Roger Jacobs, Author at North West End UK

Selina Mosinski (Puss in Boots – A Working Class Fairy Tale) – Pleasance Dome

25Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Selina Mosinski (Puss in Boots – A Working Class Fairy Tale) – Pleasance Dome

What a free-wheeling frolic. Or, as the 90’s Ladette-obsessed tabloids would’ve had it, a runaway romp. And the answer to the frequently asked question, ‘how did Charity Shop Sue get to the top?’ Or, well, Bulwell. Led by her ‘unruly undercarriage’ to an insalubrious spot behind the brutalist bike-sheds the ambitious teenage Randy Cain attends to the task of her own deflowering. And a task it indeed resembles given the unsatisfactory effort put in by Daz. Although she isn’t Randy Cain yet, but an aspiring performer wondering how the feck one gets oneself out of Derby’s estate-land to the bright lights of London. Help is at hand; advice and encouragement is dispensed from the screen behind by a (N Conti-masked) fairy godmother Sylvia Young, though the initial dose is little more than...

Nina’s C*nti Cabaret – Underbelly (McEwan Hall)

23Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Nina’s C*nti Cabaret – Underbelly (McEwan Hall)

Big venue, big lights, sound, crowd… but not enough Nina! The clues in the title of course, a genuine cabaret featuring two guest artists, and not the Full C*nti. Though someone who did avail of an All-You-Can-Eat breakfast buffet was first interloper Susie McCabe, a bonus surprise to anyone who wasn’t aware of the show’s format. Sadly (well, not that sadly as here she is alive and happily kicking) it led to a heart attack in the Bristol Hilton. As someone once said; ‘never let a crisis go to waste’ and in Susie’s hands the life-threatening incident provides much mirth. Albeit tempered if you’re from Bristol or Fife. Prior to this was Nina’s intro routine, her scratchy simian lowering whatever tone she thought she’d established, soiling every attempt at cordiality with the audience. ...

Twonkey (Soft December Night In Tallahassee) – Edinburgh Dragonfly (Other Room)

17Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Twonkey (Soft December Night In Tallahassee) – Edinburgh Dragonfly (Other Room)

Other than the closing line of one of Twonketta’s musical interludes, there was no ‘Soft’, ‘December’, ‘Night’ or ‘Tallahassee’. Of course there wasn’t. Welcome to the Twonkey-sphere. Or Twonko-verse. Or, since the unceremonious, Ziggy S-style curtailment of Twonkey’s career a couple of years back, maybe the Twonketta-sphere? Some are starting to question the story about the tin of condensed milk, sensing the hallmarks of a particularly ruthless boardroom takeover. Still, Twonketta feigns such remorse that we accept, attend and note that most of the backing props and puppets have moved on too. With gusto they set about this adventure, a complex chilli-spiced grapefruit, designed to give most professional chefs a seizure. One which the Marvel franchise can only dream of. So, hold on… tight!...

Tamsyn Kelly (Rat’s Ass) – Monkey Barrel Comedy

16Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Tamsyn Kelly (Rat’s Ass) – Monkey Barrel Comedy

Tamsyn’s skint. So is her boyfriend. She works in comedy. So does he. They decided to move to London anyway. No doubt the drive and desire that took them there explains why she pops in each morning to the venue; just to check no-one’s opened a door that might disturb that damp subterranean ambience long ago patented by The Fringe. It’s a long way to the top, or maybe Blue Peter, but an even longer journey if you’re born to a homeless couple in Cornwall, though, as this show proves, it does provide better stories. She nips in the bud any conclusions based on her haircut. Though the drill collection is expanding and the shelving potential increasing for all the Hockey trophies. She dumps the obligatory ADHD diagnosis into the same category as an air fryer, since with either you’ll ...

15Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Spencer Jones (Dogs) – Pleasance Dome

‘You off to work Dad?’ ‘Yeah son, I’m off to work.’ Observing the prop-strewn set one can only speculate on who has the tidiest room in the Jones household. It definitely won’t be a dull place. The title of tonight’s show is ‘Dogs’ and it’s not so much a theme as a frame on which to hang each chaotic episode. Brilliant, illuminated chaos, the set a physical representation of our performer’s unruly, hilariously distracted mind. Surreal, and fascinating, too. Surveying this as we take our seats a geezer we’ve all encountered in the night-time economy blunders into our midst, apologising, ‘I’m a man with three pints’, cranking up the anxiety with the plea ‘I need a wee.’ With the fourth wall in ruins and the tone established, Jones arrives at his set, removes his ‘big heid’ an...

Andrew White (What A Life) – Edinburgh Cab Vol 2

15Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Andrew White (What A Life) – Edinburgh Cab Vol 2

Wasn’t he lovely? Just ask Phil the celebrant. But seriously, he was. OK, funnily, he was. Very Funnily as it happens, nicely illustrating how to compose an hour of laughs with few swear words or much fabricated controversy in sight. But he didn’t neglect dark. There was plenty about death and what’s one to expect when you were reared by a mother obsessed with murder documentaries and the idea that bad things (death, chiefly) come in threes? Or insisting that any track from the radio meeting approval be added to the ‘I want that at my funeral’ list. In this potted account of his life Andrew’s inspirational Mum took top billing, co-stars being his partner, sundry friends and mentors from teenage years when White’s social circle consisted of 60-year-olds. Precocious, him? Johnathan...

The Wreck – Edinburgh Summerhall (Old Lab)

14Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

The Wreck – Edinburgh Summerhall (Old Lab)

An oft-overlooked aspect of many theatre productions is the music/soundtrack/sound design(er), call it what you will… but this (Faye James) was the foundation of this show; dreamy, fragile, melancholic but beautiful, reflected in the dialogue between the two siblings, Eddie (Morgan Beale) and Ira (Camilla Anvar). What’s more, aside from the tech and beats mastery on display, it started with an accordion. The brother and sister have convened in a faded seaside town following the demise of their parents and some context is lightly sketched in as they gently bicker. Their parents had a club ‘The Dancer’ and it’s fallen upon hard times, the chief patrons being two local, rival societies, one keen on whales, the other on bones in general. Ira knows this because she stayed while Eddie lef...

Rachel Fairburn (Vexy Beasts) – Edinburgh O’Neill’s/Tron

14Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Rachel Fairburn (Vexy Beasts) – Edinburgh O’Neill’s/Tron

At first sight this seems and sounds very Merton and Manning but don’t be fooled as Fairburn quickly progresses beyond these Mancunian comparisons. Even if the mercy-free, quickfire delivery echoes that of the nearby (now defunct) Embassy Club. She doesn’t so much entertain us for fifty minutes as paint a vivid portrait of a rapidly gentrifying Harpurhey. Or Harpur ‘Vale’ as it seems to be known these days. At least you can’t accuse the local estate agents of being idle. She does it with the help of several local personalities; her rival Julie Noone, mayor of Harpur Vale and (only just) runner-up in Miss Harpur Vale 2019… Aunt Cheryl who has a burgeoning social media channel (Cheryl’s Chats) exploiting her friendships with the great, good, rich and famous… Lady ‘Literally’ who’s jus...

Allaster McKallaster (An unbiased afternoon with) – Gilded Balloon Museum

12Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Allaster McKallaster (An unbiased afternoon with) – Gilded Balloon Museum

If you’re English, this show is a must. Pete Reid’s McKallaster has been purveying his intelligent, keenly-observed - crucially impartial - views on football for years. Specifically, the English variety. However, today Hugh McHugh (Vic Galloway), an Englishman, wishes to contest the neutrality of the self-proclaimed ‘Favourite Unbiased Scottish Commentator’ of Andy Robertson and ‘close personal friend’ of Archie Gemmill. Resplendent in seven types of tartan (six of them visible), McKallaster’s ready to defend his reputation. With a name like McHugh, you might be concerned his opponent qualifies as a Scot, but fear not, he’s from Edinburgh. It’s an opportunity to watch (or re-watch in many cases) the Instagram clips we’ve become so fond of @mckallaster. And they are side-splittingly,...

Around The World in 80 Toys – Edinburgh Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre)

12Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Around The World in 80 Toys – Edinburgh Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre)

Wow. Take a breath… prepare to be humbled by a surfeit of inventiveness and ingenuity… in a venue the performer admitted he wasn’t initially happy with! It’s a wonderful tribute to, a celebration of – using many of the same techniques employed by – French cinema pioneer Georges Melies. Born in Paris just before Christmas in 1861, he’s what might today be described as an early adopter of the then burgeoning film technology. He was also a magician, actor and toymaker – in common with today’s creator and performer Thaddeus Phillips. With an understanding of perspective, props, effects and an appreciation of the camera’s possibilities he created hundreds of films, A Trip To The Moon (1902) and The Impossible Voyage (1904) both having stood the test of time to the extent they inspired – and wer...