Roger Jacobs, Author at North West End UK

I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

28May

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

For the long-standing listener, a chance to see just exactly how they do it. Twice, as it happens, which makes for a long night but detracts not a jot from the hugely entertaining formula honed and tweaked over the years, the A-List cast (Rory Bremner, Pippa Evans, Milton Jones and Fred MacAuley) and its A-List Humph replacement, Jack Dee. Who, on reflection has been at it for pretty much 15 years now. The show with no apparent end to its stamina was conceived in 1972, a riposte to the wave of ‘panel’ games taking over our screens and wireless units. So that’s what he looks like! The first reveal is the appearance in front of three tourquoise-covered tables of producer Jon Naismith, who performs the oft-belittled role of warm-up bloke with greetings, explanations and the odd cracker of ...

19Apr

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Chicken – Traverse Theatre

Having nearly died in the egg, rescued and raised by a kindly Kerry couple, narrowly avoiding being whisked into an omelette and living ‘claw to beak’ in New York, Don Murphy gets his break. His bird-break. Into the business we call show, following a monumental orgy of Jameson with Michael Fassbender (That Don Murphy? No, he’s a human). Keep up now, we’re talking one of the most determined, resourceful cocks to ever grace the cinematic wests of Ireland and the United States, but fame and success can have a downside. Three exhausting years of 16-hour day shoots leads to the inevitable glitch, a ketamine addiction resulting from a party hosted by evil LA-based Colin Farrell. That Colin Farrell? Enjoyably surreal, entertainingly disarming, this was a true k-hole of a show, so quite ...

A Giant On The Bridge – Traverse Theatre

10Mar

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

A Giant On The Bridge – Traverse Theatre

Between 2017 and 2021 Glasgow University’s Professor of Criminology & Social Work Fergus McNeill and researcher/artist/linguist and musician Lucy Cathcart Frodén engaged with people involved in the Scottish Criminal Justice system, creating the Distant Voices Community. They wanted to explore crime, punishment and issues associated with re-integrating with ‘normal’ society upon release, going beyond the obvious candidates, interacting with prison officers, governors, probation and social workers and family members of those incarcerated. To quote the Traverse programme notes; ‘Every year in Scotland 10,000 people return home from prison to an uncertain future’. Their findings can be found as ‘learning resources’ on the web (go to Vox Liminus) and six podcasts entitled Currents, Stepping...

Rob Brydon ‘A Night Of Songs & Laughter’ – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

20Feb

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Rob Brydon ‘A Night Of Songs & Laughter’ – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Once upon a time in the early noughties Rob Brydon was a cult figure, beloved by those-in-the-know for Marion & Geoff, Human Remains and The Keith Barret Show. Before bobbing up into the mainstream in 2007 via Gavin & Stacey he’d been the voice of countless adverts (following the Megan incident at BBC Radio Wales), the resilience, versatility and humour developed during what was a dark(-ish) period in his professional career and personal life providing ample material for tonight’s show. Of which we wish there’d been more, but… check the title. No-one’s used the words ‘national’ or ‘treasure’ yet but they must be imminent. Accumulated over the years Brydon can draw on such a deep well of honed wit, charm and skill it’s difficult to imagine anything he does failing. Both sure-...

17Feb

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Vigil – Traverse Theatre 2

Dashing about the flat before heading out, Radio 4’s News Quiz opened with Andy Zaltzman’s tongue-in-cheek introduction announcing the relegation of the human race from the top 1,000 species on the planet. Putting everyone right in touch with the 26,000 endangered species the creator & performer from Mechanimal (Tom Bailey) attempts to dignify via a combination of mime, clowning and some sparse dialogue… Centre stage sits a small glass cube full of assorted skulls and bones, above it a screen carrying the words ‘Colombian Lightbulb Lizard’. Which has everyone chuckling as they take their seats but wait, it’s actually a thing. In Columbia, to boot. AKA ‘Riama Columbiana’. Like a resource dedicated to aspiring bands searching for a name, a cornucopia of Peel-esque nomenclature unspool...

Mark Thomas In England & Son – Traverse Theatre

8Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Mark Thomas In England & Son – Traverse Theatre

Raw, brutal, honest, comic. Of the latter Mark Thomas is a master but so equally effective is he at the first three elements that the grim message of violence and trauma begetting more of the same, generation to generation, is diluted not one jot. This is heavy, intense, choreographed by Movement Director Simon Jones, its rhythm well-punctuated by sound designer MJ McCarthy and Lighting Designer Richard Williamson. Proceedings commence with an introduction from Mark describing how he met writer Ed Edwards several moons ago at the festival. Ed, serendipitously, was behind Mark as they left his show ‘The Political History Of Smack And Crack’, perfectly positioned to overhear the pronouncement; ‘That’s the best thing I’ve seen in fuckin’ ages.’ Five years later, beyond creating some incred...

The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

4Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

‘Tomm-eh… Tomm-eh!’ This was wild this year, sketches and skits performed at breakneck speed with scant regard for a wafer-thin plot, but did anyone care? Certainly not Tommy, one of the three kids hauled up to – hopefully – coin a spoonerism from a rendition of May McSmee’s (Allan Stewart) song about ‘smart fellas’. For despite the best efforts of the other two (Enda and Orla) he ended up garnering the biggest cheers for his devil-may-care attitude, quite an achievement in the face of full-throttle Allan Stewart. It summed things up; it wasn’t supposed to go like that, but it had everyone howling in their seats. This was full-tilt, punk pantomime. Amidst the shaky plot were several things that didn’t fit, particularly the Flawless dance troupe, but hang on, it’s… Flawless for heaven’s ...

Dead Dad Dog/Sunny Boy – Traverse Theatre

2Nov

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Dead Dad Dog/Sunny Boy – Traverse Theatre

It’s a shame circumstances prevented us seeing ‘Sunny Boy’, the sequel to ‘Dead Dad Dog’, but, 35 years on from its debut in the late 80’s, with the luxury of hindsight, the original play delivered some unexpectedly poignant twists and turns. The historical context more clearly defined, the father/son relationship represented not just the uneasy shift between generations, but also the seismic changes affecting Scotland as ‘Thatcherism’ took the entire UK down and up a new capitalism rollercoaster designed to replace the coal, steel and shipbuilding industries finally forced to give in to global economic pressures. Traditional pubs faced the threat of imported concepts like ‘Brasseries’ and the ‘Smoked Sausage Supper’ was besieged by a thing called Broccoli. ‘Looks like unripe cauliflower’,...

18Oct

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

I, Daniel Blake – Traverse Theatre

It’s too glib to simply give this a theatrical review. Yes, it’s well-acted, well-lit, commitment and emotion running through the production from top to bottom, but to thoughtlessly term it ‘entertainment’ would be to miss the point entirely. Roughly eight years after a financial crash laid bare the clandestine, labyrinthine world of modern finance, providing a golden, once-in-a-generation opportunity to reform the rotting edifice, the film ‘I Daniel Blake’ was released, illustrating by how far this opportunity had been missed. Mysteriously, by 2016, many of the architects of the 2008 disaster were somehow richer than they’d ever been. Clearly there was still wealth-a-go-go in the country; it just kept winding up in the same pockets while ‘austerity’ persisted unabated, resulting in cut...

16Aug

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

Cola Boy – The Space @ Symposium Hall

This show kicked off on Monday (13th) with a full house and Thursday & Friday are already sold out. It’s in of those infamously ‘intimate’ Fringe venues so move fast if you want the experience; for that primarily is what this is, rather a fleeting one at that. How many times have you heard the cliché ‘The book’s much better’? Author Ryan Battles did actually live and work in Dubai, his book an enjoyable, adventurous tome pulling few punches about a place he has ‘no desire to ever travel to again.’ However, squeezed into 40 minutes it ends up highlighting just two themes; the death (and ghostly return) of Jimmy’s bezzy mate Andy, and the nerve-shredding trip back to London to traffic 70 grammes of coke back into Dubai. We’re welcomed in from a drenched Hill Square by a groovy ...