(4 / 5)

Take all the typical royal stories you hear of succession, throw in a drag king and a whole heap of humour and you have Lil Wenker’s Boyking. 

I was introduced to Lil Wenker last year with their western cowboy turned accountant act and instantly knew I needed to see more of them. This year, they bring the story of 8 year old Prince Wilfred who is 14th in line to the throne and very unhappy about it. What ensues is a catalyst to trudging up his deep and dark evil side, as he embarks on becoming King through any means. 

Boyking is rude and crude from the start. We get multiple characters out of Lil Wenker, from the court jester, to snippets of his father and the odd brother. His mother appears but only as a giant boob, manipulated and grotesque in a Bouffon style appendage that appears from off stage and breast feeds the Prince. The characters are distinctive and prompted with different voices, mannerisms, physicality and associated props which are all very clever to bring the story forward. They’re not deep characters and that works perfectly; enough to give shock but also enough that you’re not emotionally invested. 

Everything is highly elevated and exaggerated. A large crown that allows Lil Wenker to provide some hilarious physicality with audience interaction that could border on too much for anyone else but who for Lil Wenker pulls laugh after laugh from it the more it goes on. There’s also to say that we are all involved throughout; don’t think that you can go without being interacted with or asking for some involvement. And this is always welcomed – it adds to the hilarity and, when audience interaction is unexpected, Lil Wenker is skilled enough that this doesn’t throw them – they go with it and it only adds to the fun. 

There are really dark, black comedy moments however – when Boyking is evil, the grotesque boob, to name just a few and this is a level more than their last show. Without the traditional physical aspect of Bouffon, it still touches on this dark and taboo humour which makes you occasionally gasp-laugh with the shock factor but also, with great intellectual comedy.

Boyking is dark, naughty and ever so funny. Prepare to be hilariously shocked and belly laugh throughout.

(4 / 5)

It’s hard to miss a large giraffe head across the fringe. I heard of Francisco last year and sadly never got the chance to see him. But that yellow and brown pattern has haunted me ever since – haunted me for a missed opportunity. 

What transpires is one hour of complete and enjoyable nonsense. I’m not sure if there was a story per se but little small sketches throughout that seamlessly linked into one another or slightly circled back.. The majority of the narrative is to enable a healthy dose of audience interaction and it works very effectively. So, easy to say, if you’re the shy and retiring type, this is not for you – but nothing to fear, Francisco is nothing but friendly, even if his visible bum cheeks feel slightly daunting at first. 

Francisco has made a very impressive headdress, something from Lion King comes to mind. Made out of cardboard and not entirely accurate or anatomically correct, the small hole for his face allows him to make confident and hilarious eye contact, sound and facial expressions. This all adds to the ridiculous humour and there’s no rhyme or reason to why the giraffe’s interactions are sometimes from his face or the giraffe’s inches above him. We don’t question it as it only adds to the humour and ridiculous nature. 

I’ve alluded to it but moving down, we are often treated with a full view of his bottom. There’s nothing sexual or necessarily crude in this, but only elevates the nonsense more and adds to the overall costume – with slightly mismatched patterned accessories, verging on leopard rather than giraffe. It might seem like something that a starting out act might do in absence of funds but this is actually a very clever approach and weirdly goes together. 

There’s a little bit of Mr Bean about this act. Very little actual speech is uttered, and if it is, it’s almost mime. But we entirely get what he means. Slight, more obvious prompts are made to help the audience along but he fully embodies his act through physicality which is innately funny. His interactions with the audience are abundant but nothing terrifying. There’s some slight crude-ish humour – think sniffing his ever growing quantity of g-strings on a washing line, but mostly it has a tinge of slapstick and a touch of flirtation. 

Francisco de Nata is just pure nonsense of the best kind. It’s one hour of surprising comedy, evoking the naughtier side of Rowan Atkinson and providing humour that trails one after the other in perfect succession.

(5 / 5)

As a book lover, and, despite this, very much being influenced by the “book’s cover” Garry Starr was plastered around all things ed fringe and I knew, I would just need to see what this about. What I actually saw, was way beyond anything I ever expected.

Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is a show that attempts to go through every single penguin book within the time allowed, creating hilarious comedy through quick and basic acting out of the titles, audience engagement and … oh… a whole heap of nakedness. That’s right. As we enter, there’s a aesthetic of a villain’s ice lair, with Starr in a high backed chair and clearly a top hat and tails. But when he swivels around, we see Starr at his full nudeness. The show proceeds in this fashion, with much lewd comedy sought from this, some…ahem… intimate puppetry and zero boundaries in physicality. At some point, you get used to this and suddenly Starr will pull out something out of his hat (metaphorically) that takes us back to the rude comedy basics. I will say, that the nakedness doesn’t really add anything to the performance – there’s no real rhyme or reason, but you can’t be mad because it’s totally absurd and ridiculous and entire chaos. It’s such a mad production, that you actually do not stop laughing, whether specifically prompted or just because you cannot believe what is happening.

The actual “recreation” of the books are very clever. Very to the point and as described, there are bits that are heightened to either gross us out or make us shocked, and others that actually are physically impressive. To ourselves, we start to guess what’s next. Most of the time, the acting begins before we are told the true title and, any book lover, begins to try to get ahead of Starr and what he is recreating.

Starr himself is having a whale of a time – with no qualms of his state of dress or interactions with us, he is laughing and enjoying every moment as much as us. As with any audience interaction, there are curve balls and he relishes this and uses it very much to his advantage to pull more and more laughs from us. In pockets of the production, we actually feel as if we are just Starr’s friends, being as silly and ridiculous as he is, despite being within a large, sold out venue.

Garry Starr: Classic Penguins is an absolutely nuts and nonsensical production, with ranging high to low levels of comedy and concept. It is mania of the best kind and one of the most bizarre but brilliant productions at fringe.

(3 / 5)

If you were expecting a drag act, you are * some what* wrong. KINDER, while all the posters would tell you so, seems as if we are embarking on a drag act, we are in fact embarking on something a lot more.

KINDER is a deep and emotional production based on a drag artist at a time when their plans completely change. Instead of their debut on stage as their drag performance, they are in fact booked for a reading hour at the local library with children. What this triggers is a monologued production, with elements of high quality lip syncing performance, reflecting on a personal childhood and the state of children and families going forward.

The storytelling is deep and personal. We feel privileged to be part of something so sensitive and in a clearly vulnerable place. While the story is told, Stewart is slowly changing into a new outfit, looking through newly moved boxes, finding things that trigger a memory or an opinion. We learn a lot about them and how they came to be, while they also talk out loud their personal opinions and wants for the future. We feel close to Stewart, and they do speak to every one of us in that room. There are occasional moments of comedy, in the way that you find in a conversation, but this isn’t really meant to be that production, or so it would seem.

The lip-syncing moments are fierce and very professional – these injections liven and break up the monologue, much in a way that Shakespeare would use a light relief in one of his serious plays. Stewart easily commands the stage and takes up the space, not allowing your eyes to wander elsewhere. So, when we return to the one sided discussion, they suddenly seem a little lost in the space, and the tidying or searching becomes a little monotonous an action.

KINDER is a bit of a mismatch of a production – it has really strong moments, such as the lip syncing parts or the beginning of the artists vulnerability, but this sadly becomes a bit of the same, losing our attention and wanting something a bit more.

(3 / 5)

As we confront the space, we see three human sized cages in front of us, ready for us to then confront existence with three chickens.

That sentence in itself seems surreal and of course, it means that this production is also surreal. Lights come up and we see three different coloured chickens in front of us in human size, sat in the cages, staring out at us. Over the next hour, these chickens contemplate existence, time, their lives and what’s to come, all while they wait for their randomised fate of the broiler.

Along with the differentiating colours, the personalities of each chicken is different and in some ways giving a sense of the film Chicken Run – we have a hen who is a little wacky, a cockerel who is more matter of fact and another cockerel who is a little more of a higher class. They have been thrown together in unfortunate circumstances, bouncing off one another, creating naturalistic humour in their differences. They do feel like they have been plucked out of the famous film, with similar thoughts, interactions and a desire to escape their fate.

In amongst their interactions, the spotlight is drawn on each of them for a monologue about their life and existence. Their contemplation, while chicken lead, feels philosophical, and does give a feeling of something avant garde and thought provoking. Within these moments and their interactions, there are elements of humour but it is small and subtle, and it’s difficult sometimes to tell if this is meant to be humorous or an attempt at high art. Whatever it is, it is a piece of theatre you’d expect to go to at the fringe, for the eccentricity alone.

3 Chickens Confront Existence is a thought provoking and philosophical and avant garde piece of theatre, well catered for those seeking to discover the unusual at fringe. It however felt a little lost on what it was meant to be, whether serious or a comedy. Either way, it was a well performed and interesting production.

(4 / 5)

Everyone loves a good murder mystery. Popularity of this genre has increased with Hollywood films such as Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club, so it feels fitting that it comes to and is popular at the world of Ed Fringe.

As the title suggests, this production takes all the combos of the quintessential murder mystery, but puts the plot into our hands. Murder mystery meets improv – there are prompts and certain things in place to help, but with the help of the audience, how this actually transpires is completely unplanned. In our scenario, this is the case of the big sausage, set in a p*ss up in a brewery, which already gives us giggles and that typical British humour. There are often little innuendos and suggestions that continue the typical British humour in that wink wink nudge nudge kind of way.

The set itself is resplendent – very well made, featuring on quite a large stage with sold out seats. There’s a great sense of “Cluedo” with the chosen aesthetic and the monochrome colour choices – one character is all in yellow, one in green e.t.c. Our host has a essence of Miss Marple meets Jessica Fletcher, with slightly stereotyped and exaggerated elements in her dress and conduct. She has the power to stop and start and entice certain moments, with a tongue and cheek essence that clearly shows a great relationship and banter culture with her fellow actors by cheekily making things a little harder for them. Moments of corpsing comes from all of them; silly suggestions, recognition of Jessica Marple’s attempts to throw them, the comedy that comes from the minds of their colleagues as they improvise and, in this big space, this lets us warm to them and be part of their group.

Overall, Murder She Didn’t Write is a brilliantly and professionally constructed audience participatory improvisation show. It effortlessly links all the stereotypes of a murder mystery, engaging with us for prompts to continue the comedy and showing a real skill in creating a whodunnit on the spot.