Fringe Comedy

Lorraine Wilson

David O’ Doherty – Big Time

Assembly Hall

five stars

Colin Hay – Get Rid of the Minstrel

Gilded Balloon Teviot

three stars

Abandoman – Life & Rhymes

Underbelly George Square

four stars

A PREVIOUS winner of the big prize, David O’ Doherty has always done well at the Fringe. His style of comedy, which is slightly shambling, seems off-the-cuff, and throws in a few songs as well as some light keyboard accompaniment for other tales, works well here. It works for one reason – he’s extremely funny.

Now, as he says with some degree of genuine disbelief, he is performing in a haunted Victorian hall on a hill. The small keyboard he uses looks tiny in this cavernous space and the stories he tells are a combination of real-life, bizarre historical fact, smart observation on popular culture, and total flights of fancy. From the birthday candles that never go out to how he managed to become a “social media influencer” by complete accident. The hour is packed with solid, original material that somehow manages to never repeat but stay on a narrative of sorts.

Without any recourse to stereotyping, he examines his own Irish nationality. It takes skill to allow an audience a window into a performer’s real-life and background in any meaningful way while still keeping the laugh coming.

Run ends August 28

COMBINING music and storytelling only works when there’s a balance between the elements. In the main, this show does deliver, but with Colin Hay such a natural raconteur, it would have benefited from even more of a narrative.

He tells us about leaving Saltcoats for Australia in the 1960s, provides a peek backstage when Men at Work won Best New Artist at the 1982 Grammy Awards, and has a corker of an anecdote that gives the show its title. This talent for storytelling translate into songwriting talent of course, with a combination of Men at Work and his solo albums here.

This is far from a one-man show, however, with Hay keen to involve the band as often as possible. This is particularly true of Cecilia Noël, a successful musician in her own right (and Hay’s wife), who is an energetic if somewhat distracting performer. At the point where Hay said there was only 15 minutes left, maybe Noël’s Latin version of AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC, a song by his guitar player, and extended solos on Down Under by the admittedly excellent players wasn’t the best use of limited time. An enjoyable, if slightly frustrating show.

Run ends August 28

WITH AN atmosphere more akin to a party night than a gig, Abandoman fills this giant, inflatable, upside-down purple cow with a younger audience who are clearly ready to not care, while simultaneously putting their hands in the air.

This is where music meets comedy meets improvisation, to a hip-hop beat. On paper it sounds terrible. In the hands of a less able comic mind it could very well be, but Rob Broderick’s ability to produce fully formed and fiercely funny raps from anything he takes from audience members lifts it above most other musical improvisation.

There is a structure to the show with this detailing the rise of Abandoman (not the real ones) from rural Ireland’s hip-hop circuit to this point where they are on the verge of global recognition.

For Broderick, the sight of a man dressed in foam lobster suit must have been mirth manna. The first couple of rows are clearly ready to participate fully and suggestions for minor annoyances led to the superb Do You Feel My Pain? About avocados that have become overripe.

Broderick clearly has a lightning wit. It would be good to see what he can do without the backbeat again.

Run ends August 29