase tickets from the show’s page on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival website here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/arthur-smith-and-phil-nice-in-oof

*please note I am not affiliated to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and nor been asked to produce this piece. I solely wanted to just to be nice and think it’s worth promoting.

#EdFringe News of Comedy Show – Volcano By #BenMiller @Justthetonic #EdFringe #UnleashYourFringe #Volcano #Comedy

NEW YORK – Scientist turned stand-up comedian Ben Miller’s new comedy hour ‘Volcano’ is making its Edinburgh Fringe debut. Tickets are available here.

What happens when a comedian walks into a volcano?

In February 2023, Ben Miller was the artist in residence at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, the first stand-up comedian ever selected. The program typically selects painters, poets, Grammy-nominated musicians, you know, real artists. But somehow a silly joke boy managed to secure this coveted spot.

He spent the entire month on the Big Island, exploring the national park, learning from volcanologists, entomologists, archeologists, and local Hawaiians about the science, culture, and history of Hawai’i. Almost every night, he gazed into the fires of Kīlauea, the burning lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu crater and also wrote some jokes. Incredibly grateful for the opportunity provided to him by the National Parks Arts Foundation, Ben decided to take this comedic residency very seriously and turn it into an hour of stand-up comedy.

Building off his experience with his previous science comedy hour that had a 50 city tour across the US and Europe as well as a completely sold-out 23 show run at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, ‘Stand-Up Science Presents: Volcano’ continues to develop Ben’s nerdy yet approachable style. This multimedia science comedy hour drills deep to the core, delivering explosive laughs with fire-tested jokes.

About Ben Miller

Ben Miller is an NYC based comedian who has been working for the past 8 years and in that time, he’s performed at all the top clubs in the city such as Broadway Comedy Club, Stand Up NY, Dangerfield’s, Carolines, and The Stand. He was once ranked as the top roast battler in NYC. He also has a degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Columbia University. He’s worked with electron microscopes, been a teacher on a science bus, 3D printed cookies, and diffused a few bar fights while on stage. His jokes are sharp and self-deprecating, and he was once called “one of NYC’s best pound-for-pound joke writers” which isn’t saying much considering how little he weighs. www.benmillercomedy.com

Listing Information

Venue: Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just Up the Stairs

Ticket Price: £8.00/£6.00 concession

Date: Aug 1-25 (not 12, 19)

Time: 13:05 (1:05 PM)

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ben-miller-volcano

Teaser Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HRAi3ADK2Q

#EdFringe News – ShakeItUp – The Improvised Shakespeare Show #ShakeItUp #UnleashYourFringe #EdFringe @gildedballoon

ShakeItUp:

The Improvised Shakespeare Show

Gilded Balloon Patter House (The Dram), 3 Chambers St, EH1 1HT

Friday 2nd – Monday 26th August 2024, 13:00

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The raucous improvised Shakespeare comedy led by the audience will return to the Edinburgh Fringe this August. Using the language of Shakespeare, audience suggestions, and the actors’ imaginations, ShakeItUp perform a completely new and made-up Shakespeare style play live on stage, complete with music and songs. The audience are invited to pick their genre: Epic History, Romantic Comedy, or Gruesome Tragedy, as well as name the lead character, side characters and location of the play. As an added bonus, the audience get to play the Bard by penning their own wittiest Shakespearean line for the brave actors to pull from their breeches when they need a helping hand – despite having no idea what the line will be before they say it. Created to be accessible and enjoyable to all, The Improvised Shakespeare Show is designed for everyone to take part in, from Shakespeare aficionados to novices, with laughs, drama, and plenty of bard-based Bedlam.

James Dart, Artistic Director said, “It’s brilliant to come back to Edinburgh and the Gilded Balloon in 2024. We have an extended month-long run this year, meaning double the number of hilarious improvised epics – every show is based on audience suggestions, meaning every show is totally different! Audiences are in for a real treat as we bring our own brand of Bard-based Bedlam to the world’s greatest arts festival. This is Shakespeare as it was meant to be seen: completely improvised and utterly bonkers.”

You can purchase tickets here: ShakeItUp

ShakeItUp Theatre Company was formed in 2018 by graduates from The Guildford School of Acting, who loved Shakespeare but hated learning lines, so decided to try making up their own! The company’s first performances took place in a tiny room above a pub in Putney, and since then they have gone on to perform at The Brighton Open Air Theatre, The Hen & Chickens Theatre, Camden Fringe, Larmer Tree Festival, Byline Festival and the world-famous Minack Theatre in Cornwall. Additionally, ShakeItUp have taken part in the pioneering New Normal Festival in the summer of 2020, and appeared in the inaugural season of the Thorington Open Air Theatre in 2021. ShakeItUp has also gone international, and so far they have performed their unique improvised Shakespeare plays in Italy, Poland, and Germany. 2024 is set to be just as big a year for the company: prior to their Edinburgh Fringe return, ShakeItUp will make their Off-West End debut with a week’s run at London’s esteemed The Other Palace in July, they will also be performing at several well-known venues across the country for the first time this year, including Theatre Royal Plymouth and Theatr Clwyd in Wales.

Purchase Tickets Here:ShakeItUp

#Interview By Lou with Darrell Martin – Time To Celebrate Just The Tonic Comedy Club 20 Years At The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the comedy club’s founder @Justthetonic @EdFringe #UnleashYourFringe #EdFringe2024 #Comedy #Theatre @aDarrellMartin

JUST THE TONIC

20 YEARS AT EDINBURGH FRINGE

Written by Angela Allen, celebrated with Lou at Bookmarks and Stages

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Just the Tonic and 20 years of Just the Tonic at Edinburgh Fringe.

Based in Edinburgh, the company has grown from humble beginnings as a Sunday night club into one of the largest comedy producers in the UK, with a huge presence at the Fringe spread over 5 venues.

At a time when the Fringe is becoming more and more expensive for both performers and the public, Just the Tonic boasts one of the most affordable programmes of the festival.

As well as low ticket prices and a Pay What You Want model, there are shows such as the Big Value Comedy Show, Headliners for £10, Comedy in the Dark, Best of Cabaret and All Stars Burlesque where you can see several performers and big names on the same bill.

Just the Tonic has a reputation for supporting new talent and has helped launch the careers of many comedians including Romesh Ranganathan, Johnny Vegas, Jason Manford, Josie Long, Gary Delaney, Sarah Millican, Jon Richardson, Rob Beckett, Sean Walsh.

This year you could discover the next comedian to make it big, catch a theatre

production making its debut in the UK, or enjoy a magical family show.

The 2024 programme is packed with almost 200 shows from comedy and cabaret to theatre and kids events.

Highlights include comedians Andrew Maxwell, Kai Humphies, Lucy Porter, Craig Hill, Clinton Baptist, Alfie Brown and Scottish favourite Connor Burns. US comedy stars Chanel Ali, Titi Lee and Michael John Ciszewski make their Fringe debuts and there’s fresh new

comedy from the UK including Jake Donaldson – ‘a must see’ (Huffington Post) – and Dave Durkom – ‘a young sketch comedian to watch’ (Telegraph).

Theatre includes The Heaven’s Favorite Murderess, an adaptation of the Greek story of Medea, Jewels, a subversive spectacle of indestructible womanhood, and groundbreaking productions from Edinburgh’s own Theatre Paradok.

Family-friendly shows Pure Imagination: A Willy Wonka Parody and 6 Impossible Things: A Comedy Magic Show based on Alice in Wonderland, will delight all ages and there’s robots, escape rooms and mysteries to solve.

Founder Darrell Martin says: “Not one of the ‘big boys’, we are proud to remain in keeping with the spirit of the fringe. Not one of the smaller venues, we also pride ourselves at hosting some of the best new comedy you will find. With 30 years of running comedy clubs and 20 years of producing Edfringe shows, we are proud to be part of this amazing festival.”

For all the shows currently on sale and to get tickets visit: https://edinburgh.justthetonic.com

Instagram and Facebook: @jttedinburgh

Tik Tok: @justthetoniccomedy

#Review By Lou of Miss Harris in the New World by Peter Maughan @PeterMaughan5 @FarragoBooks #CompanyOfFools #MissHarrisInANewWorld #Theatre #Books #Humour

Miss Harris in the New World
By Peter Maughan

Theatre, humour and great for those who like old Ealing Comedies and P.G. Wodehouse. Check out the blurb and review below.

Blurb

The Red Lion production of Love and Miss Harris is booked to tour America, opening in Manhattan.

On arrival the group finds that it’s not the Manhattan with the Great White Way of Broadway at its glittering heart, but the part between the Bowery and the East River, on the Lower East Side, in a vaudeville venue owned by a local mobster. And when members of a rival gang decide to disrupt the play, the action shifts from the theatre’s state to its auditorium…

Determined to fulfil the rest of their tour dates, the company heads west from New York. Try as they might to shake it off, trouble seems to follow them wherever they go.

Review

This is the second of the Comedy of Fools series of books, which can be read a standalone too, the first being Love and Miss Harris is a fun duo of books. They are reminiscent of the likes of P.G. Wodehouse and old comedy capers. It follows the touring actors as they try and put on a show. It shouldn’t be so challenging, but they have dates still unfilled and things don’t get off to a good start, even on opening night, when a rival gang to the mobster who owns the theatre makes their presence felt. It reminds potential audiences not all is plain sailing all of the time to put on a show. The books themselves could be quite good fun if they were actually staged as they are a bit like a play within a play, as well as giving a look at behind the scenes.

This is just good old British humour written very well for a 2024 audience.

#Review By Lou of The British Bloke Decoded @GeoffNorcott @RandomTTours #NonFiction #Humour #TheBritishBlokeDecoded #EdFringe

The British Bloke Decoded
By Geoff Norcott

Finally, women, here is all we need to know about The British Bloke, all in a top-notch, humorous book. For those who are those guys, you can take a read and see if you can relate and also enjoy the banter and more… Find out more in the blurb and review as well as a link to the show he has at The Edinburgh Fringe that relates to this book.
First, thanks to Random T. Tours for inviting me to the blog tour and for arranging a copy of the book to be sent to me.

Blurb

If you see a man drinking a pint in an airport pub alone, that’s a bloke.
If you see a man driving to the tip on a Saturday morning with a smile on his face, that’s a bloke.
And if you see a man heading back from the tip and on the way to the pub, that’s a very happy bloke.

The British Bloke appears simple and straightforward. He loves football, cricket, beer and sheds. But beneath that simple exterior lies a mysterious and complex being…

In The British Bloke Decoded, writer, comedian and regular bloke, Geoff Norcott, peels back the layers of blokedom, revealing the truth behind the behaviour of Britain’s husbands, dads, brothers and friends. He dives into the value of banter, the roots of mansplaining, the near impossibility of getting blokes to send birthday cards, and whether there could be a medal system for vacuuming.

Based on 46 years of intensive field research and semi-scientific insights, this book is a celebration of. the simple British bloke in all his splendour.

Review

After many years of research, there’s finally a book that decodes The British Bloke. In quick chapters about the bloke, it gives insight into their perspective on other people, sports, films and the why they are how they are in personality and various foibles.

Geoff Norcott explains it all, the whole developing from a lad to a chap to becoming the guy that then grows further in into becoming The British Bloke, who wants a medal for doing household chores and even for being perhaps a stage further in the fatherhood stakes than their own dad. Then there’s also the man-flu, which is particularly pleasing to have been included, after all that’s what we all need to know, isn’t it? This mysterious flu that happens at a drop of a hat.

Through the facts, there is much humour to be had. It’s a rather fun book, with elements of seriousness in it to read. It has so much that is relatable and recognisable. It’s attempted rather well to explain all that we’ve been witnessing for years.

I recommend this humorous, fact-filled, non-fiction book that’s perfect for everyone’s book collection.

Find Tickets at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the biggest fringe festival in the world in the link here: https://tickets.edfringe.com/venues/underbelly-bristo-square