Scaramouche Jones

A dame and a clown

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The line of giant posters down the side of the Pleasance was taken down today, there’s still a few boards fastened around streetlights and traffic signs, not noticeable unless you look directly at one. Instagram posts have shown Fringe folk leaving Edinburgh, returning home. Was it a farewell hug that left me with a sneaky little present? … my throat has been threatening me for the last three days, it may be winning. It really started niggling late Tuesday night but I wasn’t going to not see The Scat Rats at Binkies at midnight, a nice final bookend to my Fringe. Hell, I hadn’t seen them all August! It was right at the start of the Fringe when I saw them in Stramash (hence bookends).

My Fringe proper finished with two class acts, that wonderful class antipodean Dame Granny Smith followed by Mr Tuck’s sublime Scaramouche Jones. Hahaha, can’t believe I didn’t spot that before, Smith and Jones, in the same afternoon (certain age groups will put Alas and Alias before those two names to make a couple of great tv series from once upon a time). Both shows had full audiences, marvellous, fringing to the very end.

An Evening with Dame Granny Smith was so so lovely and bittersweet, almost nostalgic for something past. And David Salter, such a lovely, talented guy, a saint for putting up with her! Mind, it’s easy to get swept up in the Dame’s aura, the afternoon’s participating audience member really got into the role and I think went over and beyond what Salter was expecting (from his reaction, anyway). I’m very glad I caught the show, that early afternoon time had a lot going on that I fancied this year, too many annoying five, ten minute overlaps (oh, to have Hermione’s watch).

I managed to grab a quick pic with the Dame, before heading over to the Big Yurt (I’m not sure if she was all agog to meet me or silently screaming in fear of being eaten)

As I walked through the Potterow Underpass I heard a hearty laugh ahead, oh yay! I’d know that laugh anywhere, Will Seaward was in the queue for Scaramouche Jones; how marvellous to bump into him again! (Had to get a pic, of course) The old clown himself, Scaramouche Jones, was mingling wordlessly with the milling crowd (I fancied to ask for a quick photo with him, but time was short, and I felt a tad unworthy).

Oh, Scaramouche Jones is a most marvellous tale. Thom Tuck holds the audience in the palm of his hand, entranced, as he recounts Scaramouche’s one hundred years. Truly it could have been written for him, Tuck is so brilliant in the part, and I say this having seen him play it ten years ago, a performance that has stuck in my mind since (I look forward to seeing it again in 2035). It would be a marvellous thing if one performance had been filmed each decade passed, how wonderful to see the progression 💛

I also paid another visit to the final performance of Finlay and Joe: Pretend It’s Fine at Dovecot Studios on the Sunday afternoon. Now I could be wrong but I think one of the guys from Crybabies was in the audience; such a shame they couldn’t make it up with their new production. This time round I saw the overall arc better over the sketches; I must say, those two have amazing voice control for the length of their woahs between bits (that probably reads really weird, but if you ever get to see Finlay and Joe: Pretend It’s Fine you’ll know what I mean). Sometimes shows can seem to overally point out their own cleverness, Finlay and Joe don’t do that, the funny flows naturally and abundantly with these two – and they were lovely when I asked for a photo with them!

While I’m on a roll here (the Chilean Gewürztraminer I opened is helping somewhat!) I’ll mention The Mothman Cometh, that I saw in the final week. It was amongst my cuttings and then I noticed him on a few occasions flitting madly around the Cowgate early evening, odd and kinda sweet, and occasionally on the Half Price Hut list. I hadn’t been in The Subway in donkeys (for many years), some bits were very familiar, like the stage area (back last century it was a place to go after an evening shift in Pizza Hut, with tips enough for a couple of drinks).

I’d vaguely heard of the Mothman myth, and my sightings of this strange creature, well, I had to go find out more. It was very dark in there! A lot of the time we could just see two red circles and hear his voice, only a mere hint of his body shape in the misty darkness. He was troubled by odd glitches when pop songs would burst out of him, and a strange Void was always close by, but despite these troubles the Mothman was actually a benign, humorous creature that just wanted friends that understood him. Oh, that sounds a tad maundling, The Mothman Cometh was very funny with plenty of audience participation, you just had to be willing to embrace the surreality.

It’s very late, again! Edinburgh Farmers Market in the morning, I must to sleep. Next time I’ll wrap up this year’s Fringe, oo, maybe even some awards! It will be my 499th blog post, who’d have thunk it!

Sweet dreams, toodle pip, mes amis!

Watching the sun go down on another Fringe

A Barr, a king and a clown

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So far Edinburgh has had pretty good temperatures this Fringe (touch wood!), but I do wish all the crazy winds would calm down. See, I like to have my windows open a smidgen in summer, but even only having the top sash down a wee bit will result in all my Fringe cuttings being strewn everywhere whenever I’m out awhile. No, I can’t put them away, really. Back home from the Farmer’s Market, I picked the latest windfalls, oh, the picture of James Barr looked reproachfully back at me, oops. It had been right at the front to remind me, yeah, let’s do it….

James Barr: Sorry I Hurt Your Son (Said My Ex to My Mum) was at the Fringe last year, I remember pondering on seeing it, but never went. Time to give it a shot, and yes, another success for my Fringe-dar! James Barr opens up to the audience about his life and the domestic abuse he suffered in a four year relationship; it sounds like quite a personal and harrowing subject for a Fringe comedy show, but Barr injects plenty of quips and wit into his narrative. This is his story and he tells it well; he would take us down into the darkness, then neatly bring us back up with a deliciously funny quip, a roller-coaster of a show! I walked out feeling quite buoyed up, and I got a badge too! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How times change, in years past the Pleasance Courtyard and Dome were regular features on my Fringe Calendar, especially during the previews, but last year I saw nothing at all at the Pleasance Dome and this year there’s been one (I’d say, so far, but that could well be the only one). Mind, that one was great fun! Up the stairs in the King Dome is Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs, oo, three kings there! Wow, an hour packed full of laugh-out-loud one liners, surreal silliness, a dollop of whimsy, and, as he called them, some “sad jokes”. There were plenty of nice little call-backs and a continuing phone gag that just kept on giving! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

It’s late, again, but I mentioned last time that I’d report on Scaramouche Jones – it’s brilliant! And it’s on until the very last day of the Fringe (excluding Monday 11th), I may well be back, ‘twould be a great way to round off my Fringe. The part could have almost been written for Thom Tuck, he inhabits it so well; and the Big Yurt, with it’s makeshift nature, is the perfect setting for this picaresque tale. It’s a story that spans the twentieth century, an old clown has just come off stage from his final performance and speaks for the first time in fifty years as the time ticks towards the final midnight of 1999, the first stroke of which will be exactly a hundred years since Scaramouche’s birth on a fishmonger’s slab in Port of Spain.

The script is full of vibrant descriptions of the places and people in Scaramouche’s life, and Tuck’s lustrous tones paint them even more vividly, his talent for accents comes in as Scaramouche journeys around the world meeting all manner of people. When Tuck expresses young Scaramouche’s delight in knowing his father was an Englishman, his youthful pomposity is sweetly hilarious. There’s so much to love about this production – I’m already looking forward to seeing Scaramouche Jones in ten years time! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Toodle pip!

A few happy returns to the stage

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I have a table covered with cut-outs from the Comedy section of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival programme, but before that, a few more theatrical musings….

I knew I recognised the name, yup, three years ago I gave him five stars, so I reckon I’ll give Ben Moor: A Three Thing Day a go; I remember he had a wonderful voice that whisked you away into his stories. Henry Naylor is back with a new play, Monstering the Rocketman which sounds interesting; as the name gives away it’s about Elton John, him and that big kerfuffle with The Sun, could be pretty juicy (Naylor does do his research).

Looking back through my Fringe diary (I must remember to buy a new notebook, the last one’s full), it was also 2022 when I saw Space Hippo, an epic sci-fi adventure told in the medium of Japanese shadow puppetry. I notice the company name is different, has the story also had changes made? It was a wonderful experience last time, I am rather tempted, maybe late on, see how things go.

And a few pages later I wrote about Neil Frost: Nan’s House of Fun (omg, this is getting silly, it was also the year I last saw one of Henry Naylor’s plays!) A wonderfully silly, but bittersweet, show that’s morphed into The Door (well, that is the very disturbing Ricky Mouse in the picture). I gave the original 4½ stars, if I only had Hermione’s watch I’d go see Mr Frost again, truly a joy. Mind, he’s here for the whole month so I’ll keep an eye out for him popping up elsewhere, he’s that type, you know!

Those defiant wee bears are back and they’ve brought a bag of tatties with them. Yay, Batisfera are back with two short plays this year; The Gummy Bears’ Great War was one of my highlights from last year’s Fringe (4½ stars), can Tale of a Potato possibly be as good? I’ll let you know, I already have a ticket for this one! I also have my ticket for that great Fringe institution Shakespeare For Breakfast, always entertaining, okay, so some years have been better than others, but I wouldn’t miss it (or the croissant and coffee).

One last happy return, Scaramouche Jones is back, as Thom Tuck said, ten years later (he first performed it twenty years ago and declared that he intends to perform it every ten years, maybe even reaching the clown’s old age if he’s lucky). Scaramouche Jones is a 100 year old clown, born on the stroke of midnight 1899 and now a hundred years later on the eve of a new century, after not speaking in fifty years, the old clown speaks to tell his life story before he dies. Ten years ago I wrote “Thom Tuck at his very best” and gave him five stars.

I’m starting to get a bit excited about this Fringe. Toodle pip!

A duo of monologues

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I’m counting this morning’s show as my Shakespeare foray for this Fringe! It wasn’t one of his plays but there were plenty of his lines quoted and it was called Shakespeare’s Fool, so yes, it counts. I was back for a second time in the Main Theatre at theSpace @ Symposium Hall, the bar was set pretty low after the last production I saw here. No worries, it was a superb performance! The audience were hung on to his every word (which we could hear clearly whether he spoke loudly or softly).

This was Will Kempe recounting his life story to a mouse called Maurice (who performed his part admirable) in one final performance before passing away with the name of his first love on his lips. Who he? William Kempe was one of the most famous clown actors towards the end of the sixteenth century, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, his buddy, he brought to life Shakespeare’s characters, some they say written just for him; then they fell out. This one man play tells a tale of what might have happened with plenty of the historical facts around it. Fascinating stuff! Robin Leetham plays the part so well; it always astounds me how actors can stuff so many lines in their heads and bring them all back out in the right order, especially monologues (and this one was seventy five minutes long!). He also looked rather splendid in his fool’s garb, top marks for wardrobe.

One thought did pop into my head from time to time – much as I was enjoying Robin Leetham’s performance, I would love to see Thom Tuck have a shot at it. I think he’d make a fine Will Kempe, well, he’s not dissimilar in character! Perhaps it was also that Shakespeare’s Fool reminded me of Scaramouche Jones that Thom played so well (four years til the next time if he keeps to his plan).

Can I rewind a bit to yesterday now, please? That show I was heading to, another brilliant example of how to deliver a monologue and keep your audience mesmerised, was Watson: The Final Problem playing in Assembly Roxy (I do like the Roxy, it’s a fine old building, originally a church). The setting is three years after Holmes’ death at Reichenbach Falls, Dr Watson recounts his life (yes, another life story!) right from being a young soldier wounded in Afghanistan. It’s a cracking tale, of action, intrigue and poignancy, but ultimately at the end, after a full account of the past Watson looks forward to the future (unlike Will Kempe dying broken on a street corner).

Tim Marriott is excellent as Dr Watson, fans of Sherlock Holmes will not be disappointed at this story angle; Watson deserves more limelight! The show is only on until Sunday 22nd at 12:45 in the afternoon. Shakespeare’s Fool is on at 11:20am right up to Saturday 28th. Definitely my top two theatre shows this Fringe (sorry, Guy!)

241 – Nice but no 42!

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The thunder storm just couldn’t hold back any longer! The rain hammered down, the thunder and lightening went on for hours. Don’t reckon I’ve ever seen such a thunder storm over Edinburgh before. On an average 241 Tuesday night there would be plenty of folk about, plenty having to stand in queues in the torrential rain waiting for their next show! They hope it’ll be worth it, well, at least it was a cheap ticket – some shows won’t even be worth it at half price! They’ll sit listening to the rapturous applause at the end thinking, Huh? What? with soaked-through footwear, a still soggy jacket, knowing they’re about to go back out and get even soggier, all for something that barely raised a chuckle.

Okay, so I painted a pretty crappy picture there, but such can be the luck of the Fringe. Take, for example, the first two 241 shows Bud and I went to see. Two by Jim Cartwright, hmmm, remember my cautionary tale about April in Paris? Well, this was like the second time I saw that, all vitriol and plain meanness (I do intend to see One again one year, hopefully as it’s meant to be done). Later that same Sunday we went to see Rich Hall and Mike Wilmot – Pretzel Logic, hmmm, this came across as a self-indulgent wheeze, dreamt up late night in a bar and written on the back of a cigarette packet. Sorry but that’s how we both felt walking out of the Assembly Rooms at one in the morning. How could the brilliant Rich Hall do that to us? Oh yes, he was the bee’s knees to us, sure the show had it’s moments, all his, but not many. We decided it must all be Mike Wilmot’s fault for leading our hero astray!

The Monday was way better with five great shows through the day, faith restored! Since that year 241 Monday was usually a day off work to see five acts, until the year Bud was leaving Edinburgh when we made it six – well, we had to shift up Shakespeare For Breakfast from it’s usual slot. Oo, that was the day we saw Thom Tuck perform Scaramouche Jones (epic), there was an Aussie sponge called Bruce (gritty antipodean epic), yay, Sleeping Trees: Western (possibly my favourite of all their shows), Tom Neenan: Andromeda Paradox was fine (but not one of his best), ending appropriately with Max & Ivan: The End.

Some wonder how one can see and actually take in five shows in one day, well, sometimes the show after lunch may not totally recalled (Tip, don’t have a big, heavy lunch or you WILL doze in the next warm dark room you enter!). Looking back at all the 241 shows that I saw between 2002 and 2015 there are only six that I have absolutely no recall of whatsoever (I’m surprised there’s not a flicker for Opening Night of the Living Dead at C Cubed in 2009, hmmm, nope). I’m quite pleased with that, after all, it’s not necessarily all my fault I don’t recall them!

There are seven shows I would love to be able to unsee, nevermind not being worth half price! Two, I mentioned above, another two God, Inc and The Story of Funk I have spoken of before. They are my Top Four worst 241 shows, fifth place goes to Carnival of Souls a multi-media arty thing performed in the Cameo cinema 1. It was so not our thing, Bud would have happily left early but I wanted to stick it out hoping to find something to like about it, I didn’t.

See, I feel good because I could easily spot the few I have not enjoyed, the vast majority have been good to bloody excellent. There’s so much variety I would be hard pressed to shortlist my favourites. It would take a lot of thought and right now the sun is beckoning me out. Indeed, it’s a beautiful day oot there.

Where’s my sunglasses?

Toodle oo.

 

A turkey and a Tuck.

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Goodness me, it’s the final week already. More shows finished at the weekend, new shows take their places and I have my eye on a few I’m thinking of seeing. As I’ve mentioned before I’ve seen this year’s turkey, its always good to get it out of the way, of course I could yet see another one! So what was this travesty of theatre that deserves the title of turkey?

Oh dear, I can hear my old mother’s voice, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all!” Sorry mother, it was Egg at Bourbon Bar as part of the Free Fringe. It was a packed out room, whether the rest were more up on what to expect, whether it was just their sort of thing I don’t know, but I just found it too pretentiously arty and she was too softly spoken to be heard at times. I try to find something to like about it and from the applause at the end others did seem to like it, though I noticed a number of folk walking past without putting anything in the bucket. Bad form! Only a show one walks out of early is worth nothing, if one is there til the end it’s worth at least some spare change or my usual is a fiver.

At the other end of the Fringe spectrum, I seriously enjoyed Thom Tuck’s show An August Institution, at 3pm at the Dragonfly. A wonderful hour of silliness and a rather bizarre make-over, I suspect those who got a lot out of Egg, may not appreciate Mr Tuck’s humour.

Well, I’ve enjoyed it since I first saw him in the Penny Dreadfuls’ Aeneas Faversham back in 2006, bloody excellent show it was! Saw them each year after that and when they all did solo shows. Thom was the one who continued to come up each year to do a variety of shows, including on the Free Fringe. His show one year even got enlongated into a short series on Radio 4! I saw his Scaramouche Jones in 2015 which delighted and moved me (it’s in my diary for 2025). Yes, I reckon he’s become an August Institution and long may he remain so!