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Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2005
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Stand-Up Tragedy and Other Disasters
An hour of Funny songs and offbeat humour from the Free Fringe's legendary comedic showman Peter Buckley Hill.
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Original Review:
Peter Buckley Hill is a leftover from a half-forgotten generational netherworld of comedy. Between the post-Goons Spike Milligan and the point when Monty Python was lionised (which was well after the series finished) there was a world of anarcho-surrealism epitomised by acts like sadly-forgotten duo The Alberts, the early Greatest Show on Legs, Marcel Steiner and the Sir Henry elements of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. PBH is an anarchic showman firmly in the mould of this freewheeling era of surrealist entertainers who knew their comedy roots. One sections of the show, for example, is called Great Books In Sheep – classic literature such as Wuthering Heights and Pride & Prejudice, dramatised by Peter with the use of two toy sheep. This is a show where audience participation is called 'joining in' and one song is entitled My Great Uncle Thinks He's An Anorak. Peter Buckley Hill left his full house audience smiling, warm and happy but, really, as I'm sure Peter would readily admit, this is the same old cobblers that has been peddled for the last 30 years. Malcolm Hardee peddled cobblers too, but he managed to keep it feeling fresh. Admittedly shambolic and freewheeling, this show is also - as you might expect - free to attend and it is well worth that admission price. |
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The person who wrote this is a tit, to say the least. On what basis is idiot boy "sure I would readily admit this is the same old cobblers that has been peddled for the last 30 years"? Did he ask? No. The apex of his own wit seems to consist of "free to attend and worth the price", and the little arsehole probably thinks he's the first person to think of that line. I take exception to this, not because I need the audience or the approval of jumped-up ejaculation stains who need to sneer at the work of others to try and feel big, but because this shit is precisely what's ruining the Fringe. I do free shows, in part, to break the cycle of expectation. If people don't like it, they can leave with no damage or resentment. It's a square deal and benefits everybody. Obviously idiot boy hasn't grasped that. Slagging off a free show is like being quality controller at Poundsaver. Reviewers are the lowest form of life and make no contribution to the art whatsoever. They'd do the world a better service by dying. PBH, August 2005 |
