Sleeping Trees and the Chocolate Factory

A few definite possibilities

bruceonthefringe 2025, Comedy, Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Edinburgh Fringe Programme, Free Fringe, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I remember back when the Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme would come out, early to mid June and folk would rush to get a copy to scour through it picking out their must-sees, ready for when the box office opened about a week later. It was all quite exciting, the anticipation. Nowadays tickets are woozily released from the start of the year, okay so I may take the odd peek, but I still wait on the proper physical paper programme to book tickets (okay, so there’s been the odd rare occasion), I prefer to see everything that’s on before I start to plan.

Only now, there’s also plenty of shows announced after the programme is out. Has it always like this but I just wasn’t aware? Okay, so there was always the odd one here and there (the Sleeping Trees and The Chocolate Factory comes to mind, it was a known late add-on to watch out for!), usually they were free or late night shows, probably thought up over a few drinks and cobbled together! Back in 2007 Rhys Darby was over performing in a play, next thing he’d got a slot in the Pleasance Courtyard Attic and photocopied some handwritten flyers, it wasn’t his best but we didn’t care, it was great seeing him do his thing.

These days, of course, there’s social media to keep an eye on for late announcements, like Lord Christian Brighty‘s of a three night run at the Pleasance Courtyard, yay. There’s always an odd extra show or two that’s not in the paper programme at Monkey Barrel Comedy but I know to actually read their emails just in case; and huzzah, John-Luke Roberts is back in the final week with a WIP.

And extra joys, Aidan Pittman and Hudson Hughes, the co-creators of the bloody brilliant Dr Dolittle Kills a Man (one of my top favourites of last year’s Fringe) are back doing various bits and bobs as part of PBH’s Free Fringe in the middle week. Quick edit here: well, he did announce it late! Will BF is bringing back his sci-fi romp Moon Team IIIV to a late slot at the Underbelly, starting on Tuesday 12th. Considering how many changes he made to it within a month last year, it could be an entirely different show by now! Still bonkers and laugh out loud daft, of course.

But there’s always the odd show in the Fringe programme that doesn’t happen, and sadly it’s not happening for Crybabies: The Scaring, they’ve had to cancel their run due to an unforeseen health issue (wishing a full recovery for whoever it is). However, I just saw on Instagram a couple of days ago that Crybabies have a series of four one-off comedy adventures coming to Radio 4 through August! Excellent news!

Well, it’s very late, way past time I should be asleep. I shall leave you with a picture of my cut-out Comedy possibles. G’night!

Some trees are remarkably talented

bruceonthefringe 2020, Comedy, Comic theatre, Edinburgh Fringe, Fringe online, Sci-fi, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Top Tip for fringe shows – film one performance of the run. Best to do it, oo, a third of the way through the Fringe, that way you’re nicely settled in, having fun with it, the mid-Fringe weariness hasn’t hit yet, you’re feelin’ good! Film it, one, for prosperity, and two, so that if there should be some huge catastrophe where live entertainment is banned, you’ll have something to show the fans (to remind them of happier times!).

Those wonderful Sleeping Trees did just that, so last night I enjoyed Sleeping Trees: Sci-Fi? for a second time. Mmm, when did I first see it, me thought, oo, turns out it was four years ago today! It was in Pleasance Two, so a good view and not too hot, one of the better venues. It’s a cracking show, in my diary I gave it five stars, quite right! Thoroughly deserved. At five o’clock in the afternoon it was after sleepy hour, which is just as well as there’s a lot going on and all at break-neck speed.

And it’s all done with brilliant musical accompaniment and punctuation! Sleeping Trees: Western had been great the year before but this score was even more intrinsic to the action. The drummer and keyboard player provide the perfect soundscape for a sci-fi tale of epic proportions, and they look to be really having fun (well, the drummer didn’t seem to mind being almost mauled at one point). The sound and lighting were spot on too, I do remember being impressed the first time, but possibly being more removed from it this time I noticed the overall production more (well, I know what I mean).

It’s standard Hollywood blockbuster fare: prologue, bad guy gets locked up, a child is taken faraway for safety; twenty years later, bad guy gets out, aaand I’m not giving any more of the plot – you may get to see it sometime. I’ll just say you won’t figure out how the hero Charlie Sprogg, a pig shit farmer, is going to save the day!

Sleeping Trees bring all their many talents to bear here, the writing, their physicality and vocal delivery, the attention to every detail. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to see this again. Now, I just need to see Sleeping Trees: Mafia as I haven’t seen it yet, oh, and if there happens to be a recording of Sleeping Trees and the Chocolate Factory?!? Just sayin’.

Looking forward to what they’ll bring to town next year.

Toodle pip!

Bruce loves candy

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Hurrah! Those lovely people at Assembly announced on Friday that they are once again doing their Locals discount, that’s all Assembly shows from the 1st to the 5th for a fiver (to a maximum of six shows) at their box office, evidence of an EH postcode required. Woohoo! A swift perusal of all my cutouts and the Venue guide section of the Fringe programme  (it lists all the shows at each venue), et voilà, five more shows picked out.

This is a particularly good deal as Assembly shows are not cheap, even the previews can be costly – I paid a tenner for Thrones! The Musical! preview show just in case the residents offer wasn’t on this year. I can now happily snaffle sweets from the Baby Wants Candy flyerers as I’m finally going to see them (I’ve always felt a teensy bit bad taking their sweets as I never saw them or intended to). Again, their previews cost £10, then up to £14-£15, yeah a fiver sounds good to me.

Sleeping Trees have uprooted themselves again and are now in one of Assembly’s Studios. Couldn’t miss these guys but again, Assembly prices, so though they should really be in the middle week (see  It’s the wrong order, Gromit!) I’ll be seeing them the first weekend for just the fiver and I can see another show with the change! Fingers crossed they do Sleeping Trees and The Chocolate Factory again, that’s oodles of fun. It’s not in the programme, never is, but watch out for posters around the Pleasance Courtyard.

Assembly already have their George Square Gardens set up and running as part of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, so when I ambled up to get my tickets I was able to check this year’s layout. There’s a new bar at the bottom of the garden that has an upper level. Silly me, I didn’t check the drinks prices to see how much I won’t be drinking, but I did notice that whilst there’s no decent cider, they do have a couple of IPAs, so I may treat myself to a Deuchars before a show.

Toodle pip!