One woman’s quest for tortured beefcake, 80s action and raw sexual power
Pre-pandemic Rosy became the world’s first female time-travelling doctor in her multi-award-winning theatre debut ‘Passionate Machine’. Now this feminist powerhouse is Musclebound to examine our most shameful sexual secrets.
When bodybuilders and 80s action films unite, you can always count on one thing: a good hard flogging! And for a five-year-old Rosy, witnessing live action film characters like He-Man and Conan the Barbarian being stripped, beaten and humiliated by their male antagonists sparked an odyssey of secret obsession that would shape her erotic life forever.
Now forty, with a string of disappointing relationships behind her and her own grown-up daughter about to leave home, a chance re-watching of He-Man reignites the spark of Rosy’s lust, setting her off on a mission to replenish her sexual power. But can tortured beefcake really be the key to her salvation? Or does a more uncomfortable sexual truth lurk, waiting to be reckoned with?
Join Rosy in this intelligent, provocative and terrifically funny real-life story, as she goes to any lengths to find out – even if that means asking Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger themselves …
‘It’s about me getting to grips with my childhood passion for watching these incredible scenes of hyper-muscular men being abused’, says Rosy.
‘About why that dynamic felt so powerful. Musclebound takes a playful, candid and highly singular look at sexual power, female pleasure and the politics and principles of orgasm-faking.’
Rosy is forced to ask herself: what are the sexual lessons we want to pass on to our daughters – and what do we still need to learn for ourselves? Is it ever OK to objectify people?
Rosy Carrick is a writer, actor and translator. Her critically acclaimed play Passionate Machine won theawards for Best Design and Best New Playat Brighton Fringe in 2018, and The Infallibles Award for Theatrical Excellence at Edinburgh Fringe. She has co-hosted the poetry stages at Glastonbury, Latitude and Port Eliot Festivals for the last decade.
Her debut poetry collection Chokey was published in 2018 and its follow-up, 26 Letters, is due for release in 2023. Rosy has a PhD on the Russian revolutionary poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. She has released two books of his work in translation, and is currently working on a third, which will be published in 2024 by The 87 Press. www.rosycarrick.com
Musclebound is directed by Fringe First winner Katie Bonna. Katie won the Most Promising New Playwright award at the 2018 Off West End Awards (for All The Things I Lied About).
In 2021, her queer comedy The Entertainment was nominated for OFF Fest’s Best Online Theatre production, and her short film IRL was nominated for Best Comedy at the Cannes Shorts Festival.
Part of the prestigious BBC Comedy Writers Room course 2019/2020, Katie is currently under commission from BBC Radio 4 and RADA.
‘Intelligent, articulate, funny’ Scotsman (on Passionate Machine)
Listings information:
Musclebound
Venue: Assembly Roxy (Venue 139)
Dates: 3-29 Aug (not 10, 16, 23) First review date 3 Aug
Over 3,300 shows now available to browse online ahead of the Fringe’s 75th anniversary this August
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Societyis delighted to announce that tickets for a further 146 Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows are now available to browse and book at edfringe.com.
This is the fifth set of tickets to be released for 2022, with the first 283 shows revealed in March, 796 in April, 1,281 in May and 1,047 in June. In total, there are 3,385 shows now available.
The 75th anniversary of the Fringe takes place from 05 – 29 August 2022 and will feature an exciting range of performance, with theatre, comedy, music, dance, circus, musicals, variety, cabaret, events, children’s shows and more all featured in the programme so far.
Below is a small representative sample of shows available to book from today. The full list of shows released so far can be found at edfringe.com.
Theatre
At Summerhall, Dykegeist “will shift between a supernatural thriller, a sci-fi spider lair, a haunted club scene, a social situation to discuss threat/consent/otherness”, and Peaceophobia is “an unapologetic response to rising Islamophobia around the world”.
An outdoor performance of “Shakespeare’s timeless comic masterpiece” A Midsummer Night’s Dream is at Fisherrow Links, and at Paradise in Augustines, 12th Night Lite is a “true love story for the ages”.
A selection of online shows will include In a Cave, a Voice at C venues, where “a Neolithic girl seeks comfort in imaginary friends”, and Willy’s Lil Virgin Queen explores Terra Taylor Knudson’s “passion for Shakespeare, and connects classic characters with modern experiences”.
Olding is a “multi-story, multi-character solo show, written and performed by Johanna Courtleigh” on Fringe Online, and What Am I, Chopped Suey? is also online, where “Meg Lin shares a raw personal account of growing up Chinese American that is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching”.
The Calligrapher is on at Greenside @ Infirmary Street, where an artist is “followed by the walking, talking, blood-drenched Quran that has haunted him” since he created it, and Elementa is “a one-woman show about a planet-saving superhero who’s lost her mojo” in the same venue.
Shows at ZOO Playground include Chips and Ice Cream, a show about a father-son relationship and the “struggles, the laughs, the joy and the inevitability of the mistakes that every parent will make”. Don’t Shoot the Albatross is where “pop music meets poetry in this new monologue about city lights, queer night life and large seafaring birds”.
At House of Oz, John Bell: A Few of my Favourite Things is “a relaxed hour with Australian living legend John Bell, as he rummages through his swag of favourite things, fishing out poems, stories, backstage gossip”.
Fan/Girl is part of PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth and charts a “tongue-in-cheek ride through adolescence against a backdrop of nineties football”, and A Lady Does Not Scratch Her Crotch is “a look at gender, sexuality, and the near impossibility of growing up”.
At theSpace @ Niddry Street, Laura J Harris presents Bella Donna, “an original queer comedy filled with unexpected twists and turns and more than its fair share of sass”, and theSpace on North Bridge hosts Pool (No Water), “a visceral and shocking play about the fragility of friendship and jealousy inspired by success”.
Sweet FA at Tynecastle Park is “a play with songs exploring the remarkable popularity of women’s football in the early 20th century”, and A War of Two Halves is at the same venue, telling the journey of “the Hearts from the football fields of Gorgie to the battlefields of the Somme.”
Cabaret and Variety
Figs in Wigs: Astrology Bingo is at Assembly George Square Studios, a show which plays “with bingo cards generated from your favourite celebrity’s astrological birth chart”.
Disenchanted: A Cabaret of Twisted Fairy Tales is online at C venues and asks, “Why was the Wolf in Grandma’s bed? Did Sleeping Beauty have an opinion on consent? Were the Ugly Sisters’ feet really that big?”
At BlundaGardens: BlundaBus, Ash and Lisa: Band Practice welcomes you “to this dismantling of music and sanity” in their musical improv show. And for film fans, at Brioche Dundas Street there is See It On Screen Summer 22, “three original short films made in Edinburgh”.
At House of Oz, OZmosis: The Great Australian Variety Pack presents the “hottest line-up of all-Australian talent on the Fringe”, Dolly Diamond’s Bosom Buddies sees the “award-winning, sharp-tongued cabaret diva” return to Edinburgh, and at the same venue, Geraldine Quinn: BROAD explores how “Quinn grew up idolising bold, brassy older women. Now she’s becoming one.”
Pick of the Fringe is at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, presenting “a mixed bill of comedy, music and variety, alongside the finest cocktails and drams in Edinburgh”.
At Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, Accordion Ryan’s Pop Bangers brings music from “artists from all across the pop music spectrum… in a way you’ve never heard them before”.
Chris Cook: Reflections asks, “What advice would you give your younger self?” with a magical twist at PBH’s Free Fringe @ Voodoo Rooms. At Absurd: A Live Cabaret Panel Show, you’re invited to “join host and magician Ava Beaux, and magical team captains Kane & Abel, for an array of games, buzzer rounds, and cabaret acts”; that’s at PBH’s Free Fringe @ Roti. At Planet Bar is Miss DQ Prides Again, an inclusive LGBT show.
“World-renowned songsmith and pianist extraordinaire, John Thorn, returns to the Fringe with a sublime collection of new original songs exploring the meaning of life and the future of humanity” in John Thorn Dirt An Existential Songbook at RSE Theatre.
At the Voodoo Rooms, Mr.B: Twerp in Progress “will feature some chap-hop classics, interpretations of vintage rap ditties and perhaps even some bits made up on the spot”.
99 Red Kitties is at theSpace @ Niddry St, “a highly energetic amateur burlesque show, which is sure to tantalize the audience”.
Children’s Shows
Online at C venues, Risas de Papel is a show created by 11 artists from Mexico and Chile, “fusing clown, gestural theatre and live illustration in a show for audiences of all ages”.
Spontaneous Potter Kidz: The Unofficial Improvised Parody is at Gilded Balloon at the Museum, “an entirely improvised wizarding comedy show, based on your suggestions”. At House of Oz, Dolly Diamond’s Storytime “helps stimulate children’s imagination and expand their understanding of the world”.
At Paradise in Augustines, The Red Thread We Are Holding takes audiences on “a journey of culture, love and free Taiwanese desserts”.
The Mermaid and the Cow is at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, telling the tale of how “adventurer and children’s author, Lindsey Cole mermaided the length of the River Thames to highlight the plastic pandemic.”
Comedy
In comedy, Adam Kay: This is Going to Hurt… More (Work in Progress) brings diary entries “as well as some disgusting favourite stories” to Pleasance, and at Pleasance Dome Drag His Ass with Mary Beth Barone is a “deconstruction of modern dating culture”.
At Laughing Horse venues, Love and Sex on the Spectrum “explores all of the awkward firsts that come with dating, sex and love from a late bloomer’s perspective”. In From Ukraine, “Dima Watermelon (it’s his real name) and Pavlo Voytovych (writer at Comedy Central)” bring “the best comedians Ukraine has to offer”, with all donations going to organisations in Ukraine.
Jew Talkin’ to Me? seesRachel Creeger and Philip Simon live record their “unashamedly Jewish podcast enjoyed by everyone” at Assembly George Square Studios, and Róisín and Chiara: Sex on Wheels is “a whirlwind of synchronised, audience-tickling, stream-of-consciousness mischief”, at the same venue.
At BlundaGardens: BlundaBus, there is “extreme nonsense from award-winning idiot Dan Lees” in Dan Lees: Mustard or Custard?, and at Gilded Balloon at the Museum is Spontaneous Sherlock, an “entirely improvised Sherlock Holmes comedy play, based on a suggestion of a title”.
The In-Laws is at Greenside @ Infirmary Street, a one-man show where you can “join Paul as he meets his in-laws for the first time”, and at House of Oz, Gabbi Bolt: I Hope My Keyboard Doesn’t Break tackles “climate change, feminism, why small towns have too many pubs”.
The Necrobus hosts Fright Bus Service, “an award-winning theatrical sightseeing tour around the darker side of Europe’s most haunted city on a classic 1960s Routemaster bus”.
As part of PBH’s Free Fringe, Mimi Hayes: 20-Nothing details the story of an old woman who’s “sucked into the story of a 20-something who can’t catch a break”. Faces of Glasgow “is a scabrous and salacious satire of modern Glaswegian city life and its idiosyncratic inhabitants”.
The Scottish Comedy Festival presents Ah! My Name is Yoky Yu, about “healing, trauma, love, shame, guilt, mom, intimate relationships, and sexuality”, and The Lunch Rush gives “a taste of some of the best new comedy talent on the Scottish circuit” with Kathleen Hughes.
At The Stand’s New Town Theatre, Des Clarke: One O’ Clock Fun presents “a lunchtime showcase of Edinburgh Fringe legends, celebrity guests and the most exciting new talent around”, while Mark Watson: More Banging on About Time and Similar Issues (Work in Progress) explores “what it means to live and die, and what the hell we’re meant to do with the rapidly passing time in between”.
Trashfuture: Live at the Fringe is at theSpace @ Venue45, covering everything from “nonsense start-ups to the evil tech zillionaires and our garbled nonsense of a culture.”
At Underbelly, Dr Brown: Workdsff intlsdjfj Progressdsdfdfn the “multi award-winning comic” comes to Edinburgh “after a decade in hibernation”.
Call Me Me is at ZOO Playground, a show where Maryellen takes audiences through “stories of medical malpractice, being pigeon-toed, mansplaining in escape rooms”, and Platonic Love Triangle – A New York Stand-up Comedy Show sees comedians “Wyatt Feegrado (Bettor Days on Hulu, Amazon Prime), Lukas Arnold (2 million+ followers on Tiktok) and Otter Lee (Fairview on Comedy Central) present an afternoon of stand-up comedy”.
Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus
At Dancebase, an “elaborately costumed dancer performs a tap dance ritual accompanied by a musician” in Le Flâneur, and A Something! No Dragon No Lion! is “a Kung Fu contemporary circus made in Hong Kong”.
Cirk La Putyka and Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety and Circus Art collaborate on Boom at Underbelly, a “show about family, freedom and borders” where 12% of ticket income will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
At ZOO Southside is 40/40: “Kat has always danced, but she has never before been a dancer. But then, she’s never been 40 before either. This is the result of 40 years of joy and hardship, laughter and tears, super tunes and super moves.”
Musicals and Opera
On Fringe Online, Feeling Pretty “tells a story of women reclaiming their power” and at theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, The Canterville Ghost: The Musical is a “family friendly comic ghost story” adapted from the Oscar Wilde story.
Spoken Word
At the Stand’s New Town Theatre, Politics and Poetry with Corbyn and McCluskey is an event which “traces the evolution of their political lives and how poetry and modern culture has provided inspiration, enlightenment and comfort”.
In 12 Angry Women, on Fringe Online, “women are on trial by the audience (the camera), they express their monologues and themselves through dance/movement”.
Aural Picnic is at PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth where a “local lass brings to life contemporary stories with humour and vigour performed in anthropomorphic characters from nature and myth.”
At Pleasance at EICC, Iain Dale: All Talk with Nicola Sturgeon brings the LBC presenter and the First Minister together for “incisive insight on current affairs”.
Shot in the Face Marvin Herbert is at Shout – Scottish Music Centre @ 111 Holyrood Road, where Marvin discusses having “investigated over 24 murders and eight shootings. Shot five times, axed in the head, stabbed, beaten and bruised” in the service of “reducing re-offending by inspiring, motivating youths and changing lives”.
Music
At ZOO Southside, sanni-leena brings “jazzy covers” with a voice which “will hit you right in the soul – no matter what style she takes on”, and at ZOO Playground, I Dreamed a Dream: The Hunt for a Husband is “an evening of musical comedy, horrendous dating stories, and a relatable truth that we all need to hear.”
At Acoustic Music Centre @ UCC, Jeremy Dion from Boulder, Colorado presents his “blend of folk, bluegrass and Americana”, and Baul, Troubador and Verses on Love, Lust and Flame directed by Ahmed Kaysher “offers the ecstasy and sublime beauty of Indian Vaishnav, Baul and Troubadour music with its interpretation through a haunting presentation of Sufi, Bengali and Greek poetry”.
Duelling Piano Heroes is “an unrivalled, 21st century duelling pianos experience” at PBH’s Free Fringe @ Liquid Room Annexe/Warehouse.
10 Years of Hot Dub Time Machine promises “a night of high energy and non-stop fun and Tom’s incredible selection of the very best tracks from the last 70 years” at Royal Highland Centre.
At RSE Theatre, Bonnie Thorn Little Jazz Bird “showcases Bonnie’s vocal talents with selections from the Gershwins to Amy Winehouse and beyond”, and at St Cuthbert’s Church, Pitchcraft: The Pitch Is Back! is a showcase of “uniquely crafted acapella arrangements, each with its own twist, delivered with humour and passion”.
There is a Lunchtime Organ Recital with free admissionat Stockbridge Church, where “Marion Lees McPherson plays a selection of German, French and English organ music on the theme of Pain and Glory.”
Kings of the Blues: Electric Blues Tribute is at The Brunton, “honouring three masters of the Blues: BB King, Albert King and Freddy King”, and Kyle Falconer in The Old Dr Bell’s Baths with Support from The John Rush Band, The Laurettes and Hunter & McMusard is at The Old Dr Bells Baths where “Kyle, backed by his full band, will be playing a set combining his solo music and classics from The View’s back catalogue.”
The Salvation Army Edinburgh City Corps hosts Music for the Festival with Newtongrange Silver Band, “a traditional mining village brass band from the outskirts of Edinburgh, but their repertoire is far from traditional”.
At Underbelly, Bristo Square, Symphonic Ibiza celebrates “some of the most famous Ibiza club anthems from the last 30 years”.
Grigoryan Brothers: This Is Us is at the House of Oz. “To mark the National Museum of Australia’s 20th anniversary, the nation’s most respected classical guitarists, the Grigoryan Brothers, composed 18 musical works inspired by items from the museum’s vast collection.” At the same venue, BIRDEE “blends her own lineage of Chinese, Greek and Russian origins to craft her own sound and stories”.
120 shows make up The Stand’s 2022 programme across Stand 1 (5 York Place), Stand 2 (16 N St Andrew St) & The Stand’s New Town Theatre (96 George St)
We may be world-famous for our stand-up, but that doesn’t mean The Stand is a one-trick pony. Several spoken-word mainstays such as ‘The Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas’ and ‘In Conversation With’ are back thanks to our partnership with Fair Pley, but there’s also brand new shows from comrades Jeremy Corbyn & Len McCluskey, legendary actor David Hayman, former Makar Liz Lochhead and much more …
An ongoing series of intimate conversations with some of the country’s biggest names, including Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ian Rankin, Darren McGarvey, David Hayman, Val McDermid, and now – a last minute addition – our First Minister Nicola Sturgeon! £12.50 – £15
Are you brave enough to challenge your own preconceptions and opinions on hot-button issues? Susan Morrison introduces a different academic speaker every day. £11
Are you brave enough to challenge your own preconceptions and opinions on hot-button issues? Susan Morrison introduces a different academic speaker every day. £11
Jeremy Corbyn is joined by his friend and comrade Len McCluskey for a unique event. No strangers to controversy; their love of poetry is the softer counterpoint to their firm political beliefs. One night only. £12
What does it really mean to be working class? A blend of theatre, stand-up and spoken word from critically acclaimed writer and performer Kevin P Gilday. £12
Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Luca Veste, Doug Johnstone and Stuart Neville switch out pens for guitars. Murder on the dancefloor is guaranteed …
Gabby Killick’s new comedy show Game of Thongs is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe
Award-winning comedian Gabby Killick is set to debut her new show Game of Thongs at the Edinburgh Fringe where she’ll take a hilarious frolic through the modern-day jungle of sex, drugs and cancel culture.
It’s the show that puts the joke in woke with Gabby speaking what others dare not say. It includes her viral pandemic anthems Masturbation in Isolation and Pose and tells the social media generation the truth they don’t want to know, at least not from one of their own.
Performing at the Wee Coo in the world-famous Underbelly George Square tent, the hour-long show will run from 3rd to 29th August* at 7:20pm. It comes witha cast of extraordinary characters from ‘The Apps’ to ‘Shocking Diseases’ and every minute is mesmeric.
Gabby Killick’s previous show was voted one of the Top 3 at the Funny Women Awards and Gabby was described by the Edinburgh Evening News as “one of the most authentic voices of her generation.” Gabby’s shows have also featured in both Time Out and GQ Magazine’s 10 Coolest Things To Do In London.
Game of Thongs is brutally honest, offensive, hysterical and unapologetically about to cause a storm at this year’s Fringe.
Gabby says, “Everyone is so obsessed with cancel culture that, in the social media age, few dare to tell the truth. The great thing about comedy is that it gives us a platform to explore taboos and say it like it really is.
“Game of Thongs is offensive and shocking but it is also hilarious. The characters are a reflection and commentary on the darker aspects of our society in this digital age. I wouldn’t advise coming if you’re easily offended.”
Gabby first played the Fringe back in 2014 and since then has worked on a variety of stage and film projects and has begun releasing her comedic songs on Spotify and YouTube.
The cast has been announced for Hiya Dolly! ahead of its Fringe 22 run at the Space @ Surgeons Hall.
The true story of how a cute, attention-seeking lamb became the most famous sheep in history, the world’s first cloned mammal. Lab created and born at the Roslin Institute outside Edinburgh, Dolly lived the good life.
A worldwide celebrity who never left her farm. Mother to six lovely lambs. She changed biology forever – and irrevocably changed the lives of all her human parents. Who were they? How did they do it? Where are they now? Come find out how to clone a sheep in this new play by Vince LiCata, laced with Dollified Scottish tunes and plenty of woolly humour.
Hiya Dolly! is a play with live music that explores the science, human relationships, and public reaction surrounding the remarkable cloning of Dolly the sheep at the Roslin Institute outside Edinburgh. At the time many high profile scientists had declared that cloning a mammal was impossible.
It’s a whirlwind excursion through the creation of the world’s most famous sheep and the story of the people who made it happen. Itmixes science, human drama, music, humour and a talking sheep. Its songs are set to traditional Scottish folk tunes arranged by Edinburgh based musician Ciaran McGhee.
Writer Vince LiCata says, “The explosion of publicity about the cloning of Dolly the sheep was outrageous: scientific advances just don’t get that type of public hype.
“And yet all that mania included little about the actual cloning. So Hiya Dolly! is an attempt to tell the story of the cloning itself, but in a way that retains the atmosphere of the runaway circus that surrounded it.”
Director Andy Jordan comments: “I am delighted to be directing Hiya Dolly!, a highly unusual play about a truly remarkable animal. Dolly is an Edinburgh icon who was created, lived and died just outside the city, so I feel honoured to be involved in telling her truly astonishing story.
“This play brings a talking Dolly to the stage with chutzpah, wit and charm, in a way that can only happen in theatre. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Hiya Dolly!
Written by Vince LiCata,
Directed & Produced by Andy Jordan
Music Direction by Ciaran McGhee
Designed by Robbie McDonnell
Listings info
Venue: theSpaceUK @ Surgeons Hall (Grand Theatre)
Dates: Friday 5 to Saturday 27 August No performance 14 Aug
Winner 2019 Outstanding Fringe Show (Amused Moose)
Winner 2018 Scottish Comedy Award – Best MC
Finalist Scottish Comedian of the Year
Finalist English Comedian of the Year
Nominated 2018 Best Fringe Show (Amused Moose)
Nominated 2019 Scottish Comedy Award – Best Mc
Nominated 2019 Scottish Comedy Award – Best Fringe Show
Having amassed tens of millions of views online, multi-award-winning comedian Liam Withnail brings his new show, Hot Sauce, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and is delighted to be returning to favourite venue in the cityMonkey Barrel Comedy.
Hot Sauce is an hour of Withnail in his element, deftly juggling the big themes of the day in an accessible and always hysterical way. In this show he questions the true cost of the modern conveniences’ that the lockdowns had us accustomed to, be they Deliveroo, Uber, Amazon – or even PornHub.
The big questions raised is … When we’re free to indulge without consequence, can it be good for society? The finale of the show highlights a personal health scare which brings this question into laser focus, all handled with Liam’s typical affable charm.
Liam Withnail has been entertaining international comedy audiences for almost a decade. The award-winning act has performed as far and wide as Japan, Iceland and Australia – as well as regularly around the top clubs in the UK.
A stalwart of the Edinburgh Fringe, his critically acclaimed one man shows have cemented his place as one of the most exciting new voices in UK Comedy. Winner of Best Compere at the Scottish Comedy Awards in 2018, and Outstanding Fringe Show in 2019, Withnail is as comfortable riffing with the crowd as he is with his wide-ranging sharp material.
Within the last year, Liam’s popularity exploded online – clips of his legendary crowd work have amassed tens of millions of views. Often filmed at Monkey Barrel Comedy where he is a resident compere. His TikTok (70k+) followers in particular has alerted a new, far reaching and enthusiastic fanbase.
A regular panellist on BBC’s Breaking The News, Liam has also branched out into writing – with sketches featured on BAFTA winning Scot Squad
What the press have said previously
“Has us constantly in stiches!” ★★★★★ Adelaide Advertiser
“An hour of consistently hysterical comedy” ★★★★★ – The Wee Review
“One of the most complete and affirming shows I’ve seen this year” ★★★★★ Ed Fest Mag
“Fantastic writing. An important story told with humour, humility and style”The Scotsman
Cockroach Party will be a rambling tour through a mind that is on its last legs. It only takes one cockroach to ruin a bowl of cherries. But it takes a cockroach party to save the world. Will include crowd work but don’t worry the water’s warm. Have you ever gone on incognito mode to Google symptoms of multiple sclerosis? Well let’s get this party started.
Topics covered will include:
a) Insomnia (haven’t slept for a year),
b) Getting diagnosed with glaucoma,
c) Being thrown under the bus,
c) Respect,
d) Revenge,
e) Redemption,
f) Regret.
“Hilariously maladjusted hour” ****1/2 Chortle (Melbourne Comedy Festival 2022)
Dan Rath has enough parking ticket debt to cripple a small European country and he has watched his car get cubed by the government. He has been disrespected by his colleagues and is bruised and battered with nothing to lose. His low status means he has heightened cortisol production and is not equipped to take a gentle ribbing. He has a diverse set of interests including prime numbers.
His comedy will appeal to:
a) burnouts with no driver’s license
b) folks who have paid a visit to marijuana island
c) scumdogs
Dan Rath is ready to capitulate to the desires of the audience. All this stammering boob wants is a playmate.
“Meta funny” Herald Sun (Aus)
Read Dan Rath review of Cockroach Party from Chortle at the Melbourne Comedy Festival 2022
What happens when you try to run 26.2 miles in the most secretive nation on earth?
In 2018 Dan Kelly came third in the North Korean Marathon. That means he beat over 1,000 other runners to get on the winner’s podium.
To achieve that he had to negotiate a voluminous application and vetting process to gain access to the country. He also discovered what happens when you run out of malt loaf the night before the big race, and, what happens when you hit the wall in front of 50,000 North Koreans who are enthusiastically cheering you on. There may even have been some physical training involved too.
Dan created an event team with four friends, each with their own area of specialism: meet Mark (nutrition), Tarek (communication), Martin (numbers) and Hugh (speed).
This fast-paced hour of unique, intelligently comic storytelling incorporates video from the race (official North Korean government provided footage) and real-life scenes of BBQ clams and last-minute flapjack shortages.
Marvel as Dan and his team discover the answers to the burning questions of the day like:
‘How do you convert miles into kilometres…and then back into miles!?’
‘What’s North Korean for ‘is that a real gun?’’
‘Just how much voltarol gel is too much voltarol gel?’
How I Came Third in the North Korean Marathon is directed by Joseph Morpurgo, co-creator of smash-hit improvised comedy Austentatious (winner of multiple 4 and 5 star reviews) and Comedy Award nominee.
Dan said ‘As a keen runner I’ve run marathons in places like Marrakech, Snowdonia, Madeira and Valencia but entering North Korea’s was one of the more unusual experience and was my toughest challenge yet.
“For a start, are flapjacks even allowed in North Korea? This show is an attempt to tell audiences about the thrills, spills and downright absurdities of running a race in the most secretive nation on earth”.
One-time Edinburgh University student Dan is no stranger to international travel. In his day job he travels the world to investigate the cost of living in different countries, checking and recording prices of day-to-day goods.
If you want to know the price of a box of tea bags in Belarus or a pack of pasta in Peru, Dan’s your man. He has visited supermarkets in over 140 countries. Any unusual finds?
‘Last year, on the top shelf in a tiny, run down corner shop in Burundi I saw a very dusty, and most unexpected bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale…’
“The 39 Steps” meets “An Inspector Calls” via Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes and Midsomer Murders. A cast of six brings a comic flurry of suspects and characters together to discover who done what, and why …
Except, well … four of the cast are stuck by the side of the road in the van, and only those two knights of the Theatre – Sir Gavin of Robertson and Sir Nicholas of Collett have managed to get to the venue… but ‘the show must go on’…
Comic clichés from the Detective genre abound in this genre-busting comedy from the masters of inventive silliness! That’s if the two of them can get through the play at all without losing the plot. Literally.
It’s not a new idea – it’s been DONE TO DEATH, BY JOVE – but not like this! Promise.
From touring in USA, Australia and beyond, they’re now at the The Space!
After two years of inaction while covid killed off live performance, investigating a murder seemed appropriate!
But how? With no income and no production funds in the bank, what to produce and how?
Nicholas Collett & Gavin Robertson found a solution – produce a show for six actors but manage with two! With almost no budget and a dearth of necessary actors this was a case of writing a Whodunnit, rehearsing the ACTUAL storyline – then working out how to sabotage themselves at every turn!
The result is this show – a storyline complete with bickering, audience on-the-spot interaction, and laughs a-plenty. And many hats!
Gavin and Nicholas now have 9 shows as a partnership, with Gavin best known for his West End hIt, THUNDERBIRDS F.A.B. (first seen at Edinburgh in 1987!) and Nicholas in the award-winning ‘Black & White Tea Room’ in 2019.
Wednesday 3 August – Monday 29 August, 12:20pm (not 15th)
From Breakthrough Memoir award winner Sophie Bentinck comes Pauline, a new dark comedy about finding your nan’s suicide note. Written and performed by Bentinck, directed by Fred Wienand (Twelfth Night, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre), with sound design by Anna Short (Folk, Hampstead Theatre), lighting design by Ali Hunter (Orlando, Jermyn Street Theatre), and presented together with producer Emma Blackman (Bobby & Amy, Fringe First Award 2019), this powerful autobiographical piece explores learning to dance with the skeletons in your family closet.
Pauline is the story of three generations of women in one family – and the story of the writer who went digging in the secrets file in order to bring them all on stage. Witness a brutally honest and joyfully hilarious glimpse into what it has meant to be a woman in the Bentinck family as far back as 1921.
Runner up at the prestigious Screenshot 2020 competition, the judging panel which included Olivia Colman and Lolly Adefope, said of Pauline “it is important this story gets told” and Phoebe Waller-Bridge praised the play as “captivating.” Sophie was also selected by acclaimed writer Cathy Rentzenbrink as Curtis Brown’s Breakthrough Memoir Scholar for the adaptation she is writing of the play.
In 1967 Pauline prematurely died from an overdose, and fifty years later Sophie found and read her diaries. This led to a journey of self-discovery, exploring mental health, loneliness and half a century of female voices, with no holds barred.
Actress and writer Sophie Bentinck said: “I’m the thirty-four year old daughter of Anna, who is the seventy-four-year-old daughter of Pauline. Pauline is dead, Anna has Alzheimer’s; I am writing our story.
Sophie continues: “Covid struck the night before I was due to perform my one woman show for the very first time. A show in which I tried to deal with the inherited trauma of losing my eccentric, guinness and champagne-loving grandmother to suicide.
“However, as I tried to keep the memory of Pauline intact during the pandemic, my mum’s memory faded fast, following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. The show has now become, through interwoven conversations with mum and my nan’s diary extracts ranging from 1944-1967, an endeavour to give a sense of the interlapping of memory: my own, my mother’s and my grandmother’s, before she decided she had nothing left to say.”
“Over the pandemic many families were forced to bury their dead without proper funerals or goodbyes. Loss does not always mean physical absence, it can be psychological too. As we begin to take stock of the impacts of Covid, Sophie attempts to combat them and shine a light on some of the darker times.
“From the postponement of this show in 2020, to the ambiguous grief of losing someone to Alzhiemer’s as well as to suicide, Pauline charts Sophie’s journey, against all odds, to get on that stage at the Fringe and tell the story of all of the women whose shoulders she stands on.
