Change »
Edinburgh Fringe 2000 (59)
Edinburgh Fringe 2001 (316)
Edinburgh Fringe 2002 (354)
Edinburgh Fringe 2003 (376)
Edinburgh Fringe 2004 (422)
Edinburgh Fringe 2005 (415)
Edinburgh Fringe 2006 (547)
Edinburgh Fringe 2007 (668)
Edinburgh Fringe 2008 (733)Edinburgh Fringe 2009 (773)
Edinburgh Fringe 2010 (927)
Edinburgh Fringe 2011 (963)
Edinburgh Fringe 2012 (1022)
Edinburgh Fringe 2013 (642)
Melbourne 2005 (26)
Melbourne 2006 (29)
Melbourne 2007 (31)
Melbourne 2008 (36)
Melbourne 2009 (36)
Melbourne 2010 (56)
Melbourne 2011 (36)
Melbourne 2012 (46)
Melbourne 2013 (57)
Misc live shows (199)
Montreal 2004 (6)
Montreal 2006 (10)
Montreal 2007 (15)
Montreal 2008 (17)
Montreal 2009 (17)
Theatre (28)
Tour (240)
West End run (14)
See Less »
Random Observations Of A Gap Year Student
Rants Of Ringo
Raymond Mearns: Shaggy Dog Stories
Real Daniel O'Donnell Show Presents: The Clock Hour
Rebus McTaggart: CrimeWarrior [2008]
Reception
Reduced Edinburgh Fringe Impro Show [2008]
Reginald D Hunter: No Country For Grown Men
Return Of The Free Mouseketeers
Return Of The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre
Rhod Gilbert And The Award-Winning Mince Pie
Rhona Cameron [2008]
Rich Hall: Fifty Cent Words
Richard Coughlan: A Walking Advert For Abortion
Richard Herring: The Headmaster's Son
Richard Sandling & Stuart Goldsmith in Kiosk of Champions
Richard Sandling: VHS3 Video Nasty
Rick Shapiro: Wild Card
Rob Deb: Dork Night Returns
Rob Deering: Boobs 2008
Rob Heeney: No Pressure
Robbie Bonham: Just Dropped In
Robin Ince: Propaganda and Tittletattle
Robin Ince: Things I Like About Carl Sagan And Others
Rogue's Handbook: Bumper Book Of Sketches
Rosie Wilby: I Am Nesia (The Science Of Errr..)
Rowan Campbell
Rowan Campbell & Guests
Roy Walker: Goodbye Mr Chips
Rule of Three: Sketchual Healing
The Rules Of Drama And Suspense With Bronya And Siony
Run Man Show
Russell Howard: Dingledodies
Russell Kane Presents Fakespeare: The Lamentable Tragedie Of Yates's Wine Lodge
Russell Kane: Gaping Flaws
|
Show type: Edinburgh Fringe 2008
|
|
|
Rogue's Handbook: Bumper Book Of Sketches
Rogues' Handbook are the combined forces of mad right-wing hippy, Graeme Casey, the naive, hyperactive and childish Paul Gannon and with the frustrated bluster of Eli Silverman.
Thrown together to put the sketch comedy world to rights, this is their first Edinburgh show and they are going all out to make it an extraordinary debut.
Together as Rogue's Handbook, they have fought crime and cyber terrorism... no, sorry... They've performed around London and the UK for the past 3 years. They've been fondly compared to the likes of Pappy's Fun Club, We Are Klang and with a dash of Absolutely and a pinch of The Goodies thrown in for good measure.
Despite performing at the Edinburgh Fringe in various shows in the past, this year marks the first time Rogues' Handbook will appear with their own very special show.
|
Original Review:
Quite how Paul Gannon and Graeme Casey coped as a sketch duo before recruiting Eli Silverman, I’ll never know. For the short, scruffy whipping boy provides almost all the laughs in this distinctly underwhelming show. He is the Baldrick of the operation, forever being put on, reacting with hangdog stoicism until he finally cracks. And if I had to endure this shrill show every day for a month, I’m sure I’d crack, too. The writing is flabby, and only Silverman can act. Gannon and Casey instead come from the ‘if in doubt, shout’ school; belting out their lines with little subtlety. They can be themselves with reasonable confidence, bickering about how the show is progressing, but within the sketches themselves, characterisation is non-existent. Occasionally someone might adopt a gratingly exaggerated accent, but that’s as far as it goes. These aren’t real people – or even entertaining caricatures – just soulless conduits for words written on a page. And what a lot of words there are; almost every sketch is overwritten, repeating the same ideas or set-ups. I’d find my mind wandering for a few moments, but when I snapped back to the stage, nothing had moved on. Occasionally there will be a weak pun at the end of a scene, but it’s scant reward for the saggy build-up. ‘Who cares, it’s only free,’ is a refrain we hear from the stage. But this sort of attitude, even said in jest, will always hold the free parts of the festival back. Ashley Frieze – who officially isn’t part of the line-up – provides a nicely musical prologue and epilogue to proceedings, which temporarily affords the show a feeling of quality that neither the writing nor two-thirds of the performances can deliver. Reviewed by: Steve Bennett |
|
A light-hearted afternoon panto style romp with a nice interplay between the trio. While the sketches are beholden to the story of Eli, they work well as pushing forward the characters of Gannon and Casey as almost nefarious ugly sisters to Elis cinderella. The afternoon I saw it the backdrop came falling apart which sadly can take a 'rough and tumble' style and make it look decidedly lazy despite effort to the contrary. I look forward to the Rogue's next endeavour Robin Deb, September 2008 |

