First of all – my experience of Shakespeare is limited – I will
admit that from the outset, but I know what I like, and this production of Twelfth
Night was outstanding, without a single weak link. Every actor seemed to bring
their own to the performance making for a uniquely darkly comic interpretation
of this outstanding play. Casting was brilliance for every part but our famous
stars were not out of place, instead they were brilliantly placed and brought
their own character to the roles; Malvolio couldn’t have been better cast
than Richard Wilson (One Foot in the Grave’s - Victor Meldrew) who was
born for the part, and brought his comic persona and facial expressions to some
truly hilarious moments. James Fleet (Vicar of Dibley’s - Hugo) played
a dim-witted knight in the form of Sir Andrew Aguecheek; bringing real comic
relief to even the darkest moment, accompanied by his lack of grasp of the Shakespearian
tongue to really nail home the characters ineptness.
However the real star of the show was Feste (Olivia’s Fool) played by
Miltos Yerolemou, his singing, dancing and dark comedy shaped the show and brought
everything together to form this wonderful piece of theatre. I thoroughly recommend
a trip to the Duke of York theatre to check this out, whether you’re a
Shakespeare fan or not.
As a side note if you’re after somewhere to stay on a one night stop
can I recommend the Arosfa
Hotel (it’s small, but extremely friendly and very clean and comfy).
27 Shows in 6 Days, not a bad count, below is the list of things we saw; this is mostly for my benefit (so I don't forget) :-)
Andy’s Rating
Kate’s Rating
One Man Lord Of The Rings
Exactly what it says on the tin – from the creator of One
Man Star Wars comes a take on Lord Of The Rings, and while I imagine Star
Wars (a mostly dialogue driven trilogy) was impressive; the Lord Of The
Rings (a scenery driven film) lacked something. There was a lot of him
humming and trying to illustrate vast expanses of land by flapping his
arms. Now don’t get me wrong the whole thing was very impressive, and
some moments of comedy gold lay within, however less humming and flapping
and more comedy moments would have been even more enjoyable.
John Hegley
A true poetic legend, if you have never read any of John
Hegley’s poetry then you really are missing out; and hearing the great
man himself reading these sincere peeks into the history of his family,
along with his own comic style of performing was a great experience (including
playing ukulele on a violin).
Iago
My highlight of the festival which is really odd considering
the company is from Bristol,
however, this one man take on Othello opened my eyes to what can be done
with Shakespeare. The complete story of Othello as seen through the eyes
of Iago, as he wrestled over whether or not he was guilty. I really would
recommend this if you get the opportunity to see it.
Jon Richardson
A comic walkthrough of the life of a perfectionist and how
striving for perfection can systematically destroy everything.
Bongo Cabaret
Well ... what can I say; allow me to summarise, two poor
comedians, two ropey burlesque dancers, one terrifying gay man, and an
average sketch comedy trio – please avoid!
Your Numbers Up
Youth theatre as it attempts to be both edgy and funny and
barely manages either. An hour of character development follwed by the
end.
After The Bomb
A truly bizarre trip into the mind of a communist regime;
very funny, especially some of the briliant dialogue between communist
spies.
Paul Mertons Improv Chums
Paul Merton brings improvised
comedy gold to the pleasance theatre, including wrestling on a bus, film
genre rotation on a cruise ship and going up mount everest with your mother
in law.
Rebecca
Terry Pratchett’s Lords & Ladies
Am Dram – nothing else to be said.
Rap Guide To Evolution
Now this is actually what it says - believe it or not. Baba
Brinkman brings evolution to life through hip hop, well worth checking
out, you can't believe it until you see
it.
Cardinio
The lost play of Shakespeare (or an interpretation thereof)
brought to life. This lost play was brilliantly executed with a very physical
performance, including one poor actor who refused to go to hospital with
a broken elbow until he had completed his performance.
East
Sound & Fury’s: Sherlock Holmes & The Saline Solution
Slapstick spoof humour over the detective genre by three
American's know as Sound & Fury. This farcical comedy while not brilliant
was certainly an entertaining evening, and had everyone in fits of laughter.
The origin of species by means of natural selection or the survival
of [r]evolutionary theories in the face of scientific and ecclesiastical
objections: being a musical comedy about Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)
This musical captures the imagination as the writer/performer/Darwin
welcomes everyone to his study and sings various songs about the journey
to the galapagos and his theories on evolution, as well as marrying his
cousin. This is pure brilliance, check it out - this is an Andy recommendation!
Out Of Chaos
Dylan Thomas: Return Journey
Segments of the life of Dylan Thomas from his own eyes through
his poems (told by Bob Kingdom). Bob tells the tales with such emotion
(and memory) that the audience remained captivated, a personal highlight
was the complete telling of The Outing a great story, told so well.
Adam Hills: Inflatable
If you want to feel like the world isn’t so bad after all
then go and see Adam Hills, definitely the best comedian at the festival.
Alun Cochrane: Daydreamer
Quite literally Alun Cochrane's stream of consciousness spilling
fourth, I'm not sure of how long he's been doing stand up but he seemed
unsure of the crowd, constantly telling the back row it was their fault
it wan't funny. His observations on life with kids are absolutely hilarious
and as long as you can keep up with his daydreaming, then you're on for
an enjoyable evening.
Rich Hall’s Campfire Stories
News Revue
The years' news in comedy form, while some of the sketches
were funny, and the songs - including financial easing (sexual healing)
by Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling were hilarious, a lot of the jokes
were quite obvious like a re-animated Michael Jackson. However I would
still recomend going to see it if you're in the area.
Rhod Gilbert
Angry, Angry, Angry – Now a lot of comedians get aggressive
at various trials of life; but I’ve never seen an entire show made up
of issues with washing machines / vacuum cleaners. This does not detract
from the ability Rhod Gilbert has with his LOUD comic storytelling, well
worth checking him out.
Purple Ronnie’s Stand Up Poetry
One Night Only – 1 o’ clock in the morning, and we’re watching
Phil Jupitus amongst others reading their own poetry. While Jupitus was
a bit rusty at the poetry, others including Luke Wright were very good.
Pythonesque
The story of the Python crew told by Graham Chapman upon
his arrival at the pearly gates. Python sketches are used to illustrate
key moments in the teams growth, to great success, and the actor to play
John Cleese is absolutely spot on along with the rest of the cast who
all carry off their comic personas perfectly. The Perfectly Healthy Budgie
Skectch (for legal reasons) is one of many moments of genius.
Comedy Bitch
Touted as soon to hit your TV screens any audience can see
why, some of the sketches were out and out sketch show genius, including
the sitcom house, sock puppet ex-boyfriend and grown up 5 year old. Keep
an eye out for this group on your screens before long.
Stewart Lee
The established humour and sustained rants of Stewart Lee
mean you will never be dissapointed, however the long long pauses seem
to greatly punctuate his performance leaving you wishing that he would
get to the point just that bit sooner, especially if you saw it coming
2 minutes ago.
Hopefully
the start to a magnificent franchise, it certainly begins on a high - Wolverine
has everything that the X-MEN trilogy should have offered up, don't get me wrong,
X-MEN 2 is a superb film, and 1 is good, while 3 was merely a decision to put
in as many special effects and forego a story - why?
Back to my original positive point, Wolverine, its a fantastic combination
of gripping story line, stunning special effects, and truly believeable acting
(given the universe in which they live). The only minor down point is Gambit
who needed to be a lot more sullen, witty and faithful to the comic. The fight
sequences between Wolverine and Sabretooth are awesome but still not unbelievable,
and the story arc they have chosen is a perfect forerunner to X-MEN 2. You absolutely
have to see this film if you have any interest in comic book based films.
In other film news:
"the only things certain in life is that every odd-numbered 'Star Trek'
movie is s**t" - Tim [Spaced]
After watching the trailers; I'd be inclined to say that this may be the film
to buck the trend, fingers crossed on this one.
Up
until about a year ago I was firmly against the iPod, and then after being firmly
#*$$£? off by just about every other device I finally decided to follow
suit, got an i-pod and have never looked back, ultimately it’s a very
good mp3 player (don’t worship it – it just works) , it’s
an iPod classic 160gb and that’s more than enough space if you just like
music like me.
Anyway I digress, the real reason I write is because when I got the iPod it
meant having to rip my entire CD collection to iTunes which was fine, just took
a little while to do. Now this meant having my CD collection all available in
one place … great … however this new device also came with a cover
art feature … great … or not, it’s all good as long as you
only own music that’s in the iTunes library, which to name but one excludes
the entire beatles back catalogue (of which I own a great deal).
So I am mainly writing here to let you know about a magnificent tool which
after a great deal of research I found Tune Up - http://www.tuneupmedia.com/.
This tool will work through your entire musical catalogue and locate any tracks
without cover art and fill in the blanks, as well as cleaning up any track names
for CD’s that could not be found (couldn’t test this iTunes seems
pretty good in most cases for this). Unfortunately the free version only does
50 cover art’s, but the meagre price tag of just $30 is well worth it
for a fully functioning iPod.
If you’re a Mac user there is a free application that by the looks of
it will do much the same thing (don’t know – not a Mac user, unable
to try it) called gimmesometune - http://www.gimmesometune.com/.
This
is just to let everyone know about a new website launch, it’s Household
Electrics – Plymouth based domestic electricians, with over 15 years experience,
please visit http://www.household-electrics.co.uk
to find out about how they can help you and the ways they can enhance your home.
I
- like so many - grew up in the era that just missed the first outing into 3D
(phew) and so eagerly awaited the second incarnation of all encompassing entertainment
with the technology to back it up. Before anyone says anything I am aware I
am a grown adult but that will never stop me on some level actually being a
child – a trip to the cinema is definitely one of those occasions. Anyway
back to the film, the show was Monsters vs Aliens 3D (still aware it’s
a kid’s film) in REAL D 3D (no idea what that means either).
Firstly the film – a good kids picture – no more, I would’ve
enjoyed it if I was 8, unfortunately I’m not and it’s not got the
imagination or wit we have come to expect from so many computer animated films
from the Dreamworks / Pixar studios, with the likes of Monsters Inc, Shrek,
Finding Nemo, Toy Story to name but a few. Although there are a few moments
which will wash straight over your kids head, and bring about a wry smile.
Now let me move onto the real reason I’m writing this – the lacklustre
3D. For my mind to charge the extra they seem to believe they can add on to
the ticket price, the film must make use of the extra dimension, this film does
not. The most impressive moment to make use of the visual improvement are the
trailers by Disney at the beginning [who appear to be firmly running with the
3D film genre] with some eye popping moments as things fly out of the screen,
after this there is nothing that will even make you flinch at the screen.
Finally, my whole downer on this “new innovation” was based on
a showing under the REAL D 3D brand cinema screen I am yet to see one of the
new era of 3D films on an IMAX screen and am prepared to bet that this may greatly
improve the film quality and will undoubtedly increase the 3D element exponentially.
So my take would be I-MAX is the only way to watch!
Ok, so the big question on everybody's lips is how can we help, and the answer is - lots of ways :-)
First up we need your sponsorship, and your friends sponsorship, and anyone you've ever met's sponsorship, for this click here to donate - this is really really appreciated!
Secondly we have a poster available if you could download this, print it and put it anywhere and everywhere (legally) allowed, obviously don't attach it to your neighbours cat that would just be daft, but any photos of novel places they've been attached will be added on the website :-)
Finally we are still looking at a team car theme, so any suggestions would be more than welcome, just drop me an e-mail
If you would like any more info, or want to know how you can help even more then just drop me an e-mail and I'll get right back to you - businesses you can get involved and get your logo on the car ;-)
I am pleased to announce that Low Grade Entertainment are now the owners of a 1998 Fiat Marea Weekend, in a rather fetching aquatic blue. (Soon to be covered
in whatever we throw at it). The car has been donated to us courtesy of J
and W Automotive, who paid the grand sum of £95 for it (its
not what you its who you know). All we have to do now is some minor repairs,
get it taxed and MOT'd and stick 4 new tyers on it. but its a runner.
A bit more information about our Ramshackle challenge
What we're doing:
Our team of 4 (Low Grade Entertainment - Fish, Oddjob, James and Stan) will
be driving some 1,450 miles from Calais to Valencia on the Ramshackle Rally,
in a car worth less than £100 (they're the rules, we're not just cheap),
and hopefully completing the course in 4 days (with a working car - probably
powered on Diesel and Hope).
About CLICSargent:
Our mission is to be there for each family, caring every step of the way, providing
individual support to children and young people with cancer and leukaemia and
their families through:
Clinical, emotional, psychological, social and financial services in hospital,
at home and in the community across the UK
Being a strong voice nationally and locally
Research into improving treatment and care.
Why CLICSargent:
Having taken part in a charity abseil recently alongside a woman who's son had
been diagnosed with leukaemia 3 days previous she said that the charity had
already been so helpful and supportive that she wanted to give something back.
This for me underlined how crucial CLICSargent's work is, and how any support
we could give would be appreciated - so please GIVE GENEROUSLY!
I fail to believe anyone could watch Iron Man without a) jumping head over
heels into the plot, believing (more or less) every aspect and being completely
gripped by the story line, glued to the edge of your seat and b) desperately
wanting to give that suit a go. Iron Man really is every bit as good as the
reviews state, the first grown up Marvel Action flick (quite literally the first
sole Marvel flick, as the studio takes a solo outing to be extremely proud of).
The casting is a master stroke Robert Downey Jr. is every bit the imagining
of Tony Stark, playing some brilliant monologues (it still counts as a monologue
if you're talking to a mechanical arm, I'm sure of it). Jeff Bridges is outstanding
and Gwyneth Paltrow plays off of Tony Stark with such brilliant awkward chemistry,
the cast truly make this film.
That said the CG effects are also an absolute triumph, where you can never
tell that CG is in use unless they want you too, and then you wish that the
CG stuff actually existed and could be used.
All in all this is a real success for Marvel, and long may they continue in
this vein, I can't wait for the sequel in 2010!
I've finally
managed to successfully set up my home media center for the spare room, yes
I know it's supposed to be easy - but hey I'm not that bright ok. I just thought
I'd mention some of the items I had to buy, and whether they're any good, along
with those major problems that someone else may be able to learn from.
First up, the new monitor (Samsung 2232BW) this montior is so clear, the colour
clarity is superb, and it looks so slick with the shiny black plastic that seems
synonomous with Samsung these days, also the software that comes with it is
well worth installing giving extra vibrancy, and making image adjustment even
easier (as the samsung's buttons are a bit fiddly) adjustment can be done via
the application.
Next up was a TV tuner card - the Hauppage WinTV-HVR 1100 - this tuner card
works perfectly well on XP through its packkaged software, however when brought
up on XP Media Center the first thing I was confronted with was a decoder error,
incidentally there is a solution to this problem, you need an mpeg2 dvd decoder
that is compatible with media center - here
is a free one.
In
my view the title alone means it has to be owned - however - for many
that is not a good enough reason, so to those I strongly suggest a listen.
If you liked squeeze then you really will love this, I would have to say
that this is by far and away his best work, a comment I don't make lightly.
But lyrically every detail is taken with careful care and consideration,
from the obviously personal to the not so much.
The second song is a personal favourite having heard Chris tell the story
about how he wishes he'd been around more for his children this song highlights
his feelings on this.
This really is a must own album.
Ok,
let me attempt to summarise - surreal, cow bell, lyrical genius. I'm afriad
thats about the best I can manage and yet here we have one of the most
original modern albums (I'm not entirely sure modern is fair). But this
album truly is worth a listen if you like to be forever amazed at an albums
lyrics as you sit and listen and think "what did they just say".
This album also never gets old, as I can put it on over and over again
and never tire. And why are their not more cow bells in music.
"I want to row you across the ocean so blue Till we find the man
who kissed all the women in Japan"
Last night we went to see Omid Djalilli at Colston Hall - while he is a superb comedian, we were definetly laughing throughout, his support was the highlight of the evening.
Boothby Graffoe writes some of the most surreal, obscure comedy tunes you will ever, ever hear including such greats as Bungee Girl, this has to be heard to be believed visit his website - www.boothbygraffoe.com or get hold of WOT ITALIAN? (his debut album) and have a listen, if you're not laughing (or at the very least extremely confused) I will be amazed.
I am well aware that in some point in everyones lives they must grow up, but
fortunately we're nowhere near ready yet and so the idea of regression to possibly
the best cartoon of a film spin off from our childhood was one that had to be
seized and plus we got to make our own proton packs - who can honestly say they
haven't dreamt of doing the same.
We had a room full of cardboard, packing foam, 3 tins of black spray paint,
PVA Glue, craft knives, 10 metres of elastic, gaffer tape, a 15m garden hose
from B&Q and several dissected scart leads; the only thing we were really
lacking was any skill whatsoever.
The intention was to create four matching packs, with guns, and we more or
less achieved (all four being of equally poor construction).
Today was the 10th Anniversairy of the Comedy Box @ the Hen & Chicken in Bedminster (Bristol) and it was an entertaining evening, with comedian Mitch Benn headlining the show. If you're not familiar with Mitch Benn he's probably most famous for his appearances on Radio 4, including The Now Show.
Anyway, if you're not familiar, then it's time to get familiar, his music is absolutely incredible with such a vocal range, and brilliantly witty humour, see below for the last single and I will post a link to the new single when it's available, or check out his website - www.mitchbenn.com.
New site designed for Beauty Associates, undoubtably one of the best Beauty Therapists in the South West (this is all opinion, and I'm no expert :-p) but still well worth checking out if you are so inclined. Plus 30% off until the end of February!
We're officially in ... Team No. 59 ... now the next challenge is finding our motor and selecting our theme for this four day adventure from Calais to Valencia, if I'm honest the reality that we're actually doing it has hit YESSSS! Should be an incredible experience, just got to make sure we win :-) (I don't know why everyones always saying I'm overly competitive, but if you can't win whats the point???)
The Ramshackle Rally Valencia takes a route from Calais beginning August 21st through Annecy, San Remo, Perpigan and on to Valencia in time for the La Tomatina (Tomato) festival [which essentially involves a load of people lobbing tomatoes at one another]! Our plan is then to get our vehicle to complete the whole route back again :-s!
On another note: we are not doing this solely because we're nuts, we will of course be raising money for charity, and I will let you know how you can donate as soon as we have it all set up, keep checking back!
I'm going to notify anyone that hasn't already seen this (and would care) that the recent HTML 5 summary has been released showing some of the improvements we can expect to see, this is actually quite exciting news if you're a web developer and are sick of some of the gaping holes in HTML 4 that we've all had to code around, which will be patched up (fingers crossed) and one day browsers will support, of course the speed at which web standards get supported it will probably be a good 5 years before these can be used, and a further 5 before we can realistically use them in commercial applications, but hey, one day.
These developments include among other things 10 new input types (because yes, believe it or not web pages will want users to input date selections, I know I'm shocked as well) as well as many other new tags which all seem to make sense, and the best news, the framset tag is being shot down as well as its frame and noframes counterpart.
Ok, first question for you if you don't own this "Why not?", and if you're going to tell me you're not familiar with Lou Reed I will call you a liar, you just don't realise it.
Lou Reed's music has definetly hit you in some form be it taking a walk on the wild side (if you're easily offended don't listen to the lyrics too carefully), the BBC's rendition of Perfect Day (originally a Lou Reed tune, heathen), or Satellite of Love, among others.
As an aside, from what I've heard about the new killers album Lou Reed is a major influence and this will be very obvious with the albums release (I believe he's even collaborating)!
The Bowie influence is also another fairly heavy feature of this album, so if you're a fan then yet another reason this album is a must listen.
Now some people dismiss this as pop-y, and to those people I would probably agree, it definetly falls into that category, but still as far as pop goes this is by far and away leading the current popular output, with some frankly amazing catchy tunes.
Admittedly "She's so love-l-y" is currently suffering with being overplayed on the radio, and I suspect "Elvis ain't dead" will soon be rendered to the same fate, however the whole album is filled with these entertaining tunes and definetly one for the collection if you like a cheery album.
The culmination of a great deal of months of hard work sees the new site launch of this amazing Italian Restaurant chain here in the South West, I may be biased but can still assure you if you like fine Italian food (and I do, I would definetly list Italy as my favourite place to visit [not just for the food, but still]) then Bottelinos is a must to visit, be it Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Nailsea or the new branch in Swindon!
Hopefully
the start to a magnificent franchise, it certainly begins on a high - Wolverine
has everything that the X-MEN trilogy should have offered up, don't get me wrong,
X-MEN 2 is a superb film, and 1 is good, while 3 was merely a decision to put
in as many special effects and forego a story - why?
Up
until about a year ago I was firmly against the iPod, and then after being firmly
#*$$£? off by just about every other device I finally decided to follow
suit, got an i-pod and have never looked back, ultimately it’s a very
good mp3 player (don’t worship it – it just works) , it’s
an iPod classic 160gb and that’s more than enough space if you just like
music like me.
This
is just to let everyone know about a new website launch, it’s Household
Electrics – Plymouth based domestic electricians, with over 15 years experience,
please visit 
I
- like so many - grew up in the era that just missed the first outing into 3D
(phew) and so eagerly awaited the second incarnation of all encompassing entertainment
with the technology to back it up. Before anyone says anything I am aware I
am a grown adult but that will never stop me on some level actually being a
child – a trip to the cinema is definitely one of those occasions. Anyway
back to the film, the show was Monsters vs Aliens 3D (still aware it’s
a kid’s film) in REAL D 3D (no idea what that means either). 
I fail to believe anyone could watch Iron Man without a) jumping head over
heels into the plot, believing (more or less) every aspect and being completely
gripped by the story line, glued to the edge of your seat and b) desperately
wanting to give that suit a go. Iron Man really is every bit as good as the
reviews state, the first grown up Marvel Action flick (quite literally the first
sole Marvel flick, as the studio takes a solo outing to be extremely proud of).
I've finally
managed to successfully set up my home media center for the spare room, yes
I know it's supposed to be easy - but hey I'm not that bright ok. I just thought
I'd mention some of the items I had to buy, and whether they're any good, along
with those major problems that someone else may be able to learn from.
In
my view the title alone means it has to be owned - however - for many
that is not a good enough reason, so to those I strongly suggest a listen.
If you liked squeeze then you really will love this, I would have to say
that this is by far and away his best work, a comment I don't make lightly.
But lyrically every detail is taken with careful care and consideration,
from the obviously personal to the not so much.
Ok,
let me attempt to summarise - surreal, cow bell, lyrical genius. I'm afriad
thats about the best I can manage and yet here we have one of the most
original modern albums (I'm not entirely sure modern is fair). But this
album truly is worth a listen if you like to be forever amazed at an albums
lyrics as you sit and listen and think "what did they just say".
We're officially in ... Team No. 59 ... now the next challenge is finding our motor and selecting our theme for this four day adventure from Calais to Valencia, if I'm honest the reality that we're actually doing it has hit YESSSS! Should be an incredible experience, just got to make sure we win :-) (I don't know why everyones always saying I'm overly competitive, but if you can't win whats the point???)
I'm going to notify anyone that hasn't already seen this (and would care) that the recent HTML 5 summary has been released showing some of the improvements we can expect to see, this is actually quite exciting news if you're a web developer and are sick of some of the gaping holes in HTML 4 that we've all had to code around, which will be patched up (fingers crossed) and one day browsers will support, of course the speed at which web standards get supported it will probably be a good 5 years before these can be used, and a further 5 before we can realistically use them in commercial applications, but hey, one day.
Ok, first question for you if you don't own this "Why not?", and if you're going to tell me you're not familiar with Lou Reed I will call you a liar, you just don't realise it.
Now some people dismiss this as pop-y, and to those people I would probably agree, it definetly falls into that category, but still as far as pop goes this is by far and away leading the current popular output, with some frankly amazing catchy tunes.
The culmination of a great deal of months of hard work sees the new site launch of this amazing Italian Restaurant chain here in the South West, I may be biased but can still assure you if you like fine Italian food (and I do, I would definetly list Italy as my favourite place to visit [not just for the food, but still]) then Bottelinos is a must to visit, be it Bristol, Bath, Cheltenham, Nailsea or the new branch in Swindon!
