UnorthodoxY Archive It's wasn't what you thought

Well I’ve done nothing really noteworthy this week, in fact I’ve done very little of anything, noteworthy or otherwise. Sadly nobody has run past me ranting about geese, and so I’m left with little to write about.

I did go home at the weekend and while there, amongst other things, I was roped into helping to bathe a cat. Since then I’ve been trying to work this into a pithy saying that I can trot out at an appropriate time, in the style of “Never teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.”.

Sadly pithy sayings are far from my forte, and the best I can do is: “It’s like bathing a cat, everyone gets wet but only the cat gets clean.” This sounds like it might be profound, which is half the battle. Perhaps I just need to start saying “Ah, like bathing a cat …” and tailing off while trying to sound meaningful. Maybe it’ll catch on.

Those of you expecting the post to have a punchline, or even a point, are going to end up a little disappointed. Much like bathing a cat …

Saw Bill Bailey on Friday night, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. It was funny in places, but at other points seem very rambling and unfocused, which is odd because that’s what he normally does and it’s usually hilarious. The reviews on edfringe.com are somewhat mixed, so perhaps the show works on some nights, on Friday he started late and finished early so maybe something else was going on that knocked him off his stride. It’s a shame, he was much better when I saw him a few years back.

Or maybe I’m just being particularly fickle this year as I’ve not really liked all that much I’ve seen. Maybe next year I’ll stay away from the big tickets and go and see people a few more smaller acts.

Can you have too much whisky? Probably yes, and we certainly had a good attempt at the Whisky Fringe on Saturday.

The idea is that various whisky producers/bottlers/resellers set up stall in the Mansfield Traquair Centre — well worth a visit just to see the building — and give away samples in an attempt to convince people it’s worth shelling out for a bottle. When you arrive you get a welcome pack with a glass, a list of the exhibitors, a pen and an order form in case you want to make a purchase. I’d imagine that a good chunk of people there have no intention of buying anything, and the majority are only going to buy something if it really takes their fancy but I guess the organisers think it’s worth it since they keep doing it every year.

Having said that this year seemed quieter, both in the number of stalls there and in the amount of punters. There’s always big multi-brand distillers showing off whatever brand they’re pushing at the time but normally there are a few stalls for smaller distilleries. The smaller stalls seemed in very short supply this year which is a shame as they’re always more interesting and it meant there was very little on offer that I hadn’t tasted before. In the end there was plenty of good whisky there, but nothing that grabbed me enough to make me want to buy it. I’ve a couple of good bottles in the cupboard already and they’ll do me for the moment.

I think I won some sort of dubious moral victory by managing to remain out drinking longer than anyone else after it all wound up, although my memory of the time gets progressively more foggy as the night wears on. Hmmm, that’s probably why they slip a drinkaware leaflet into the welcome pack at the start of the day.

I had a much longer post about these shows, but it was a mixture of rambling and wanky pseudo-review. After a week of tinkering I ditched it and you get this instead.

What I Heard About Iraq. Excellent, a great idea well executed. Worth seeing regardless of your views on the war.

Chanbara. Don’t let the flyers fool you into thinking they use real swords, or even that the swords are the main part of the show. See it for the drumming or don’t bother (and arrive early, or you’ll risk getting terrible seats.)

Brendon Burns: Sober Not Clean. A good show, due to a mixture of a great audience, decent material and the fact he’s a naturally talented and funny guy. Not for everyone though, see it if you don’t have your outrage meter dialed all the way up.

Jim Henson’s Puppet Improv – Adults Only. This review explains the setup, it’s improvised so you can never predict what you’ll get but they’re undoubtedly a great bunch of performers. It’s a good show but to be honest £17.50 is too much to pay for just an hour, I’m sure they’ll sell out anyway. See it, particularly if you want to hear a Muppet swear, but be prepared to be annoyed when they go on tour with a two hour version for the same price.

Off for whisky. More later.

Normally the cheap preview shows run up to the official opening of the Fringe on Sunday but most shows seem to have slipped in a full price show on the Saturday this year, before the normal 2-for-1 opening deals. Sly. I did manage to get to a handful of previews on Friday, details, thoughts and recommendations either way are after the jump.
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