Took my first steps into this years madness on Wednesday night. I’ll get to the show in a second but I forget ever year just how mental town gets, it’s barely started and there’s already people everywhere. It makes me glad that I can stay pretty much out of it down in Leith and I only need to go into town when I want to. Anyroads, brief thoughts on Phil Kay and some other rambling after the jump.
So, last nights show, Phil Kay, and it was … eh … well … different. Let me quote a couple of bits from his page on Chortle:
Kay failed to make any connection with the audience who sat mostly in bemused silence […] a frustratingly meandering show, always threatening to be funny but rarely being so. As the night wore on, the lack of structure, or indeed jokes, became increasingly tiresome …
That’s a review of a different show but sadly that pretty much describes it, I can’t say “don’t see him” because it looks like (as the link above says) he might be able to put on a great show if everything falls into place — it just didn’t when I saw him.
It’s not all bad, I enjoyed getting out and into town and it’s always nice to wander around Teviot (acting as part of the Gilded Balloon during the festival), brings back memories of student life. It hasn’t changed much, although it’s all now non-smoking due to the ban in Scotland, which has revealed a fairly strong smell of sweat and booze.
I’m off to the Pleasance tomorrow, to sit in the sun (hopefully) and see what I can get tickets to while they’re still cheap.
Saw Phil Kay a couple of years ago in the Smirnoff Underbelly and it sounds as though is routine has not improved with age. All I remember is that the loudest sound that came from the audience that night was the sound of drinks being poured from bar taps. Not a good thing I feel.
Comment by Marco — August 4, 2006 @ 7:46 am
I had exactly the same experience with Phil Kay at the now-charcoal gilded balloon some years ago. I think his material is largely improvised and I got the impression that if he managed to hit his stride he could be pretty funny. He didn’t manage it that night though – just rambled for 45 minutes and left. It was quite painful to watch really.
Comment by Dave — August 5, 2006 @ 8:44 am