5th - 26th August 2023 (not 17th, 21st, 23rd),
12.40pm - 2.10pm
"A vibrant, stimulating showcase of talent."
FRIDAY 12th AUGUST 2022
Pleasance One, Venue 33
12.40pm-2.10pm
Tickets: £15.00
TODAY'S SHOWS
Cirque Berserk!
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (family, theatre)
Britain's biggest theatre-circus spectacular and sell-out smash hit returns. Featuring your favourite Cirque Berserk! acts plus some sensational new ones! Showcasing the finest in traditional circus thrills and skills, Cirque Berserk! brings this treasured form of live entertainment bang up-to-date in a jaw-dropping spectacular created especially for the theatre. Combining contemporary cirque-style artistry with adrenaline-fuelled stunt action, this astoundingly talented international troupe includes over 30 fearless acrobats, aerialists and daredevil stuntmen. Featuring the world's most hair-raising circus act: the legendary motorcycle Globe of Death. 'Insanely thrilling, happy-making entertainment' **** (List). 'Heart-stoppingly good fun' **** (Time Out). **** (Scotsman).
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
Alfie Brown: Sensitive Man
Comedy (stand-up)
Does emotion help us make moral judgments? Alfie will address this question using jokes. There is a joke about Formula1 that isn’t actually about Formula1. There is a joke about shopping that’s not really about shopping. There is a joke about parking tickets, and so on. These jokes will weave together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. You can disagree, but you must laugh. This is Alfie’s most accomplished show yet and is now an Amazon Prime Special. 'Motoring towards a masterpiece' **** (Evening Standard). **** (Telegraph). **** (Guardian).
War of the Worlds (On a Budget)
Theatre (devised, comedy)
Step aside HG Wells, take a break Jeff Wayne, back to your trailer Tom Cruise, Lamphouse is tackling War of the Worlds and they’re doing it... on a budget! Featuring one man, a loop pedal, lots of cardboard, many hats and several terrifying (definitely not made out of paper) tripods. Can our hero outrun the aliens, play 25 characters, stop for a tea break and save the day? Featuring a full soundtrack of new music, War of the Worlds (On a Budget) is the musical-comedy, action-adventure we didn’t know we needed!
Rouge
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus (acrobatics, cabaret)
Circus for grown ups – a decadent blend of sensational acrobatics, operatic cabaret and twisted burlesque. A non-stop celebration of the astonishing, surprising, subversive and supremely sexy. Winner of Best Circus 2020 Adelaide Fringe, Rouge is back with acts you've loved plus brand-new offerings to shock, delight and tease. Australian circus cabaret at it's finest. 'One badass sizzler of a show' ***** (Daily Mail). 'Rouge redefines what circus is and should be' ***** (TheWeeReview.com). 'Welcome to a circus for the new age... Brilliant performances... embodies the phrase: filthy and gorgeous' ***** (WeekendNotes.com).
The Greatest Hits of Lily and John
Theatre (new writing, music)
Lily hasn’t heard from John in weeks. His depression has spiralled and he’s recording a final goodbye. When Lily bursts in uninvited, he lies and says he’s writing a play. A play with live music. About… a dressage horse. Committing to the absurd, they enact the horse play, colouring the stage with their fears, phobias, and failures. A bitterly honest, tenderly ridiculous account of modern life and love. Written and performed by Rosanna Adams (RSC’s The Mirror and the Light) and Calum Sivyer (Windmill Theatre’s Cabaret). Supporting The Listening Place.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
John Hastings: Do You Have Any Ointment My John Hastings
Comedy (stand-up)
John Hastings has had to deal with the shit life has thrown at him since 2019… He got a divorce during Covid, his best friend got a terminal diagnosis, he got bed bugs, he nearly got his arm amputated and he did a massive poo in his pants. He has been on telly though: BBC Three if that counts? Oh and... America's Got Talent! ‘Go see him now!’ **** (Herald). ‘Pleasure to watch’ **** (Times). 'Good anecdotes skilfully told by a performer with presence' **** (Chortle.co.uk).
The Choir of Man
Theatre (music, a cappella)
Choir of Man is the best night in your local you've ever had. It's a party, it's a concert, it's a lock-in like no other. Featuring breathtaking reinventions of chart-topping hits from Guns N' Roses, Adele, Avicii, Paul Simon, Sia and more, in an hour of joy for all ages! Nine multi-talented singers combine stunning harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs in a riotously feel-good homage to that gathering place we've all missed so much: the local pub. With a real working bar on stage, come ready to drink in the action. The first round's on us!
Mervyn Stutter
Host and Compere
Mervyn has been in the entertainment industry since 1974. He started in theatre where he acted, wrote scripts, songs, and directed for around 14 years. In the 1980s, he became the 'regular topical song bloke' on the BBC TV's first ever daytime show, 'Open Air', fronted by a thin Irishman called Eamonn Holmes. Over the years he has performed weekly topical songs on many TV current affairs programmes and more of the same on radio. In the late 1980s, he took his comedy songs onto the Comedy Circuit and then touring theatres. Merv's first Edinburgh Fringe was in 1986 and he has been every year since. 'Pick of the Fringe' started life as 'Have you seen anything good?', a show to help answer the perennial Fringe-goer question. The title was changed to 'Pick of the Fringe' in 1994 and it he has built it up into one of the must-see Fringe shows.
“Mervyn Stutter is very, very good as compere of this chat show, for to make such a showcase work requires skill, talent and quick reactions. Stutter works the crowd like the showman he is.”
THE OBSERVER
