The Gummy Bears Great War

Puffins, potatoes and a fish called Swimothy

bruceonthefringe 2025, Comedy, Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Fringe reviews, Theatre, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

When I saw the puffin on the poster I knew I’d go see Stuart Laws Is Stuck, yes, I’m a sucker for a puffin, and a comedy/murder/mystery with a puffin? I immediately thought, the puffin did it, why? Did you see Dr Dolittle Kills a Man last year? The puffin turned out to be the big bad, so this time round I’d be ready.

Our guy is the only human on an island inhabited by 1004 puffins, he took the job of caretaker after a bad break-up; but one of the puffins is missing, Titus. Oh yeah, they all have names, and he can talk to them, and they talk back (Kate Hammer is hilarious as puffins Milo, Angie and D’Angelo). Missing becomes possibly murdered as Stuart investigates and soon things start to unravel…. And if you’re not 100% paying attention you may get lost in it all!

The show swaps between the story on Puffin Island and stand-up in the Fringe Venue; there are prompts to know the swaps, not always obvious to folk sat further back (another time when a slightly higher stage would help!) As the puffin mystery is being solved we start to become aware that there’s something else behind it all, the clues are in the stand-up. Oh, there’s more levels here than first meet the eye, all well constructed and well written, and Laws and Hammer are great together. If you do see this, don’t just put aside the cards on some seats, it’s excellent artwork depicting the characters, Milo is adorable! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

From puffins to potatoes, Batisfera are back with another short play Tale of a Potato to enchant, bemuse and leave us mulling over our own human nature. The stage is a square wooden table with just one light, Valentina Fadda presides over all as narrator, voices, puppeteer and knife-wielder (some of those veg are trouble!), oh, and bringer of sight (nails for eyes! ironic for a potato). She had the audience spell-bound as she told the story of a potato called Protagonist.

We follow Protagonist’s through his life, loves, trials and tribulations, and by god, we feel for that little fellow before the end. There’s a supporting cast of a variety of vegetables, including an antagonistic aubergine. The show may only be half an hour long but there’s a lot packed in there; Fadda’s voice and this little table-top world, take us through a gamut of emotions. It’s profound and whimsical and will dwell with you long after ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Batisfera are also performing The Gummy Bears’ Great War again – and you thought vegetables were small to perform with! I loved it, but be warned, if you felt for Protagonist, those little bears may leave you floored.

Time for one more before I head out to Binkies for some late night sounds. A fish called Swimothy, no, it’s not called that, mind his role has gotten rather bigger than it was in Moon Team IIIV at the start of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024, he even has a song this year (I’m pretty certain that wasn’t there last time!?). Will BF has said that this is a fully finished copy, hmmm, we’ll see. Moon Team IIIV has been tweaked, rejigged, upgraded, but it’s still as silly and bonkers as it was, still with the talking head mockumentary parts intertwining with the action on stage. Will Will ever truly settle on a completed version? Will Swimothy become tyrannical and take over the whole film? It’s funny, it’s highly entertaining and totally Fringe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Next time, a little philosophy and a guy into a black and white striped suit. Toodle pip!

A few happy returns to the stage

bruceonthefringe 2025, Comic theatre, Edinburgh Fringe 2025, Returning Fringe shows, Theatre, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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!

Norse men, bears and a bard

bruceonthefringe 2024, Comic theatre, Fringe reviews, Fringe Venues, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

August, the month of short, intense bursts of exercise, well, covering distances in a quarter of the time it would usually take. Oh, it’s not just about speed and stamina, there’s sidestepping obstacles, anticipating numpties, spotting and slipping through the slightest gaps in sprawling crowds. That was me tonight trying to get to the Gordon Aitman Theatre at George Square in time for Mythos: Ragnarok. Reader, I made it! Only because as I dashed out, 20:55 morphed into 20:50 in my head (yeah, I wouldn’t have made that).

So how was Mythos: Ragnarok a tale of Norse gods told by wrestlers? Bloody entertaining, that’s what! This particular venue often feels quite dull and sterile to me, but tonight was very different, the backdrops and effects really gave the place an atmosphere; the action was dramatic and powerful with plenty of humour and wit. Wrestling isn’t usually my thing at all, but as it’s Fringe, why not; so don’t be put off if it’s not yours either, it’s a great storyline and that noise as they slam down is something else (honestly, it sounds so painful, just as well they’re all professionals and incredibly well rehearsed). So glad I went!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½

From Norse gods to Gummy Bears – only at the Fringe! As gummy bears are very small, so the timelength of the show is short, but The Gummy Bears’ Great War packs a lot of punch into thirty minutes; also, despite being tiny, the room layout means all the audience can see the stars of the show (the room being in C Alto aka The Quaker House). While we start off laughing and chuckling, the chuckles become wryer and sparser as the mood changes to a sad pathos for the absurdity of it all and the inevitable end. I was reminded of Henry Naylor’s plays on the human, personal consequences of war. Those gummy bears moved me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½

Time for one more, Shakespeare For Breakfast at C Aurora (aka Lauriston Halls). The ten o’clock start is a hard one, inevitably always a rush to get there no matter my intentions the night before! This year it’s The Tempest getting the C Theatre treatment where pentameter blends nicely with modern speech, and the setting is quite farcical. You don’t have to know anything about the original play to enjoy this take on it, honest. Always a joy, it wouldn’t be the Edinburgh Fringe without Shakespeare For Breakfast one morning! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Time to hit the sack, more reviews tomorrow, promise!

Shakespeare, Gummy Bears and a Gang Bang?!

bruceonthefringe 2024, Comic theatre, Edinburgh Fringe 2024, Theatre, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This is going be short and sweet, like myself! It’s very late but let’s do a quick trawl through more cuttings, tomorrow is going to be busy so that could be another non-blog day. Crikey, this time next week this year’s Edinburgh Fringe will be properly underway. Aargh.

I did have my cuttings neatly sorted, yeah, that was doomed; so what’s at the top of the heap? Aha, first a slight correction, David Alnwick has a third show, it’s listed under Theatre that’s why I missed it earlier, The Mystery of Dracula. I saw it last year and enjoyed it, he knows how to tell a story!

The coffee and croissant crew are back, yay, Shakespeare For Breakfast and I am still without a ticket! That ten o’clock start is hard work, but on average it’s been well worth getting up for. The talented Hughie Shepherd-Cross is bringing another play up, that’s three in three years! I enjoyed the previous two, Out to Lunch and Ringer so I definitely intend to see Gang Bang.

Great poster applauds for Plotters and Corpse Flower, the blurbs are quite enticing too; and looking closely second time round The Gummy Bears’ Great War has me intrigued. I suspect its a show worth queuing early for to get a front row seat – those dudes are really small!

And last for tonight two possibles, largely helped by being at one of my favourite venues Paradise In The Vault. Now I must away to my bed.

Toodle pip!