#YelpCritic

The next morning, over a cup of tea with my 70 year old neighbour, I suggested that she go see Munch. Now, an hour long comedic spoken word poem about BDSM doesn’t sound like it should be everyone’s cup of tea, let alone my up my elderly neighbour’s avenue, who has been filling her Fringe boots with Shakespeare and BBC, but that is the brilliance of Munch in a nutshell. Whether you’re a bonafide leather clad badass, or have no clue or desire to become familar with the fetish world: this play is worth your time.
Why? Well i’d spend the £9 again just to watch these two perform a piece SO synchronized and polished that it is apparent there has been love, blood, sweat and tears put into this show. It wasn’t «thrown together». This show took TIME to piece together and it is apparent in every transition, perfectly ad-​libbed moment and choreographed dance piece (yes folks, there is singing and dancing).
But that’s just one reason. If I were to put a list together of why you should go spend your money here, it might look a little something like this:
I’d spend £9 again to…
1. See the faces of people as they walk into a TINY room and realize that they are in a space so intimate, that there is absolutely no way they can walk out if things get beyond their comfort zone.
2. For the first laugh out loud moment when people relax into it and realize they won’t have to make a daring escape after all.
3. For the DOZENS of laugh out loud moments throughout the hour, each both ridiculous and charming in their own way.
4. For the songs. OH MY GOSH, i’d pay money again for the songs twice over.
5. For the fact that you actually might inadvertently learn something. Trust me, this show is way more fun than google.
It’s a show about BDSM that you could bring your mum to. So if you’re in need of something COMPLETELY different and a bit of a giggle, I highly suggest you catch these folks before the Fringe ends.

Jonny Pelham doesn’t want you to call him brave. He was born with popliteal pterygium syndrome, which amongst other things causes a cleft palate, leg problems and in 50% of cases, deformed testicles (Jonny’s not one of those… he thinks). But he’s not brave. When he was ten he spent six months in a wheelchair and attended a summer camp for disabled children where he was told on a daily basis by well-​meaning camp supervisors how brave he was, for what, Jonny wondered, for living?
Jonny was also listed in the Guardian’s funniest newcomers at the Fringe this year, which, if nothing else, is a pretty big achievement for a young comedian. His show is a charming mix about life growing up as all of the following: being disabled, the child of therapists, the only white kid in his year and a late bloomer (if you know what I mean). He’s funny too.

Wings In My Heart
Swiss Nouveau Cirque
Big Sexy Circus City (Venue 347)
Aug 25 – 30
Times: Tue-​Thurs 8pm
Fri– Sun 2.30pm & 8pm
Rigolo Swiss Nouveau Cirque’s new stage performance «Wings in my Heart» beckons you to explore the journey of a woman in search of her own destiny. Rigolo’s founders Lena Roth and Maedir Rigolo wished to create a show for their youngest daughter, Marula Eugster, who recently concluded her professional dance education to take to the stage, spread her wings and fly. An international cast featuring ex-​Cirque du Soleil artists combine dance, acrobatics and theatre to a beautiful score of music and striking light display. Hosted by an ex-​No Fit State production crew this demanding rig-​construction includes thirteen scenes of mind-​blowing artistry.
Fire lights the stage, a female explodes out of a pit of water and writhes and slips around like a newborn animal. A single quilled feather pen distracts the audiences attention, as it writes metaphorical script on projected screens flanking the stage. A wind-​up ballerina doll pulls stilted mechanical characters on stage and brings them to life to create a slightly crazed carousel. With fixed manic smiles they totter around on stage, as the main character (Marula Eugster) dressed in white, dances around with a kite. The ballerina doll gifts her the spine of a date palm leaf. Although it is not obviously apparent, this symbolises the growth and development of Eugster as a woman, from birth (the water pit opening scene) through childhood and so on.
«Creation is sound. If you are in tune with these all encompassing primordial sounds you are one with all beings, one with the whole universe» writes the quilled pen as the stage is prepped for the next act. Two artists ride winged contraptions, which spin in all directions, almost colliding with one another. A solo tap dancer (Daniel Borak) jumps around the stage following a spotlight creating his own music through the power of his feet. Borak’s tremendous focus builds the intensity and he is subsequently joined by a drummer (Julius Oppermann) who performs along with his tap. It is clear there is a powerful connection between the two artists. The audio energy increases and the audience «whoop» with encouragement and enjoyment. The drums are exchanged for another palm spine gift as Oppermann taps out a rhythm. Eugster plays chase for a palm leaf spine, symoblising love and relationships. Pendulum balls drop from the ceiling and the seven strong
ensemble duck and dive, twist and flip while trying to avoid the swinging balls. UV lights glow creating outstanding visual moving patterns as hip-​hop artist (Kemal Dempster) dodges the swinging balls. From a lowered stage section a vertical rope duet involving a limp, almost fragile female body is pulled and spun by aerial artist Suren Bozyan, a rippling slice of eye-​candy. The momentum builds as the balance and counter balance creates a sea-​saw effect of one launching into the air as the other tumbles down.
The Interval arrives and it’s time for some liquid refreshment and a wander around the site. Along with ‘Wings’ there are other circus acts ‘Hitch’ & ‘Swing circus’, fire shows, cabaret, bar and food vendors and kids workshops throughout the day. The Big Sexy Circus City space was once home to a brewery and it took five weeks to clear and recreate to space into a marvelous new festival venue. With 50 people working in and around the Circus City it is an impressive set-​up.
A thundering hanging drum in the big top tent breaks the interval. Tension mounts and raw primal cries echo around the space. A light shines bright, like the sun and mystical feathered wings gracefully descend from the rigs. The beauty of this act warms my soul and there is a feeling of peace. The cast appears holding models of seagulls and they swoop and fly through the air, mimicking the birds until they gather on a tree creating a portrait of the lead artist, Marula Eugster. Peculiar animals appear and a score of sand tap dancing is performed. The finale is an intense balancing act using all the palm leaf spines, representing the elements and dimensions of Eugster’s life experiences. It was a shame the auditorium appeared to be only half full. The extensive show may be £20 but you definitely get your value for money during this two and a half hour performance. This ambitious circus is risky but enchantingly dynamic and I implore you not to miss it!

Seed: Advancement
We love seeing Japanese drummers and most years the shows we have seen have been at the bigger venues. We were thrilled that this year we picked Seed Advancement at ‘C’. The venue was fantastic — great views, a big stage but just the right size to make you feel connected to the performers and the rest of the audience.
The drummers were young and a mix of boys and girls — led by their smiley teacher, who came to the stage at a few points in the show to tell us about the numbers they were performing. This was a highlight for me — it really added a personal touch — especially when he kept stopping to jokingly ask if we could understand as he read from his mile long Japanese scroll.
The drummers performed with such intensity and precision — yet managed to smile with such genuine enthusiasm. It made me feel very privileged to be able to witness this type of traditional music in my own home town.
I later saw a few of them on the Royal Mile handing out flyers. Still smiling and full of enthusiasm. They told me that coming to Edinburgh was a dream for them and this year it finally came true! I felt so touched to be part of their dreams.
See this show for the music, for the precision performance, for the heartfelt enthusiasm, for the culture and for the tradition. One of my 2015 highlights.

I was already sold on the concept of Alchemist Theatre’s LIBERATION before I entered the venue at the Zoo Southside (V. 82). People dancing, throwing paint around while naked and making a statement about bodies and discomfort? I’m in! In fact, it’s exactly the show I’d like to BE in, never mind watch!
So maybe I was primed to like it. Then again, it could go so very, very wrong. I would try to keep the suspense up about whether or not it worked, but by now you’ve already seen the stars… Jeez, Unilocal!Spoiler warnings much?!
In short: I loved the show! Ten out of ten, would recommend!
The show isn’t really about nudity. So is the nudity a gimmick? Is this one of those shows using sex and naked bodies as a lure to bring people in? No. It’s a show about nudity in the same way that Lion King is a movie about lions. Nudity is merely a medium through which they tell the story, and it feels necessary. It’s about being your naked sense in every sense of the word. It’s a show about how we — as children — have our entire beings covered up so we can be presented to the world as part of the homogenous throng. We are taught to hide in our shirts and skirts and pants and hats.
Don’t get me wrong. I love shirts and skirts and pants and hats! We’re being metaphorical, do keep up!
Saying that I loved the show doesn’t quite cover it, however. I was deeply moved by it on a personal level, and it was a big part of me making a choice to live truer to myself the next day. I don’t mean that in the vague, general way that we leave Brave or Ratatouille and go «I loved the message about being true to yourself.» I mean I took a very real, tangible step toward that goal as a direct result of this show and other events of that day.
You see, Liberation starts with The Child (not an actual child) being born into this world and very quickly being clothed and taught how to fit in the box. Watching this playful, emotional, curious and free being learning to adhere to the boxes we are to live in was heartbreaking for me. I realised just why I had struggled so much in school and socially growing up, why I could never settle into who I was. I never saw an acceptance of my own mode of thought. Sure, I often think in roundabout, impractical and lofty ways that don’t make much sense outside of my own head, but being told «No, not like that. That will NEVER work. Like THIS!» has been a big part of my upbringing. And it never worked for me. I managed to create a version of myself that was sufficiently Me for me to not go insane, but that would kind of go under the radar and not invite derision. I put on those jeans and t-​shirts and showed just enough «skin» to still be able to go unnoticed. And it made me… not miserable, but certainly not happy. And it hasn’t helped what fitting in is supposed to help, I’m not raking in the cash and living a content, financially secure life.
I want you to understand that The Child of this show… That’s me.
I cried during that opening story, and my eyes are wet just writing about it. So perhaps I’m not the best judge of the show. Good thing I’m not a paid critic, because I’m sure this would be considered a very unprofessional review…
On a less personal note, the lighting was consistently strong throughout the show, especially in that opening. Every bit of muscle and sinew and tendon could be seen as the child unfolded and came into this world. In short: The lighting was as honest as the naked bodies, and it was beautiful. While I got the impression that most of the cast are not originally dancers (precision wasn’t 100% with all of them), this didn’t matter. In fact, it made it feel raw and human in a way that I sometimes feel like dance shows just lack. So often, they just feel too polished and too synchronised and too… impressive to have an emotional impact beyond «OOOH! Wow! Look at that!». This wasn’t about being impressive, and that made the whole show even more honest.
Now, the cast in this show is fairly uniformly tall, white, able-​bodied, thin and youngish. I found it slightly uncomfortable watching a show that was all about diversity of Mind and embracing Differences had no diversity whatsoever in its Bodies. It would have been wonderful to see bigger, shorter, coloured, differently abled people of various ages, as it would seriously strengthen the message they are sending out.
EDIT: I just noticed that on their website, the cast is different, and they do have one person of colour in those cast shots. So we know it’s not a wilful erasure of diversity in that regard. I do hope that if they do put out castings for new shows or new runs of Liberation, that they will make an extra effort to invite a diverse set of people to audition, even if that means that I’d be less likely to get a part speaking as a tall, white, able, slim and young person.
(Bring your children to this if they’ll let them in. The nudity is entirely asexual and innocent)

Hendrick’s Gin Emporium on George St is well worth a visit if you are a fan of mother’s ruin. Quirky & cool. They run experiences too which are a treat for the senses
Ed Byrne. Him off the tele. 9pm Gilded balloon. Good stand up. Topical & Plenty of chuckles. Worth the ticket price (£15)

I went to see Fairy Tale Theatre: 18 & Over last night — bizarre, twisted,(educational!!) — genius! — most definitely not for children!
This is a show telling modern, adult fairy tales, complete with insightful morals, told by a random range of odd animals! This is by far one of the most inventive, clever and hilariously funny shows i’ve ever seen — the costumes (and puppets) are strange and innovative as are the story lines — but I think we can all learn alot from this show!
I don’t wanna give away too much detail as it just really needs to be seen for yourselves — please go — it’s amazing!
I will be returning for some more curious anecdotes as they do 2 shows, the other, i’m told, is chocked full of more comical characters and weird and wonderful yarns — I can’t wait!

Saw Carl Donnelly’s show «Jive Ass Honky» and thought it was just great. He is a very sincere comedian which I really appreciate these days! He is delightful and funny and just a lovely person. Would see again!

Awesome find last night, a comedy show called Laugh yourself thin by Mark Simmons. Totally worth it if you are up for laughing yourself thin literally! The guy is spontaneous and naturally funny, impossible not to laugh out loud! Short silly jokes, really my kind of show, brilliant!
Great comedy show, would recommend to everyone!
We also watched A Man Breaking Bad, good fun but expected a little bit more.
It’s cool for Breaking Bad addicted like my husband and I.
Looking forward to watch Traces, if anyone seen please let me know how was it!