Show Details
Robin Ince Isn't Waving
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2006
Starring Comic:
Robin Ince

Robin Ince Isn't Waving


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Description

While performing at the Fringe in August 2004 Robin discovered that his basement flat in London had been flooded with gallons of sewage, destroying everything within, including over 1,500 vinyl records that had formed his obsession from youth.

So what happens when you lose nearly everything you own? You start to question the whole point of everything in our cluttered existence...

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Reviews

Original Review:

Show Rating:Robin Ince Isn't Waving rated 4/5

Robin Ince is a compulsive hoarder of all things he likes; snapping up armfuls of obscure French DVDs from Fopp, rummaging through charity store bookshelves in the hope of some quirky, forgotten classics, or even collecting together all his favourite comedians in his rightly acclaimed Book Club gigs.

His tastes are infinitely precise, and that's reflected in his work. Not for him the broad strokes of the 'haven't you ever noticed' school of observational comedy, a fact he acknowledges with deliberately hamfisted attempts at it. Instead he'll launch into an anecdote with 'My favourite Robert Helpmann story is...' assuming not only that his audience know who Robert Helpmann is, but that they've all got their own list of Robert Helpmann stories which they've meticulously rated into their own top ten, too.

It's an almost academic commitment to a very specific type of popular culture, even if such erudition can be an obstacle to some audiences. But then, his audience are, by now, his sort of people who don't mind a show being, in his words, 'ramshackle' if their values are reinforced.

The show offers an eclectic mix of distractions, from his own accordion accompaniment, courtesy of Martin White, to extracts from a booked called How To Pick Up Sexy Girls, which features a lot more graphs than you might expect.

These punctuate witty stand-up routines, the best of which is a sublime rant about the flooding of his basement flat with sewerage, costing him hundreds of his precious books, records and DVDs, in which Ince gets rightly furious at the intransigent water company man denying the very effluent he was standing in. It might have been an incident which caused 37-year-old Ince to re-evaluate the worth of a generation still clinging to teenage passions for movies and music when we really should be well into adulthood, but it doesn't look like it has.

Ince's breath of pop culture knowledge does enable him to draw on a wide range of references, to evocative effect. His account of his terror at finding himself menaced by youths in a dark Newcastle alleyway is a thing of gothic splendour, created almost entirely from such reference points.

It all underlines Ince's appeal as an intellectual, pedantic, well-read (even if it is all the wrong books) and staunchly middle-class comic. If that sounds like your bag, you'll love him.

But if you didn't know, or at least want to know, that Robert Helpmann was the ballet dancer who played the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, you might be better off somewhere else.

Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
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Comments

Robin Ince Isn't Waving? More like Robin Ince, the crowd isn't laughing. I've had more fun at funerals than I did at his show at Brighton. I would rather have my wisdom teeth pilled out with pliers than ever suffer his terrible act.

Rocky redranger, February 2007

I went to see Ricky Gervais, and, as usual, Ricky employed his friend Robin Ince to be the warm up act. This is the third time I have seen Ricky and the third time I have had to suffer Robin Ince. He is to comedy what Jade Goody is to race relations. If Robin was only a quarter as funny as he thinks he is he would still be crap. I would happily pay Ricky an extra £10 on the ticket price NOT to have Robin as support act. Though I guess having a terrible support act like Robin just makes the main performer look better. Robin trots out the same tired unfunny gags time after time. Anyone who has had to endue one of Robin's gigs without the aid of morphine will know that time flies when you’re having fun. This may explain why his 30 minute seems to last 5 hours.

Samster, February 2007

You know that guy who's quite funny at work, and makes everyone laugh when they go down the pub? That's Robin Ince. Trouble is, the intimacy and personal touches that make that guy funny, don't translate to stand-up very well. Sorry Robin....you'd be a better comic writer.

Jens Cowstream, January 2007

I have the bad misfortune to endured Robin twice now neither by choice. Both times Robin starred with ricky Gervais and is clearly only there because he is close friends with Ricky. I have had more fun loosening the handrails in the disabled toilets of the theatre than listening to this so called funny man.

skinnytony, January 2007

One of the worst reviews I've ever read. You've tried to hard to sound as intellectual as Robin here, Steve. You're clearly not comfortable with language, this piece feeling forced and insincere.

James Shires, August 2006

My second worst hour at the fringe this year. Trite, rambling, meandering, and tedious musings of a not particularly funny man. I don't mean to be rude, but, really, not one laugh in sixty minutes speaks for itself. The Book Club is only funny because of the badly written books being held up for our ridicule. I'm sure Robin is a really nice guy - but he's not very funny!t yourselves. Spend the hour doing anything else. It's amazing to think that Ruth fancies herself as a performer/writer of any talent or originality - but when I looked at her website with its innumerable pictures of Ruth and see she also has a seemingly never ending and mind numbing blog (again about herself) - it finally dawns: she just fancies herself. Avoid at all costs.r works - I agree with the review above that the lack of namedropping or Popworld tales works (unless that is what you were expecting I suppose), the break to this rule working extremely well. Pre-crafted put downs worked when the occasion arose, and some higher quality gags tucked away too. Perhaps rough it up a little? Some of the most natural laughter came when being cutting. Hopefully, picking up what's working and what's not will be a swift process. Just replace it with more than twiddling with propsay have something to work with

Dave Etherton, August 2006

Unbelievably funny. If you can, definitely go and see this show. You won't stop laughing

Mark Cornell, August 2006

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